Tokyo Love

The stories of the radiation leaks in Japan is truly truly breaking my heart. As much as I love the country, my family is seriously considering cancelling our trip to Tokyo and Kyoto in November, although we're still going up end of this month to Hokkaido! Excites. Here's some leftover pics from our April trip (yah I know so backdated but losers can't be choosers and I have nothing interesting to share that's already in my laptop. Funemployment just makes me lazier than I already am ok.) Anyway it's mostly food, because it's delicious in Japan ok! EVERYTHING IS DELICIOUS. 

My family <3 Handsome uncle and cousins xx

QUEUING FOR SUSHI WTF look at that insane queue we waited about an hour.... I was starving so everything tasted good (it might be their intention) 

Slicing up a giant toro at Tsukiji. 

Cutest little shiba inu!!! Basking in the crisp spring air and warm sun so contentedly. 

Look at the fat content on that ootoro!! 

Sigh this view doesn't exist anymore :(

Our fave crab restaurant!!

Sending you all my love, Nippon x

Sakura Showers

Waddup earthlings I'm back. Been bitten by a blogging bug but that's good I guess. Despite how OCD I am about blogging chronologically I've given up hope on ever finishing my documentation of 2012. Yep moving on, look what happened in 2013!! Impulsively booked a Tokyo trip up to join my parents despite my mother's fears of radiation, and we planned it such that I would be able to catch the full bloom of Sakura or the Plum & Cherry Blossom trees. Unfortunately, there's an asshole known as global warming lurking around, and this year in Tokyo it got really warm about two weeks too early and the blossoms, well, blossomed!! I was seriously devastated about missing the Hanami, but luckily managed to catch the very last of the spring flowers.

I left Singapore on a Thursday night at 9pm, reached Tokyo at 5am (deer lawd), took the train to our apartment and fell into bed after a quick shower (mum and dad were in Takayam since they left for Japan a whole week earlier). Woke back up at 1pm, met up with our Uncle Allan who lives in Tokyo and headed out for our fave tempura lunch. After which we walked to Yoyogi Park, and there I was devastated to see Sakura flowers not on the trees but on the floor! WHAT. Luckily me and my sis decided to hightail over to Shinjuku Gyoen instead to see if their flowers were still holding up. And holding up they were!!! We were so excited we spent about a good 30 minutes in front of the first Sakura tree we saw that was covered in white flowers. 

Usually during full bloom the trees have no leaves at all, but since they bloomed early the leaves all came out. It's much much prettier when it's just flowers erupting from their branches. 

Love love love this shot I managed to capture! This young (and very pretty) mom was dressed in some kind of traditional Japanese costume, not a kimono obviously but she was carrying her baby and lifted it up to the flowers, singing very softly while her baby gurgled with happiness. It felt like I was intruding a bit but a moment too beautiful not to take a shot of. 

It truly was a perfect day, blue skies and amazing weather, Sakura trees still in bloom, and a shower of white petals drifting like snow whenever a breeze blew past. To me this is the true epitome of Spring-- how your chest expands and swells, your breathe catching in your throat when you get the first glimpse of a shimmering tree of flowers in the sun.