The sweet smell of cherry blossoms. A sweet, tangy aroma combines with a multitude of textures, in a plethora of whites, reds, pinks and purples.

While most people would get more excited about a bowl of Bings than the flowers they came from, flowering cherries are all the rage here in Japon. Yesterday I braved hoardes of bipeds and errant drivers to bike around Kyoto and see what was blooming.

Kyoto by bike was different, as I covered tremendous ground on my rent-a-cycle and saw the city in a different light. Every time I visit is different. You don't have to try that hard to alter the experience. That's alright in my book, having an easy time scrounging up new, contrasting expereinces. Sidewalks are narrow, people cannot estimate when to move out of your way and a few steep hills provide great speed-biking potential.

I rented a MTB, or in layman's terms, a mountain bike. I am 187 cm tall and the "L" size bike was a wee teensy but what it lacked in size it made up for in gumption. Nuff said. Do try and ride around this city sometime. It beats walking.