TacoCat’s Travels #105 (Japan 4.0: Fukuoka): Adventuring in the Chocolate Factory!

Hey Hive/Steemit!

So if you didn't catch the last couple of posts, we're currently on a journey in Fukuoka that we went on back in May 2017! Neither of us had ever been to that part of Japan before and since there were some cheap flights we decided to go explore a new region together! Here we go!

Last week, we continued our day-long journey through Huis Ten Bosch (a Dutch town-inspired theme park) by renting a very unique tandem bike and taking a nice relaxing stroll through the rose garden!

It was truly a wonder going through such a nice and tranquil place. I think everyone else that was there wanted to preserve the peace as well so it was quite quiet despite there being other tourists.

27 May 2017. Saturday.

Last week, we left off on this picture of Sean on the tandem bike! I bet if you were just looking at this picture on its own you wouldn't know this was in Japan!

And even more so with this picture I think! They really did a great job recreating the look of a Danish town. From the cobblestone paths to the European-style architecture; it really felt like we were in a whole other country!

There was even this very elaborately-designed building that resembled a church.? I'm not sure what this was in reference to but I imagine it probably resembles another building in Netherlands. But there was a very pretty flower clock in front as well!

It reminded me of the Flower Clock item you can build in Animal Crossing: New Leaf! And I did actually build it in my town back when I was still playing that game!

Walking on from this church-looking building, we came up to an actual Danish-looking town! It felt like we traveled back in time too, with that old carousel in the background!

There were these huge clogs lying around on the floor so you know what we had to do!

Photo time! I think people were staring at me trying to get into these humongous clogs but you know, whatever.

After a couple more goofy shots, we walked on and came to a wharf with an impressive looking arch!

But seeing this amount of stagnant water did make me paranoid of mosquitos breeding. And it did kinda smell a little bit. I think this area was the only area with a bad smell.

But walking away we found a whole harbour here with a ton of boats! I'm not sure if these boats are even functional, but they looked really cool and nicely lined up like this!

We didn't stick around too long because of the stench of stale dirty seawater, so we walked on and got to this cool-looking alleyway!

It was so nice and peaceful to just take a stroll/ride in this tranquil-looking place. I think we were on the tandem bike still.

There was even a boat slowly cruising through the lake there, barely breaking the surface of the water.

We walk along and end up on another side of the Ferris Wheel that we saw in the rose garden!

I'm not sure exactly what building this is, but I think it's the other side of that alleyway.

We ended up in this open area with food trucks and a whole lot of cafe tables and chairs.

There were a bunch of buildings surrounding the cafe area, including this music hall.

And this old-style theater:

The sun was slowly setting already, at 6pm. It was still bright out, but the weather was getting cooler at least.

Not too far from this open area was a Gundam!

And what looked to be a converted shipping container full of gundam stuff!

I'm not familiar with Gundam but I imagine it's pretty cool for those who are Gundam fanatics. And there must be quite a group of them in Japan since there are whole Gundam stores here and every BIC Camera sells Gundam model sets.

Not too far from the old-style theater was this other area of shops and cafes.

And this very European-style fountain. It reminds me a little of the famous Trevi fountain in Rome, but obviously more brown and less grand. Still nice though. And with the overhead lights I bet this place would look awesome at night.

We ended up back here in front of the Chocolate Factory that we saw when we first arrived! And since there wasn't a queue now we decided to head in and check it out!

I really loved Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so I had high expectations for this place.

I mean I knew it wasn't an actual chocolate factory, but just a chocolate-themed wonderland but man, they really nailed it with the chocolate interior!

It wasn't actually made of chocolate, but it sure did look like it!

It also had the look of a mansion, for some reason. I'm not sure what the signboard says unfortunately, but I imagine there's some rich backstory to this chocolate mansion. And it has something to do with this moustache man.

There was also this old-timey photo studio where I think you could dress up in costumes and take photos.

Here was the map that was entirely in Japanese, so I couldn't understand it.

They also had these interactive screens similar to the ones we saw in Sky Circus in Ikebukuro!

The cameras weren't too accurate here but it was still fun nonetheless.

There was also a Choco Laboratory, which I guess is a place where you could make your own chocolate?

There was this entire wall of flavours you could choose from!

And seating areas for you to make/eat your chocolate! It did smell like chocolate here, but I think it smelled a little fake? Like it wasn't fresh or something.

Sorry for the blur btw.

There was also a chocolate-themed ball pit for parents to dump their kids in. The cushioned that looked like chocolates and donuts were definitely something I could see myself buying next time though!

There was this wall of chocolate too! I'm not sure if this was interactive though.

Another interactive screen! In this one, you could move the flow of chocolate with your hand by swiping across! It was pretty cool actually.

And of course at the end, we wound up in the gift shop which had a whole slew of actual chocolate to buy!

There was also a frozen yogurt store beside it. And after seeing so much chocolate, we couldn't resist.

They had so many different flavours too!

There was some colourful umbrella decorations outside so we decided to take our yogurt outside to enjoy the view!

It was nice and cool outside now that the sun was setting. Perfect for dining al fresco!

Unfortunately the yogurt wasn't very good. And we ended up having to use the bathroom. I hoped it wasn't because of the yogurt though, but it did make my tummy churn a little iirc. The bathroom itself was decorated with umbrellas too!

After a while the umbrellas lit up too! It looked so pretty!

And with that I think that'll be it for now! Tune in next time for more adventures in Huis Ten Bosch because we're only about halfway through this day if you can believe it!

Thanks so much for reading!

To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!

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Check out my previous post in this series!

TacoCat’s Travels #104 (Japan 4.0: Fukuoka): Pedaling through the Rose Garden 🌹

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