1 post tagged “huis ten bosch”
I've probably mentioned this once or twice, but just next door to the housing area where I live in Hario is a Dutch "theme park" named Huis Ten Bosch. Now, putting theme park in quotations is a little deceiving. Huis Ten Bosch (hereafter called HTB) is a themed park, meaning it is a completely Dutch-themed park in the middle of Japan, but that definition doesn't fit with what most Americans' vision would encompass--roller coasters, lots of junk food, character mascots roaming around for children to snuggle and take pictures with, and lots of Disney-esque shows of fantastic design.
Well, maybe HTB does fit a bit of all that, but I might just be getting a bit ahead of myself.
Our friend, Natalie, had asked us to go to HTB once before for a festival of sorts, and we hemmed and hawed our way out of it. However, when she mentioned a tasting event of over 120 wines from around the globe, I nudged (shoved) the Hub into meeting up with her the next day so we could get our annual pass. Determined to be as health-observant as possible, we walked the mile and a half from our home to the entrance, completed our forms for a Navy pass which would allow us in for twelve months, and set off to explore on our own for a few hours before Natalie could meet up with us after work. Immediately, we spotted one of the traditional symbols of the Netherlands, the windmill, and got swept away (HAHAHA--I kill myself with the puns) with the beauty of the carefully-arranged flowers surrounding the towering giants. We crossed over a large stream leading to the ocean nearby to enter the castle which guards the only path leading into the majority of the park. Just inside, we spotted a teddy bear museum and decided to have a gander.
We really shouldn't have. Thousands upon thousands of very expertly and fancifully dressed bears surrounded us in a myriad of poses while signs all around boasted of the history of the teddy bear (which led to the most disturbing bear of them all--a teddy with a bear's body and Teddy Roosevelt's face; may I never see that again). All-in-all, even my strong, brave, military man of a Hub was a bit put off by the creepiness of the place, and we found ourselves tangled in the displays unable to find an exit. By the time we got out, we wondered if perhaps there would not be enough in the park to hold our interest (excepting the wine and the vistas, of course).
Oh, were we ever wrong.
The next corner led to the greatest place I might have found in any of my travels--The House of Cheese. Now, had we walked in only to find a history of cheese with transplanted faces of long-ago cheese makers plastered on the plastic busts of cheese wheels, I probably would have left crying, scared and scarred. However, what we discovered was a shop filled with locally-made cheeses of all varieties: robust blues, hard hunks of parmesan, tiny morsels of cream cheese topped with a delicate jam, smoked slices of herb-filled cheddars and goudas. The combination of it all was enough to make me cry for other reasons. Undoubtedly, we probably spent 20 minutes browsing through the cheeses before the Hub nudged (shoved) me out the door with promises of returning when we were ready to leave. At first, I was a bit upset, but the direction in which he gently guided me (PUSHED) led to a tiny path around the corner of the shop where we found a stand selling Cheese Shakes.
I love cheese, as the previous paragraph would likely convey, but even I was a bit hesitant to try a milkshake of cheese. Imagining a mix of disgust and intrigue a liquid drink of nacho goodness, I convinced the Hub to split one with me. We noticed the couple in front of us requesting blueberries to be added, but the thought could not break into the image I already had invented of nacho-ness, so I chose a plain cheese shake. Hesitantly, I took the first sip before passing it off to Hub...and then immediately grabbing it back and claiming it for my own. This reaction, however, was my downfall as he realized it must be good and demanded it be returned for his own test. Instead of the nacho cheese I had pictured, we had stumbled upon a cheeseCAKE milkshake, which has now become an instant favorite. We forced ourselves not to order another one, but only because we convinced ourselves that the teddy bear museum must have been the park's way of scaring off the faint at heart from the treasures within.
Every street we wandered was filled with fun and interesting shops or displays; all the buildings were modeled after an early European design, while the service was exquisitely Japanese. The entire effect was breathtaking, and we found ourselves running in and out of stores and museums, giggling like all of the Japanese tourists around us. Down from the House of Cheese was a cheese restraunt, which bordered the Chocolate House. Across from both of those was a candy shop, selling a mixture of Dutch and Japanese sweet treats. Our favorite area, other than the cheese place, of course, was a museum of eye-benders. We could not read the signs, but watching those around us led to such perfect photo opportunities as Hub versus King Kong and Hub falling from the sky.
We met up with Natalie just outside of the eye-bending displays, bragging and showing off our pictures when we noticed an older Japanese woman attempting to take a picture of the street we were blocking. We bowed then scurried to the side of the street to get out of her way, throwing in a "Sumimasen!" for good measure. To our surprise, she looked rather embarassed, but we went back to examining our own shots. A few moments later, looking up, we realized she had moved with us; turning around to see what she could possibly be taking a picture of that we were blocking this time, we saw that another woman was standing just a couple of feet behind us and to the side, flashing a grin and a peace sign. Blinking, we turned back to the first lady, felt the blast of her flash bulb, before the two of them ran away giggling at THEIR perfect photo opportunities--Americans on display! Natalie, Hub, and I looked at each other, bewildered, then back at the ladies who turned to give us a quick bow before scampering away, laughing again. I don't think I've been a Kodak moment since my old days of Smokey-the-Bear-dom (aka National Park Service work)!
The day was a gorgeous one filled with beautiful weather, delicious wines (which led to me meeting a very helpful barista who taught me the words for "sweet" and "dry," as well as running into a friend from work, Tateishi-san, who volunteers for HTB on the weekends), good food (a delicate pizza of Japanese bacon and potatoes--yes, it was delicate with those toppings, I promise!--and cheese, of course), and outrageous picture moments like me and the giant wooden shoes. I considered buying a smaller, slightly better-fitting pair before I admitted that even in my most adventurous moments of shoe-shopping I'd be very unlikely to ever wear true wooden shoes.
Finally, at the end of the day, laden down with cheese and wine, we hailed a taxi for the return home. Even a mile and a half can be killer when hauling 3 gorgeous bottles and a small investment in dairy goodness!
As an update, recently, we returned with our friend Natalie (along with her husband, Nate, this time) to enjoy the Christmas decorations that Huis Ten Bosch displays. This time, we enjoyed a feast of Chinese food including golden potstickers, fried rice, and some sort of sweet-and-savory pork before meeting at the center of the park for the Christmas dance show, with a hot cup of caramel milk to warm our hands. Sparked with the holiday spirit, Nate insisted on leading us all in Christmas carols while we waited for the evening fireworks (every night at 8:45), which led to Japanese people curiously watching us, attempting to determine whether we were a mismatched display or just crazy Americans out for an evening. Of course, we all know the latter answer is a given, so while we giggled our way through "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," we had to appreciate the night for what it was, nonetheless.
