Date: 26 April 2008
Friends in Chiba already told us that we were already late for real tulip viewing pleasure since most tulips in and around Tokyo were past their best viewing time... But when Liya and Fendi said that we would still be able to view nice tulips (300,000 stalks) with lots of varieties in Hitachi - we just went ahead and joined them. Called up Jan and Syeih in Hitachi, and they said that they too were planning on going to Hitachi Kaihin Koen at the same time, so we made plan to meet in the park. Faizly could not join us because he had some other things to attend to at school, so Liya & Fendi invited Zahid, a 1st year student to tag along. Radzian and family could not come since they were entertaining a Malaysian guest from Singapore.
Took the Tsukuba Express train to Tsukuba, and Fendi fetched us there before driving us for more than 2 hours to Hitachi Seaside Park. Lunch was yaki udon by yours truly, plus nasi goreng and super yummilicious cheese chocolate brownies by Liya. Told Liya that she might consider going into cakes and confectionery business one day since she is really skilled in making them, no kidding.
Umar and Huzaifah had a whale of time playing in Tamago no Mori (with Zahid as their baby sitter) while Jan and Syeih had some fun with their adorable daughter Sakura in Pleasure Garden, an amusement park with a 100-meter high ferris wheel (cheap as it cost only 500 yen per person as against 700 in Yokohama or 900 in Odaiba) and other. Wanted to snack on some Bear castella, but the oil used is a mixture of plant and animal based oil, zannen datta. When we first arrived there was a teenage rock concert going on - but as we walked further away from Tamago no Mori (the Tulip World area) it became more serene and pleasant. We didn't even managed to cover half of the whole park, but we were the last to exit the park's west gate - the security guards in the parking area even lined up to greet us bye-bye, huhuhu...
Had dinner at Jan & Syeih's place - a cozy 3-roomed City Council apartment on a hilly area which cost them less than 15,000 yen a month. Told them that we could just eat the lunch leftover, but Syeih insisted on cooking chicken curry for us, assisted by Jan.
By the time we reached Tsukuba, it was too late to catch up the last train back to Asakusa, so all the three adult guys spent the night at Zahid's room. The mommies however had some difficulty sleeping as the kiddies - Umar, Huzaifah and Humaidi - went on an 'orchestra' of crying, sobbing, wailing and weeping until early morning...
Nice things about Hitachi Kaihin Koen:
- Accessible by public transport, 10 minutes by bus/taxi from Katsuta eki on JR Joban Line.
- Lots of outdoor facilities - cycling courses, athletic fields, safe playing area for kids made from rubbery material (the bonggol-bonggol thing in Tamago no Mori is not made from stone)
- Lots of different park areas for different kind of flowers, including a nice lake
- In case of rain, there is also a greenhouse, a gallery and some restaurants area spread out in the large park
- Features an in-park amusement park with a ferris wheel
