#6: さくら

Every spring, whole towns in Japan become pink with the beautiful flowering sakura that blossoms. I heard someone on TV say "When the wind blows, little pink petals are blown off and they dance in the air. Like when it's snowing hard, only the snow is pink." I can't wait to see it for myself. According to the Japan meterology agency, it is due in Nagoya towards the end of the month. Yay!

The cherry blossoms may not have arrived yet, but for the past few weeks shops have been going crazy with sakura themed merchandise, and I have been fully buying into the madness :D There is a lot of scented bath/shower gels, pink prints on fabrics etc, but what surprised me the most was all the food and drinks. For example - cakes, tea, milkshakes and candy. If you're in Japan and want to try something Sakura flavoured, the best bet would probably be to head to Starbucks. They have a hot and cold drink, and several varieties of cakes. The taste is very unusual, but enjoyable. It has a slight fruity sweetness, but it's also a little salty! I'm guessing that the flower gives the salty taste and the sweetness is artificial. I really don't know. So lately I find that despite my caffiene addiction, I crave for the sakura steamed milk every time we pass a Starbucks! I also picked up a cute themed mug there, which you can see in the picture at the bottom of this post.

The Sakura tea I am drinking is from the shop Muji/無印良品. I was a bit unsure of it when I first poured the hot water in, it smelled like pot pourri, but it ended up being very much drinkable and tasty. I drank it without sugar or milk, and with my cute pink cupcake from one of Nagoya's famous take-away cake shops.

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