Japan 🌸

Choices are hard to make if you got only one weekend in the greater area of Tokyo: Penis festival (?!?!?), Formula 1, or Sakura 🌸 (cherry blossom)… 

Of course it’s Sakura 🌸 

It’s April and Sakura almost reached its peak blooming season around Tokyo. The cherry blossom season varies from year to year, I’m really lucky to be around just in time (and leaving so many jealous work colleagues back home…yes, this is actually a business trip). 

It’s the weekend and I am ready for “hanami”, the cherry blossom viewing as the locals call it. A few days ago, still back home, I had no idea about the magic of Sakura 🌸

Now I know better: It’s a celebration. It’s a feast. It’s a tradition. It’s beautiful. I started my Tokyo tour in the tree-lined canal in the trendy, yet laid-back Naka-Meguro. 

During the cherry blossom season the streets along the canal exist in an almost-constant state of celebration. The majestic cherry blossom trees sway luxuriously over the canal. I could just walk and walk and walk and watch the beauty. But there’s more to see 🌸

A few miles further on, small groups of friends or families gather to eat and drink under the sea of pink. So I found myself under the trees with all the requisite hanami supplies: drinks & snacks (the locals and neighbors on picnic blankets much more professional with BBQ, beer, snacks, guitar). 

I joined hundreds of other revelers in relaxing with friends and family on this perfect Saturday, eating and drinking under the “sakura”. 

Time to get some more steps in and get a bit of the Tokyo city flavor. 

Lunch break. Of course, enjoying another picnic under the Sakura 🌸

On top of Tokyo. Cherry blossom leaves included. Of course! 

🌸 Sunday sakura in Yokohama 🌸

Wow! What a weekend! 

Besides celebrating Sakura, I created my own ramen 🍜 in a ramen lab. I’m excited to eat it back home because it was all in Japanese and I have no idea what I put together. Lol. But what can go wrong with ramen. Unlimited ramen recipes with the combination of 5 elements: broth, seasoning, noodles, toppings, oil. Voila – always delicious! 

Japan is all about its delicious food, and that’s not surprising with the level of love and respect that goes into food preparation in Japan. 

I also worked. Worked long hours like the local colleagues. Customer visit and many workshops inclusive. Working for a German company means pretzels & German beer in our famous Bosch cafe. Not for me. I stick with sakura, the flavor of the season. 

I unfortunately caught a bit of a cold and remembered how great German tissues are… lol. Thanks to the colleagues providing me “grilled ginger with honey” – tasted awful but eventually helped (next to my daily dose of ramen). 

Got several times “almost” lost along the way but thanks to the locals was always helped to catch the right train or buy the correct bus ticket and even more important enter the right bus… haja, it’s not so easy 🤣 

Japan, you treated me great. I loved being back, surrounded by super friendly people, super delicious food 🍱 and of course Sakura 🌸 maybe a once in a lifetime experience 💖

After being “in the air & on the road” for almost 4 weeks, looking forward to be back in Germany for some time 🙂