Family Time Fruit Picking at Sakaguchi Noen Farm – Wakayama

[Waking up to the fresh countryside air at Wakayama fruit farm @ Sakaguchi Noen]

What can be a better family activity than picking fruits? This is absolutely something that doesn’t exist in Singapore anymore with her rapid modernization and an exceptional experience to back-to-the-basics for city-dwellers like us.

Oh … by the way, I have a word of advice here… do pick up a decent bit of Japanese before coming to Wakayama. Don’t be too surprise if the standard of English comprehension by the locals here is bad or very bad. This is afterall not the likes of metropolis-like Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto. The alternative is to have a I-device or the likes to do a quick translation for whatever you need to say and show it to the locals instead 😀

At Sakaguchi Noen farm, I guess we are a few hundred meters above sea level, maybe more. And this farm that we have chosen seems to be located on sloppy land ….hahah! At this high attitude, walking up and down the slopes take a certain toil in the breathing, probably due to the thinner level of oxygen here. But it doesn’t seem to affect the local farmers …. I guess their body must be used to these effects unlike ours 🙂

[My little girl posing on the steep slopes that seems to be all around this farm]

[Look at the healthy green vegetables on this farm. Kirei-des]

Even the vegetables here look bigger, greener and healthier than what I have ever seen in the wet markets of Singapore. Its no wonder that Japanese have one of the longest lifespan in the world, they have such luscious, greeneries grown in the high attitudes of Japan.

While the initial idea was to come here to pick persimmons, we were kind-of late in the season (Persimmon picking occurs from mid-Sep to end-Nov) with only Mikan oranges left for harvesting. I have attached the fruit-picking calendar for anyone that might like to have a try at it. It’s fun, I swear by it 😉

[Published by http://www.wakayama-kanko.or.jp ,also for more information on farms that are available, visit their website]

My kiddos really had great fun getting to the trees to cut the Mikans off … it is eat all you can hahaha! And there were so much Mikan trees, it is almost like hid-and-seek for each other as well LOL!

[The quest begins …. cut & eat, cut & eat, cut ….]

[There are two kiddos here. Besides the obvious pink girl, there is another camouflaged among the Mikans …hahaha]

[Look at the round, plump Mikans from the tree]

I am almost afraid that the Mikan orange would be too sour for my liking. My fear was thoroughly unfounded. These were probably the sweetest and juiciest oranges I have tasted in my life, every single one!!!

[A sweet Mikan orange for U ???]