Monday, May 09, 2005

Hiraodai Park

Maika's mum Mayumi called this morning and asked to go to the park. That saved us from a potentially boring Sunday so off we went.

We arrived at her house in Yukuhashi at about 12pm. It's a 40min drive there - but Mayumi drove it every morning for two years to take Maika to the English kindergarten. The park was even further away - another 20mins. It was on top of a mountain - surrounded by soft grassy hills dotted with rocks. It was much cooler than here at sea-level, so I plan to go there again in summer when it's too hot and humid down here.

We had to pay 300 yen parking, and I thought for a minute that I would have to pay to get in too, but it was just a counter. Behind the gate was a large concourse with shops and restaurants, then beyond that fields and hills and playgrouds.

The first thing we did was buy tickets for the 'train' ride - the train being a truck shaped like a train with an electronic 'toot toot'. We got into open cars pulled behind and went on a 15 min tour of the park.

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