This weekend my friends who live in Fukushima City got together and hosted a hanami party.
Rihanna and I drove out together the night before and we met a group of friends for dinner, namely Joceyn, Tatsu, Felipe and Cormac. On the way to dinner I saw this beautiful, tiny little cherry blossom tree, and I had to take a photo of it.
We met a goup of friends for dinner and later I gave a ride to Jocelyn and her husband Tatsu, but our car was full of bedding and futons, so they had to squeeze tight to make it work.
Rihanna and I stayed at Cormac’s place the night before, and the next morning we woke up bright and early (and by that I mean 9. It was still a weekend, after all) to make one of the only foods I know how to cook: Cheese peppers. You cut some peppers into long bites, spread some cream cheese on the inside of the cup, and then cover the cream cheese with some other cheese of your choice. I usually go with a spicy cheese like Pepper-jack. I was unable to find Pepper-jack cheese in Japan, though, but I was able to find some spicy Gouda. I gave it a shot, and it worked out really well.
The party started out at Bentenyama Park. My friends set up the party in a gazebo at the top of the mountain park. It wasn’t long after we arrived that Cormac’s friend Darragh (from the Tokyo Hanami weekend) showed up! He is a cool guy so I was happy that he was able to make it.
We ate food and socialized with friends for many hours.
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| I think they are such a cute couple! |
My cheese peppers were a hit! Everyone loved them and I was showered with compliments on my fabulous dish! I am not a good cook, so this made me feel really good.
I wore a dress for the first time in months, because it felt warm enough to do so. But after we arrived the wind stared blowing, so I had to keep putting on my coat. It would have been the perfect temperature if the wind had not been blowing.
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| I squeeeee every time I see them. |
A few times during hanami it started sprinkling rain. Never long enough or strong enough to bother us or make us consider ending the party early.
Here are some beautiful views of the flowers and scenery.
After a few hours we decided to pack up and head out to whatever you wanted to do afterwards. A group of people went to Hanamiyama to hike up the mountain and view all the different types of flowers and sakura trees that bloom over the whole mountain side.
Another group of us decided to go back to Cormac’s place and have a party. We hung out on his balcony and socialized for about an hour, then we went inside and started socializing there. We ordered a pizza, and it was delivered right to the door. I did not know it was a thing in Japan, but apparently you can get this kind of service in bigger cities.
From there we went out to karaoke. I think we sang karaoke for about two hours.
From there we walked over to the only club in Fukushima City, Neo. When we got there I was feeling a little under the weather so I decided not to go in. Cormac decided he was hungry and tired so he too decided to pass on the club. Instead we went out for ramen and then went back to the apartment to put out bedding and await the others who were staying the night.
The next day I was totally worse for wear. Mac got up early to go to Catholic mass (It was Easter Sunday) and I stayed in bed hating life.
When he came back later that day, I continued to stay in bed. It wasn’t until the afternoon that I started to feel a little bit better. So I got ready and we headed out to Hanamiyama. It is not too far from Cormac’s house, so I felt confident that I would be fine. While I was getting ready, Cormac’s friends went outside to wait. But by the time Cormac and I were done getting ready (maybe five minutes had passed at most) we went outside and they were gone. I guess they had decided not to wait after all. So Cormac and I went there alone.
As we were walking I once again started feeling sick. I had to take frequent brakes and felt like I was going to hurl. So I got couple of plastic bags and did my best to not barf.
We made it a short distance up the hill before I had to puke the first time. It was about five minute walk past that that I had to puke again. It was then that I realized that this hike up a mountain was not going to be possible for me. So I told Mac that I needed to make my way back to his apartment, and he could meet up with his friends.
He told me that he would rather hang out with me and make sure I made it back ok, so he walked me back to his apartment. His apartment is really close, probably less than 2 kilometers, but it took us an hour to walk back. I kept having to stop and take long rests and puke into my bag. I didn’t have anything in my stomach, so I was mostly just dry heaving. I sadly was kind of a spectacle. It was my own fault. I made my bed, now I had to lie in it.
At one point the looks of concern and disgust were getting to be too much to handle. I was sitting on the street outside someone’s house puking into my bag when five old people came up to me and were asking if I was ok and needed to come sit inside. I told them that I was ok, and that we weren’t too far from our own house. They were so concerned they asked if I needed medicine. I was so touched by their kindness that I didn’t want them to worry anymore, so without thinking I blurted out that “I am ok because I’m just pregnant and the baby is making me sick.” Ya know, it’s not because I make bad choices…
Instantly their faces changed from concern to delight! They started patting Mac on the shoulder and congratulating him and I. Mac thought this was hilarious and was able to play along, for which I was grateful.
Once I got back to Mac’s house and was able to lie down, I felt much, much better. We talked until the others came back from the mountain. After that we snacked on food and socialized in the living room until they all had to part ways.
I didn’t have work the next day, so I decided to stay an extra night at Mac’s house. We watched Rogue One that night. It was a pretty good movie.
He went to work the next morning and I went on that hike up Hanamiyama alone. It was a beautiful hike. There were so many different types of flowers, I was blown away. There were red ones and yellow ones, and at least five different types of sakura trees that I remember. I found some beautiful purple magnolias and some flowers that looked kind of like spiders.
Here are some collage pictures of some of the flowers I saw both on Hanamiyama and around Fukushima this spring season.
Because it was a Monday, the crowds on the mountain were only a fraction of the amount of people that were there the day before.
There was a shrine on the way up that had a pond next to it with a cute little red bridge going across it. The inside of the shrine had a rather creepy-looking statue of an old monk, or a Buddha, but I think it is a monk. It was still really cool, though.
Here are some of the views from the top of the mountain.
I met a nice old man and his wife while hiking up the mountain. He was surprised to see a foreigner there and wanted to talk. He was from Kanagawa Prefecture if I remember correctly and he was impressed that I left my life in America to come lie in Japan. He was also impressed with my Japanese speaking ability and he thought it was cool that that is what I chose to study in college. We got separated during the hike up, but I bumped into him again after I had made my way down and bought myself some sakura ice cream.
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| It was freaking delicious! |
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| A little flower display in a tilty bottle. |
I also met a man who was excited to hear that I was from America because his daughter was living in Atlanta, Georgia. I told him that I knew where it was but I had never been there myself.
Before I made it to my car I stopped at a small local shrine where I stopped to take a couple of photos.
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| How lovely! |
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| The bottom of the torii gate had almost been completely rotted through. |
I made my way back to my car and I drove to Miharu where they have the Takizakura. I went there back in November, but the tree was bare, so I was excited to be able to come back. It is one of the top three sakura trees in all of Japan. It is over 1000 years old, and its branches are so big that they must be supported.
It was quite busy, but not nearly as busy as it would be on a Saturday or Sunday.
I walked around taking pictures of it from all angles. They planted yellow flowers in the terraced fields surrounding the tree.
These are some posters that show what this tree looks like with cherry blossoms and also covered in snow.
I also spent some time looking at the Inari shrine nearby.
While I was there I saw my friend Tito who works as an ALT in Miharu. He was at the tree with his elementary school students who were there for a school trip. We stopped and said hi real quick, but he had to hurry off so he could stay with his students.
After spending some time relaxing and "mi-ing the hanas," I decided to start my long drive home. I decided to take a different route home. Going straight east from Miharu is a road that takes you through the mountains and spits you out just south of Namie in a town called Okuma. When I got just outside of Okuma I found out that you couldn’t take the road through the town because there were road blocks preventing you from driving through the town. I had to drive quite far south, south of Futaba, make my way over to highway 6 and drive north to Minamisoma. It increased the length of my trip by at least twenty minutes, but I was able to see some of the scenery and parts of the evacuated towns.
While driving through Namie I saw this ostentatious hearse parked in a lot. I stopped to take a picture.
I made it home and had the rest of the evening to relax and play some video games. It was a nice, and relaxing day.
