Sakura

Its been awhile since I last journaled. Alot has happened in a short amount of time; more inward even than outward. God has really been at work in me. We've seen some cool sights, been to a few parks. The Sakura trees are in bloom, or at least they were in bloom. They are beautiful, my favorite tree in the whole world and they are a big deal for the Japanese people. They hold special festivals for 2 whole weeks while the trees are in bloom.

One day we visited the Senzoku ike park, where there were alot of sakura trees. I was able to take some pictures and eat some interesting food. As I walked through the beautiful park filled with sakura trees, I was held captive by its serenity. The trees formed white and pink archways, and as I walked underneath them, sakura petals floated down onto my head. The wind sometimes blew the falling petals everywhere. It was almost like snow, huge soft snowflakes. But instead of being cold, the air was filled with the sweet fragrance of the sakura flowers. There were sakura trees everywhere...

Japanese families were all gathered in the clearing having picnics in the grass and dirt, which was covered in fallen sakura petals. They spread out their blankets and strollers and soaked in the beauty of this once-a-year event. It was fun watching the little Japanese children run around and play under the sakura trees. Past the clearing was a lake, and the clear blue sky reflected off it. Swan boats moved back and forth across the the still water as little ducks chased them. I think it was because the people in the swan boats were feeding them bread or something.

Me and a few other people walked around the lake on special pathways that stood a few feet over the lake. Some stalls were set up on the outskirts of the lake for the festival. I decided to try some of the interesting Japanese foods they were selling. One was called "Taco Yaki" and no, its not a taco. "Taco" means "octopus" and I think "yaki" means "fried." "Octopus fried", mmm yummy. Basically its a fried ball filled with Japanese mayo and... octopus chunks. On the outside of the fried ball the vendor squeezes extra mayo on top like you would put whipped cream on pie. Anyway it was way too hot (temperature-wise) and the size of the ball made it a giant mouthful. We're talking puffy cheeks here. There was an explosion of scalding hot mayo and octopus chunks. Sort of tasty, but definitely damaging to my mouth. I also had something called "okonomiyaki." Apparently its supposed to be really delicious. Let me explain the horrid nature of the okonomiyaki. Its considered to be a pancake or something. It involves dry, tasteless cabbage, bean sprouts, some sort of fried doughy stuff (which honestly was like chewing mattress foam) and a special sauce called "okonomiyaki sauce" (its like extra thick, extra strong steak sauce), a mountain of mayo (it must be a Japanese thing... I asked for a small amount. I shiver to wonder what normal would be) and to top it off, an abundance of fish flakes... so, so tasty.

So... consensus on the new foods I tried: Taco yaki: tasty, but too hot, perhaps if the balls were smaller it would be better. Okonomiyaki: really disappointed in this one, perhaps it was just the vendor. But when you feel like you are chewing on mattress foam seasoned with an ocean of steaksauce-mayo, something isn't right.

Moving on, there was a Shinto shrine nearby with some old, moss-covered stone steps leading up to it. Some people in our group went to go pray against the shrine. I went off and took a picture of an old guy sitting at a bench. Oh, and I also found a monkey doing tricks and took a picture of him too. That reminds me. Just the other day, I saw a Japanese lady walking her monkey. He was walking on two feet and wearing a diaper. I said "konnichi wa" (Hi or good day in Japanese) and the monkey stopped and stared at me. The poor lady couldn't get him to start walking again, too bad I didn't have a camera...

Anyway, sorry, I had a random moment.

I really loved the sakura trees. The Japanese people in general seem to be really depressed all the time. However, when the sakura bloom, their faces light up and they seem really happy. I think the Japanese people really appreciate beauty... I like that about them.