Power of the Pink Penis

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A buddy of mine texted me last week to ask if I was going to the penis festival. Damn! It totally slipped my mind, but my buddy marked her calendar so she was ready to go. We made plans to meet up at the station and head for the festival. I told her about the place I scoped out the year before to watch the parade.

It was overcast but warm, and the forecast was 60% chance of rain. We brought our umbrellas so we'll be fine. We went to check out the big temple where there were a lot of stalls out, although we didn't get anything from the stalls since the sesame shop got our attention with golden sesame soft serve ice cream and sesame-coated fried chicken (we had the chicken after the parade). I got myself a penis candy, which I ended up dropping and the head broke off 😱 Elizabeth popped off early 😂

We went to the spot to watch the parade and settled in. She brought an expanding chair that was pretty cool. I'm totally getting one for myself. I forgot to bring a chair, but all's good since I wore black jeans and had a sheet to sit on. It started to rain while we were waiting, so we broke out our umbrellas. Amazingly, it stopped raining just as the parade started. I guess Elizabeth didn't want to get wet, at least not in a good way 😂 Power of the pink penis. It even willed the rain away 😂

We saw a new character parading down the street with Elizabeth. It looked like a gray slab. We so couldn't figure out what it was. It looked like a cute version of a "nurikabe," a monster in Japanese folklore that misdirects travelers walking at night. Turns out it was supposed to be warabimochi (mochi sweets made out of bracken starch). Whatever.

We tried to get in the shrine that houses Elizabeth after the parade, but the place was still packed! There was a long line snaking out the shrine. My buddy and I saw the line and were like, nope, not waiting that long to see the tiny grounds. Plus, it started to rain again, so we decided to catch the bus to go back to the main station. There is a smaller station but it was packed with people trying to catch the train. The bus was far less crowded.

We went to a beef cutlet place for dinner. It hit the spot but not too full for dessert. But, on the way to the cafe, we came across a sale on accessories that my buddy just had to check out. Across the corridor was a wine shop that I went to check out. Turns out they had a tasting stand, where they offered wine tasting for a reasonable price. We had a white, rose, red, and a sparkling. I really liked the sparkling wine and ended up bringing a bottle home with me.

I have to say that I had a good weekend in good company.