Sakura Sunday 2015 in Philadelphia, PA

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Sakura Sunday 2015 in Philadelphia, PA

Like my previous post on the National Cherry Blossom Festival, this one will be light on words but heavy on pictures.  On April 12th I drove up to Philadelphia to attend my first Sakura Sunday, Philly's cherry blossom festival.  This festival is much smaller in scale compared to D.C.'s, but it has a much more intimate feel to it (and you don't have to fight through huge crowds just to travel from one side to another).  Unfortunately their cherry blossoms haven't even begun to bloom yet so the area wasn't as pretty as it could have been.

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National Cherry Blossom Festival 2015

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National Cherry Blossom Festival 2015

This post will be light on words but heavy on pictures.  I went down to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 11, 2015 for the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival.  I got there early in the morning at around 05:30 AM to ensure that I get a good parking spot at Hains Point and to be able to take pictures of the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin during sunrise.  I ended up wasting a lot of time waiting at some spots to get some pictures so the golden hour came and went before I knew it, but it was still a good learning experience nonetheless.

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Zenkaikon 2015 Convention Report

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Zenkaikon 2015 Convention Report

I attended my second Zenkaikon anime convention which was held on March 27-29, 2015 at the Lancaster County Convention Center in downtown Lancaster, PA.  Zenkaikon is a small but growing con and certainly had a lot of things to do over the weekend.  There were also a number of great cosplay to be seen as well.  The con was run very well as most panels and events that I went to started and ended on time.  Overall they had a solid lineup of industry guests and panels and I certainly look forward to returning there next year.

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Matcha Time Cafe and Ramen Noodles

/ Matcha Time Cafe/
Matcha Time Cafe and Ramen Noodles

Back in January I was introduced to this nice, niche Japanese-themed cafe up in the Historic Ellicott City area.  Matcha Time Cafe is tucked away in the back corner of Parking Lot D so it's not visible from Main Street, but it is definitely well worth the short trip off the beaten path.  In addition to good food and a variety of tea to choose from, they also have a neat little gift shop set up that you can browse (and purchase stuff!) as well.

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Katsucon 2015 Convention Report

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Katsucon 2015 Convention Report

Since it's been almost three weeks since Katsucon ended (and I have extreme short-term memory) this post will be short and sweet.  So I attended my fourth Katsucon anime convention from February 13-15, 2015 held at the National Harbor in Maryland.  As usually I had a great time but things didn't start off too smoothly.

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