Episode 225 - Sakura chaser

 

[Enryaku-ji and Mount Hiei]

My family visited Kyoto during the Easter holiday.

The sakura blooming season in downtown Kansai district ends in around mid April every year.  We were late for the season.  In order to view full blooming sakura, we took a journey to Mount Hiei where the sakura blooming season starts in late April due to the cooler weather there.

Apart from the Sakura, a "must visit" for this journey was Enryaku-ji.

The Enryaku-ji is a famous Tendai Monastery in Japan. It has been declared as an UNESCO World Heritage Site - "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyotot Uji and Otsu Cities)".  

The Monastery comprises of a group of buildings clustered around three large districts at the top of Mount Hiei.  Don't take it as an ordinary temple in downtown Kyoto.  The scale of Enryaku-ji may well be beyond your imagination. 

The route to Mount Hiei was a little bit complicated - but not amounting to a challenge for experienced travellers, of course.

Episode 224 - Miao Miao the Cat

A photo of Miao Miao taken earlier today.

He will be one year old next month. 

Episode 223 - Dracaena Fragrans III

Too busy recently.  But here it is!

Episode 222 - Dracaena Fragrans II

Recent pictures of the plant. It is expected that it will flower within the next few days. Will post new photos.

To avoid an attack from Miao Miao the cat (who loves to pick flowers), we moved the plant to another room.

Episode 221 Dracaena Fragrans

Can you see the flower bud?

I purchased this Dracaena Fragrans for Gogo a few years ago in the flower market. In Hong Kong it is called Brazilian Iron Tree.

It was then just a segment of stem - cutting out from the stem of a large Dracaena Fragrans tree - with a few leaf buds only and had no root at all. Gogo wished to keep it so we bought it home.

We first kept it in a vase with some water. The plant grew larger with leaves and roots developed. We then transferred it to the soil.

It appears to be rare and unusual for a Dracaena Fragrans flowers in winter.