New Zealand Trip Day 1- Tokyo

We were flying out of Tokyo for our trip to New Zealand but Derick had some stuff to take care of in Tokyo so we ended up going down a day early and had some extra time to hang out! We stayed at the New Sanno Hotel  a hotel for military members that offers super good rates in the heart of the city. While we were there we went to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, a  garden that was created as an imperial garden in 1906! 

Not only was the garden beautiful they were also have thier annual fall chrysanthemum exhibition... what they can do with these chrysanthemums is crazy!

Ozukuri (thousand bloom) Bed

 They create this massive dome shaped chrysanthemum plant by a unique technique of pinching and training.  You can tell how but these are cause that is Derick standing by the plant in the background.

Kengai (cascade) Bed

This is a training technique where they try to make small flowered chrysanthemums to look like wild  chrysanthemums flowering on a cliff.

Ichimonji (imperial crest) and Kudamono-giku (spider) Bed

These things were as big as my face... and super perfect. 

Ogiku (large-flowered) Bed

These were definitely as big as my face... look at one compared to this old Japanese man taking a picture with his phone!