Perhaps less well known than sakura flowers, plum blossoms are just as breathtaking and more resilient, blooming from mid-January to March. With the chance to see them live in Japan instead of being cut up and placed into vases for Chinese New Year, I feel blessed and awed at the same time, by its beauty and significance.

Surviving and blooming in harsh winter conditions, being the first flower to welcome spring, the season of renewal and hope. Somehow it connects to my experience for the past year of overcoming all odds to come to Japan, fulfilling my lifelong dream to study and experience life here, tasting the sweetness of fulfilling my goals and my hope for a bigger dream.

Besides beauty and resilience, the 5 petals of plum blossoms signifies Happiness, Longevity, Luck, Success and Peace, which I hope to bless each and everyone with. Wishing you and all your loved ones a blessed Lunar New Year!