Spring has finally arrived!

Goodbye cold winter and heavy clothes!!

As much as I love the cool weather, I am nothing but glad that the loooooooong winter has ended and I have overcome my third winter in Japan.
Now, spring is here and so is my favorite part of it, SAKURA (Cherry Blossoms).

The spring season is one of the busiest time for Japan. For one, as warmth replace the cold weather, the economic and school year starts. The streets are buzzling with new members of the society and students moving up to higher education. But most importantly, it is engraved in the Japanese culture to look at these flowers when they bloom. Hence the "Hanami" or "flower viewing" tradition.

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But before the rush comes into their new life, people would flock to parks, bring out their picnics and laze all day in the sun, under the swaying cherry blossoms. It's especially crowded during this time since it's the spring vacation for some kids, so it's a family day out! And you add in the flock of foreign tourist who are very attracted to these flowers and come all the way to Japan during the Sakura festival season. Imagine the crowd!

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And I'm one of them. Even before I came to Japan, I've always admired Sakura. Because I've never seen such a thing; A pink colored tree! And it bears flowers before it bears leaves! Isn't that amazing?

Sakura festivals are small festivals the community within the parks and venues with a lot of Sakura trees open to celebrate the blooming of Sakura. While they have Sakura festivals everywhere in Japan, there are specific areas where Sakura are famous for.

One of them is the Meguro River Sakura Festival, my favorite place! I tried to do "sakura festival hopping" to major Sakura spots but I.....can't take the crowd. I am weak. LOL. Most of these spots are parks, which I have mentioned above, where people stay there and gaze at the flowers all day.

But Meguro River is different. Meguro district is situated on the central west of Tokyo, also known as the socialites' district since most Japanese celebrities reside in area and within that is a 2.2 kilometer long river lined with 800 Sakura trees and half of it is lit up during the evening from around 5 PM to 9 PM (Source). I figured, aside from the stalls that sell dumplings, rice cakes and pink shampange/sparling wine, there is not much space for people to stay so long within the Meguro River area. People are constantly moving so it's not as crowded as parks would be. Yeah, you would constantly bump on another person's shoulder and wait in line to take a picture at the perfect spot but that's just it! I can wait for a few seconds.

Oh! Did I mention that they get lit up at night? It's so awesome that the flush pink, almost white Sakura turn into bright pink during the night! Thanks to the red lanterns that line together with the Sakura tree. It's so mesmerizing.

The first time I went to this place, I thought, I'll just roam around, take a few pictures and leave when it gets dark, but when it did, I was a fool for thinking such thing. I felt like I got teleported to somewhere magical. Disneyland and Universal Studios were not a match!

My anime dreams came true right before my eyes. And when the wind blows, the Sakura dance with it oh, so gracefully! It's like the world slowed down for a bit and I can almost feel like a shampoo commercial actress swaying her hair slow-mo. How I wished I wore a gown; I would feel like a princess, LOL.

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Coming to Meguro River Sakura Festival completed my spring season. I have been itching for days to go there but I just didn't get to until today. I was scared that when I did get the time to visit, I won't be seeing the pink flowers. But they waited for me, in their full bloom. When I saw them from a far, tears pooled from my eyes. It feels like I'm reuniting with someone familiar. I almost hugged a tree, if only nobody was watching. My inner high school girl is very happy.

As I have heard in the news, the reason Sakura has short lifespan because it sleeps when the weather gets warmer and warmer and wakes up when it gets cold. For short, it sleeps throughout summer and wakes up slowly but surely in the winter. So, when it suddenly gets too warm in the spring , you gotta make sure you go out and see those flowers or else, you'll have to wait the next time it blooms again.

I'll let you in a little secret about me, I hate the color pink, with a passion. No offense to the people who love them. Yes, Sakura has a hint of pink in it and you can call me a hypocrite but I just can't hate on the flower.

Sakura has gone by but they waited for me. I feel so honored. Spring brought warmth for the body but Sakura, especially in Meguro River, brought warmth to my soul. I'm not sure if I was able to describe clearly my own feelings towards this pink flower but to put it simply, it's so magical. I really recommend coming to my magical place and you will know exactly what I'm telling you. I'll be sure to see them again, at the same "time", at the same place.