Sakura 花見

​On Tuesday April 3rd, my friend Juliette and I went on an adventure to see the cherry blossoms before they all fell! This was literally only two days after I had landed in Japan. The past two weeks have been very eventful and I hope to catch you all up on the adventures!

Juliette and I met after my 2nd day of orientation. However, Juliette does not have a pocket wifi OR a sim card, meaning she relies on free wifi from convenience stores and train stations. So, meeting at a place we had both never been to was definitely a challenge. We spent a good 20-30 minutes just looking for each other. We both also have bad knees that were not too happy with all the walking. 

Once we found each other we were super hungry. We ended up eating at super cute ochazuke (お茶ずけ) place. Ochazuke is a rice bowl that comes with a few side dishes and sauce. You pour the sauce over the rice, eat majority of the main toppings, and the leftover rice you pour tea over to make a soup base. It's typically a winter food but since it is still slightly chilly here it was perfect

After our delicious and adorable lunch

We walked over to the Hamarikyu Gardens, shout out to google maps for suggesting the place. It cost 300¥ (~$3) to enter the park. The views were absolutely gorgeous, and as you walked through the park there were more beautiful views including multiple lakes and a tea house. We stopped at this stand selling sakura/spring inspired desserts. I love mochi so I didn't really have a choice, I had to get some. I got two desserts one called sanshoku dango (3 colors) and the other was shiawase (happiness) mochi. 

After some cute pics, we decided to stop at the tea house on the lake for some traditional Matcha green tea and wagashi (和菓子) a traditional sweet. We found a seat for two outside overlooking the water. The moment we got our tea and wagashi we looked at each other and said "yeah I think I've peaked." I can't describe in words how that moment felt. Eating the delicate wagashi as it melted in my mouth, just to follow it with the slightly bitter yet refreshing matcha as it warmed my belly, to then opening my eyes to the beautiful sight of the lake lined with sakura trees. ​Something I hope to never forget.

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After finishing our tea, we continued to walk around the gardens, taking pictures of almost every tree, wholeheartedly convinced they all looked completely different.  It was amazing because although it was slightly chilly due to the wind, the wind would occasionally blow through the trees causing the most beautiful scenes. I almost liked the falling of cherry blossoms more than looking at them on the trees. By the time we left the park I was limping from how much my knee hurt but it was worth it! After the park we made our way to Juliette's neighborhood about an hour away (everything is an hour away *eyeroll*). We had dinner at a revolving sushi restaurant, called sushiro. Sushiro is a popular chain in Japan and super cheap! We got full on SUSHI for only about $10 each!! Definitely a great way to end the day of activities.