Beach Break: Onjuku Beach

I missed the beautiful beaches in the Philippines last summer, so I decided to give myself a beach break and headed towards Chiba - one of the popular beach destinations in Japan. There are several beaches in Chiba but I chose to go to Onjuku Beach because it seems like the most accessible of them all. I left Tokyo at around 11am and arrived in Onjuku Beach at around 2pm. It was a cloudy day but the beach was still full of people.

Onjuku Beach has fine gray sand and is popular with beachgoers and surfers alike. It may be far from the beaches I've gotten used to in the Philippines (which in my opinion is one of the best in the world) but this is a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.

JR Onjuku Station (taken July 20, 2008)

The Statues in Onjuku Beach (taken July 20, 2008)

Onjuku Beach (taken July 20, 2008)

Onjuku Beach (taken July 20, 2008)

Stalls in Onjuku Beach (taken July 20, 2008)

Access: JR Sotobou Line Onjuku Station

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A Tribute to Spring

I know it's already summer in the upper half of the earth (and rainy here in the Philippines), but I'd still like to share some snapshots of spring I took last year while staying in Japan. It was my first time to experience spring (since I live in a tropical country), and I was not disappointed.

Spring is especially important to Japanese people since it is graduation season for them and Japanese companies start their fiscal year in spring. Aside from these, their favorite tree, sakura, goes into full bloom during spring. Well, actually what happens is they start blooming around the end of March and wither 2 weeks later. So you only have 2 weeks for hanami (or cherry blossom watching). This is the reason why parks are jampacked during hanami season. Families, friends and office mates all get together and watch the sakura trees while eating, drinking and bonding together.

Nippon Budokan Hall, Kudanshita, Tokyo (taken March 26, 2008)

Sakura in Nippon Budokan Hall, Kudanshita, Tokyo (taken March 26, 2008)

Hanami (cherry blossom viewing) in Yoyogi Park (taken March 29, 2008)

Close up of sakura taken in Ueno Park (taken March 30, 2008)

Well, spring in Japan is not all about sakura, there are also different flower festivals held all around Japan. One of them is the tulip festival in Chiba. All I can say is that seeing the windmill and all those tulips made me forget I was in Japan. :D

Tulip Festival in Sakura, Chiba (taken April 20, 2008)

Feels like Holland (taken April 20, 2008)

I just love the colors and cheerfulness of spring. I love the way the flowers and trees get into full bloom after withstanding cold winter days. Seeing how trees and flowers live again after months of undesirable conditions gives me hope and inspiration.

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