Sakura, sushi and shopping

On the final day of our trip, we decided to go to our favourite sakura spots one last time. We started with Ueno Park, which we had not properly visited during daytime since the trees had reached full bloom. The trees here had blossomed fully and we enjoyed a nice walk through the park and the pond. We realised once again that pictures don’t do justice to the beauty of sakura. We headed next to Chidorigafuchi, easily our favourite spot. We met Shashank and Sadhvi there who were queuing up for boating. It was very chilly and all of us were not adequately dressed for the surprisingly colder weather. We queued with them for more than an hour and when it was finally our turn, we got an earlier slot than them. We switched slots (because they had been queuing before us), waited in a nearby cafe with some hot drinks and cake, and then went boating. Divya took the oars this time and struggled a bit to find her rowing rhythm. We enjoyed the moat and the sakura views and then headed to Kinshicho Marui (recommended by our hotel reception) to buy some flavoured KitKats, Japanese sweets and matcha to bring back to London. Before all the shopping, we also got a nice sushi lunch. We enjoyed this sushi way more than the sushi dinner we had had earlier in the trip. However, Divya also got an egg custard that turned out to contain bits of prawn, triggering her allergy. Thankfully, she had not fully consumed any prawns and the allergy subsided relatively easily. Before going out again, we rested at the hotel and put on warmer clothes.Read more