Horan-Enya (8 January to 10 January 2011)

The colourful ship with the almost naked men...

Horan-Enya Festival is held to pray for a safe, prosperous New Year and a bountiful catch for the fishermen of the town. Men in loincloths row the colourfully decorated boats and throw mochi to people on the shore. They would also jump into the chilly water and swim to the shore.

Tanabe Sensei's hometown is in Bungotakada, so she invited me to stay at her house and attend the above mentioned festival. I managed to get some mochi which is suppose to represent good luck, but I didn't get any good prizes from the lucky draw, only won a packet of crackers. After the festival, we went to Usa Shrine which is a famous shrine in Oita.



6 lucky draw tickets... 1 packet of crackers...

Usa Shrine

Tanabe sensei's parents, auntie and Ba-chan are so nice! Her father drove us around, brought us to onsen, drove us to the festival and also to visit Usa Shrine; her mother prepared lots of delicious food (Kimchi Nabe, Sukiyaki and breakfasts) for us; her aunt gave me mikans and cakes for tea; her Ba-Chan is 90 years old and she is so cute, like a child (reciting ABC and kept asking who I am everytime I go and see her). I had a great time there. Thanks to the Tanabe family for the homestay programme!

Kimchi Nabe for dinner on the 1st night

Sukiyaki for dinner on the 2nd night

Yummy breakfast

Ba-chan and Auntie

Tanabe sensei's parents