{"id":1928,"date":"2021-02-25T14:59:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T22:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/?p=1928"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:21:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:21:20","slug":"you-had-me-at-sakura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/you-had-me-at-sakura\/","title":{"rendered":"You Had Me at Sakura"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chic<\/span><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>

This article was printed in<\/em>
\nChic Compass Magazine - Issue 7<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
Advertisement<\/em><\/center>
<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Sakura\"<\/span><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>

You Had Me at Sakura<\/h1>\n

A LOVE STORY AMIDST THE PANDEMIC<\/p>\n

BY SHEELA KUNISHIGE<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>

It was a cool spring afternoon in Gunma-Ken, Japan. The man was on his way to do his laundry at the Coin Laundry\u2014his Sunday routine\u2014when he decided to call her. She was on lockdown and singing live via \u201cFacebook Live\u201d at her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was only the first week of the pandemic, and COVID-19 had taken the world by surprise.<\/p>\n

They were childhood friends. Their history of knowing each other went back to the Philippines when they had first met\u2014she was nine years old, and he only five. It was 27 years ago that they last saw each other at her Debutante Party. Then, she was 18, and he was 14. It was puppy love for him. She was the object of his affection\u2014young love, sweet love\u2014while she, on the other hand, loved him like a brother. They both loved music. She\u2019d always been a singer, while he was a dancer and rapper.<\/p>\n

He invited her to do laundry with him virtually. She was delighted to accept. After all, she liked adventures, and spending time with him was an adventure. It was all so new for her\u2014Japan and the idea of a budding virtual romance and, most of all, him. How had he become this handsome, romantic, and sophisticated man? She asked herself. He now spoke fluent Nihonggo, some Portuguese, fluent English, and of course, their native tongue, Filipino (Tagalog and Ilocano).<\/p>\n

Completing the laundry, he announced it was time for lunch.<\/p>\n

\u201cRamen, please!\u201d she exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor you, I will, although, in my 18 years here in Japan, I\u2019ve never eaten ramen for lunch. I usually eat it for dinner,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

Ramen, it was! He took her to the Ebisu Ramen House. Being a foodie herself, one of her favorite cuisines was Japanese, and ramen was like \u201cfood for the soul\u201d to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your favorite ramen?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonkotsu!\u201d she eagerly replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith egg?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, and nori, too, please.\u201d<\/p>\n

He succumbed and ordered as she wished. He began to eat and did so with passion. That was the moment she first became smitten by him.<\/p>\n

She said to him, \u201cYou eat with so much gusto. I smelled the aroma. I tasted every bite. My lips felt the warmth of the hot broth.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
\"Sakura<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Photograph by Jeremias \u201cByron\u201d A. Tacuban from Gunma-Ken, Japan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>

Surprisingly, he was satisfied more than ever. His first-time having ramen for lunch was unforgettable\u2014because it was with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a surprise for you,\u201d he said as he headed out to his car. She became excited because she loved the element of surprise. He told her that it was going to be quite a drive. Her heart started beating fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in for some adventure!\u201d she exclaimed.<\/p>\n

They continued to talk by video Messenger as he drove. They talked about everything under the sun. He was heading toward Mizunuma Koen, and along the way, there were trees of delicate cherry blossoms\u2014almost scarce rather than robust for it was already April 12. The peak season for cherry blossoms in Gunma-Ken, Japan, is in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cSakura!\u201d she exclaimed. Tears of joy filled her eyes. One of her dreams was to experience the Sakura season in Japan. \u201cYou just made one of my dreams come true,\u201d she told him.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
\"Photograph<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Photograph by Jeremias \u201cByron\u201d A. Tacuban from Gunma-Ken, Japan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>

\u201cThat\u2019s not all. I\u2019ll take you on a little hike to see more,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n

In his mind, he wanted her to be able to see cherry blossoms in her favorite color\u2014pink. He prayed that there would be more cherry blossoms, especially pink ones. He even called one of his friends to ask if there would be more Sakura up on the hill. His prayers were answered instantly! When he got to the top of the hill, he showed her the most beautiful cherry blossoms\u2014in white and pink! She was overwhelmed with joy. There was even a river adorned by cherry blossoms.
\n\u201cWe just had our first virtual date,\u201d he told her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for making me the happiest girl in the world!\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n

The next day, it rained in Gunma-Ken. The rain washed away the very beautiful, yet fragile, cherry blossoms. He told her that it was like a miracle that they were both able to visually enjoy the cherry blossoms the day before\u2014just one day before the heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n

Their love is like those cherry blossoms\u2014beautiful yet fragile. It has been a year since they committed to a long-distance relationship.<\/p>\n

They have to work hard every day to maintain trust, respect, love, and romance in their relationship. Just like the cherry blossoms whose beauty is fleeting, being in-love may only be fleeting if two people do not invest time, dedication, focus, and commitment into their relationship\u2014especially a long-distance one. Someday soon, when the pandemic is over and Japan opens its borders to Americans, they will finally see each other again after almost three decades.<\/p>\n

To this day, he asks her why she accepted his love. She always answers, \u201cYou had me at Sakura.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
\"Photograph<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Photograph of river lined with cherry blossoms in Gunma-Ken, Japan by Jeremias \u201cByron\u201d A. Tacuban.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Their love is like cherry blossoms\u2014beautiful yet fragile. It has been a year since they committed to a long-distance relationship. Someday soon, when the pandemic is over and Japan opens its borders to Americans, they will finally see each other again after almost three decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3268,4518],"tags":[3285,3284,1255,3282,3281,3283],"class_list":["post-1928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-7","category-travel","tag-cherry-blossoms","tag-gunma-ken","tag-japan","tag-love-story","tag-sakura","tag-sheela-kunishige"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11430,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928\/revisions\/11430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}