Hakata Gion Yamakasa

"osshoi ..... osshoi", that's what you can hear when a bunch of people carrying Decorated Yamakasa (giant decorated float); leaving from Kushida Shrine and begin a 5-km run through Hakata, Fukuoka. Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival brings a sense of summer in Hakata. It is a shrine ritual dedicated to Kushida shrine, the grand tutelary shrine of Hakata, with 760-year-old history. This festival, designated as a national significant intangible folk cultural asset, is also known as one of three major festivals in Japan. Begin on the 1st of July, the town of Hakata becomes filled with a festive mood, with floats over 10 meters high exhibited at 14 spots around the town. The climax of the festival is around a minute before 5 o’clock on the 15th of July.

(kat tengah2 bandar)

Last saturday (04/07/09) we went to Hakata to watch those huge Yamakasa displayed around Hakata city. Occay, I admit that I was not yet over with my confinement, I was in day 39 of my confinement period on that day..*kire ok dah kot, jalan2 sikit hari ke-39 kui3x *. We didn't really plan to watch the festival but as we were heading home from Kaikan after buying the halal meat, we catch a glimpse of those giant float that are displayed around Hakata...thus, hubby decided to stopped by for a while. *ceh, alasan semata2 time nak ikut hubby gi beli daging..padahal memang berniat dlm hati nak jalan2 *.

(mommy yang giler posing wpon baby tgh syok tdo)

The konon2-stopped-by-for-a-while has become stopped-by-for-a-little-longer as hubby wants to enter the Canal City Plaza. This shopping and entertainment complex resemble The Mines kat Serdang tuh. It has 'canal' at it ground floor and is connected to the luxurious Washington Hotel *takyah gi US dah, hehehe*. Canal City Hakata is also known as "city within the city" with an attractions include about 250 shops, cafes, restaurants, a theater, game center, cinemas, and the most interesting attraction is a canal running through the complex.

(in front of the Canal City Plaza and the inside view of the complex)

In conjunction with this Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival, there was also a Yamakasa placed inside the Canal City Plaza. Since it is weekend, there's quiet a lot of people at the complex and it seems like the Japanese enjoy taking pictures with those giant float as much as we do *jadi taklah kitorang rasa janggal or malu sangat nak posing dengan makhluk besar tuh *.

(at the 2nd floor of the complex)

(usaha mengangkat float ini menemui jalan buntu ngeh3x)

We were lucky enough to get the chance to catch the Canal City Fountain show while we were there. The fountain show together with the music played along, is such an entertaining show to see.

We arrived home around 9p.m. Luckily this time, baby SN lansung tak meragam or menangis macam awal2 dulu. Lagipun, most of the time masa tengok giant Yamakasa tu, baby SN tidur je dalam baby pouch tu. Plus, I follow some of the tips given by my beloved blogger friends in this particular entry... and Alhamdulillah, tiada kejadian yang tidak di ingini berlaku.



Psssttt: Tempoh berpantang sebenarnya 40 hari ke 44 hari? I pening dah coz kat packaging Mustika Ratu tulis 40 hari, ada orang cakap 44 hari...ada lagi yang bagitau 100 hari... mak konpius ni nyah, nak ikut yang mana satu?...azab tau menghitung hari nih kui3x.