After getting a little acquainted with the area, we went to Ootoya for lunch, where I had a most delicious Bakudan (ie bomb) Don!

Then I finally went to my host family's home at Kugenuma, a station along the Enoden route. A minute's walk from the station, and I was there! At the girl's called of 「ただいま！」, her mom bustled out and exclaimed 「こんにちわ！あっ、可愛い！」 and before I had time to really say anything, she disappeared through the door right in front of the main entrance. We followed her, and out popped Takako's younger brother, Satoshi. A while later, Takako's dad returned from the convenience store beside the station where I'd seen him earlier. From the get-go, everyone was extremely friendly, even the brother who hung around to chit chat a little. After a round of chit chatting, us ladies headed upstairs where there were two yukatas laid on the bed. Obviously I wasn't expecting this, so naturally I didn't bring anything yukata-related of my own. As such, everything I had on (except my undergarments, of course!) was borrowed, from the hair accessories to the yukata and obi to the bag to the clogs. There was everything available! Takako's mom expertly dressed the both of us in yukatas in minutes and sent us on our way~

Where exactly were we off to? This is it:

My host dad told me the festival is usually held from the weekend before Tanabata until Tanabata itself on 7 July. I did a bit of googling, and Tanabata is a Japanese star festival which celebrates the annual meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi, which takes place on the Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky that separates the lovers. If it sounds familiar, that's because it's derived from the Chinese star festival, based on a similar story about 牛郎织女. The festival, held at Fujisawa, was jam-packed with people, many of whom were wearing yukatas. It was such a colourful and lively scene. There were many many things to be seen.

From decorations....

To people's wishes...

To mouth-watering food...

To games...

To cute kids!

After a few hours of walking around in the heat, I returned to the host family's place all hot and sweaty. A shower later, I emerged to find the abstination from all the festival food to be very worthwhile. This was dinner:

A little after we started dinner, Takako's grandfather came for his weekly weekend stay. My goodness, the guy's 86 years of age, and it does not show at all! He's still working as a chiropractic, and he's extremely sprightly and energetic. Like everyone else, he'd thought I couldn't speak Japanese, but like everyone else, he was somewhat relieved I could, which makes life much easier for everyone. =p After dinner, another member of the family came home - Takako's youngest brother, Makoto, who'd just returned from a school trip to Korea.

When I first heard that the family has four kids, I was pretty surprised! That's not too common nowadays, is it? And to be able to meet Satoshi, who only comes home once in a while because he studies in another prefecture; the grandfather, who only comes on weekends; and Makoto, whose school trip happened to end at that time (the oldest daughter is married and lives elsehwere)... Well, it was good. I got the feeling that the whole family, despite being big with dual working parents, is very close-knit. I guess that's partly due to the parents being warm and friendly, and the kids being pretty outgoing and willing to chat with their parents about their lives. Rather surprisingly, I got souvenirs from my host mom and dad, who were off travelling recently, as well as from Makoto. So sweet! Happy with my trinkets.

My host parents wanted to make the 1.5hours drive to some other place so that I can go to a waterfall the next day, but it turned out that the morning was extremely foggy, and it would be quite a waste to make such a long trip there to see more fog. Those plans were cancelled, but since we were up early at 7am (the whole family was up by 7.30am! Satoshi usually wakes up early, and Makoto didn't know the waterfall plan was cancelled - when I heard that, I was like wow, the whole family was going to go instead of just the parents, Takako and I!), host mommy taught me some stretch yoga to loosen my back and my body. Then we went back downstairs, and it was rather heartwarming to see them crowded in the kitchen, each pulling their weight and helping to make breakfast for 7 people. Here's the result:

Since we couldn't go to the waterfall, Takako, Satoshi and I set off for a walk along the beach. They're so fortunate that the beach is a mere 15-minute walk from their home.

Guess what I saw at one of the beachfront stores (which are only around in summer)? A pony! That's so random, isn't it? A pony on a beach, hmmm.

On the walk to Enoshima, which is near the beach, we spied a boat service to plies the water leading to the rear corner of the island. Since that's only available in the summer as well, and I'd never gone on it before, off we went!

Reaching that corner of the island, we saw many people fishing.

The big rock structures also reminded me of Sakurajima in Kagoshima.

After another round of walking around and taking some pictures in the scorching sun, we returned home (with me being the most burnt among us three >.<) to this wonderful sight on the table:

I think the host grand-daddy sprang for this, because I distinctly remember him saying that morning that he'll pay for the sushi if I can eat raw food. So sweet. I liked host grand-daddy, he's so jolly and jovial, and not that prone to long-windedness as compared to other old people. In addition, he has a sense of humour, and doesn't mind laughing at himself.

After lunch, an old お坊さん (something like master priest at a buddhist temple) came to their house for an early Obon visit. Obon is actually a Japanese buddhist custom to honour the departed spirits of one's ancestors, so the priest came and sang some scriptures. I was allowed to be there with the family, so there we were kneeling in the tatami room, listening to the priest sing/chant stuff we had no idea about (I asked the kids later, they all said they don't know what's going on, so it's not just me), followed by a little preaching/advice-giving session. After which, the adults had tea in the main living room, while the younger generation brought our tea and pudding to the side room. It was funny, Makoto asked his mom, "Did the priest bring this pudding for us?" And her reply, "Of course not! We bought this as thanks for the priest! He's the one doing us a favour, why would he bring food for us? Don't say such stupid stuff!" It was so funny, the way the conversation went. There was no heat behind her words, that's why we managed to have such a good laugh, while he just grinned sheepishly.

After the priest laughed, host mommy initiated a photo-taking session, which I thought was sweet. Usually adults don't seem to be that keen on taking photos, and more often than not, it would be the person being hosted who requests for a picture! Anyway, here's one of them, with all the people I spent the weekend with:

Amidst calls of "come back next time if you have the chance to, we can take you to the waterfall which we didn't manage to go to" and "let's meet for lunch in school", I made the journey back to Tokyo with Satoshi, who was on his way back to his apartment at Yamanashi. With me, I brought my souvenirs, and this:

When I returned to my room and ran through the weekend in my mind, I couldn't help but feel very, very happy. I thought that I was really lucky to be able to spend the weekend with this warm and friendly family, and to have my visit coincide with all those different events which don't happen everyday. At the same time, their invitation for me to go again before I return to Singapore seemed rather sincere. Since I'll be nearby when I move to my grandparents' place, maybe I'll bring some stuff and pop over to say hi! Takako is curious about the dorm too, so I'll sneak her in for a look next time, then we'll go for lunch and all that. Just like that, a new friend! All in all, it has been a most wonderful weekend, and I had sooo much fun. *happy sigh*