Bon Odori

There is a summer holiday in Japan called Obon. It is a Buddhist holiday but today Japanese people take time off work and travel to their hometown to visit their families. This holiday culminates with a party, usually in a central town park, where people dress in yukata (like a lighter version of kimono) and dance a traditional dance called bon odori. Here is a link to more information about the holiday.

I happened to be in field work at Akkeshi (a fishing town in northern Hokkaido) during this event this summer. A group from a lab that we are collaborating with kindly invited me to join them for the celebration.

We went to a woman’s home who owns the local yukata shop. She has a beautiful traditional Japanese home with many outstanding pieces of art work and seemed more than happy to have us there dressing up.

Traditional Japanese home.

She pulled out piles of yukata and dressed us all up. I wore a purple and white yukata that has a traditional arrow pattern on it. I think that the other ladies that I was there with got as much of a kick out of seeing me in yukata as I did wearing it.
My yukata.


A Thai student and I in Yukata (the fire box beside us is over 100 years old and still used).

We walked over to the festival where the dancing had just begun. I didn’t know it at the time, but the ladies had planned to participate in the dancing – and swept me up with them. We registered for the dance, pinned numbers to our yukata and started dancing around in a circle following the rest of the crowd. I had no idea that the dancing would continue for 1 whole hour. Shortly after we started the dance, the announcer on the loudspeaker made an announcement. I didn’t understand much, but I did hear Canada-jin (Japanese for Canadian). The woman behind me laughed and told me that he was announcing to the whole crowd that this year’s festival was “international” and we had a Canadian and Thai in the dance. As the only white person for blocks around, it wasn’t hard for anyone to figure out who was the Canadian. Through the dance strangers kept following me and taking pictures, I guess I can’t blame them; I take photos of all kinds of silly things too.

A little bored of the repeated steps and hungry and thirsty (I thought I would be having dinner there, not dancing), I was glad to have them call a finish to the ceremony. Another surprise to me was that the dancing was a competition. Each “contestant” who wore a number was judged and a prize assigned to that person. Yup, you guessed it. Despite my atrocious dancing and repeated missteps as I got distracted smiling and waving at stunned children, I won one of the top prizes. I got a 10 kg bag of rice, a towel and some tissues. I am due to leave Japan in March and I am pretty sure that no matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to eat all of that rice in that time!

After the dancing we returned our yukata then sat down for a bite and a beer in the izakaya (drinking pub) attached to the house beloning to the woman who dressed us up. They told me she is 76 years old – still running a clothing shop and pouring sake at her pub in the evenings. Amazing.
Our yukata sensei in her pub.

Asian Vacation - Part 3

We arrived in the Siem Reap airport early in the morning. All visa processing for Cambodia travelers happens at the airport on arrival so we lined up, cash in hand, to get our visa. On this leg of the trip, we again joined a dozen wonderful friends. This is a large group to travel with, but our friends are all great travellers, fun and easy-going so the trip was easy and entertaining.

A fleet of TukTuks were waiting for our group when we emerged from the airport (airport transport was included in our accommodation). We rode in Cambodian style to the Two Dragons Guesthouse where we stayed. On the ride, Siem Reap struck me as a very clean and organised place.
Our friends in a Tuk Tuk.


Our early arrival allowed us time to settle into our rooms, have a bite to eat and then take in some sights in the afternoon. Our first stop was a silk factory that is run by international NGO’s and is used as an artisan training center. Our guide led us through the farm/factory and showed us every step involved in silk production. We started in the Mulberry farm where he told us all about the tree species and which ones produce the best silk. We saw the “farm”, a large room with reed baskets where the silk worms hung out and ate and spun cocoons. He encouraged us to look at and touch the worms. From there we saw how the artisans unravel the cocoons and spin the fibres into silk thread. The next step in the process was dying – all of the silk here was hand dyed using either natural or chemical dyes (the chemical dyes yield more vibrant colours but the natural dyes were impressively varied and they used everything from coconut fibres to flower petals to rusty nails). Next up was the weaving rooms. One shawl could take up to 7 days of simply weaving, not including the time spinning, dying and setting the loom. An incredible investment of time! Thoroughly impressed with the process, we hit the gift shop where they sold their handmade, fair trade silk products.
Silk worm cocoons.

After the silk farm we went for lunch, then on to the main market where they sell absolutely everything. The food in Cambodia was amazingly cheap ($1.50 for a big lunch) and absolutely delicious!! At one meal a vendor passed by selling fried spider. We couldn't miss the opportunity so the boys grossed us out by eating them.



After lunch we went back to our guesthouse and washed up before a relaxing massage before dinner. Massage in Cambodia is also incredibly cheap ($5 per hour for a good massage in a nice clean place!). Day 1 in Cambodia was great and we were looking forward to touring the temples at Angkor the next day.

Some of our group got up early enough to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat (the biggest and main temple). Shawn and I chose to catch up on some sleep and met them for breakfast. The children that hassle tourists to buy their goods is the first notable thing about Angkor. The children are clever (most can speak multiple languages and have an answer to every refusal you can think of) and relentless. They hawkers are restricted to the non-temple areas though so you only get hassled when you walk over to your TukTuk or to a shop to get a bite of food.

The temples were incredible; most were built as a show of power by kings of the Khmer Empire beginning around 1000 years ago. Our first one was Bayon in Angkor Thom. This temple is a mass of towers with 216 massive smiling faces looking out to the north, south, east and west.
Look closely for the big faces.

Next we walked up and over Ta Keo. The steep, tall steps made for a bit of hard work in the heat.



Our TukTuks picked us up on the other side of the temple and we continued on to Ta Prohm. This was my favourite temple because the jungle that had consumed it was still in place (other temples that we visited had the trees removed and were relatively restored). Colossal trees grow up through, around and on top of many of the parts of this temple creating a mystical atmosphere. Walking up to the temple, we strolled along a wide roadway in the thick jungle with butterflies dancing around us, the smell of jungle heavy in the air and the sound of traditional Cambodian music inviting us on. A Ta Prohm tree.

Friends and I at Ta Prohm.

After an afternoon nap to escape the heat, we ended the day with a visit to the main temple of Angkor Wat for a sunset visit. The temple was spectacular and is well restored. The sunset lit up the front of the temple beautifully.
Sunset at Angkor Wat.

The next day we returned to Bayon to see the sunrise. It was eerie to come back to this temple in the dark and the steep narrow passages made me a bit nervous, especially with swooshing bats zipping in and out of the doorways. Listening to the sounds of the waking jungle and watching the smiling faces of Bayon light up was a treat. We met up with the rest of our group for breakfast again and visited Preah Khan next. This is the temple that was famously featured in Tomb Raider. This one also had jungle trees emerging from a few of the ruins, but had been cleaned up much more than Ta Prohm. Shawn wasn’t feeling well so we returned to our guesthouse for another afternoon nap.

Preah Kahn temples.

That afternoon we visited the floating village of Chong Kneas on the Tunle Sap. We hired a boat to take us on a tour. We passed close by the front of the homes in the village (most people live in small boats or rafts). The villagers sat on the edge of their boats and bathed, washed dishes and laundry or swung in hammocks. The “shops” were other boats that motored over to the homes to sell them goods. We stopped at a tourist trap restaurant/fish farm. They had food, postcards, crocodiles (yes, live) and anything else that we might want to buy. A young girl paddled up in a large bucket displaying her snake, available for rent to anyone with money. It was strange to think of her parents, “here sweetie, hop in this tipy bucket with the monster snake and have fun, and make sure you are back for dinner.”.



Chong Kneas child.

The next day both Shawn and I stayed at the guesthouse instead of taking in the last day of temples. Shawn was still sick (turns out he picked up Dengue Fever – although we didn’t know it at the time) and I wanted to stay close in case he needed help. We flew out that night and were sad to leave the place (Cambodia was really interesting and we could have spent loads more time there), but even more sad to leave our friends who would be continuing their Asian vacations.

Asian Vacation - Part 2

We arrived in Thailand with about 20 close friends in the early afternoon (pinch me.... my life can't be this much fun!). The weather was beautiful, the pool at our condo was cool and refreshing and Henry, the sternsperson from the team (a Canadian who lives full time in Thailand and arranged our accommodation) had more beer than we could drink ready and waiting in the fridge. The perfect reward for the paddlers who had worked so hard for their triple-medal result in Malaysia (see previous post if you don’t know what this means).

The next morning Shawn and I hit the gym and lap pool at the condo for an early workout then joined our friends on a boat trip to some islands near Phuket. The boat driver took us to a small island where we could snorkel, although the sandy bottom of the region didn’t afford very many interesting snorkelling opportunities. We also took a trip to a beautiful spot with scenery that was featured in the famous James Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun”. The high vertical rocky islands were breathtaking and we were able to avoid the crowds of tourists that go to “James Bond Island” by instead touring a nearby island that is of similar geography. We ended the boat trip with a stop at a pearl oyster farm / resort (my request). The resort was pretty much deserted but we managed to buy ourselves a beer and enjoy the quiet beach.

Henry arranged a magical oceanfront dinner for the whole group that night. The restaurant owner brought us dish after dish of delicious Thai cuisine. We ate by candlelight with a crescent moon descending over the breaking waves. Exquisite.

The next day Shawn and I zoomed off on a rented scooter to see the city of Phuket. We wanted to check out the local market but after a few tries at finding it, we asked the woman who made us a delicious lunch and she told us it was temporarily shut down while they were doing renovations. On our way back to our condo we stopped at a local pearl factory for a tour. I tried in vain to ask about the hatchery and grow out practices, but the “tour guide” was only interested in giving us the typical story and hurrying us into the gift shop.

Our final night in Phuket, Shawn and I went to watch Muay Thai (Thai Kickboxing). We bought our tickets and were promised front row seats but were worried that we might miss the opening fight when the shuttle arrived late to take us there. We arrived with enough time to order a beer and take our front row seats and were surprised to see the first match on the fight card were two 7 year-olds. It was an interesting fight, and the rest of the fight card was older fighters. It was interesting to watch and we got a kick out of the open betting. After the fights we went for a midnight meal and then returned to the condo.

From Phuket, we flew to Kuala Lumpur for an overnight layover then on to our final destination – Cambodia.

Asian Vacation - Part 1

I have been delinquent on blog updates recently because we have been on vacation in Asia. During the trip we hit three countries so I will break up the blogs by country. This blog, part 1, begins in the first stop, Malaysia.

We flew to Malaysia to meet up with the Gorging Dragons who were racing in the Dragon Boat Club Crew World Championships (please hold your applause). Shawn was racing with the team (again, please hold your applause) and I was there to watch and cheer. Because we were there for a purpose, we didn’t have much time to tour around and see the sights. The races were held in Penang at the Teluk Dam.

The first couple of days in the hotel were happy and a bit strange as we spent the time hugging and reconnection with friends that we haven’t seen since leaving for Japan (really weird to be reconnecting with them in Malaysia of all places). The food in Malaysia is incredible. Every meal we ate there was something unique and delicious and incredibly cheap by Canadian (and Japanese) standards. The Malaysian people were equally enjoyable. They were warm and welcoming and everywhere we went the people were smiling and happy and seemed truly glad to share their culture with foreigners.
Dragon fruit juice, indian cooking and famous Penang Laksa - delish Malay Food.

One night the team got together and went to a foot spa called Happy Feet. It was one massive fish tank with seats along the edge. The “spa treatment” meant first washing your feet at a tap outside then hanging your tootsies into the fish tank and allowing the fish to nibble away at your feet. The sensation is tickly and feels a bit like pins and needles when your foot falls asleep, once you get over the initial apprehension about allowing fish to chew on your feet, it feels really nice. The fish use their hard lips to scrape bits of loose skin off your feet, so it leaves your feet exfoliated and the fish happily fed.

Fish eating my toes.

The dragon boat racing started on the Thursday after our arrival. The weather was hot and humid and the race site offered very little in the way of spectator amenities, but we (the fans) hunkered down on a dusty hill overlooking the finish line to cheer the team on. The team facilities were better and the Gorging Dragons seemed happy things. The first race was the 2000 m, no heats or finals, just one big race to decide the winners. The Gorging Dragons won their race easily but were edged out of top placement by two other Canadian teams who raced in a different draw than them. Their result in this distance was Bronze!!!! Yeah! Hardware on day 1 (commence applause).

The second day of racing was the 200 m (these races are the shortest dragon boat distance and take about 45 seconds so they are really exciting to watch). Another day in the scorching heat for the fans on the finish line and another inspirational performance by the Gorging Dragons who again placed third behind the same two other Canadian teams (continue applause). The team raced incredibly well all day and saved their best race for the final.

Superfans - we had the biggest cheering section there.

The last day of racing for the mixed crew was on Saturday and this was the crown event, the 500 m races. The team built to a perfect crescendo in the premier mixed final and this time edged out one of the Canadian teams and paddled to a comfortable second place finish! (wild applause) They had an incredible race and came off the water spent and elated. These results mean that the team has yet to attend and compete in a world championship event without medalling – quite a feat! Way to go GD’s!!

Racing.
Celebrating!!

We enjoyed some fun and well-earned partying with the team that night and attended the paddler’s party for more celebrating the next night. The next day we departed for our next destination alongside most of the rest of the team. Next stop: Thailand.