I got an annual pass for a botanical garden
Last weekend, I got an annual pass for a local botanical garden. I think it's the first annual pass I've gotten for anything, so I'm pretty excited about it.
I'd already been to this garden twice and enjoyed it both times. The ticket wasn't too expensive, and if I go a total of five times over the next 12 months, it's already "worth it." So I reckoned it was a good investment. Sometimes, I have those days where I want to do something because the weather is nice outside, but I don't have any specific plans for the weekend. Now, I can always choose to go to the garden.
Because the garden is part of the University of Tokyo and is used as an active research site, it houses a lot of different species, including a greenhouse with lots of tropical plants. One of my favourite parts of last week's visit was checking out all the cool scientific names. Below are some of my favourites:
- Heliotropium arboreum
- Pelatantheria scolopendrifolia
- Crepidiastrum lanceolatum
- Artabotrys hexapetalus
- Metrosideros polymorpha
- Stapelia hirsuta
I also saw some blooming plum trees, camelia, some type of narcissus, cherries / sakura, and even some (very early-blooming) azaleas.
In the late afternoon, one of the workers there (an older lady) came cycling along the paths on a bicycle and notified the visitors via yelling that the garden would close soon and we should head towards the exit. When I was there last time, they had an announcement playing over the speakers, so I guess those must be broken currently. This whole moment felt weirdly old-fashioned, but nice, like a scene from one of those slow, toned-down Naoko Ogigami movies that focus on the small things in life.
I'm looking forward to more visits. Next time, I want to grab the big camera and try taking some nice photos of the different plants there, and the birds too. There were some very cute mejiro (warbling white-eyes) flitting between the cherry blossoms, but my phone camera wasn't good enough to properly capture them.