Cherry Trees Are in Full Bloom

Many cherry trees are planted by tennis courts where I usually go. Those trees are currently in full bloom.

I can enjoy both seeing beautifully bloomed flowers and playing tennis at the same time today.

According to the local weather forecast, it will rain tomorrow. I'm not sure that the trees can keep the flowers until next weekend.

I think that short life of cherry flowers makes people love the flowers more.

I have Lunch at Bakery Restaurant 'Saint Marc'

I went to a bakery restaurant 'Saint Marc' the other day with my wife.

They bake various kind of small bread at the shop.

The waitresses at the shop brought freshly baked bread one after another to our table before the dishes became empty.

Sesame taste, pumpkin contained, croissant, sweet potato contained, bacon and eggs contained, Yomogi leaves taste are the examples of the bread.

We ate almost one-month-eating-amount of bread within a couple of hours.

I Go to a Noodle Soup Shop 'Ogino'

Restaurant 'Ogino' which serves noodle soup and sweets has firmly kept its own old Japanese Showa-era styple.

They show dish samples made of wax in front of the shop and hang a big size menu display on its wall.

All the more, they offer unchanged same old taste of noodle soup for over half a century.

I Go to Cafe Rectangle and Utsunomiya Central Park

 I went to 'Cafe Rectangle' to have lunch with my wife on a sunny winter day.

 

On our way to the cafe, we had a short visit to Utsunomiya Central Park where winter birds were taking a rest in its pond.

Doll's Festival is Going on in Mashiko Town

My wife and I went to Mashiko town to have lunch at a local restaurant 'kabocha-an' the other day. On the same day, we visited a pottery museum.

After seeing artworks at the museum, we found an old small Japanese house next to the museum. The house was open to everyone to see hina dolls displayed to cerebrate Hinamatsuri festival.

Hinamatsuri is a seasonal festival, called sekku, on March 3. The festival is also considered as a day for girls, most families with girls display a set of dolls to wish for girls' healthy growth and happiness as a Japanese tradition.

The local restaurant 'kabocha-an' was famous for serving dishes used pumpkins as food ingredients.

Accommodations of the Hotel We Stay Are Good Enough

 The swimming pool was quiet and beautiful in a day and night. Whenever I came down to the swimming pool, nobody were there or a very few guests were chatting on pool-side-chairs.

 The concierge at the hotel front desk was kind and knew very well about tourist spots in the city and neighboring areas.

Tropical fruits and various bread served in the morning buffet at the hotel were delicious.

The room was quite large for its reasonable price charge. 

Artistic Graffiti in Numea

Seeing artistic graffiti in foreign countries is unscheduled fun moment while walking on a street.
We found several beautiful graffiti in downtown and hill top ocean viewing site.

We Go to a Morning Market "Marche"

We went to the Marche in the early morning.
They sold vegetables, fish, flowers, fruits, ..., you name it.
Seeing and buying goods at local markets were really fun.
Unexpectedly, there was a live concert at the corner of  the market. We could watch and enjoy the music, too.

Be careful, if you have a chance to go there, the market is open only on Sunday morning.

Flowers in a Port Town

Wherever you may go, you will find beautiful flowers every corner in the port town Numea.

I think that explanations are not necessary needed for flower pictures.

Please, just feel the sea breeze and floral fragrance through those photos.

 

It's Fun to Stay at 'Parc Hotel' in Numea

 The name of the hotel we stayed was Parc Hotel. We stayed there for about a week.
Night view from the balcony was so wonderful that we had dinner while seeing the sunset and changing ocean color

Swimming pool at the hotel was nice and quiet.

Ile aux Canards island / Ilot Canard

We went to a small island called Ilot Canard taking just five minutes from the beach in the main island of New Caledonia by glass-bottomed boat.

We could see coral reefs and fish swimming between them through the bottom glass of the boat.

We enjoyed seeing beautiful beach, the sea, birds, fish and a shellfish.

Unexpectedly, there was an art trail where many original artworks by sculptors and artists were on display.

It is said that at weekends, volunteers from the environmental information center would be there to answer visitors questions.