Obon Yasumi: Himawari no Oka

On the third day of the Obon Yasumi,we went to Himawari no Oka (the Sunflower Hills). It is located at Sanbongi, only about 10 minutes drive from our house. There are about 420,000 sunflowers planted at this area, which is opened for public from end of July to end of August. Later the sunflowers are cultivated for the seed to make oil, pastries and other related products.

The sunflowers are taller than a normal person (at least me!). There was also a mini choo-choo train track within the area so you can take a ride through the jungle of sunflowers.

The day was hot so after walking around the area, we had some sunflower ice-cream (yummy!). Then we left for Higashi Naruko for a picnic by the river.

Naruko area is famous for its "onsen" or hotspring but I just prefer Higashi Naruko for its beautiful surrounding and also because I hate the road up to Naruko onsen.

We had rendang ayam, ketupat and mee goreng for picnic before playing at the river. The water is crystal clear you can see small fish swimming around. On the way home, we stopped at a A-ra Michinoku Road side Station. It is like an R&R area located along the prefectural or national road. The vegetables sold by the local farmers were really cheap! Its like 10 big tomatoes for only 120yen! A plate of mini crabs was also very nice.

Anyway, at last it was my son who conquered the day because he has had 3 ice-creams today..