Cherry blossoms

We couldn't pick any better day for this year's cherry blossom viewing in Osaka. They were soon to be in full bloom (I think 70% bloom on this day) and the weather was just beautiful! We were planning to visit friends down in Kyushu (Southern Island of Japan) from the next day and the weather forecast for the coming weekend was rain, rain, rain...

Matthew arrived so he could come along with us to meet my old workmate Jin and his family in the central city. They moved into a new apartment last year, which is at this amazing location - 2 min walk to this gorgeous riverside park.

They prepared a delicious gourmet picnic for us. We had sushi, BBQ meat and nice chilled beer for lunch under sakura trees! You cannot beat this, MUST DO in Japan if you are visiting in the spring.

Jin and Tomo have two boys exactly the same age as ours.  They visited us earlier this year in Singapore so the boys were comfortable with each other. They played soccer together most of the afternoon. There was also a magic show in the park which they enjoyed very much. 

So many different kinds of cherry blossoms. 

A family holiday photo - unfortunately the sun was slightly too strong...

Oh I love my country - so beautiful!

We had such an amazing day. Thank you Jin & Tomo for having us. See you next time!