Hanami 花見("flower viewing") is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, "flower" in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms (sakura 桜). The blossom forecast of cherry blossom is announced each year by the weather bureau, and is watched carefully by those planning hanami as the blossoms only last a week or two. Hanami mostly consists of having an outdoor party beneath the sakura during daytime or at night. Hanami at night is called yozakura ("night sakura").
For our hanami experience this year, my family and friends gathered for a picnic. Our timing was bad, the weather was not good and since everything's set we decided to go on. Instead of having picnic under the sakura tree we ended up camping under the bridge. We set the grill for our yakiniku (barbecue), it took a long time for the flame to start burning, at last it's time for yakiniku!!! Paper plates, cups and chopsticks were given out, it's time to eat and drink. While eating, we had some entertainment courtesy of the Japanese group on the other side. Since they're ahead of us to camp there, most of them were already drunk. It's really funny to see them doing silly and foolish things. After the meal, some other friends were still having yakiniku, the kids took their time for playing, my 3 teenage boy pals where out of sight, roaming around, looking for girls. And as for me, I was having a good conversation with my friends and decided for a walk. With an umbrella, we roam around to see the sakura and the built in stalls selling variety of items but most were foods like, yakiniku, yakisoba, takoyaki and so on.. around the park, it was like a fiesta. We stayed until the lightening of the sakura tree then packed our things and went back home. If the weather is only good we can still manage to stay in the park until midnight, even though the weather is not so friendly, I still enjoyed a wonderful rainy day at the park.
