Hanami!

Finally, cherry blossom season is upon us!


The trees are in full bloom everywhere and I couldn't be loving it more!


When the cherry blossoms come out, it's a Japanese tradition to head out for "hanami" (cherry blossom party).

Japanese people go out with their family or friends and flock upon one of the many cherry blossom-filled parks. They bring their blue tarps, their food, and most importantly, their booze. They sit under the blossoms and get drunk while petals rain down on them. It's truly magical.

We had our very first hanami this weekend at Osaka Castle Park. Osaka Castle is absulutely beautiful, and even more so when surrounded by the beautiful cherry blossoms.

I did not expect Osaka to be so... crazy though! Everyone in Japan, it seemed, came to Osaka for hanami on the same day! Trains were packed to the brim! The convenience store actually had a huge line to get in! It was sheer madness! We stupidly left our food shopping until Osaka, thinking that this away we wouldn't have to carry the food around for long. Big mistake. It took us a good half hour to get into and out of the convenience store.

We finally got to Osaka Park Castle and then had to wait more, lining up to get into the garden! It was worth the wait though and we found ourselves surrounded by canopies of blossoms, with food stalls cooking up noodles and okonomiyakis.


We sat down with our group. Booze and food was shared around. Every time the wind blew, cherry blossom petals feel in our hair, on the food, and wafted dreamily along in the breeze. The atmosphere was something I'm not likely to forget. I'm saddened to think that the cherry blossom season will be over in a week or so and I'll not get to do this again!