I have heard of a barrel of monkeys, but never a bucket…

So this past week’s adventures include some very exciting things to write about. I’ll save the best for last though!

First off is the Suwa Lake Fireworks (Hanabi in Japanese, which is actually Fire Flower…a much more appropriate name if you ask me). This is the second largest fireworks show in Japan. The largest is in Tokyo, and how can Suwa, a city of under 200,000 compete with the 12.5 million ppl that demand only the best. But back to Suwa. As mentioned this display is on Suwa Lake, one of the largest lakes in Japan (it actually experiences tidal forces, read hi and low tide). Apparently over 1.4 million ppl attend this display. It is a 2 hour long display of various types of fireworks. This is actually part of a month long fireworks festival. Every day there is a 15 min show from a different group. There is the large night that I went to, and then on September 6th there is a bid for top spots next year, and all the new top secret fireworks are shown!

The night was great. We went early to try and beat some of the million odd ppl that all crowd in. We actually beat a lot of people, but still had to walk for 40 min. to find a spot to watch. With our big blue tarp down, and a body or two to watch the bags, it was time to brave the corner store for beer. Well if anyone ever tells you how polite Japanese ppl are, and that even in the Tokyo subway they only jostle, then they have never been to the bloody corner store during Suwa Lake fireworks! Using my powers of deduction, I sent my friend to stand in line to pay. I slowly moved towards the beer fridge, conveniently located in the back corner of the store. After some less than friendly pushing (from other ppl mind you, I am just the big Gaijin, I’m not actually in line for anything am I?) I finally made it to the beer cooler, and realized why some of the rude ppl had baskets (number 1 they hold a lot more beer than my hands, and number 2 they are good for pushing people and making it look accidental.) So there I am filling my arms with cans (why no 6 packs, why?) and I close the fridge door and turn to leave, only to get bowled over by some middle aged man a woman. They seriously shoved me into the door to the staff area; I almost landed on a staff member bent down to restock shelves. So needless to say(to those who know me)in a Canadian Moose way, I shove back. They lost their place in front of the beer fridge, and I had space to leave. Met up with my friend, paid, and got the hell out…to the slightly less crowded streets. Imagine Denman or Davie after the ‘Celebration of Light,’ and multiply that by a good 10 fold. The rest of the afternoon for me was spent eating and drinking on the tarp, too many people for my tastes!

The show itself was spectacular. I would describe the show, but I think describing something inherently visual, as fireworks are, is more than a little ridiculous. I have photos from my camera, but I haven’t loaded them onto my computer yet. And, I wont even go into leaving the damn place. 2 hours in a car just to get to the highway! Ok, enough about Suwa.


Time for some Monkey business!
On Saturday, me and the other dudes hit up the Monkey Park and Onsen. This is where the famous Time cover of a snow covered Monkey in a hot spring was taken. It is a short drive and a shorter hike from my part of town, so we headed over. For about 5 bucks, you get all the time you want to observe monkeys. This is no safari either; the monkeys are all around you. They run under your legs, they walk on the bridge with you. They are absolutely adorable. There are babies and moms; there are old guys and the next generation of leaders as well. It was really cool to see. Especially when they swim in the hot springs there! I can wait to go back in the winter.

There are 2 moments I will choose to describe.
1) I was watching some monkeys climbing cables that cross a river that is in the middle of the park. The monkeys are kinda dumb, but they have that figured out. All of a sudden I see a monkey in a bucket suspended over the river. It was hilarious. That’s all I’ll say, the photo is better.
2) Like I said Monkeys are dumb. There is a clear PVC pipe that one of the caretakers puts an apple piece, right in the centre. The monkeys arms are too short to reach the piece so they need to use a stick to push or pull the apple to where they can reach. Well it took one monkey a good 20 min to get it all worked out, and then a bigger monkey almost stole the piece. Then after the first one succeeded, a second piece was placed. This monkey though didn’t figure out that the stick in the tube would help, so he kept tossing it out, no matter how many times the caretaker put it back. We finally got bored and left before the damn monkey got the apple!

Well here are some monkey photos!