Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages)

Last Sunday my parents and I went to Kyoto to see Jidai Matsuri(Festival of the Ages), one of Kyoto's three biggest traditional festivals which is held annually on October 22nd.  It was my first time to go to see the festival, despite living in the same Kansai area for over 20 years. This festival consists of a large parade from  Kyoto Imperial Palace and Heian shrine, and the participants of the parade are dressed in accurate costumes representing various periods and characters in Japanese federal history.There are approximately more than 2,000 performers and it takes two hours to watch the entire procession pass by.
We left home quite early in the morning trying to get a good seat to watch the parade and we got to the old imperial palace more than 1 hour before the parade, but there were already hundreds of people waiting for it.

At 12 p.m., the costume procession began from the main gate of the old imperial palace, with a lot of performers dressed in historical costumes from almost every period from Heian Period to Meiji Period. In the procession there were many historically famous samurai and military figures, which was quite interesting to me who specialized in Japanese history in high school.

 Here are the photos taken with my new camera (Click each photo for a larger version)
Sorry I took too many so I couldn't put up all of them. Enjoy! >>

Hello Canon EOS Kiss X5!

Today I got something I've really wanted for a long time - Yes, my own DSLR ( Cannon EOS Kiss X5 ) camera! I have put up some photos taken by a DSLR camera on this blog, but actually it was not my own camera, I was using my mother's one. Of course I'll keep using my old digital camera that I have used so far cause I love it, but as I start browsing great & more professional photos on my friends' blogs I got more fascinated by them, and they made me want to get one. Well, I admit it cost me a lot, but since I ordered it online it was actually quite a good deal for the latest one from Cannon. I'm still just a beginner and it has too many functions, so I guess it will take a long time until I get used to it (and I'm already sick of reading the instruction :-p ). Now that I have my own good camera, I'm going outside more and I'll fully enjoy this beautiful season in Japan. And of course, I'll put up more pics on this blog from now on.

Happy fall y'all,
Yuka

Taco addiction

If you are my friend on Facebook, you probably know, but I am so in love with tacos. I've been so addicted to this wonderful foreign food since I first tried it at one of my American friends' house last winter.I introduced it to my family and they love it too. It's healthy and quite easy to cook. 

 My dream is to try out the "real" Mexican tacos.But the problem is, there aren't any "real" taco restaurants in my place. I've been using the seasoning from old el paso , but my American friends say the taste is different from what they have had in America. They also say that here in Japan they can't even find the seasonings they usually use in America. Does anyone know any good restaurants where I can try some real ones in Kansai area? If you know, please do tell me. I am serious. =p