i wanted to go to nisei week this year because i hadn't been since i was a kid and to attend the tofu festival since i actually eat the stuff now. i have been looking forward to this since new zealand. maybe this is the last of the things i was looking forward to coming back to. since my mom now works for the okinawa association of america and they participate in a lot of these type of cultural events, my mom said she'd be working a little by handing out water to parade marchers and that twiddle thumbs and i should do the same. we didn't hand out anything! here's how the day went...

we picked up some old ladies as usual. everytime we do some japanese thing with my mom, she has to pick up old ladies and be the driver because the other ladies are sunday drivers--they don't dare drive freeways--making my mom the designated driver. straight off, we didn't like the ladies or one in particular because i heard her say something blunt ("those are your daughters? they are big. twice your size!") and i translated it for twiddle thumbs who got really offended. i told her that's the way it is and she better get used to it for when she visits japan. at my skinniest, when i could fit into my brother's jeans (who has always been thin), i visited japan and everyone commented on how fat i was. thanks guys! visiting last year was better because i could at least say that i lost a lot of weight and my mother could vouch that i was no longer a whale. plus one of my relatives had gotten fat and kept making jokes about their new size.

once we got to little tokyo, we let out the old ladies, parked, and went to the japanese american national museum. damn, they've really gotten a lot of donations since the last time i went because they have a spectacular new building. then again, i only went to the museum when they first opened and had no money. now they are in the building next door which looks like it was purpose built. we went there to kill time, use the restroom, and enjoy the air conditioning. we only viewed the taiko exhibit then got too hungry so we went to the tofu festival, swearing we would return to look around upstairs.

someone on the foundation board is a real go-getter

watch out, it's tofuzilla!

the tofu festival is a separate event that you have to pay to get into. it takes place for 2 days only. today was the second day. it costs $8 but we had a $1 off coupon. once inside, several vendors have free samples. you purchase tickets (or 'scrips') to use for transactions instead of money. a lot of dishes cost 2 tickets, some only 1 ticket. the expensive items were beer for 5 tickets but we don't drink. house foods was the first vendor we visited and they must have a lot of money because they were giving away food, pens, and quarts of soy milk. (the sample of soy time banana soy milk was delicious!) other big names that were there include tofurky and tofutti. tofutti products are always good but i don't really dig tofurky unless it's their deli slices.

one thing that i wasn't planning on doing today was signing up for the marrow donors bank. i had always thought such a thing would be good to do but my thoughts never went further on the matter. there was a tent to sign up and test for asian americans. i figure out of all the minorities, probably those of mixed race are among the rarest in the database so i better do my part. it was really quick and painless. just like when you do the pre-test for blood donation or test your blood if you're diabetic. they'll take my sample and do what they will with it. and if someday i match someone in need, then i will be contacted. you are on file until you reach 61. just another place i'll have to remember to contact when i move around.

there was a couple t-shirt incidents at the tofu festival. one was a kid wearing a "i went to middle earth and all i got was this crummy t-shirt" shirt. i went up to him and asked if he really went or just got the shirt. he was completely clueless. i had to point out what he's wearing. i told him i just came back. he still had a blank look. i clarified by saying i spent 6 months in new zealand. "oh..." this was one of the kids trying to recruit people for the marrow bank. not like he talked me into it but when he asked i said as long as the wait isn't long! ahahahaaaa

the other t-shirt incident was a kid wearing a ucsc shirt. i had to do a double take to make sure. yep, ucsc. so i asked him cautiously if he goes there or if it was a gift. he said he will be going this year as a freshman. i told him that everyone i meet wearing a ucsc shirt doesn't go there, just a gift. he was kind of excited to talk to someone who went to ucsc (wide-eyed freshman) and everytime i tried to end the conversation, he kept timidly trying to continue it. good luck to ya kid!

after the tofu festival, we walked around a bit (saw someone wearing some earth day ucsc shirt and didn't bother to talk to him, first time i pass up a ucsc shirt but hey, it's gotta be something more 'official') and headed back to the japanese american museum as the okinawan members would be assembling outside of the building to prepare for parade participation. since everyone kinda knows my mom and she works for the association and all, we almost got talked into joining the parade but no thanks, this year we're spectators! i have camera duties, damn it! so i guess next year i'll be in the parade.

okinawa association marchers

during the parade, there were the usual suspects:

remembering the camps and veterans of ww2

geeks

freaks

who the hell are you?!

the last two photos are of the mad rush that happened when the car with kat-tun, some japanese idols, came by. they're from the company johnny's that manufactures all the successful young boy groups (hikaru genji, smap, kinki kids). surprised to see all the non-japanese girls rush the car as well. white girls, black girls, it doesn't matter. japanese teen mania has penetrated america. we had no the idea who they were and i was starting to piece the puzzle together before the car arrived because all these young girls were carrying signs and fans with pictures of a young man with dyed acid hair. i just didn't realize it was for a group of guys, not one guy. as one lady next to us who didn't know who they were either put it, "if you have to ask who it is, then you're old."