Pinta Flores Festival

Start:	Nov 3, '10
End:	Nov 5, '10
Location:	San Carlos City, Negros, Philippines

This city in the sugar-producing island of Negros Occidental honors its patron saint, San Carlos Borromeo, with a pageant where participants with floral painted bodies dance in rhythmic beat as they wind through the major streets.



It features street dancing by "tribes" dressed in colorful ethnic-inspired costumes, their bodies painted with flower designs reminiscent of the tattoed Visayans of the Pre Spanish Negros.



pictures from the internet.

Karatsu Kunchi

Start:	Nov 2, '10
End:	Nov 4, '10
Location:	Kyushu, Japan

Celebrated at the Karatsu Shrine and known for its colorful parade of floats.

The festival, which begins on the evening of November 2 and concludes on the 4th, features daily parades of fourteen hikiyama. These are massive floats in the form of dragons, samurai helmets, sea bream, and other supercalifragilistic creatures, all constructed from lacquer, wood and other materials.

It is designated as part of Japan's important intangible ethnic and cultural heritage. Every year, over 150,000 (sometimes reaching 500,000) spectators crowd both sides of the street and give thanks for the year's harvest. After the festival, the floats are exhibited in the float museum behind Karatsu Shrine.





pictures from the internet

Thank you to Mommy Loy for her pasta ala limone recipe in my Arrabbiata post ages ago. I tweaked it to use the dab of butter AND oil from the fried bacon strips I tossed into the pasta. With my lemoncito and cut-up leftover cheese (sorry, no more grated cheddar in my ref), am having pasta diet :-) Bacon grease rules!

Just finished my first home-made leche flan with condensed milk made in my condo. A bit too sweet but its firm texture compensates for this extra sugar.

Tokyoite Urban Anthropology lesson: What is an "Obatarian"? Answer: This combines "oba-san" (older woman or aunt) and the suffix "-genarian". They are known for shouldering their way into buses and trains, generally getting their way and even terrorizing shop assistants. The male equivalent is "ojitarian" (oji-san is uncle or older man). They are generally sour and uncommunicative, pick their teeth in public and wear unfashionable clothes.

Autumn Foliage Season (Koyo) 2010

Start:	Sep 14, '10
End:	Nov 30, '10
Location:	Japan

The Autumn Color report for 2010 from japan guide!!



Colorful leaves (koyo) are to the Japanese autumn what cherry blossoms are to spring.

Starting in mid September, the "koyo front" slowly moves southwards from the northern island of Hokkaido until it reaches the lower elevations of central and southern Japan towards the end of November.

Some trees around Tokyo and Kyoto remain colorful into early December.

Note to self:
Look especially for maple tree! This goes through a minor spectrum of oranges and yellows before culminating in a fiery red....

patatas topped with blueberry jam and paired with green tea - perfect food experiment before going to sleep....zzzzz...(btw patatas na sopas...not soup and not the vegetable!)