Saitama Exploring ♡ 芝桜

Any of you who have been following me for a while / know me in any form will know how much I love all things floral / pink related, so when I discovered Shibazakura (floor moss sakura) I always dreamed of being able to go visit some! Last week I took the trip to Chichibu in rural Saitama to do just that, it was a super cute outing on a local train full of elderly japanese with their little bento boxes, and it went straight through so much nature and mountains. On arrival I got totally lost, but eventually made it to the area where the beautiful fields of pink were waiting, and seriously I couldn't cope, nature can just be so overwhelmingly beautiful in Japan at times, I sat here with some local foods from the market alongside (they had a sort of short term festival) - and it involved vegan friendly things, so I was pretty happy! Heres a little glimpse of the pinky-goodness...

Lots of love x x x x

Part 2 : Further Cherry Blossom wanderings ♡

Shinjuku Goen has to be a feature on my cherry blossom exploring, there are so many types of trees there that even if you go a little bit before or after season there are always so many beautiful flowers to see, this year I timed it just right going a little after the main rush, so many flowers were falling and the late blooming types like the little ball blossom you see below were just starting to fall. I even managed to find a cute little juice bar with a vegan sandwich option super close so was able to take my diary & sketchbook and have a little picnic in the sunshine. I love the constant in places like this of the nature against the harsh grey skies of Tokyo architecture..

Yummy dinner at Commune Omotesando after blossom viewing, fried soy & brown rice veggie plate..

Inokashira Koen, I only made a brief little trip but definitely worth it, its always a good park to go by yourself and wander around in..

Kudanshita..this place literally blew my mind, the amount of blossoms here were seriously insane, my lovely friend was visiting from Kyoto and we wanted to try something different so checked this place out, the blooms stretch all around the edge of the Imperial Palace and I`ve heard at night they light up, sort of overlapping each other like some magical tunnel, if I`m here again in blossom season I will definitely make a trip back!

Finally our biggest hanami day was in a super local area of Nagano, avoiding the weekend crowds we took to a few cheeky street drinks and joined in a local hanami festival. Here is one of my absolute favourite Japanese snacks, which I managed to score from a super local vendor - `Sakura mochi`, salty sakura leaf and yummy azuki beans inside mmm..

Apparently this is the longest stretch of straight cherry blossoms in Tokyo, going all through Nakano..

Lots of love x x x x

Cherry Blossom World Part 1 : Yoyogi, Shibuya, Daikanyama & Nakameguro ♡

Any of you who in any way follow me on instagram (much more frequent than here), will know there are few things (apart from deer and shiny glittery kawaii things of course) that I love more than Sakura, Japan in Sakura season really is something else, and never fails to lift my spirits and make me feel all kinds of magic, this year it was particularly needed after I lost my job and Tokyo can be such an overwhelming crazy harsh place at times. However when the flowers are blooming and everyone gets together for `hanami` flower picnics, and the rivers are lit up with blooms in some of my favourite neighbourhoods, its as if for a few short weeks communities and kind nature are drawn out from every corner, every park or public space is full of people happy to mingle and enjoy the sight of these magical pink flowers, its definitely one of the things I`d miss the most if I move. My flowery few weeks will need a few posts, but heres the first 

Instants of the first hanami with some friends & fun in yoyogi park, yoyogi is probably one of the busiest hanami spots but always super fun,

It was kind of overcast and going dark but you get the sense of the blossoms, and drinking sake from my lunch jar as I didn't have a glass haha,

Full blooms over Shibuya...

In one of my absolute favourite places Nakameguro, the blossoms line the river and are just incredible, particularly at night when they are all a lit up with a rosey pink glow..

& my new favourite toy, little film camera `sakura cam`, its been ages since I did any 35mm film so can`t wait to see the results!

Hope your all having lovely weeks! Lots of love! x x x x

Spring vibes ♡

Hello beautiful people! Sorry for again the absence, so much life change & things to think about at the moment, Spring in Tokyo is just starting to get lovely though, and heating up nicely, the sakura will be blooming next week & the cold days are drawing to a close - make way for the crazy heat to ensue! I`ve spent my free time over the last few months taking up lots of new crafting activities, and trying to stay creative in new ways. I found the absolute craft shop of my dreams so am continually creating new hair clips, pom poms and other random bits and bobs. My first challenge was learning Japanese finger knitting with this gorgeous pink chunky yarn, heres some of my recent crafting anyway...& some yummy veggies I`ve been learning to cook♡

One of my favourite vegan cute places ♡

& super cute decor...

Vintage blythe heaven I discovered recently too (so many shops full of second hand blythes - I died) haha

& lastly some spring flowers from a recent appearance in a friends music video ♡

Hope everyones having wonderful weeks ♡ Lots of love x x x x

Shinjuku Koen 桜 ♡

So prepare for more blossom spam!! On Tuesday I ventured to the Shinjuku -Koen gardens (and promptly was overwhelmed by an insane amount of blossom - I took over a 100 photos and wandered around for over an hour) It was breathtakingly beautiful, and surprisingly quiet and peaceful for being in such a central part of Tokyo. There were so many types of blossom and pastel colours, stretching right out as far as you could see, here are some of my favourite bits! Happy Spring ♡

 

Lots of Love x x x x