The 2nd Falconry Festival was held on March 21st at a village in Akqi County, Xinjiang, China. Hundred of falcon tamers, mainly Kyrgyz people, performed various demonstrations during the event.
Falconry (hunting with eagles/falcons) has a long history in the region; Kyrgyz nomads have been hunting with golden eagles for thousand of years. The eagles are known as Berkut in local language, and the activity is called Berkutchi.
Hina Matsuri (雛祭り – doll festival), or Girls’ Day is a traditional Japanese festival held on March 3rd annually to celebrate the girls’ healthy growth.
Cha Ca La Vong is a restaurant in Hanoi famous for its grilled fish (Cha Ca) dish which was created some 130 years ago. The restaurant/dish is so famous that the street is named after it, and it’s featured in almost every single Hanoi’s travel guide.
There’s one problem though, as some other restaurants are riding on its fame with similar name and menu to take advantage of naive foreign travellers, and I was one of the fallen prey of the conspiracy during my Hanoi trip in July 2008…
Seollal (설날), or Korean New Year, is the first day of the Lunar Calendar and one of the two most important traditional Korean holidays (the other is Chuseok).
Seijin no Hi (成人の日; literally adult’s day) is a national holiday in Japan which falls on the second Monday in January each year. The holiday is for young Japanese who reached the legal age of adulthood (20) to celebrate their new status.
A Seijin Shiki (成人式; coming-of-age ceremony) is normally held in the morning at local city offices where politicians and academicians will give speeches reminding the new adults of their social responsibilities. The Shin Seijin (新成人; new adults) would often visit a shrine after the ceremony to make their wishes and go for parties later on.
Young ladies are often seen in traditional Furisode on the day, while guys in business suit or traditional Hakama. Sharing a few 2009 pics by Dannychoo the Stormtrooper in Tokyo; obviously a paradise for photography geeks…
Fukubukuro (福袋; lucky bag) is a grab bag filled with random items and traditionally on sale for a substantially discounted price on New Year’s Day in Japan. Thousands of Japanese shoppers would line-up early morning on January 1st to hunt for the goodies at department stores and various shopping outlets.
According to Wiki, Fukubukuro was originated from Ginza’s Matsuya Department Store in late Meiji period (1868-1912) and has since become a widespread custom in Japan. The practise was probably first used to offload excess merchandises, but has now evolved into marketing and branding campaigns.
The items in the Fukubukuro is not quite as random compared to early days… lots of the lucky bags these days are themed accordingly (gadgets, apparels, toys etc) and sometimes offered by a particular brand. The shoppers have a good chance of getting what they want, or at least not totally unwanted items.
Photos of some outdoor exhibits of various Vietnam’s ethnic tribes at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi, taken during my Hanoi visit in July 2008…
Flickr user Vintage Lulu is sharing her collection of Geisha postcards from late 19th and early 20th century; some of the postcards are reproduction and purchased in Japan while others original period pieces acquired in the UK… [via Neatorama]
I am not sure if geisha is the right word to describe the postcards though… most of those ladies look like ordinary people (including some westerners) wearing traditional Japanese kimonos instead of real geishas. The pics are pretty neat nonetheless.
