CAPE TOWN DIVA: Lying under the Sakura in Shinjuku Gyoen Park, Tokyo...

What a day, what a park. Seemed as if everyone was out in the spring sunshine today. I took advantage of the good weather, got myself a pain au chocolate, tea and a tub of yoghurt and did breakfast under a cherry blossom tree...the Sakura are looking magnificent at Gyoen. This 58 hectare garden started it's life as an imperial one in 1879 and in 1949 became open to the public for the first time, being named the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in 2001. There are 3 styles of garden here: Japanese, French and English. The garden is a favourite hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) spot and I tell you, it draws a vast local and tourist crowd with its more than 20,000 trees. In bloom it's a sight to behold: 1,500 cherry trees bloom from late March (Shidare or Weeping Cherry), to early April (Somei or Tokyo Cherry), and on to late April (Kanzan Cherry). Other trees found here include the majestic Himalayan cedars, which soar above the rest of the trees in the park, tulip trees, cypresses, and plane trees, which were first planted in Japan in the Imperial Gardens.

Scenes from Shinjuku Gyoen...