HANABI AT RINKO PARK

Last night we got to watch another hanabi. It was located at Rinko Park, the same place where we watched before. However, we tried to get there earlier to reserve a spot for us. And how do we do that? By placing your very own mat on the ground. It's like marking your personal territory/space and telling people "this is our spot so don't touch it!". I had to bring a roll of tape with me so I could affix the mat on the ground otherwise the wind would have picked our mat up immediately and blown it away. Doing this in the Philippines is not a good idea. After 2 minutes, your mat (and every other mat around for that matter) would be gone. I guess it's just how it is with poverty around. You really have to understand how societies differ in every country...

Anyway, after having lunch at KFC (the boys loved that!) at Nakayama we made our way to Sakuragicho. We walked to Rinko Park (this was around 12 noon) and we found a spot and already, there were a LOT of mats around. We didn't stay long at the park because the sun came out and boys were just too uncomfy there. So I thought of spending the afternoon at Queen 's Square instead. We passed by CosmoWorld first (because Ethan insisted) and the boys had fun playing air hockey and Nikki tried the Mario Kart. Then we went into Queen's Square and we went to Snoopy Town. I found a cute umbrella that was on sale (from ¥900+ to ¥399) and I just had to buy it for myself. I adore Snoopy. After that, the boys got sleepy so we looked for a bench where they could lie down. We found 2 empty ones and Nikki fell asleep. Ethan dozed for a bit but woke up after a while. By this time (which was around 4pm) there were already a lot of people milling around. There were a lot of people dressed in yukatas (even the kids!) and I had to look closely at how they did their obis. Of course, a lot of them were too elaborate for me but at least I now know how neat my obi should be when it's done. I can't wait to wear my yukata again.

Anyway, we met up with Ruther at around 530pm after I bought some food and drinks. We then made our way back to our lonely mat and Nikki was quite happy that it was still there. We ate some of our food and the fireworks began at around 715pm. Wouldn't you know, there was a tree near us and it partly covered the colorful display. Now a lot of people would be bummed about that but me, I'm a patient and resourceful person. Ruther wanted to take shots of the fireworks but didn't want to move from the spot. I don't know if he was too bothered or just timid because of the crowd but I was kind of irritated at his attitude because if I had a nice camera and there were fireworks in the sky I wouldn't let a tree get in my way. Plus, I wanted to show my mom and sis what we were seeing then. So I huffed my way to a clear area (which was just several meters away near a pathway) and took some shots with my camera. When I got back to the mat Ruther asked me if I got some nice shots. Of course I said yes. So
he also looked for a clear area and took some shots as well.

Learning from the previous hanabi experience, we didn't stay long anymore. We really didn't want to get caught in the crowd, especially the crowd walking towards the train. The last time we got caught in the crowd the boys were nearly swallowed by the throng of people. So this time we decided to leave before everybody had the same idea. Which was a good move because when we rode the train home it was not as crowded. Anyway, I'm glad the boys enjoyed the fireworks and I'm glad that we got to have another fun day spent as a family.