JPN: Huis Ten Bosch (Part 1)

1-1 Huis Ten Bosch-cho, Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan
Daily: 9.00am - 10.00pm

It was in 2018 when I first heard about Huis Ten Bosch (lit. House in the Woods), a Dutch-themed amusement park in Japan that resembles a town in the Netherlands with canals and windmills, from an online friend who had a blast there. It's named after a royal palace in The Hague, a former home of Queen Beatrix from 1981 until her abdication in 2014.



Prior to flying off to Japan, my BFFs and I'd booked our one-day passport tickets in advance. At the point of writing, the standard price is ¥7,000 (~S$93.70) per adult and ¥6,000 (~S$80.30) per child, but there are early bird discounts for tickets purchased from the official website.


Unlike the cheaper walking tickets, passport tickets allow unlimited use of
the various facilities and attractions inside the amusement park.

The amusement park covers a huge area of 152 hectares.
It's more than three times the size Tokyo DisneySea.

I miss Zaanse Schans in the Netherlands.

The amusement park is divided into a number of zones. We started off our adventure at the Welcome Gate area.

There's a castle across a replica of Ridderbrug Bridge that can be found in Amsterdam.


Here are selected photos that I took inside Teddy Bear Kingdom, which reminds me of Teddy Bear Museum in Jeju Island, South Korea.



Inspired by Theodore Roosevelt's bear hunting story, Morris Michtom and his wife
were considered to be the inventor of teddy bears.

 

"Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh, tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff.
He's Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh, willy nilly silly old bear."


'Baba & Nyonya' by a Singaporean!


Lovely candid shot, no?




Real tulips can be seen in spring at the Flower Road area. There's a fountain light show there, which shall be featured in the upcoming post.



Fancy some cheesecakes?


It's a recreation of the remaining city gate in Delft, which was built around 1400.
We spent a lot of time at the Attraction Town area, which is described as "a town of amusement of gastronomy".

If only Amsterdam is that peaceful without too many people~
 


Although it's not the replica, it reminds me of Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy.


Does anyone know where's the world's first street covered with coloured umbrellas?
 

We engaged ourselves in a number of VR rides. A disposable VR mask is given for free, which should be reused for all your subsequent rides to prevent wastage.


The VR bungee jumping is so unreal as guests will get 'thrown out' of the Earth.
 

We queued for 45 minutes for the VR roller coaster, which turned out to be a bummer.
Robot Palace features a museum and a theatre.


We watched Kirara, an educational show about the role of the moon in the survival of our Earth.


The sensor above the compartment detects the sides of the dice facing up,
changing the music and the lighting colour accordingly.


The robot guessed my gender correctly, but not my age. How I wish I'm still 23 years old!
If you know some Japanese, you can try talking to Mighty Atom, which is known as Astro Boy in many other countries.



Denso Wave is a company that produces industrial robots. Take a look at how it transfers the blue-coloured solution from one test tube to another.



There's a robot that can put a string through the hole of a needle much better than I can.



Before going for lunch, we entered a labyrinth and a trick art museum. Photography isn't allowed at the former, which is quite a cool attraction with adventurous background music. Anyhow, enjoy some of the photos taken at the trick art museum.



Wow, I'm heavier than an elephant!


 

Did you know that polar bear cubs are born with their eyes closed
and they only open their eyes sometime within the first month?


How many animals can you spot?
I brought Pikachu and Melon along, of course.



Below are short video clips on two different trick paintings.



Next up is the Amsterdam City area.


Thanks to the most efficient and intricate system of navigable waterways in the world,
Amsterdam grew rapidly as a city after the completion of the canals in 1660.

We had lunch at a fast food restaurant that goes by the name DAM. It's one of the few places where you can get Sasebo burgers inside the amusement park.



Melon says, "Don't forget to head to our food blog for the review!"
After getting our bellies filled, we rode on a rather unusual merry-go-round. 



With the VR set, I was riding on a dragon's back to see some famous landmarks across the globe.
There's an awesome glass museum there.



Don't you love the crimson red colour?
 


I believe those glasses are coloured with cobalt aluminate.
 


My jaw literally dropped when I entered the church-like room at the topmost floor of the museum as I wasn't expecting such an ambience at all.

Instead of an altar, there's a post box that enjoys the limelight.



In Greek mythology, Siren is a dangerous creature that lures sailors with its enchanting singing.



From there, we walked to the nearby Amsterdam Square.


Despite having only a few visitors around, the woman sang well with gusto.



Kelontong is an Indonesian word that refers to an instrument sounded by a peddler
who moved from places to places to sell small goods.

Since we were there in December, there was a Christmas market at the square.

Given the fact that the amusement park didn't receive a lot of visitors that day,
it was certainly the quietest Christmas market I've ever encountered.




Churi-chan is one of the mascots of Huis Ten Bosch.
Its name is derived from churippu (lit. tulip).


The Tower City area features the replica of Domtoren, the tallest church tower in the Netherlands, located in Utrecht.


We went up to the observation deck in the evening.
Do look forward to the photos in the next post!

Seen across the canal is part of Hotel Amsterdam (5*).

We went out of the amusement park to take a look at the Harbour Town area.

Enjoying the reflection of the sky on the still water~


Any fans of One Piece here?



At the end of the walkway is Watermark Hotel Nagasaki (4*).
Stay tuned for Part 2, which features other areas and the magical night-time illumination.

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