My class ran 3.5 hours late yesterday, so I wasn’t able to blog, but I’m here today, ready to finish talking about the Saga International Balloon Fiesta (SIBF)! Today, I’m going to be talking about the events around and near the SIBF.

Right next to the launch area itself were the official food stalls, then a bunch of other stalls. There were actually shows and stuff, and I really, really liked the Dog Circus. It was a bit hard to take pictures, because I had a cold then, but this is what I took:

This dog is seriously IMBA

The show was actually way more impressive than any of us expected. Although it was partly the dogs and partly the trainer. Like, WOAH.

And they made sure to emphasise the fact that these are rescue dogs and that they don’t mistreat the animals.

Top of the world

And near the bus stops, there was this scarecrow exhibit. Before you scroll down to the next thing, trust me, this scarecrow exhibit was… very unique. I went there with one senior and a friend, and then when I brought my other seniors and classmates there, everyone reacted very violently (partly because of our zemi). We all took tons of photos, but we couldn’t upload them at all.

Because you see… the first few scarecrows were political. They were for/against the changing of the constitution, and then against the TPP. And then there was the ‘most popular scarecrows’ contest thing, which I think just adds a new dimension to it.

Since we very specifically had a talk on topics you should not blog about (not to mention the lecturer was also part of the Net team), I’ll skip the political scarecrows and just show you the one that I voted for:

It’s the guy on the left. Nothing controversial about him.

There were actually a bunch of events going on in Saga, but I only managed to make it to one other place – Higata Yoka Park to look at the Shichimenso flowers! The park is along the Ariake sea, and the flowers are… I have no idea what they are actually.

It costs 100 yen to take the special bus directly there, and they were having a sort of festival when we arrived! But we sort of already got used to the festival stuff, so we walked straight to the shoreline… and saw an opportunity to touch some sea creatures!

I think this is a mudskipper

 Nope.

I don’t even know what this is.

NOPE.

I’m sure people like them, but not my zemi-mates and I. We just took photos and very quickly left.

Shichimenso flowers

To be honest, I sort of expected the flowers to be redder. But at least I saw lots of mudskippers in their natural habitats – and learnt how to very gingerly walk in mud as to not splash too much on my tights.

After we had enjoyed the flowers and mudskippers and the occasional crab, we walked around a little. There was this cool thing were people were roasting rice – a sort of popcorn?

And then, we found THIS:

Yes, I went on it. I can say that the first drop is practically 90 degrees. So sitting down at the top is scary, but once you fall, it’s really exhilarating. I was so unglam shrieking as I slid down. I don’t know how my classmate stayed silent.

And I saw this very interesting swing too!

It not only goes up and down, it also goes round and round. I really, really wanted to try this. But the two girls wouldn’t get off. (Actually, this playground is suitable for older kids too haha)

Oh well, I’ll just have to bring my brother or sisters here.

And that’s it for the SIBF!! Next year, it’s the international championships (or something like that), so it’s gonna last for ten days! If you’re in the area, you should definitely drop by at least one of the days.