15 July 2017 Saturday. We woke up around 0500 hrs to catch at least a portion of Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival. The locals had the celebration throughout the night and at day break, there was a race to carry floats for 5 KM.
At 0600 hrs… people were dispersing. Several key area were still crowded with people.
A glimpse of float used for the event.
There were mixed of modern and ancient icons all around the float
….and with no wheel, this is how the local move the float.
Near Kushida Shrine….the participants marched on.
Getting God ready….
The float was carried onto the street…
Food and beer after all the hard work…
A very young participant…
Our Pictures…
A final ritual ….
On our way back to Hotel, we stopped at 长滨家 (Hakataya) and had very delicious Ramen. The soup was tinted with very fine layer of oil from Char Siew and sesame, coupled with very fine cuts of leeks… we loved the taste very much.
After some washed up, we set off to Huis Ten Bosch….It was 120 KM but it took us more than two hours drive. The toll was very expensive and I think this is and will continue to be a big hindrance for Japanese to travel and enjoy within their country.
Arriving at Huis Ten Bosch.
At the ticketing kiosk…
Entering the park…greeted by this puffy doll…
Stepping into a Japanese Dutch Town.
Our first stop was the Teddy Bear Kingdom…
Speaking the Teddy Bear Language (The name for teddy bear language is Terrible !).
Father and Mother of Teddy Bear
and House full of Teddy Bears…
Heading to Dragon world Tour…. in Traditional Dutch Shoes…
Preparing for Dragon World Tour….
Dragon World Tour
Our next attraction…. Fishing
Really enjoyable big catch…
We scaled the Highest Tower (called Domtoren) in the theme park… A birds’ Eye View
A Quick Lunch at Ground Zero of Domtoren. We had Nagasaki Chanpon Noodles, Ramen full of Vegetables @ Gokuu. The Fried Dumpling was good too.
Looking back at Tower City
After lunch, we spend awhile at Amsterdam City…Flower Clock and Glass Museum.
At Flowery Amsterdam Square….
I had icy cold beer @ Amsterdam…. felt superb.
On our way to Thriller City…. we spotted this Happy Face…
Thriller City
And into the Thriller City…
We spend most of our times inside these Horror Buildings…
The Horrifying sight are not for those with faint heart.
This is one of the “MUST TRY”
A short walk from Thriller City…. we entered the robotic world
Many high tech exhibits… a fantastic creation ….robotic fish
Fighting Transformer…
and this is by Denso wave…. illustration of perfect motion control. Probably we make the PCB !
Then we noticed Chocolate wonderland.
with chocolate car and chocolate waitress…
OMG…. chocolate
Show Stopper…
Exit from Chocolate wonderland… we entered Umbrella Street.
simple but brilliant creation … colorful wonders.
We decided to chill ourselves in a very special cafe
Very nice ice sculpture
as the name suggest…deep frozen flowers
Our Pictures in the cafe
We had some quick burger while enjoying Sunset over Huis Ten Bosch
Horizon Adventure is a mini theater @ attraction town. It showed heavy rain pouring over a Dutch town. This was exceptionally good and a MUST for anyone who visit Huis Ten Bosch. (they forbid photographs during the show, so no picture was taken. Advertisement Pic taken from Internet.)
The center of Attraction Town.
Lovely Golden Fountains.
Leisurely we strolled towards adventure park. Windmill and flower bed were shower with warm light.
Lovely Canal mirrored.
The sky castle was physically demanding…at the starting of Sky Castle.
Crossing single plank that was very shaky.
Clearing obstacles…. in the air
Finally I was wet when I make it to the exit…
We had the shooting stars…. get ourselves shoot across the flowers garden and Lake … very nice experience. Unfortunately, we have our Handphone and camera kept in locker…. hence no pictures … (advertisement pictures below)
After all the excitement, we decided to have canal boat ride… many reflective view along the way. And then boat headed into a section of colored water.
Then came the finale…very enjoyable sight.
We disembarked at Tower City
Catching night view from the Highest Tower (called Domtoren) in this Theme Park.
We make it to the Theme Park Exit minutes before the closing hour. It was another two hours drive back to our Hotel at Fukuoka, Hakata.
End of Day 2 : This morning, we had our first experience of Festive Celebration at Kyushu. Unique Culture and very strong participating spirit of everyone involved. We spend many hours at Huis Ten Bosch. It offers varieties and spectacular sight. Very enjoyable day.
Return to : Food and Festive Kyushu Day 1
Continue to : Food and Festive Kyushu Day 3
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