{"id":111,"date":"2024-09-19T08:02:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T08:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/?p=111"},"modified":"2024-09-21T00:26:30","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T00:26:30","slug":"where-is-the-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/?p=111","title":{"rendered":"Where is the festival?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>9\/18 \u2013 Neko Matsuri\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>THERE IS A CAT FESTIVAL!!!\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cat themed items, cat themed foods, etc etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Meeting up with a friend to hang out. He and I played Grand Archive in Houston and he\u2019s gonna be in Tokyo around the same time as me so it should be fun<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Reality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>9\/18 \u2013 Neko Matsuri\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>THERE IS A CAT FESTIVAL ON SUNDAY WHILE IM NOT IN TOKYO<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Went to my first shrine, paid some respects\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bought a fortune, it was a good one!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Met up with a stranger from Reddit (Sam) had fun visiting shrines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sam and I met my friend Steven and his sister at a nearby Cat Cafe\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Apparently this one was different than others. Much more interactive with the cats.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You could pat them, go over to them, etc.. It was a rescue shelter with a free drink.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The cats were great. Some of them weren&#8217;t trusting, but overall they were sweet.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It was so nice to pet a cat again. Big highlight. I love cats. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I got my passport to the Neko Republic and they had a constitution! It was cute.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sam got me addicted to Rhythm games in the arcade<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Steven and I went to go play cards. Great time!\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Always nice seeing Koike and Ruy again. They&#8217;re coming to Singapore to play.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Koike thanked me for my advice on playing and fixing his deck with some MTG packs.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wonderful dude. I&#8217;m excited to force him to do Karaoke with me in Singapore lmao.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Neko Republic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I first went to meet my friend Steven at the cat festival, but I checked the local temple and it looked they were still setting up for vendors. Turns out the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">real<\/span> festival is Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"6f736f\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #6f736f;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"127\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120005-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-127 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120005-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120005-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120005-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120005-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120005-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120005-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Stairs leading up to Yushima Shrine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"967f71\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #967f71;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"125\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918121741-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-125 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918121741-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918121741-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918121741-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918121741-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918121741-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918121741-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The prayer altar at Yushima<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"7f8a8f\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #7f8a8f;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"124\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918122350-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-124 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918122350-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918122350-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918122350-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918122350-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918122350-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918122350-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The temple itself<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"817d7a\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #817d7a;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"126\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120536-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-126 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120536-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120536-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120536-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120536-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120536-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918120536-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A good fortune I bought for 200 yen!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"818282\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #818282;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"123\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135234-1-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-123 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135234-1-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135234-1-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135234-1-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135234-1-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135234-1-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135234-1-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Another Tori Gate leading to a temple near Akihabara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"857e76\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #857e76;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"122\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135236-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-122 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135236-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135236-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135236-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135236-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135236-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918135236-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The temple near Akibara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I did visit a cat cafe and got to pet a lot of cats. I&#8217;m really thankful for that. They are always just so unapologetically themselves. That&#8217;s also something someone from the tour group said about why they enjoy sales. You can just do your own thing and everything is up to you as long as you hit your numbers. She&#8217;s in software sales for a product I&#8217;ve used the free tier of. I appreciated it at the time and moreso when it was echoed by my friend&#8217;s sentiment at the cat shelter. Big fan of cats. Have been since 3000 B.C..<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cat shelter had a little passport that you have to &#8220;apply for&#8221; by agreeing that you&#8217;ll be respectful and let sleeping cats lie, and not hit the cats with toys, etc.. Some of the cats were so energetic (the kittens especially!) and they were cute and fun. Some cats were uhhh, less than trusting because they&#8217;re rescues. I get it. Fool me once! Great times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Get in the Gaming Oasis (GiGO)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After the cat cafe, we leaned on my friend who speaks pretty fluent Japanese to bring us to a local spot to get some Sakana-don (fish bowl). He kinda walked me through the steps of ordering. The food was great. It&#8217;s all raw, and I had Salmon roe, Tuna and Octopus. Octopus is really delicious when sliced thin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"8c7f78\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #8c7f78;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918142928-1-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-121 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918142928-1-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918142928-1-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918142928-1-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918142928-1-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918142928-1-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918142928-1-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Great food, great prices!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, with the help of my newfound friend Sam, I have become addicted to rhythm games again lol. I played this game where you are sweeping across this piano and Sam had brought his own gloves. He didn&#8217;t put them on until we weren&#8217;t looking. But I told him that&#8217;s awesome. The game has a ton of songs I actually know, and it was cool to play. I also played this other game where you slide cards around on the screen. I have like 3 cards now to play with next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"705f6c\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #705f6c;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150404-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-113 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150404-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150404-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150404-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150404-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150404-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150404-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"60666f\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #60666f;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"118\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150407-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-118 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150407-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150407-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150407-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150407-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150407-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150407-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">IN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-dominant-color=\"61656e\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #61656e;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"119\" src=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150328-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-119 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150328-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150328-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150328-1152x1536.webp 1152w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150328-1536x2048.webp 1536w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150328-1024x1365.webp 1024w, https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG20240918150328-scaled.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">GE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Someone brought their entire Kancolle Collection deck to play with. They&#8217;re cards you scan into the machine to use certain characters. I love the cards and scanning thing and have since I was a kid. It&#8217;s why I was into NFTs tbh. It&#8217;s actually really cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Back to EvoCafe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After that, we rushed back to EvoCafe because we thought they were having their store champs. I forgot my deck so I was just gonna go play one on loan or judge the event so the owner of the store could play. Turns out the event was Saturday lol. Second date screw-up in one day. Just kill me lol. So we played some free play, and I played vs some noobs and taught them some good combos, good tactics and how to play better using broken Japanese. I think they understood. I let them win one too \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stayed there until 22:45 then bought a couple<strong> strong zeros <\/strong>and headed back to the hotel. Any train after 10pm is crowded as heck until you get out of the Shinjuku\/Shibuya area and like 3 more stops from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I came back, started typing this and lo and behold, I turn on the TV and <strong><em>ONOSATO<\/em><\/strong> (\u5927\u306e\u91cc) is on there! (You may remember him as the famous sumo I was rooting for yesterday) What a cool thing. Serendipitous that I should see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s mostly the end of my itinerary. I am planning on seeing Kabuki matinee at 11am so I gotta run. After that, it&#8217;s taking the shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto and then on to &#8220;open world sim&#8221; mode where I have no itinerary in Kyoto except meeting up with a friend from day 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay safe and healthy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Day 6 &#8211; I was told there would be cats&#8230; Where are all the cats??<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,15,10,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-event","category-japan","category-tokyo","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141,"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trentonbollinger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}