Last Saturday my friends and I went to the Shibazakura Festival in Yamanashi to see the pink moss scenery! But as you can see, nothing in this picture is pink haha. We went on the first day of the festival and most of the landscape was just green and stubby.
It wasn’t all for nothing though; we still got to see some of the flowers! The peak viewing period seems to be in May, unfortunately by which time my friends are already long back in Singapore and I’ll be studying for midterms with no time to shimmy off to the mountainside.
They had a lot of Mount Fuji-themed snacks at the festival too
(That sealed the deal for me, honestly. You know I only travel to places where I can get pictures of cute food) I’d get anything themed, even if it’s just this fish cake cut in a vaguely triangular shape resembling that mountain behind.
They had taiyaki—not just any taiyaki either, but taiyaki and Mount Fuji with sakura paste inside. Easily my favourite, and I’m not even being biased (maybe a little)
We sat eating desserts with a full view of the mountain The only hiccup was that almost every dessert on the menu was already sold out—even though it was barely noon!—but we got this sakura roll cake and it was still tasty.
After that I got really full and couldn’t eat anymore, or I would’ve gotten these meat croquettes with sakura printed on them
If you’re near the area or in Tokyo you should go see some really great scenery! Especially when everything starts to bloom in May. Please send me a postcard or some pictures.
My friends and I also stayed at a traditional Japanese inn by Mount Fuji while we were there! Ryokan stays are the best way to spend the weekend. Also an expensive way, but you can’t have everything.
The ryokan was right in front of Lake Kawaguchi, and the three of us had a huge room to ourselves that overlooked the lake. The view was a solid 10/10
Everything was, really. There’s just something about Japanese tatami rooms that make you feel like you can just roll around in them all day and be happy (like the fact that you actually can).
In love with their hospitality as always
We got a cup of tea and tiny chocolates at reception, and when we got to our room we had the usual tea and wagashi waiting on the table for us.
This was my first time having traditional kaiseki food right in our own room. They came all the way and served it to us! All hundred courses! (Okay, maybe not a hundred courses but somewhere close like fourteen) It was highly impressive seeing the staff set out everything for us while making small talk at the same time.
Ryokans getting details right. Every small dish was a work of art
The thing about Japanese cuisine is that even if you’ve never tried it or don’t like it you just end up eating everything because it’s so beautiful. Or at least, that’s how I ended up finishing my 14-course dinner.
The dessert was kabocha pudding that week! We were all already in a food coma after two hours of working our way through the whole dinner but still had space for sweets.
After that we went for a soak in the outdoor hot springs
And had a lot of light-headed fun later on back in the privacy of our room.
Breakfast was another feast, almost overwhelming to wake up to. We might have actually still been full from dinner the night before, but the food was still delicious. Everything was Japanese-style, and they even had a little iron pot for us to cook our own meat with eggs
My friends were enjoying it
It’s not everyday you get treated like queens at breakfast. Probably a good thing, because I’d get seriously tubby. I think we almost took another two hours to finish off the whole shebang.
Our view from the ryokanThis might be the first time I’ve ever gotten to see Mount Fuji so clearly, because every time before that it was hiding behind a mass of clouds and I never got to see it fully. This time it was really good weather! It looks even better up close (actually 27 kilometres away, but still considerably close) than just on the postcards and stock images.
The cherry blossoms in Tokyo are mostly gone but I’ll still eat anything sakura I see.
This one had strawberry and mochi inside too.
We just added whipped cream on top and bedazzled it with iced gems and pink chocolate swirls but it looked pretty cute and we agreed we’d pay for a drink like this at Starbucks (though we do say so ourselves).
(A public apology to all my friends on social media who have to endure my incessant posts of sakura pictures)
The flowers are actually the colour of cotton candy and it’s pretty fascinating.
Some of the cherry blossom places have festivals with food stalls selling snacks and picnic food, so it’s easy to pick up something to eat. Like this sakura mochi
I’d never eaten one before so I asked my Japanese friend if I could eat the leaf too (she didn’t know and kindly Googled it for me), and it seems like it’s left to your discretion. So I ate it and it just tasted salty. But the mochi was sweet so I liked it! (Of course)
Sanshoku dango is one of my favourites; they come in three colours that represent the pink sakura in spring, snow in winter and green grass in summer (literally just found that out while typing and Googling). Sometimes they come with anko inside too!
Now I’d say it’s the nicest time of year to come to Japan, because it just shows the best of Japan.
Slice of Apple Cake 