This weekend had its ups and downs. Coming up on Thursday, I'd been told by several people about the big Curry Festival that was going to be in Central Park on Saturday and Sunday. Lots of restaurants selling Japanese and Indian-style curries, plus a live music stage. I was at the ones held the last 2 years, and while I didn't care all that much for the food (small, overpriced servings that weren't all that great), I did like some of the music. So, yeah, I was looking forward to this one. Thursday afternoon, I walked by the park on my way to the English school, in a light rain, and a couple workmen were doing something on a metal framework of some kind. I couldn't tell if they were setting it up, or taking it down. That night, when I got back home, I was checking out Facebook, and Bon, the lead singer of my favorite band, Bon DX, had posted a copy of the poster advertising the event, with the words "Cancelled" written in big letters across the front. Yup, there was another typhoon coming up from Okinawa, and it was expected to hit Kagoshima right in the middle of the weekend. The City, and the event planners, decided to err on the side of caution and cancelled the event.
(Heidi, of the Alps, says, treat your cows nicely.)
Friday, we got some rain and strong winds. Saturday, the wind had subsided, but there were still occasional drizzles. Nothing that would have kept the crowds away from curry, though. Last weekend, Amu Plaza had their Marugoto Fair, promoting local Kagoshima products, which was supposedly going to happen two weekends in a row. But, they'd cancelled last Sunday due to Typhoon #24, and I expected that they'd cancel again this weekend, too, so I didn't bother trying to go up to Amu Plaza on Saturday after my lessons finished to find out. I did have to work from 1 to 5 PM Saturday afternoon, but my 6 and 7 PM lessons were cancelled because those students had school exams they had to take at that time. As I was walking through Tenmonkan on my way to the school at 12:30 PM on Saturday, I discovered that the Japan Milk Council, and Daily Milk company were running another of their milk and bone loss awareness events in front of the 7-11 there. Activities included bingo (no idea what the prizes were), free samples of Daily milk, bone loss testing, a stage play promoting proper dental care, and a demonstration of butter churning. The people handing out milk didn't bother giving me any (which was ok, I'd just bought the week's worth of milk before heading for the school), and the stage event was just the bingo game, which was almost half over. I took a few photos for the blog, and kept walking towards the school. The milk fest ended at 4 PM, but was scheduled to continue on Sunday. I did want to see part of the butter churning demo, so I made a mental note to get back to Tenmonkan at 1 PM for that.
(Bingo.)
Naturally, the typhoon missed Kagoshima completely, again, and the weather on Sunday was perfect; sunny but cool. They really should have run the Curry Fest anyway. But, I was willing to settle for the butter demo, and I wanted to run up to Amu Plaza to see if part of the Marugoto Fair was still going on. Unfortunately, due to matters outside of my control, I was unable to get to Tenmonkan at 1 PM, so I missed the first demo. There was a second demo slated for 2:30 PM, and I was hoping to get to that, but I had to do some shopping at Aeon department store, across from Amu Plaza, and I wasn't able to get free until 3 PM, shooting any opportunities to see anything. I did have a couple free minutes while at Aeon, so I ran through the underground tunnels to the main train station to check on Marugoto. But when I got there, all they had were some crafts tables selling jewelry and clothing items, which were completely unrelated to Marugoto. However, there had been a "boom, boom, boom" noise a bit earlier. Fireworks, which usually marks the beginning or ending of Shinto-type festivals. And, some volunteer in the tunnel had been holding a sign for an "Ai Fest" (Love Festival). Assuming that whatever was going on was nearby and in the direction of the bay to the east, I made a quick trip to the MBC broadcasting building about a quarter-mile east. MBC's main building is right next to the Kotsuki river, and sometimes they put a stage up in the river to host music or Shinto events. I got to MBC, and there was nothing going on. So, no idea what the fireworks had been for, or what or where the Ai Fest was.
On the other hand, I did see a small group of people dressed up as Meiji-era characters, and a sign talking about actors near the Meiji Restoration museum ready to pose for photos, to promote the Saigo Takamori drama still running on NHK TV. I've taken pictures of those actors before, and didn't bother asking to take a few more this time. I returned to Aeon, finished my shopping, returned to the apartment to drop off groceries, then went back out to head for Terukuni Shrine.
Terukuni is the big Shinto shrine near Central Park, and that's usually where the fireworks are set off from for other big events. But, when I got there, nothing was going on. In the park nearby, lots of school students were hanging out and enjoying the nice weather, and there was no sign of any of the tables or the stage that would have been there for the curry fest. At this point, I was only a 2-minute walk from Tenmonkan, and the Milk Fest, so I hiked over to the 7-11. It was only 3:40 PM, and the event was supposed to end at 4 PM, but everything was abandoned. The stage, milk table and bone loss testing booth were still set up, but all the people and props were gone. So much for trying to at least get a little free milk at the end.
After that, there was no point in doing much else outside. I went back home, worked on a software app for solving ciphers (Fractionated Morse), got dinner at a restaurant, then worked on the computer for the rest of the night. One other thing, though. This weekend was also the big "Great Sastumanian Festival." It had been advertised almost non-stop for months leading up to this weekend. This was a 2-day music fest on Sakura-jima (the island that has the volcano). It cost money, and I didn't have a lot of interest in the band line up, so I didn't go to that. I think it was supposed to be outdoors, and I was expecting it to be cancelled because of the typhoon, but as I was walking to Terukuni Shrine, I saw a city bus drive by, with the destination sign reading "Great Satsumanian." So, that did happen after all. I would have preferred curry.
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