Sakura Season is Here! (Part 2) - Nakameguro and Tokyo Midtown

Just as I promise in my last post that I will make a review on several cherry blossom  - from here I will refer to ‘sakura’ - viewing spot in Tokyo for this 2015, I went to 2 new spots that I've never went before for hanami (sakura-viewing, in Japanese).  Referring to the previous post, my first 2015 hanami place were Ueno Park.

The second place that I visit is the one in an area called Nakameguro. It’s a very near walk from the Nakameguro station itself. Just follow the crowd flow there and bam! Around 800 cherry blossom trees will greet you alongside the river.

I have to say timing is everything in hanami. Weekend will be so crowded, and the more you postpone your hanami trip, the more likely you will see more of a bald sakura tree rather than a very dense pretty one.

I went here on Friday morning before my work, considering that Friday is still counted as weekday, so I guess the crowd is still tolerable (compared to the Ueno Park one which was very, very crowded).

I think the best part of hanami in Nakameguro was, having a picnic alongside the sakura trees were not allowed here as the available space were mostly for pedestrians only, thus makes it easier for people to enjoy and take all the best photos of the sakura. 

Moreover, almost all the café along the river start selling so many finger foods and drinks such as sakura sparkling wine, fruit punch, sausages, hotdogs, fried sweet potato, kebab etc which I foud quite rare in Japan (usually in a festival like these, all food that they were selling will be Japanese food ONLY, such as takoyaki, okonomiyaki etc. So bored of that..)

This is only one small part of the stalls.

and several more photos: 

I have to say that Nakameguro is the best spot so far for me.

And the third and maybe the last one that I have visited was Tokyo Midtown. I visit this spot on Sunday evening, and because too bad that on Saturday and Sunday morning Tokyo was raining quite heavily plus the strong wind, it’s like, almost 50% of the sakura petals already gone.

The amount of the fallen petals were too much!!

It must be very pretty when all the petals were still intact.

And the crowd is very, very tolerable. I the crowd went for other more pretty spot..

But still I think Tokyo Midtown’s sakura still can keep their last beauty alive!

And this last picture concludes my hanami journey on 2015, I think. Considering that based on forecast, next week will be raining for almost the whole weekdays, it will be a very small chance for the sakura to hold until end of April.

Last year, I went for the one in Shinjuku (Shinjuku Gyoen) and Chidorigafuchi Park. These two were very pretty too; they have a very big open space garden which is perfect for picnic with friends and lots of benches to sit and chill. Too bad I didn’t have enough time to visit these two again this year. However on the other hand I got the chance to visit several new places, which is nice!

So, for a conclusion... My favorite hanami spot for this year goes to Nakameguro, no doubt J

Looking forward to visit there again next year sakura season!!

Nb: please note that this is a very PERSONAL preference. I give my rating based on my own trip on my own time on my own taste, so it’s a very subjective review. If you think that there were several places better than what I have reviewed here, I would like to hear from you! Sharing is always a good thing and fun!

Sakura Season is Here!

Well, reached the end of March means only one thing, spring finally took the courage to show their pretty face!

Wool coat turned to trench coat, long thick boots to semi-sandals, wool beanie to wide sun hats. Everything change. 

And the colors. It went all bright and somewhat pink-er. Yes, pink. 

Cherry blossom, a.k.a sakura season, is finally come! 

This 2015, quite unpredictable but the sakura have bloomed earlier; what was predicted to be early April, turned into late March. This is quite exciting since all the spring festive starting sooner than ever. Even all the building decorations scream 'spring!' all over.

However just a quick reminder that sakura usually only last for 2 weeks, so it can be guaranteed that in mid April all the sakura will say goodbye replaced by all the green leaves that will be left behind.

So I decided to start my Hanami ("Sakura sight-seeing") as soon as possible.

Even if I have to do it alone.

I went for a small garden in Kawaguchi. Not much can be seen but I appreciate the calmness as not so many people were here.

And went to Ueno Park too today.

It was massive, I have to say. So pretty, yet on the other hand it attracts so many people there I thought I saw more people than the sakura itself. Well....

Here are several photos that I manage to take.

Went during 5-6 pm, as you can see how the sky colors changed overtime.

And sorry for my constant photo style. Blame the crowd I couldn't even go near the sakura, as there were so many people having picnic just right under the sakura tress (the whole street of it!).

How is it? Pretty crowded I can say. And never in my life here in Japan I found so many Indonesian  tourist in just one straight road! Spring means holiday season too I guess.

I have several other destinations to go though. Meguro, Tokyo Midtown (which I heard is the best so far), and Shibazakura spot near Mt. Fuji. 

And another secret destination in Kawaguchi which actually I have went there today but I went for the wrong side of the park so I couldn't find the sakura spot. Still wondering how to get there and If I succeed let me tell ya!

Will update soon and let me let you know which sakura spot is the best for this 2015!