10 days in Japan: peace, love & sakura season
Onsen for the win!
Arigato gozaimasu, Japan. You were a dream. What a beautiful country and culture. If you haven’t been and have the opportunity to go, you absolutely must!
Asia has always been on my list since I was little (but more so China, Thailand or Indonesia), however one of my best friends and her daughter were headed to Tokyo and invited me along for an epic international girls trip.
We spent 3 days in the breathtakingly romantic city of Atami, home to Japanese honeymooners for centuries, where we had a private onsen (aka Japanese hot springs) on our balcony!
The sunrise was one of the best in my life. Watching it rise over the same Pacific Ocean where I typically watch it set, thousands of miles back home in Orange County.
Gorgeous sunrise view from my room,
while sitting in the onsen with my morning tea.
Peace & quiet
It was the infamous sakura (cherry blossom in Japanese) season, and boy did they not disappoint!
Delicate pedels in all shades of pink danced through a light breeze as spring settled in. Tokyo was our next destination. A bustling city that reminded us of a futuristic New York, but without the terrible smells and loud noises of the Big Apple.
Imagine NYC with just as many people, but silent on the streets. It was incredible! We also felt a thousand times safer than in Manhattan, too.
With a clean, quiet and respectful culture, it’s amazing how (as a woman especially) you can feel so at peace traveling around.
Highlights & low-lights:
Seeing the beautiful lanterns at Asakura was definitely a highlight. I quickly learned I was obsessed with these gorgeous larger than life, hand-painted lanterns around the city.
Every day was an adventure. As you know, if you travel frequently, there are some things that are just out of your control (no matter how good or hard you plan—and we had a pretty epic itinerary that my friend made!). But halfway through our trip, I got sick and luckily we could move some plans around.
We still made it to the awe-inspiring, Instagram-haven that is the teamLabs Digital Art Museum, followed by a very, wet and windy day at Tokyo Disneyland.
The good news, I still got to partake in these must-see activities…the downfall, our Disney day ended up landing on the worst weather day of the trip.
So Disney ponchos and sobbing wet socks only got us so far, it definitely rained a little on our parade (with the parade being cancelled) and not getting to spend as many hours in the park as we would have liked.
But we still hit the main attractions—the epic Beauty & the Beast ride, Journey to the Center of the Earth and tried the delicious Toy Story Alien mochi! Plus, a brown sugar boba with a post-rain castle view, and lots of different popcorn stations (all with unique flavors).
Our traditional tea ceremony was another highlight! We got dressed head to toe in kimonos that we got to pick out (they had a built in corset!) And then we were taught how to make matcha and partake in this ancient ritual.
Such a fun experience for the 3 of us in our private tea tasting room, kneeling on the handmade bamboo mats. Everything in Japan has a meaning to it, and it’s beautiful to learn how every detail has a purpose.
Another highlight: Holding a tiny, sleeping hedgehog in Harajuku!
Last, but not least, visting Sanrio Puroland with an epic It’s a Small World-style Hello Kitty boat ride and multiple photo ops throughout the ride, where you could edit over your photos and save them at the end.
Plus, vending machines on vending machines and arcade games gallore!
さようなら (Sayōnara aka goodbye) Japan, you were SO much fun and I hope to explore more of you again!
