Usually every Wednesday our team is reporting to the office but recently, I've been too lazy there are some hindrances that prevented me to go to the office to work. After working from home for a month, I finally went out of the house and went to the office.
My day started with me almost fainting in Shinjuku Station. Why? Because I tried to run. I needed to rush so I could catch the train going to the office - I mean I don't wanna be late. No worries, I didn't faint (almost though!) and I wasn't late today! 😉
And what's more, when I arrived in Ebisu, I saw lanterns on the street indicating there's a festival going on!
I've already shared to you what a normal day in Ebisu looks like in this post. Today is a different look - the festive day of Ebisu.
During lunchtime, I always go to Starbucks and stay there with a cup of coffee but since there's a matsuri or a festival today, I skipped my coffee and headed on to explore the food stalls. Festival food, here I come!
 |  |
|---|
 |  |
|---|
There are a lot of stalls! I think there are around 40 in the street surrounding Ebisu Shrine. Actually, I counted but my view was blocked by the trees so I only counted til 17 but this was only the half part. There are still more so around 40 is somewhat of a close estimation. 😅
The smell of the food coming from the stalls reached my workplace. I mean, our office is just located across the street where the food stalls are. 😅 It's cool outside so I opened the window, and because of it, the aroma is making me so hungry.
I bought takoyaki for my lunch and brought it to my desk at work because I didn't want to stand in the street and eat it. Regretted getting this takoyaki because it wasn't hot. Takoyaki is best eaten when it's hot.
I also bought choco banana for 300 yen (around 2 USD) just because I missed banana and it looks so colorful. I also kinda regretted buying it from that store where I got it because the banana wasn't as sweet as I have imagined it. I should have gotten it from the other stores where I could still see them making it. There are also other cool designs from other stores. Why do I know of this? I saw high schoolers enjoying their choco banana when I passed by the other stall selling choco bananas.
I got myself a 水飴 (read as mizuame which means water candy) too. It's my first time trying this. It tastes like normal candy, just that it's not formed as the candy we know of. It's colorful and it's sweet - not too sweet. It's only 200 yen (or around 1.34 USD) and you get to play rock-paper-scissors (or janken in Japanese) with the guy selling it. If you win, you can get 2! If you lose or it's a draw, only one. What do you think? Did I win? 😅
I shared the marshmallow one to my coworker. I ate the pineapple one.
The stalls aren't just selling food. There are also stalls selling spices, and toys and there are games too! When I went around, there were a few people catching fish and playing the pinwheel-like game.
Of course, this festival is all because of Ebisu Shrine so I went there to see what's up. It's actually my first time visiting the shrine so I was a bit surprised that it's a small and intimate shrine.
There were people falling in line to pay their respects, and on the other side, there's a booth for the charms or the お守り (read as omamori) and 御神籤 (read as omikuji or the sacred lot). As it's customs to wash both hands before praying to cleanse yourself, I did it but I didn't proceed on praying further.
 |  |
|---|
At noon, there was a guy giving out a bottle of beverage to the people who just prayed and since I didn't, I tried to hide from him so he wouldn't give me the drink. It's for free but someone else will need that more than me. 😂
Inteestingly, outside the shrine, there's a booth about knife sharpening and I heard you can get a knife for free there too. I didn't inquire about it though, I'm very very shy.
 |  |
|---|
I went back after work and the shrine was still full of people but the guy giving out the drink was already gone. Probably he ran out of drinks to give. 😅 The booth for knife sharpening was gone too. I think they're only doing it during lunch time.
To reach the shrine, I needed to pass by the stalls. This time, there are more people than when I went there during lunch time.
I wanted to buy the baby castela during lunch time but I wasn't able to buy it so I decided to buy it and take it home. The queue was long but it's also the same for almost all of the stalls.
 |  |
|---|
I'm happy to see that there are a lot of people. It's been 2 or 3 years since they had the festival. Though it wasn't a major one, it's definitely something you would want to attend to if you're in the area. I believe the festival is until tomorrow so why don't you drop by if not tonight then tomorrow? 😅
And oh yeah, before I left Ebisu tonight, I took a snap of Ebisu, the Japanese god of fishermen and luck. You can read more about his origins and legends in Wikipedia.
This post is an addition to the #WednesdayWalk initiative by 
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.