[Korea] Kyunghee University Cherry Blossom

Kyunghee University is one of Seoul’s three cherry blossom spot (although trees can be found elsewhere, e.g. in Sinchon). It’s also likely to be the prettiest university in Seoul.

Most of the trees are around the big fountain.

Fukuoka – Atago Shrine Cherry Blossom

Atago Shrine is along with Ohori Park one of Fukuoka’s most popular cherry blossom and autumn foliage spots. At 68 meters above sea level, it offers also a view over Hakata Bay. So there are at least two reasons to visit the shrine during cherry blossom seasons.

That season is always a gamble unless you celebrate it in or near the town you’re staying. There was snow in March which delayed the opening of the flowers. Snow and rain won’t destroy the flowers – they are only fragile when they are in full bloom.

On the way to the shrine, I also visited a small buddhist temple which had some cherry blossom trees. Atago Shrine isn’t big, but belongs to the important Atago Shrines in Japan. It’s also likely the cheapest view you can get of Hakata Bay.

Mega Hanami 2010

The number of meetup groups grew considerably since I came to Tokyo in 2007. Mega Hanami was a meet-up organized by multiple groups and we all came together to Yoyogi Park, probably the best free hanami (cherry blossom watching) spot in west Tokyo. Since I had already had so many cherry blossom photos and videos, I decided to use my new Digital Harinezumi 2 camera to shoot the video. The video quality is pretty bad, and I’m not happy with the camera in color mode. The camera is however a real eye catcher – I’ve seen lots of Japanese taking a look at it because it’s so tiny.

Hanami in Ueno

Today I woke up later than I anticipated – mainly because I was going to bed later than anticipated. On today’s to-do-list was a further exploration of the environment but before that I boosted my ego and opened a shiny new blog. Well, not so shiny but with some new – make that old – entries and a few pics. I opened a webalbum as well.
I walked by foot just straight across the bridge and through the Ginza Odai Shopping Street. On my way I found another larger supermarket and after a while I reached a Yamanote line station.
I then took the Yamanote to Ueno station for a little cherry tree watching (hanami). Silly me took the wrong exit 😉 There is a park exit which leads directly to the park.
So after a while I reached the park and although it was getting darker there were still some people celebrating below the cherry trees there. And the trees are really beautiful! I took a few photos which were not as good as the ones I took a day before and on my way back I bought Yakisoba at one of the food stands.