A day by the coast

For the drive back from Hanami in Takada, Mark and I decided to take the coastal route. The day was absolutely perfect - sunny, warm breezy - and we stopped at some pretty fun tourist traps along the way. Highlights include, Lover's point (next to popular Fisherman's cape) and a friend's Hanami party in Kashiwazaki.

Takada Hanami - night

Takada Hanami - day

This past weekend I went down to Takada park in Joetsu city for their famous Hanami festival. For those not in Japan, this means that a lot of people (someone said 200,000?) come to the park for 2 days to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. Most people come in a large group, lay out a blanket, and eat and drink while looking at the blossoms and taking lots of pictures of/with them. At night, they light up the blossoms with pink-shaded spotlights. It's pretty magical. One friend described it as a 'dream in a pink cloud,' and I can't really think of a better description. That's my bento you see in one of the pictures, by the way.

Spring!

Some happy buds and flowers near my apartment...

New photos!

I have new photos of Nishiki Market (Kyoto) and the bookstore district (Tokyo) up on my Flickr photostream.

Renkon (lotus root)

I finally tried to cook it. Sauteed with sesame oil, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and negi (green onion).

Nara and Todai-ji

We saw the biggest wooden building in the world, and a very big buddha. Dad fed the deer, but only after I had tried to feed them and was chased down by one that was a little over-zealous.

Tofu

Our last night in Tokyo we went to a tofu restaurant that I had read about in lonely planet. It was absolutely amazing, from the soymilk cocktail milkshake to the simmered tofu and mochi skewers. Also, this marks the beginning of my experimentation with a new lens my dad brought for me. It's a fixed 50mm, f1.8, and I think I'm in love with it. I had brought it to his attention when I read that smitten kitchen uses it on her food blog. As you can see, I'm still learning how to work at such a low fstop.

Tokyo Marathon

Mom, Dad and I were lucky enough to be in Tokyo for the Tokyo marathon. Even better, our hotel was within walking distance of one of the best points to watch the race - right outside the east garden of the imperial palace. While I didn't get to see my friend Mark and his dad, I did see such characters as Anpanman, Pikachu, and Spiderman.