Ume hanami, you've stolen my heart.

The most beautiful season in Japan is approaching fast, and that, to me at least, is cherry blossom season. However, something that is most definitely overlooked are the plum blossoms, which come into season a little earlier.

This weekend, I went on a day trip to Dazaifu for some plum blossom viewing (ume hanami), with Kohei, his sister Hana, and her boyfriend, Ryo. Despite being a little early for the full bloom, it was absolutely stunning walking around the grounds of the Tenmangu Shrine. 

The colours were so much more varied than that of the cherry blossom, and being the pink-lover I am, I fell in love instantly. No words do it justice.

 

It’s been a long time since I’ve been somewhere so crowded with tourists, but it was nice being able to escape from the hustle and bustle, hide amongst some plum trees, and eat my new favourite snack: umegae mochi.
Whoever thought azuki (red bean) filled mochi that’s warm and crispy was a great idea, I applaud you.

The week earlier, Kohei and I took a drive up to Mojiko Retro Club, an area of Kitakyushu which connects Kyushu onto the main island.
The Kitakyushu Gotochi Hello Kitty seems to be proving rather elusive in my travels too, so it gives me even more of an excuse to keep going back.

Even better, I got a picture with the resident mascot, Jiimo, even if he does look suspiciously phallic.
I can claim to have ‘seen’ Yamaguchi now, but that will have to wait for another time, preferably when the weather isn’t so baltic.

Welcome to the SHINee World.

To anybody who knows me well, you'll know I was sucked into the deep pit of the K-pop world a while back and I'm still yet to return. The main reason for that were SHINee, a beautifully talented fivesome whose music now holds so many memories to me.
I knew there was no escape when I found myself buying a magazine in Hong Kong, despite not being able to read a blind bit of Chinese, purely because it was the first magazine I'd ever seen with them on the cover. I'm 99% sure that magazine is still in my bedroom at home now.

I've had so many near misses seeing them live, that when they announced their Japanese tour this year, I'd set myself up for disappointment. A ticket lottery is the common ticket procedure over here, and I was unsuccessful the first time. Thankfully I got my second chance back in January, when a last minute second lottery opened. I applied; for two different dates and with three accounts, figuring I'd be unlucky again. Low and behold, persistence paid off, and this weekend I found myself in a slight state of bewilderment walking into the arena.

It was a good job I wasn't closer to the stage, because I know my calm demeanor would have rapidly changed into something that would have gotten me escorted from the premises. Needless to say, my rowdy Scouse side made an appearance during the encore, when I was hands down the loudest person chanting.

I spent way too much money on merch, I couldn't really take any pictures or videos for fear of being kicked out, but I did get to see bae. Key slayed as always, and was unnecessarily fabulous for the duration. He also had pink hair again, which I was delighted about.
Along with that, there was a little section of the show that was London themed, so I'm pretending they knew there was a Brit in attendance and did it purely for me.

While I'm still holding out to see them in Korea, as their Japanese image is too kawaii for my liking sometimes, it was something I never thought I'd get to experience and I'm so glad I did. Bonus being I could actually understand a fair bit of their conversations too.
If you're curious as to what it was like, here's one of their past concert tour performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVyyDHoNADI . 

Thank you SHINee, for helping me discover a love for sexually androgynous Korean men, that still worries my father to this day. I'm happy to report the yellow fever is still going strong.

Setsubun fun!

Setsubun is one of the more fun traditional Japanese holidays, celebrated the day before the first day of spring according to the old lunar calendar. This year, it fell on February 3^rd, and I was invited to celebrate the day with Katy Yoshida and her little gems, Sayuri and Ayame.

We started with mamamaki, or bean throwing, which is what this festival is most famous for. You shout “oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” whilst throwing beans at the oni (demon). This signifies driving away the bad spirits, and welcoming good luck into your home.

I’ll admit I got a little too into this, as did the kids, because there were beans EVERYWHERE. I found a bean in my shoe later that evening, even when my shoes hadn’t been in the room.
After the craziness of the bean throwing, we all had to pick up and eat the number of beans corresponding to our age. I’m not sure if Ayane was being super cute like usual, or secretly trying to hint I look closer to 75 than 21.

Next, we ate ehoumaki, a special type of sushi roll that you eat facing the “lucky direction” for that year. It’s believed that if you close your eyes and concentrate until you finish eating, your dream will come true. Little Sayuri was taking things very seriously. I, on the other hand, was more concerned about spilling pork onto my shirt.

I had a wonderful evening afterwards, being graced with some dance performances from the kids, having tickle fights and being treated to a cuppa and some Turkish delight from good old Marks & Spencer. Sayuri did mention it was her first time eating dinner with a teacher, something that must be quite strange; I'm just super grateful to have a little taste of home mixed with Japan, and a wonderful family to enjoy it with.