PHOTOPOST: 9th Cherry Blossom Festival at Balboa Park

Here's the follow up to the previous UPCOMING EVENT post, about

the Cherry Blossom Festival at the San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden!

I wore a cherry blossom yukata I got at the Marukai Living store (Kearny Mesa)
here in San Diego!  They have quite a few pretty ladies' sets for around $60,
which goes for a cotton yukata + a pre-tied obi.  Pre-tied obis on their own
usually go for about $20, and yukatas for $60+, so it's a really good deal!
My sister dressed me & did my hair, I have the barest idea of how to put it on properly
but she's done a lot of research herself.



What I brought in my little bag:
(I'm not holding it in the picture, sadly.)

tissues * keys * small notebook * camera * instax camera 

* small pouch for cash & IDs * lipbalm

I also had a folded fan tucked in my sleeve, something else that was useful in the heat!

I had to park a long way away from the garden (again), even though we got there around 11am.
There was a really long line just to get tickets to go in, but it moved fast anyway.

As soon as we got in we hunted for a decent picnic spot!  I didn't have time on the way so
we brought a sub sandwich and some Caprisun in, as well as a can of royal milk tea.
(There was so much nice space on the grass but I forgot to bring a picnic blanket.)

[A was looking for what that "asian canned coffee/tea" flavor came from.]

We finally found a spot at the bottom of the garden to sit down.
There's a really long winding path from the entrance to the bottom, where they had
a few vendor booths with souvenirs & crafts.

It was really pretty outside, sunny with a nice breeze.
Actually it was pretty hot - definitely happy I brought sunscreen after all!
I wore geta and I usually don't wear open-toe shoes, and I felt my feet getting toasted.
I also brought an umbrella just in case, so glad that I had that as well!
There were a couple other girls my age in yukata, and there were a few ladies (visitors and
staff) in really beautiful kimono.  Unfortunately I didn't think to take photos!
(Kind of ironic, I had a couple people ask to take my photo... they should've
seen the ladies in kimono!)

They had a performance stage with different acts - we stopped to watch the preschool chorus,
they sang "It's a Small World" in Japanese (so cute).

The garden has an exhibit room where they were holding tea ceremony demonstrations!

There was also a small booth where two ladies were painting bookmarks - one of them

was doing sumi-e painting and the other was writing out names.

A & I each got one.

I also pressed a blossom in the notebook I brought - I couldn't find any fresh non-crushed

ones on the ground, and I really didn't want to pick a bunch of flowers from the trees, so I 

just picked one.  (Cherry blossoms are edible by the way, when fresh!)

I looked around for a nice photo spot for a while, and there was a tree in a less-busy

area so I asked someone to take our picture with my instax.  It came out really nice,

I was a little worried about the light setting because of reviews I'd read before. 

(NOTE: I'll write a review of the Instax Mini 8 as well, I've been using it since January in

a bunch of different lighting settings and I think I've figured out a method.)

If you went to the festival, leave a comment!
There were staff walking around and taking photos of visitors, I believe
they'll probably post those on the Japanese Friendship Garden's website.

UPCOMING EVENT - San Diego 9th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

Last year the San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden (in Balboa Park) 

held its 8th Cherry Blossom Festival.  I was lucky enough to be able to attend, and

you can check out my post from last year's festival here!

This year the Japanese Garden is hosting the 

9th Cherry Blossom Festival

THIS SATURDAY (MARCH 8TH) from 10:00am - 4:00 pm.

You can read more about the event 

HERE (niwa.org)

& 

HERE

The event was supposed to be last Saturday, but we had really strange stormy weather 

and it had to be moved over a week.

I really recommend checking it out, the garden's beautiful with all the blooming trees!

Admission is $6 general, but $5 for students and seniors/military.
Anyone with a membership pass to the USS Midway Museum gets free admission
into the Japanese Friendship Garden.
They have quite a few traditional Japanese performances (music and dance among
other things), as well as a ton of festival food and craft booths.

Fortunately I can attend again this year - I have a yukata to wear & I'm 

going with my boyfriend - it's his first time!  (I wonder if people will be proposing this year, too?)

I'm planning to bring a little journal, to press a couple of

blossoms from this year as a memento and/or for crafts later!

Last year I collected some in a bottle but they just got wilted.  The bottle smells

really nice inside though, I wish I could make it into perfume.

Some tips:

*Dress comfortably!  There's not much seating other than a couple of benches, or the

seats around the performance stage - prepare to stand!  And it's still a bit chilly, so a sweater 

is a good idea.  (If you're wearing a yukata, bring a wrap along, or a haori if you're fancy!).

*GET THERE EARLY.  I had to park on the opposite end of the Park last time.
Unless you don't mind walking, I'd say show up around 9-9:30 for best parking.
You can stroll around and enjoy the rest of the park for an hour or so!

*Bring a tote or some kind of small bag, to hold your personal things (food, sweater, essentials) as well as any little souvenirs you pick up.  Try to pack lightly, & I recommend a bag
that zips or buttons shut securely to protect your things.

*Bring CASH.  I don't remember if the booths all take cards as well, but I believe the food
tickets were cash-only as well as some of the small souvenir booths.  Just to be safe!

*Camera!  Or your phone for pictures.  You definitely want to take photos

of the cherry blossoms, performances, and a selfie or two with the trees can't hurt.
There's also many lovely ladies and gents out in their best festival attire (yukata etc.),
not to mention quite a few people in cosplay.
Most are quite happy to let you photograph them if you ask permission nicely. c:
Some people bring really nice professional cameras (I did that last year, but it was
really bulky so this year I'm sticking with my old point-and-shoot + cellphone cam.)

*Snacks/some food!  It's a fair, with fair food pricing.  That said, I do recommend
trying the different standard festival treats.  There's a few can't-miss things, personally I love
the taiyaki and snowcones.  You can also get food like (legit) ramen and teriyaki bowls, from the Tea Pavilion restaurant at the front of the garden. They will also give water if you've brought a bottle with you.  Having a few extra treats to munch on will hold you over (& keep it frugal, I'm big on that)!
If you really want to go all-out you can even prep your own bento box!
(JSYK: The food also has notoriously long lines.)

*Water bottle!  STAY HYDRATED.  Really important!

*Small book/journal!  You'll want this to press flowers/hold anything that you'd like

to keep flat.  Last year they had a booth that would make bookmarks with

whatever you wanted, written on them.  I had to carry mine around all day to

keep it from wrinkling!  This will also keep you occupied in the long lines.

*A sunhat/folding fan - it can get hot in the sun!  (I know this contradicts bringing a sweater,
but San Diego does that a lot.)  Better yet, bring the SUNSCREEN. 

*Picnic blanket!  Remember the lack of seating?  There's plenty of green hilly areas to throw
down a blanket and relax in the sunlight.  Also makes for a nice picnic, with the snacks you've brought or bought at the fair.  ALSO makes for a nice blanket to snuggle up under/in, if it gets chilly.
(See how everything on this list links nicely together?  That was all on purpose.)
Maybe some blossoms will even float down on you while you're at it!



That's all I have for now!  I really hope you take some time and check it out, if you're
in San Diego and you're looking for something fun to do this Saturday.  It's
a great cute-date idea, friends/girls' day out (this past Monday was Girls' Day,
what a coincidence!), or even just a fun solo adventure.
Whatever your grouping, it's a really nice Japanese cultural experience.
I'll be making an adventure post with lots of photos after the event as well.
Hoping to see you there!

 Isa 

Balboa Park 2013 8th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

    
This was almost a whole month ago, back in March, but I wanted to post photos from it!

The event happens every year at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, San Diego.  

This was the 8th annual festival they've had - I wasn't able to make it last year because I

had an exam the following Monday, but I swore I'd get to it this year.

It celebrates the first blooming of the cherry blossom trees - in Japan it's called sakuramatsuri.

There's always a lot of Japanese fair food, and vendors - this year they had the grand opening of the Garden's extension, with a cherry blossom lane. c:  It's always really crowded as well, I've heard,

but it wasn't too hard to find parking a bit farther away (get ready to walk a lot though, the garden

extension has a winding dirt path leading to the small meadow at the bottom).

It was a little early in the season so not all the trees were completely blooming, but it was still really pretty.  

Probably the one rare time I actually got to wear my yukata - there

was a Japanese festival at my uni this Thursday but I didn't know till the

day of, so I didn't have the chance to bring it with me :ccc

My sister wore hers too (autumn leaves).

 The long vendors' alley down at the bottom of the lane.  There was also

a snow cone vendor, kettle corn, and a whole children's activities corner!  The 

stage with performances was a little further down the lane.  

At the top of the Garden by the entrance gate is Tea Pavilion - we climbed the path

all the way back up to eat lunch there because the festival food lines were insane around midday.

(The teriyaki salmon plate's really good, and you get a nice big chunk of salmon

with rice and veggies.)

 The day started out pretty chilly and grey, but eventually the sun 

came out and everything looked really gorgeous.

 Taiyaki's my favorite Japanese sweet, it's so delicious when it's freshly made

(they only have it frozen at the asian market...still good but not quite the same)

The guy making taiyaki - we got in line as the event was ending, we were

the 3rd to last people to get taiyaki before the stand closed!

Here's the official website from this year. 

I think they'll have it on the Balboa Park events calendar

next year again, sometime around late February/early March!