Event Report: Hitachi Dog Food Fest

Do you love dogs? I love them. I grew up with dogs back in Miami. We usually had one or two dogs in those days. I loved my Golden Retriever Brandy, my Labrador Retriever Sammy, and even our white Toy Puddle Freeway (yes that was his name and no I didn't name him). Then, I moved to Japan and started living in apartments that had a huge rule, No Pets Allowed. I was heartbroken. Still, I vowed to work with dogs and pet as many of my friend's dogs as I could.
While wondering what to do one weekend, I was told Hitachi was going to have a dog event. So I drove an hour and a half from Tsuchiura to Hitachi ready to pet some dogs.

Hitachi Dog & Food Festival

The Hitachi Dog & Food Festival took place a few weeks ago during the long weekend of October 12th-14th. The event was held at the Hitachi Uchu Koen or the long English name, the Takahagi Satellite Communication Memorial Park.
This was my first time at this festival and I was a bit nervous. Two reasons were that I was alone and I didn't own a dog. I wasn't sure how all the other dog owners would react when they saw a big bald gaikokujin walk up to the festival not holding onto a dog leash.
I drove my car to the park, which by the way, is a huge park. You can't miss the humongous satellite in the background of the park. I parked my car in the event parking lot and walked up to the event still nervous. I started to calm down when I saw a few familiar food trucks and gave them my greetings. I finally really calmed down when a dog walked up to me and the owner smiled and said, "Go ahead and pet her." This happened a lot and I was in doggy petting bliss. 99% of the event's attendees were very friendly and wanted you to pet their dog. After petting my new furry and cute friends, I decided to walk around the event and see what else was going on.

Dog Race Course

If you attend this event and feel confident enough that you and your dog will tear up a dog racing track, then may I suggest the event's dog racing course? It isn't a hard course or anything like that. Just your dog running with or without their owner, going through or jumping over the green little rope fence, getting to the end of the course, and turning around to go back to the start in as little a time as possible. I am not sure if there is a prize or anything like that. It was cool to see some of those dogs conquer this course.
I didn't take a picture of it, but there is a little doggy obstacle course with bridges and balancing beams. For humans, a company called Nexus had a balancing slackline for people to try. They even had a smaller one for dogs. It was cute to see a toy puddle try to get across it only for its owner to come to the rescue.

The Market Area

Any dog merchandise you can think of, this market had it. Dog sweaters? Yes. Dog treats? Of course. Custom portraits of your dog made on the spot? Surprisingly yes. It was nice to see all the handcrafted dog treats, clothes, and toys all around the market area. I didn't buy any though because as I sadly stated before, I do not own a dog.
After I checked out the market area, I headed over to the food trucks.

The Food Area

The food area at this event was pretty big. Burgers, Korean food, Japanese food, and more was in attendance at this event. I decided I would try a new food truck and after that have some food from one of my favorites.

TripCrows

This was the first food truck I went to at the Dog Fest. TripCrows, a burger food truck, caught my eye with its long menu of different flavored burgers. There was a BBQ sauce burger, teriyaki burger, orange sauce burger, honey mustard burger, and more!
I liked the whole black crow color to the truck and decided I needed a burger.

Orange Sauce Burger

I decided to go with the orange sauce burger. I liked that my burger brought a nice slice of bacon (not crispy) and a lot of fresh-looking veggies. I bit into my burger and I have to say that the orange sauce was pretty good. It went well with all the onions and the bacon. The one issue I had with this burger was the main star, the patty. It was thin, almost paper thin. When I went further into the burger I didn't taste the patty at all. It was like going to a live concert of your favorite band and the band not showing up. Everything else in the burger was great and the sauce was tasty, but without a meaty patty what's the point?

After I finished my burger, I headed to a familiar food truck that I know and love.

Jeonju

Jeonju is one of my favorite Korean food trucks in Ibaraki. They used to show up at the Village Market Tsukuba and around Tsukuba events but lately, they have stayed up north in Mito or Hitachi. Jeonju makes great Korean street food like tteokbokki and dakkochi.
I walked up to Jeonju and greeted the owner and asked for two things. One, my favorite, tteokbokki with cheese, and the special menu item.

Tteokbokki with Cheese

I like Japanese mochi, especially during New Year's. It is great with seaweed and soy sauce. The Koreans took mochi a step further by making it a cylinder shape and then marinating it in red spicy chili sauce. After trying both I have to say, that tteokbokki is way better than regular Japanese mochi. Jeonju's tteokbokki is the best in Ibaraki in my opinion. Add melted cheese on top and you have an amazing snack that is cheesy, chewy, and incredibly tasty. Grabbing each piece of tteokbokki with my chopsticks felt so satisfying (even though some of them slipped out) and popping those spicy mochi bad boys in my mouth was an amazing treat. I couldn't stop eating them and didn't want to. I can't wait to have this delicious Korean street food dish again from one of my favorite Korean food trucks.

Special Bibimbap

The next dish I ordered from Jeonju was a special collaboration dish from Jeonju, Ayumu Agri, and Minna No Noka. The Special Bibimbap.
Minna No Noka means everyone's farm. Some of the fresh vegetables and the radish leaves in the middle in that special are from them. Ayumu Agri makes baked goods and sells veggies as well, so they provided the miso that is one the radish leaves. Jeonju cooked the rice and arranged the vegetables. These three masters of their craft made something really special. I didn't actually eat this bibimbap at the Dog Fest. I took it home so my wife could enjoy it too.
When my wife got back from work, we had the special bibimbap for dinner. After that first bite, I immediately thought "Everyone needs to try this dish." Everything, and I mean everything in that bibimbap tasted super fresh. Even hours after I bought it, it still tasted fresh. Those miso radish leaves with that fresh kimchi and all that rice was an incredible mix that I wouldn't mind having again. My wife loves Jeonju so she was excited to try this dish. When she got her first spoonful of bibimbap, she gave me the thumbs up and asked why I didn't buy another. That was a very good question and a mistake on my part.
Jeonju, this was a great bibimbap and I hope to have it again. Unfortunately, this special menu item was only available during October. We will have to wait till this incredible bibimbap comes back to the menu.

After buying all my food, petting many dogs, and walking around the festival, the weather let me know it was time to go. It started raining and that is when I decided that I should head back to Tsuchiura.
Hitachi Dog and Food Fest, thank you for a wonderful time. I was in heaven meeting and petting all those dogs that were roaming around the festival. I am also glad I was able to meet up with a few of my food truck buddies and try Jeonju's incredible special bibimbap.
Until next year Hitachi Dog and Food Fest! Hopefully, I will have a furry friend of my own to bring to the event.

For more information on the Hitachi Dog and Food Festival, check out their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/proud_inc_event/

For more information on Jeonju, check out their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jeonju_akf/

Capin and the Ushiku Wai Festival

Speaking of dogs and festivals.
This Sunday, November 3rd, Ushiku is holding the Ushiku Wai Festival at the Ushiku City Central Lifelong Learning Center. It looks like it is going to be a fun festival full of food and live events.
If you do plan on attending the festival, I hope you can find the Capin Friends tent. Capin is a non-profit organization that deals with the welfare of cats and dogs in Ibaraki. They rescue dogs and cats and take care of them at their shelters. I have been a dog walker volunteer at Capin for a few months now and I really enjoy doing it.
So if you spot the Capin tent, come say hi and support us! If you are interested in volunteering for Capin, you can DM me on Instagram or email me at regaladom24@gmail.com

For more information on the Ushiku Wai Festival, check out their website:
https://www.ushikukankou.com/%E7%AC%AC%EF%BC%93%EF%BC%91%E5%9B%9E%E3%81%86%E3%81%97%E3%81%8F%EF%BD%97%EF%BD%81%EF%BD%89%E3%83%AF%E3%82%A4%E3%81%BE%E3%81%A4%E3%82%8A/

For more information on Capin, check out our website:
http://www.capinew.jp/