My good friend Yasuko admiring sakura flowers at Mazuri park yesterday. Our annual hanami -cherry blossom viewing party- was really pleasant, despite windgusts and approaching thunderstorms (we narrowly escaped the worst of it!).
The much anticipated cherry blossom season was a bit of a non-event this year due to the unusually warm temperatures at the end of March (causing leaves to sprout early) & then the equally bizarre amounts of rain & wind in the first week of April. But the hardy Japanese don't let the forces of nature get to them too much - having a picknick underneath the sakura petals is considered a must in spring by most people here so they braved the elements anyway! 
Checking out what's on offer at the food stalls in the Fukuoka Castle area
While I actually slightly prefer the pink shade of the plum tree (blasphemy in a country which has adopted the sakura flower as one of its national symbols!), this t
ime of year in Japan 
definitely has a magical quality to it. Admiring the trees from up close is all part of that - I certainly never did this at home :-). Nor did Vaughan ever put a sakura petal in his hair, let's put that down to the spirit of the moment! Hanging out for an afternoon in the park with Yukino, Emi, Yasuko, Roman and some other friends was great fun; I'd love to continue this tradition after we leave Fukuoka. Our grand plan is to have a cherry blossom tree in our future garden in New Zealand and have an annual gathering of hanami-lovers. Dreams, I've got a million of them...
ime of year in Japan 
definitely has a magical quality to it. Admiring the trees from up close is all part of that - I certainly never did this at home :-). Nor did Vaughan ever put a sakura petal in his hair, let's put that down to the spirit of the moment! Hanging out for an afternoon in the park with Yukino, Emi, Yasuko, Roman and some other friends was great fun; I'd love to continue this tradition after we leave Fukuoka. Our grand plan is to have a cherry blossom tree in our future garden in New Zealand and have an annual gathering of hanami-lovers. Dreams, I've got a million of them...
4 comments:
Prachtige foto! Ben benieuwd naar de rest!
Hey guys. Finally managed to find your blog page. Nice to see you're still enjoying things there.
Yeah hanami's real pretty. Up in the colder reaches of Nippon it's even more welcomed & pretty after all those months of snow on the ground.
Sorry to hear Vaughan's been crook. Some of the Japanese viri are really nasty. Guy I worked with was hospitalised for 2 weeks & I wound up in hospital too (thus finding out that Japanese medicine really does favour the suppository as a drug delivery route!).
Glad to see your enjoying your job Inge. Here I'm getting to the end of my contract & soon be home again.
Sorry to hear Vaughan's study's not going to well. Same for me & I've delayed the presentation of my thesis.
Hey Brett, nice to hear from you, I hope Melbourne has been a good experience! Sorry we haven't been in touch - as you can read, life has been hectic the past few months. Working as an editor is really fascinating though :-). Not sure when I mentioned that Vaughan's study's not going well because he's actually getting A+ for almost every paper (geek!). Will write soon xxx
Vaughan - kawai ne. Very pretty in pink
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