Sometimes you just gotta try something new...

At least, it wasn't new for me, however the person that I wanted to write the post refused to do it so it's left to me. Maybe she'll leave a comment about what her opinion of it was (*hint*hint*). I guess I need to backtrack a little bit.

It first started before John and I left for Saint Louis for an old high school friend's after-wedding reception. John decided to look up events going on in Saint Louis so that we would have more of a reason to go than just my friend's wedding (John had never met her before so he felt really out of place) and found out that the Japanese Festival was going on at Missouri Botanical Garden. John hadn't really been to the Festival before but thought it would be fun and I knew that I would enjoy it.

John didn't seem to have much fun at the reception, particularly after they started the music. John tends to be one of those guys (I guess I should say that most guys are this way) that would rather stay off on the sidelines. I hate dancing on the floor without my man with me, even though I will go and do it anyway (the music tends to be too much for me to ignore most of the time). So off John goes with Drac (Moueska's man) and JR (my friend Lar's husband back from basic). Next thing I know the first slow song is a ladies choice (I think it had to do with the fact that the only man on the floor was Mr. Barnes with Mrs. Barnes for the sing songs) so off I went to try and drag John onto the floor. Of course John wrangles a promise from me that we would be leaving after that.

So after that one slow song John and I let my sister and Drac know that we are about to head out to the Japanese Festival and they decided to join us. So after saying our farewells to our friend and her new husband Moueska agrees to meet us at the front of the Garden.

We John and I get there and call them. It turned out that they took a sidetrip to visit Tom's dad and pick up some chairs in case we ended up watching the taiko drums in the evening. When they called I told them that we would go ahead in and meet them when they got through. So John and I walked around and browsed the vendors and watched a little kids parade until they got there. By the time they got there though, the only thing left that we would be able to watch was the taiko drums so Drac and John set up the chairs while my sister and I went "shopping." I put that in quotations because neither Moues nor I have a job right now so we were trying to limit our budget. While we were there we saw a lot that we wished we could afford but we knew that we couldn't. There was one thing however that I had been looking for a loooooong time that I decided that I could justify buying. In the gift shop I found a kite with a dragon head on it and a long tail. I just couldn't help it. It is currently hanging on the wall of my library and waiting for the day when the winds are blowing calling for the dragon to fly free.

After we watched the taiko drums for a while, John decided that we needed to head out early as he didn't think Wasabi would be open long enough to go there if we stayed for the whole show. So off we go to Washington Avenue for some good (at least in my opinion) sushi, miso and salad with ginger dressing. I don't know what Moueska and Drac thought of the whole experience, maybe Moueska can give us a rundown on her blog (*hint hint*).