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| At hanami in Tokyo. |
Last weekend was the start of hanami, cherry blossom
viewing! I met my friend Sarah (www.twitter.com/S_NelkinEN) in Tokyo – and her adorable pups! – to marvel at the
beautiful light-pink blossoms now blooming throughout Japan. This is my third
hanami in Japan, but last year I was visiting my family back in the states and
arrived at the tail end of the brief season. So this year I was more than ready! Usually there
are only two weekend chances to enjoy hanami eating and drinking underneath the
blossoms with your friends and family, given sakura’s extremely short lifespan.
Unless you travel from southern to northern Japan following the blooming. And
I’m so sure there are totally people who do that.
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| Beautiful light-pink blossoms mean spring is here! |
After a long winter and a cold start to spring, sakura
are a sure sign that warmth and sunshine is on the way! Unfortunately this
wasn’t the case last weekend, as a stubborn cloudy, rainy spell hit the Tokyo
and Yokohama areas. Still, crummy weather or not, sakura attract a crowd! Popular
sites in Tokyo for hanami are Yoyogi and Ueno park, but I tried for something
off the beaten path near my friend’s house. This was a nice little
park with plenty of sakura and not too crowded, although she said it got more
crowded than last year due to a TV special that attracted more
people this year. I was more than happy in a smaller, less crowded setting, and
enjoyed snacking on tomato-garlic takoyaki while playing with my friend’s cute
dogs.
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| Me, my friend Sarah, and her dogs Aurica and Philo enjoying hanami. |
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| Another spot near the park. |
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| Stage performance in the park. |
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| Other gorgeous flowers in the park. |
Also, a big announcement for me – I’ve become a
freelance writer! My first article is up on www.izanau.com, so please check it out and look for more of my writing on the way!
Back to business, right after enjoying hanami I decided
to pay a visit to the Disney store in Ikebukuro (I had an intense craving for
Blue Seal purple sweet potato ice cream), and they have tons of cute new
products! I’m considering featuring new Disney products every month, but this
may cut into my spending money quite a bit, as who can resist all the cute
things there? First up, these adorable French pastry goods.
Can you say adorable?
My favorite are the croissant goods. Chip and Dale are
extremely popular here, and they look so cute sharing a big buttered croissant!
This one has to be my favorite, though. It’s really a
pencil pouch, but it looks good enough to eat! Warning: purchasing any of these
products may cause intense cravings for French pastries.
On the other hand, Easter products are in full swing,
featuring Pooh and his friends! The cutest ones are all the little critters
sitting in a colorful Easter egg.
Plus there’s a whole new line of Winnie the Pooh tsum
tsums! Just when you thought you had painstakingly collected them all. They are
all dressed up in fuzzy yellow chick utfits similar to the bumble bee versions
from last year. And for some reason on the big Winnie the Poohs there’s a bunny attached to the front like
a little kangaroo pouch? This makes no sense.
I also have to recommend this adorable line of
sleeping characters that has been around for a while and looks like they're here
to stay! They are so soft you’ll swear they’re stuffed with tofu and
marshmallows.
Continuing in the spring vein, there are new jewelry
stands for sale. You may have seen original jewelry and ring stands in the
dresses and heels of your favorite Disney princesses. (I have to say I’m
partial to Anna’s, because it’s a perfect match. Some of them have had creative
liberties taken). They run about 25 dollars each.
But now you have two new jewelry stand options in
these super cute dresses!
They’re both very pretty, and unique from the standard
Disney princess dresses. If you’re a real Disney fanatic (and have lots of
money) you can even buy this dress that matches the first one!
And Disney doesn’t only have its animated movie
products. Check out these super cool Avengers tsum tsums! (Why is there no
Loki?! Clearly the production team messed up on this one).
You can also find some Star Wars goods still around! I
really like this BB8 cup.
That’s all for this month! Look forward to more awesome
Disney store products!
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