we went to the tofu festival today. we really enjoyed going last year but since we went on day 2 and some of the food was already gone by then, we decided that even though we can't go on day 1 this year, we would at least go first thing for day 2. well, in typical calavera contingent fashion, that didn't happen! we got there much later so it was hard to find parking. we decided to just park at the old yaohan complex and figured we'd come back to do some grocery shopping to validate parking but we didn't shop there afterall. we wanted to watch the iron chef morimoto demonstration at the tofu festival but we got there too late for that. we were able to cover all the booths in about 1.5 hours. this year the tofu festival didn't seem as great. nor did the nisei week parade either. i suppose last year was so fun because it was after we got back from new zealand and somehow everything seems more exciting when you just get back from new zealand! first off, the food was pretty much the same. second, the freebies last year were better, hehehe.

let me see if i can recall all the various things we ate this year: tofurky sandwich (which was on a cheap hot dog bun and consisted mostly of bell peppers), tofu tostada (seemed like a slightly different recipe than last year but still one of the best food items at the festival), soy pasta salad, tofu salad, cooked tofu with soy sauce, cooked tofu with basil and tomatoes, and shaved ice with green tea flavoring.

we finished the tofu festival just as the nisei week parade was starting at 4pm. twiddle thumbs's parents decided to watch the parade (wherever there's a parade, you will find them there) so we went to go meet up with them. last year i didn't get a good shot of the awa dancers so this year i made that a focal point. i also tried to focus on children in the parade as well. i was trying to think of ways to photograph a parade to make it more exciting, but by the time i thought to do that the parade was almost over. i realized i had been taking too many long shots which are so very boring. i needed close-ups of people. this year there were no celebrities in the parade but otherwise it felt pretty much the same, just shorter? perhaps. the dogs were at least interesting to look at, especially those that dressed up like some members of the akita group.

after the parade finished, we walked over to eat at a japanese restaurant. since we were standing where the parade started, we ended up in an area where the parade was still going on. we waited and when there was a sufficient break inbetween the marchers? (well there wasn't exactly floats but it was cars actually) we walked across the street to get to the other side (to the japanese restaurant where the chicken unfortunately walked to and ended up on the menu). we picked this restaurant because we ate here not too long ago with my mom and the tofu katsu was delicious! this was the first time twiddle thumbs's dad was eating japanese food and i think twiddle thumbs's mom's second time. he was not open to trying new things but she was. it was a little difficult to pick something for him that he would eat but we settled on teriyaki chicken. of course, he asked for hot sauce and lemon to mexicanize it.

then we walked over to buy imagawayaki--it's mandatory everytime we go to little tokyo. they were popular and i had to wait 15-20 minutes for my order. the guy asked for my name so they could call for me when they were ready. i was shocked when he asked me to spell my name. i gave him a funny look and the old lady working with him also gave him a funny look. i see someone did not go to japanese school on saturdays or have any japanese friends!