Message: Locky's English Playground Is Celebrating Cherry Blossoms Festival 2012

Image from Locky's English Playground

Some smart English Players might have noticed the new theme for our Playground logo and background (PC version only), and yes, you are right!! We are celebrating the Cherry Blossom Festival 2012 for the first time!

So don't get me wrong, these are Japanese Hanji, not Chinese.

"But they are also Chinese characters!!!"

Well, tomato-tomato! (Read as /təˈmɑː.təʊ/-/təˈmeɪ.t ̬oʊ/)

Cherry blossoms at the Tokyo Imperial Palace
Image from Wikipedia

Here's something to learn about the flower-viewing festival from Wikipedia,

1. "Hanami" is the centuries-old practice of picnicking under a blooming sakura or ume tree.
2. Every year the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the public track the sakura zensen (cherry blossom front) as it moves northward up the archipelago with the approach of warmer weather via nightly forecasts following the weather segment of news programs.
3. The blossoming begins in Okinawa in January and typically reaches Kyoto and Tokyo at the end of March or the beginning of April.

Okinawa Prefecture
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Vocabulary:
tomato-tomato! (read as /təˈmɑː.təʊ/-/təˈmeɪ.t ̬oʊ/) -- meaning, same same.
Hanami -- (n)[U] flower viewing, hana is flower in Japanese


Resources:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/tomato?q=tomato

Flower viewing -- Cherry blossom @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom#Flower_viewing

Okinawa @ Google Map
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Okinawa+&hl=en&ll=27.751608,129.671631&spn=6.559883,11.634521&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.677964,93.076172&hnear=Okinawa+Prefecture,+Japan&t=m&z=7