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#jappy // Hanami at Kawazu 河津

Kawazuzakura Matsuri   河津桜祭り

One of the earliest opportunity to witness bunch of sakura is - along the bank of Kawazu River. I was thrilled to find out about this place while researching for my Tokyo trip. I knew I was too early for the full bloom of sakura in Tokyo city but no choice, I have to match my trip with the only spring break I have. But thankfully, I found out about Kawazuzakura Matsuri and immediately set my mind to visit this place, no matter what. 

Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival is held annually from early February to early March in Kawazu, a small city in the Izu prefecture. It is also near to Atami, a city famous for Ume (plum trees) and onsen experience. I managed to find a 2-days train pass to Kawazu but it was frustrating as there wasn't much information of it in English. I think they launch similar passes every year so hopefully this will help you when you plan a short visit to Kawazu.


How to get there

We used the Minami Izu Free pass (as shown above), which includes a round trip ticket from Tokyo to Ito station and unlimited rides on Izukyoko Line that travels between Ito station and Izukyu-Shimoda Station. According to their website, this pass is sold till May 1st, 2017 but I believe similar passes are sold each year so be sure to check out the JR Izu website!

Minami Izu Free Pass 

The Minami Izu Free pass is selling for 6160 yen but since we were traveling to Kawazu on the last weekend of the Kawazuzakura Matsuri period, the officer recommended us to pay extra to get a reserved seat as it can be pretty packed on the train. Fear of having to stand for 2.5 hours to reach Kawazu, we paid that extra 2190 yen to get the reserved seats. 
Fact: Almost 2 million visitors are attracted to Kawazu to celebrate this early bloom of Kawazuzakura. 

The reserved seats area.

Breakfast on the train of course!

If I am not wrong, the early trains tend to depart from either Tokyo station or Shinjuku station, same goes to the trains returning from Izu prefecture. We took the 8 am train departing from Tokyo station and arrived at Kawazu at 10.30 am. For 500 yen, we rented a locker to store our backpacks in the station before walking to the Kawazu RIver. 

  



Kawazuzakura Matsuri



Once you get out of Kawazu station, turn right and walk all the way. Turn left when you see a wide street with lots of local Japanese selling their home-grown fruits, sakura-themed food, Japanese omiyage etc..




That's where the crowd is and will lead you towards the river bank. 



A pretty cafe along the river.


This year, the weather turned warm much earlier than before therefore the full bloom happened earlier than previous years. We were too late for the full bloom where literally, the whole tree is pink and purely pink all along the river bank. When we got there, green leaves has already started growing so rather than pure pink, we see a blend of green and light pink on most trees ㅠ.ㅠ



Thankfully there are still a few fully pink sakura trees, so we still got some good photos there. We were lucky to be the first few to spot this tree, that means... lots of time for us to shoot. 

You know when people get excited for first snow right? We are excited for the first pink sakura tree! 
첫눈? 아냐.. 첫 벚꽃 나무다!





Happiness overload  :D

Halfway walking, we saw this foot spa area where I thought it would be a good spot to rest our feet. But the water is super duper hot, definitely higher than 45 degree celsius. 

HOT HOT!

Next up, heading to DHC Akazawa Day Onsen House and spend a night at Ito.
To be continued...

Hoshino Tomamu Resort & The Water Chapel

First time flying to Tokyo and Hokkaido on my own. The last time I flew to Osaka alone wasn’t this scary coz I had my lovely host family who came and pick me from the airport and gave me too much love for that two days.


This time it is Tokyo, where I have no friends. 
Didnt want to admit this, but there is some sense of fear. I could barely remember any Japanese that I’ve learnt during Form 4. Furthermore these two years of Korean studies have further push those left over Japanese expressions into some black hole. So I’m relying on those languages that I know, plus the most useful body language and a big fat smile that I have - nothing works better than a smile!
Since my next flight to Hokkaido is on the next morning 9am, I decided not to travel out from Haneda and sleep in a hotel for maybe 4 hours and travel back to the airport again. So I chose to stay up in the airport till the next morning.
First time man! Alone! In Japan! I dunno where did all these courage come from lol 
Btw totally didn’t expect my flight from HK to Haneda to not have a tv. And I threw my tablet into my backpack, in the overhead compartment. Songs and sleep, that’s it.
I arrived at ard midnight so there was like 9 hours for me to spend in the airport. Found a seat and started finding dramas to watch on my tablet. 3am snack: mentaiko onigiri from Lawson while searching for sockets to charge my stuff. It can be abit difficult to find sockets as sometimes when u find it but there isn't any chairs for you to sit. In the end I just leave in on the table and head to the bench nearby for some sleep. I trust Japan being safe but this act is all on your own risk, as you know it's all tourist in the airport.
Finally it's 5 am. 
Ebi burger from MOS Burger.

First time taking Japan Airlines. That self check-in machine, and I don’t even know where to check in my luggage. It was like I’m stranded in a lost town, but totally don’t mind coz it is Japan we’re talking about here. *bias*
I didn’t reach the domestic terminal too early, so when I got everything settled, it was about time to board. Not to forget KSSia’s call before I board, telling my how he’s worrying bout his law papers when I’m about to begin my #calliegoestoHokkaido solo tour. 
On the flight,I was surrounded literally by all Japanese. If i wasn’t with the typical Asian look that I can pretend to be a Japanese *dont beat me*, I would be the odd one being stared i guess. A cup of cold ocha for the 1 hour flight and I landed at New Chitose Airport.
Seriously is this dream come true or what? It has never once crossed my mind that Hokkaido would be a place where I would come on my own. What I imagined was this would only be my family trip destination or when I got that cash earned in my pocket. And one more, Hokkaido was only for Winter isn’t? I know bout the lavender and all but we can’t build a snowman in summer right, Elsa? *frozenpun*
Collected my luggage and there I have a 50 mins before the next bus ride. Hoshino had pre-booked a bus from the airport to Tomamu Resort for me. I was so thirsty at that time, trying to look for a water dispenser but sob sob, couldn't so I grabbed a grapefruit juice instead from Lawson's and went to the bus waiting area. And there I meet three other non-Japanese. Turns out that they are here under the same project too! A Taiwanese guy (really shy and quiet) and two girls from Singapore. There was supposed to be 6 of us under this project in the same bus but 2 of them didn't turn up. We only managed to meet that 2 on our last day while returning to the airport and got to know that their flights to Tokyo was delayed hence they missed the bus and arrived in Tomamu much later at night.
As soon as we reach Tomamu, checked in and got our welcoming drink at the lobby cafe while the helpful staff was giving us help on planning our activities for the next 3 days. My initial plan was to visit Furano and Takinoue Park for shibazakura and skip Sapporo. Coz Tomamu isn't located in Sapporo, it's 2 hours away by train as it's famous for Skiing during winter and Cloud Terrace in summer. Instead, he advised us that Furano is not ready for lavender yet and it was the season for these yellow flower (which I have no idea the name) and another day for Sapporo. 

We were so hungry after the whole day of plane and bus rides, so we went back to our rooms and took a quick shower and head for dinner together. Oh right forgot to mention that I actually didn't bring any non-summer clothes (except a denim jacket for my flight) coz my whole mind was thinking about the scorching hot Tokyo SUMMER so I didn't bother to check the weather forecast at all. Hokkaido treated me well on my arrival as it was 13 celcius just the best breezy weather I could ask for, for a summer vacation. But when the sun sets and when I visited Sapporo city, the weather was freaking below 10 degrees, worst being 3 celcius. Can u imagine me being in that chilly weather in tank top and shorts? Oh well I survived and had tons of fun though.
Getting ready for din din
#girlsbeinggirls

Had our first dinner in glasshouse in the forest ( I called it the Edward Cullen's house), .

After dinner we headed to another highlight of this resort, The Water Chapel. While i was researching about this resort, I found out that this is the place where Fish Leong had her MV taken.

Waiting for the shuttle bus

It's a really pretty place, popular for wedding ceremony. Met this Taiwanese family there where the kids are so cute and resemble that boy from Up.  



I can actually see part of the Water Chapel from my room, which might seem abit creepy coz of the lights lighting up the 'bald' trees there.

Headed back for some sleep before the Unkai hunt!

P.S//  Sorry for the discontinuation of the documentation of this trip :(

CallieKaylee x 100 Trip Stories


I've been in love with Japan since young, not due to J-pop of J-drama during that time but rather just fascinated by Japanese culture and delicacy.  Watching my sister go on a home-stay program in Nagoya for 2 weeks, I dread to follow but I was then only 8 years old. Since then I've been dreaming of going on this sorta home stay or student exchange to Japan when I enter secondary school.


My dream came true when I was selected to Osaka student exchange (really not everyone can go coz of its popular demand) and get to extend 8 days in Tokyo and Hakone with mumsie.
  • Universal studio Japan 
  • Nara 
  • Japanese host family (greatest gift)
  • Hakone
  • Fuji mountain sightseeing
  • Black egg
  • Disneyland
  • DisneySea




That was in 2010.


And came another chance, CNY family trip to Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe in 2014.

Despite my crazy expensive air tix from HKG to KIX, a two day spent with my host family prior to my real family's arrival was memorable. And my first experience of staying in a 18-bed mixed dormitory in Kyoto.  Oh boy that's one of the best hostel I've stayed in. 

PIECE Hostel if you're wondering. 


So it was still a trip that was fully funded by my parents, so who else can I thank besides them?

One day, mumsie tagged me on a link. It was regarding a Japanese hotel group, Hoshino Resorts that's having a competition for its 100 anniversary. 


JACKPOT! Never did I imagine I have the luck of winning something, and this is too big a thing to win! I'll just briefly talked about it here.










100 Trip Stories by Hoshino Resorts
100 lucky people who is in their 20s will be selected to get a free 3-night stay in either of these 6 destination: Hokkaido, Okinawa, Nagano, Hakone and Atami, Aomori and Nikko. 50 people actually get to go during the winter while the others during the summer.
Hoshino actually has more than one hotel in some of these places so you can stay in different ones during your three nights.Not to forget your major transportation in Japan when traveling to the hotel will be covered, i.e domestic flight from HND/KIX to Hokkaido or Okinawa, JR train rides, ferry rides and the life saver, FREE portable wifi!

And my session was during the summer, right after my finals. Initially I was facing this dilemma of choosing the destination coz Okinawa is so attractive as a summer vacation hub. Already been to Hakone so I decided to rule that out. So I submitted my application with Hokkaido as my 1st choice and Okinawa as the back up plan. Over the moon when I received the confirmation email and then I begin to worry if my parents allow me to go on this solo travel thingy. Plus I planned to extend my stay in Tokyo for another 5 nights.

Voucher, Map and Activity Pass
Arigato, Hoshino Resorts

Life-saver wifi that allows me to insta anywhere anytime
Arigato, Telecom Square.


First JAL experience and domestic flight in Japan
Arigato, Japan Airlines

It has been more than a month since my #calliegoestoJapan but I can totally re-live it again and again. Still waiting for my trip report to be uploaded on their site. I can't really remember  


I love Japan and I guess she loves me back in someway. Like this golden opportunity. Can I visit Japan every year?
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