Kyoto Hanami

one of the main reasons for this Asia trip all comes down to this.  One more chance to sit beneath the cherry blossoms in Maruyama park in Kyoto.  As I've said many times on this blog before cherry blossom season is my favorite time of year in Japan.  It's a magical time where everyone is happy and friendly, alcohol flows like water, spring is in the air and the cherry blossoms make everything look beautiful and awesome.  All is right with the world during this season and i jumped at an excuse to see it one more time.

 

th eElegant Saloon 8000 Series is the train we took from vivi's house to kyoto.

 

 

gozan no okuribi site.  during bon festival in the summer they light symbols into the 5 mountains surrounding kyoto.  this is the first one they light and is the kanji for "big".

 

Philosopher's path is one of the last medium level attractions i had yet to see in kyoto since i've been here about 7-8 times already.  it's supposed to be beautifully lined with cherry trees.  I found it underwhelming compared to other areas especially since the trees weren't in full bloom yet.  besides that it also didn't seem that charming compared to other places in kyoto so i only recommend this if you have been so many times already and need somewhere new to go.

 

somewhere

 

Maruyama koen.  the blue sheets have signs on them with the names of the groups that have reserved those areas.

 

looks like next to us is the Kyoto University Tennis Lovers Society.

 

Vivi, Fumika, and her mom

 

after this shot is when my camera and tripod head fell off the legs and i happened to catch the whole thing.  turns out the inner shaft the recieves the screw threads from the tripod head were totally stripped out and the camera was just balancing on the legs.  WTF!!!!! I am going to complain so hard to Oben the manufacturer.  stay tuned for the result.  i was so p!ssed that my camera almost smashed to the ground.

 

 

seasonal restaurant that they set up for hanami season.  at night it looks amazing with all the lights.

 

it was so cold this day that a lot of peeps never showed up to claim their spot.

 

alcohol run with vivi.  we ended up getting a bottle of whiskey and a bunch of soda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

atsukan, some kind of hot alchohol that's really sweet.

 

its these two foreign girls turn to introduce themselves.  they were speaking japanese so i guess they were studying at kyoto university.  

 

Night falls and the magical pictures begin.  i was able to create a temporary fix with my tripod.

 

 

yozakura means viewing the blossoms at night and it is just as magical if not more as the daytime if they are lit up nicely like these and not lit from below with flood lights.

 

 

 

pure magic, and this scenery and atmosphere holds a special place in my heart.  

 

 

so fu-balls and her mom went home a long time ago and me and vivi finished off half the bottle of whiskey.  eventually we got separated and i ended up getting back to her house an hour later because i didnt even know where she lived and quite frankly we were both drunk and lost each other in the sakura fever.  time to rest up lil' guy because we're doing it again in osaka tomorrow!