Blume Messe Akita

Hubby and I visited Blume Messe Akita on November 26th. Blume Messe Akita is a roadside station located in Showa district of Katagami city in Akita prefecture. Here various kinds of fresh and durable flowers, plants, fruits, and vegetables produced directly at the farms of Showa district are available. The roadside station also has local specialty products, a restaurant, a greenhouse, a lawn field, and a golf field. It is a nice place to enjoy with friends and families.

Blume Messe Akita is located about 65 kilometers north of our home and it took us one hour to reach there by our car. We reached the car parking facility of the road station at about 10.30 am. The parking area is located in a lawn flower bed plaza named Shibafu Kadan Hiroba. It is a vast lawn that encompasses a total area of 20000 square meters. Here seasonal flowers are grown throughout the year in flower beds having an area of 3000 square meters. The beauty of tulips in spring, sunflower and tropical sage in summer, and cosmos in autumn are enjoyed by the visitors. Right in front of the car parking area, we saw a beautiful heart-shaped seasonal flower bed made out of 2000 potted ornamental cabbage (kale) in purple-pink color. The Japanese character ‘Kizuna’ was created using white colored ornamental cabbage in this flower bed. Kizuna means bond between people, which incidentally has been selected as the kanji character of the year 2011. We were really impressed by the beautiful display. There were a few other big flower beds in the lawn but we skipped seeing them.

Hubby standing next to a map of Blume Messe Akita

Blume Messe Akita

I am standing in front of the heart-shaped flower bed made out of ornamental cabbage

First we visited a greenhouse named Kansho Onshitsu. The interior of the greenhouse is divided into three sections, each having a different theme. The theme of greenhouse A is the proposal of a green living space. We enjoyed viewing various kinds of flowers and plants in containers and hangings that are made using familiar materials. Also in this section, Santa Claus and his friends are arranged beautifully on a large decorated stage for an ongoing winter event. These displayed objects seemed to welcome the visitors. In addition, there is a corner for cactus plants and Tillandsia (air plants). Hubby enjoyed viewing various kinds of cacti.

I am sitting on a wooden bench in front of flowering plants in containers

I am sitting on a wooden bench in front of a beautifully decorated large stage with many objects

Cacti

More cacti

Hubby along with cactus plants and Tillandsia

The theme of greenhouse B is enjoying the flowers of Akita. In this section, the flowers produced in Akita prefecture are scattered amongst the conifers. Several kinds of seasonal flowers and herbs also adorn this place. We saw blooming Cyclamen plants everywhere around us. In addition, presently a Poinsettia Tower is exhibited for an ongoing winter event. Poinsettia Tower is a giant red tree that is made from Poinsettia plants produced locally in Showa district. About 2800 plants are used which are critically arranged to make a 4 meter tall red tree. The top of the tree is decorated with a cute Santa Claus, his friends, and reindeer. We were very impressed by the giant tree and were already in a Christmas mood although it was just the end of November. The atmosphere in this section was so peaceful and serene. We took some rest here and refreshed ourselves.

Conifers and the flowers of Akita prefecture

I am standing in front of the conifers and the flowers of Akita prefecture

Hubby enjoying the conifers and various colors of Cyclamen flowers

I am standing in front of Poinsettia Tower

I am sitting on a wooden bench in front of the giant red tree

Top of the tree is decorated with Santa Claus and his friends

Hubby walking inside greenhouse B

The theme of greenhouse C is warm green surroundings. This section has a tropical mood where we can enjoy seeing many tropical plants and trees all year round. We saw white bird of paradise plants (Strelitzia), Paphiopedilum, potted mikan plants, banana plants, ferns, and many other varieties of tropical plants. It was really fun to walk around and enjoy various kinds of plants and flowers in this section. Some of the plants and flowers reminded me of India.

I am standing next to white bird of paradise plants

Hubby and the white bird of paradise plants

Hubby pointing a Paphiopedilum flower

I am walking inside greenhouse C

Tropical setting of greenhouse C

Hubby standing next to potted mikan plants

Hubby walking inside greenhouse C

Me, the white bird of paradise plants, and banana plants

Banana saplings and ferns

After enjoying the greenhouse, we next visited Agriplaza Showa. It is a shopping space having a variety of items like durable fresh flowers of Showa district, locally produced vegetables, specialty products of Katagami city, and souvenirs of Akita prefecture. The coming season’s green seedlings and plant saplings are also sold here. Funny and curious items collected from roadside stations of other prefectures, which are hard to come by in Akita prefecture, are also available here. At the front entrance gate of the shop, we saw a striking display of a variety of potted flowering plants with colorful blooms. Inside the shop there was a huge corner selling seasonal potted blooming Cyclamen plants. We bought two potted flowering plants, mochi rice, and locally produced vegetables and fruits from this shop. We also had pear flavored softcream which was refreshing. Near the entrance gate outside the shop, we bought grilled squid from a stall and had it. It was delicious.

Potted ornamental cabbage displayed at the front entrance of Agriplaza Showa shop

I am standing next to various kinds of potted flowering plants at the front entrance of the shop

I am standing next to potted Poinsettia plants at the front entrance of the shop

A corner selling potted blooming Cyclamen plants inside the shop

I am holding a blooming Cyclamen plant

We bought two potted flowering plants, mochi rice, and locally produced vegetables and fruits

Fresh spinach, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, long onion, and pears

Hubby having softcream

Hubby eating grilled squid

We left Blume Messe Akita at about 1 pm. Later we went to Akita city where hubby practiced his batting skills at a baseball batting center named Tennoh Batting Dome. He batted for three games, with each game having 20 pitches. I compiled a video of him practicing in the second game.

A compiled video of hubby practicing batting at a baseball batting center

It was a nice day out with hubby.

A day out with hubby

Last week I was in Tsukuba for my work. By the end of the day, I would be rather tired and eagerly waited to talk with my hubby over phone. But I could not talk much with him the entire week. Each time I rang him up (or he rang me), his mobile phone ran out of battery within 5 min of our conversation, which was rather frustrating.

After returning home, last Saturday I took out the battery of his mobile phone to see whether there was any problem or not. One look at the battery and we knew that the battery was the culprit. The middle portion of the battery was bulged out as if it had consumed too much electrical power and had 'metabolic syndrome'! This is the photo of the bulged battery.

Battery of old mobile phone

We were worried that the battery might blast and so we decided to replace his mobile phone with a new one. On Saturday afternoon we went to an electrical appliances shop named Yamada Denki in Akita city. Hubby liked a model of a mobile phone handset having one-seg (one segment) television, global positioning system (GPS), and an option for making payments for purchases of goods at convenience stores, departmental stores, and vending machines. The mobile phone unit was the latest model and its cost was around 50,000 Yen. Although it was a bit expensive, it was nice to see my hubby with a smiling face and so excited about his new mobile phone! Here are the photos of his old and new mobile phones. We can see that the new phone looks very cool and sleek.

Old mobile phone versus the new one

We shopped for a few more things, and it was only 6.30 pm by the time we finished our shopping. We both were not in the mood to return home so early. My hubby decided to go to a baseball batting center named Tennoh Batting Dome in Akita city. He batted for five games, with each game having 20 pitches. He was completely exhausted after swinging the bat so many times (100 to be exact!). This may be because he has not practised batting for quite some time now, as he has been rather busy with his office work. I had lots of fun watching him bat. Initially his batting stance was so funny and the batting was not so good but after the first game he seemed to get back his form. Here is a video of my hubby batting in the fourth game.

Hubby in a baseball batting center



After that we had dinner in a family restaurant named Gusto. Hubby had a Japanese dinner set and I had Mexican pilaf. We ended our dinner with chocolate-banana icecream parfait and coffee. It was a nice day out with hubby.