Today, despite some early storminess, we started the day with dim sum at the Phoenix in Chinatown, where I wowed the wait staff with the little Cantonese I’ve learned from my wife. Then we shopped some stalls in New Chinatown Square before heading west to Arlington Heights for the 25th Japan Festival. Not only that, I got back home in time to see Jeff Gordon win at Infinium!
The Japan Festival was a lot of fun. We hadn’t been to it since it used to be out at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. This year was the second for the festival at the Forest View Educational Center, just a stone’s throw from the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights IL. The gardens are nice, but they have a lot more room in the new location for events, and because of this, the rain outside really wasn’t a big issue.
Before the day was finished, we’d heard koto and violin concerts of traditional and contemporary Japanese music. The kids had fun breaking wooden boards with karate, and I enjoyed some long sought after takoyaki (octopus balls). And this time, I did not miss the Cha no yu, the tea ceremony! I also enjoyed the taiko performance with my youngest daughter, who had come with me to see it without my wife’s knowledge, which led to a somewhat embarrassing announcement of her being missing. But all was well, as parents must often suffer much loss of face because of their children. It just goes with the job. The kids had a good time. We finally ended our Pan-Asian adventure with a trip to the Mitsuwa Marketplace where I bumped into some of the young violin performers in the grocery store, which gave me a chance to thank them in person for a great performance.
Returning home, the day was completed with a Chinese dinner prepared by my lovely Chinese wife. She made me say that last part, though it is true! 😉 Here’s a bad cell phone picture of the taiko performance.
