Hello Kitty Harmonyland, Oita, Japan

Last Thursday was a holiday in Japan for the celebration of Obon Festival which is also known as the Day of the Dead,. It is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed (deceased) spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. Also called the Feast of Lanterns, it has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori.

We took the chance during this special yasumi (holiday) to visit Hello Kitty Harmonyland near Beppu, Oita prefecture. There are two Hello Kitty theme park in Japan, one is in Tokyo and the other is here, with the name, `Harmony Land'. This is the perfect place to bring your little children *okeh, tipu je..sebenarnya mommy yang over tergedik2 nak gi*, to spend the whole day in a Hello Kitty World!

We departed from home at 7.45a.m as the place is about 156km away and it took us almost 4 hours drive by car to reach there. The admission fee to enter it is 2800yen (RM105) for adult & children age 4 & over; while for children age 3 & under, the admission is free *plan savings paling efficient : gi jalan2 masa baby SN dapat tiket free camni, jimat mommy & daddy *.

There are 12 attractions offered at Hello Kitty Harmonyland. Hubby have a ride on the Rhythmic Coaster while I have to take care of baby SN as the roller coaster does not allowed children age 4 & under to ride on it *padahal, I memang taknak naik sebab penakut dengan rides cam ni kui3x*. The roller coaster is in the form of roller skating and is quite full of thrills for children and someone as penakut as me hehehehe.

(sebelum pusing2)


(lepas dah habis pusing2)

After that, we took the 10 minute train ride with the Harmony Train. This trains go around the Harmonyland and it stop at 2 stations. The first station is the Harmony Park Station and the second one is the Carnival Square Station. I took the chance on the train ride to nurse baby SN, so we choose the most far behind seat so that it'll be easy for me to nurse baby SN without being noticed by others .

(baby SN tengah santap dengan rakusnya hehehe)

At the Harmony Park Station, we have a ride on a lovely boat. This Sanrio Characters Boat Ride is the best attraction that I really enjoy. Along the 20 minutes boat ride, we sailed inside a huge canopy that consist of numbers of Sanrio Characters such as Hello Kitty-chan, My Melody, Cinnamoroll, Usahana, Sugarminuet, Badtzmaru and many many more *perghhh, hebat tak I leh kenal charatcters tu semua? ... nampak sangat memang gila kan Hello Kitty sedari kecik ngeeeee*.

(baby SN bantai tidur masa boat rides haisy)

Perut dah berkeroncong lagu hip-dut *tiru Pak Mahmud twist citer Cinta Gila hehhehehe*...but it didnt stopped us from enjoying another attraction at the Hello Kity Harmonyland that is The Time Machine of Dreams. In this cinema hall, we experienced a 3D film using a 3D glasses provided there. The seats move in synchronization with the film sequences but we were given stationary seats as it is not advisable for a baby to sit on the moving seats.

(pakai spek 3D)

The supposed to be 20 minutes show has become a 40 minute show as the film will automatically stop and restart if someone unfasten their seat belt. Chehhh, geram btol lah, dah la kami tak faham kartun tu..pastu perut lapar pulak...terpaksa layan ulangan 2x cerita tu sebab 2x cerita terhenti di tengah jalan, pastu mula dari awal balik tsk huhuhuhu.

After enjoying our lunch, I was forced by hubby to ride on the Pop n Smile gondola *apakah ayat tipu ini, padahal memang sendiri tergedik2 nak naik sebab rides ni jer yang tak takut sangat*. Walaupun nampak biasa2 je tapi mencabar jugak rides nih *nampak sangat tipu je, tengok gambar pon tau tak mencabar lansung.. dasar si penakut*.

(muka I cuak gile sedangkan baby SN siap leh angkat tangan lagi)

(muka lega sebab dah leh turun hehehe)

The Strawberry Cafe offers ride in lovely characters coffee cups. I warned hubby not to touch the steering in front of us so that the cup wont be spininng. I guess our cup was the only one that didnt spin at all. Ada cup sebelah kitorang tu, kakak & mak budak tu pusing2 tak berhenti..pastu, dak kecik tu dah pening sampai pucat muka..then, lepas turun jalan terhuyung hayang cam khayal amik syabu...haaaaaaaa, sebab tu I tak bagi hubby spin wheel tu , kesian baby SN pening nanti *ceh, sendiri tak tahan pening...guna nama baby SN untuk cover malu*.

The next attraction is Sky Jet where we were given a chance to operate the jet by ourselves. Pergghhh...bajet pilot lah, padahal tolak je throttle tu ke depan, gerak lah Sky Jet ni hehehehe. This Sky jet offers a tour around the White Bird Square. The hot & sunny sky has made hubby to speed up and accelerated the Sky Jet *ker sebenarnya incik hubby gayat ? I pon tak pasti hik3x*.

(pilot tak tengok depan bawak sky jet, eksiden kang baru tau )

(the Sky Jet landing runaway)

Large Ferris Wheel known as Wonder Panorama was the last ride that we hops on at the Hello Kitty Harmonyland. The cages are in the form of the faces of popular characters. We can see the Beppu Bay from a height of 60 meters above the ground. As usual, baby Nazhan will took the chance in any slow rides to enjoy his BM.

(baby SN posing maut dalam ferris wheel)

(yo..yo...whassup guys)

My another favorite spot in Hello Kitty Harmonyland is the Kitty Castle. This is the lovely house in which Hello Kitty lives which means that if you go inside, you can surely meet Hello Kitty and take a photograph together with Hello Kitty....yeayyyyyy ...excited terlebih nak jumpa Kitty-chan hehehheeh.

(owh, I sangat excited sampai rasa nak peluk kitty-chan)

(nampak sangat dua2 buat muka boring round2 dalam ni huhuhu)

(baby SN berangan Mozart ..main piano Hello Kitty)

There were also live show performance on that day. It was a performance by Chococat and Badtz Maru.

We spent almost 6 hours in the park and I really enjoy it. We purposely visit this place while baby SN is still small as hubby dont want baby Nazhan to play with Hello Kitty..*ahaks, takut anak dia jadi auw auw kalau suka kaler pink & Hello Kitty la tu*. I selaku isteri solehah menurut saja kata hubby *hahahhah tipu sangat, padahal memang dah lama sangat teringin nak datang sini*.

(dun worry daddy, baby SN takkan jadi auw auw..tengok betapa macho nya baby SN)

Psssssttt : Sebab tired sangat round2 dalam tu, I tidur berdengkur2 on the way balik rumah...eh, tapi rasa macam on the way gi pon I tidur berdengkur2 jugak...ngeeeeeehhehehhehehe .