Yokohama Chinatown: Chinese New Year Parade 2011

Last weekend on Sunday, February 6th, I ventured out to Yokohama Chinatown. I just had to get that Lunar New Year's feel. It's my first year not spending it at home, and I am still bummed about missing out on following the lions around Houston even though it's been over a week since New Year's day.

I was completely mopey at work on February 3rd and had my ehoumaki. I was completely stoked and set on heading out to Chinatown no matter what. I didn't care about going alone, even though New Years is meant to be spent with your family and friends. I didn't care about the weather, even though it was FREEZING cold. I didn't care about the crowd, even though there were rude foreigners saying SUMIMASEN rudely to the happy drunken old men celebrating the new year. You're on their turf, and yet you have the nerve to say in JAPANESE "excuse me" oh so rudely. I wanted to bitch the mother heifer out, but it is the new year and I did not want to ruin my mood more than he already did. GO BACK HOME!

The New Year's parade was so much fun to watch, once I found a good place to watch it from. I wanted to get a good view and good thing I stopped by the temple to pray. When the parade started, each group of performers stopped in front of the temple and bowed and continued on with the parade.

I knew I would miss family and the mua lan guys during this season, but I never knew it would be this much. The smell of incense and firecrackers have never felt so comforting in my life until the day of the parade in Chinatown. I didn't want to wash the smell out of my hair, but that's just nasty if I didn't. HAHA! This is what I miss most during this time of year.

The following day, I had a lunch date in Ginza. I felt so fancy. We ate an Italian restaurant because in Ginza, we don't eat Japanese food. Hahaha! I even had afternoon tea. Fancy. What I liked most about Ginza is the architecture. They're so amazing. There was a time in Japan called the Bubble Economy. When I first heard the term, I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. I love bubbles. I think they're magical... until they POP. Several building were built so artistically. The best one was the Hermes building. It's made of glass tiles. Another thing I found in Ginza was QUESTINA!!~ It's one of the Hello Kitty shops I found on the internet that I have been looking for. They have a floral area. YES! HELLO KITTY FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS!~ I want one for my birthday.