-
Cherry Blossoms at Yoyogi Park
Having seen the cherry blossoms in Okinawa, I couldn’t understand the hype over hanami or cherry blossom viewing. I found the dark pink flowers overrated. To think that people would actually look forward to these flowers blooming annually, I couldn’t help but to find it a tad bit strange and a tad bit ridiculous. They were just flowers that were nice to look at but nothing of the extraordinary.
-
Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
In Kyoto, there’s a shrine that’s super popular, open 24 hours and free. It’s popular thanks to its many tori. Chances are high you’ve come across photos of famous instagrammers in front of the famed red gates (tori) before.
Nothing wrong with that but it does make Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine rather crowded.
-
Moonlight Forest
Spending money to attend Moonlight Forest at the Los Angeles County Arboretum was so worth it. Having been to the Los Angeles County Arboretum before, it was quite the experience to see the grounds transformed into something else. If you think you’ll be able to catch glimpses of the grounds during Moonlight Forest, think again. The most you will be able to catch a glimpse of is the somewhat eerie yet beautiful Victorian home when viewing the dragon from afar.
-
Festival of Trees
While attending the Festival of Lights, I was fortunate enough to run into the Festival of Trees, which was being held inside the Riverside Convention Center. The event was open to the public and free.
-
Riverside’s Festival of Lights
I’ve been wanting to go to Riverside’s Festival of Lights for a long time now and I finally did it this year. Yay, but whatever. I say whatever because things didn’t start on time and that rubbed me and a bunch of festival attendees in the wrong way.