Day 3: Ueno Park and Ueno Zoo
I'm gonna put these into two nice, easy sections for you. The zoo took up the bulk of the day, but the shrines were awesome, too.
Ueno zoo:
~Didn't quite know what to expect. Sunday seems to be THE zoo day, though.
~Pandas are a big hit, there, both the giant and red varieties. The red pandas are marketed almost as much as the giant pandas (one of which died...R.I.P, panda-san!).
~Lions are also big. I was hearing "Lion-san!" everywhere!
~Penguins are also popular, but I knew that before...
~This is one of the few places where one can get an okapi plush. The real okapi, however, was out of its cage for cleaning.
~They had a nice variety of snakes. Dunno why they had the Burm and a red-tail boa housed together, but they did. The rattlesnake was REALLY active, and I think I heard someone call it "kawaii." Also got a snake plush.
~Apparently those mouse deer (remember the vampire deer,
indigo_flames?) and a species of fruit bat are native to the Ryukyu Islands. Edit: Just Wiki'd, and the mouse deer are native to Malaysia and other parts of Asia. They're another living fossil species!
~Not all rabbits have bobbed tails! There were some hares there (spring hares, I think) with REALLY long tails.
~They had an outdoor exhibit of some native Japanese wildlife, including cranes.
~Lots of birds. LOTS OF BIRDS. SO MANY BIRDS! There was a secretary bird...I've never seen one up close before, and this one was eying the audience fearfully. It was pacing back and forth and even flying at times. TOTALLY felt like I was seeing a real live velociraptor!
~I had a pizza with shrimp, scallops, and basil on it. It actually tasted pretty darn good.
Ueno Park (other stuff, Part 1):
~Went to a shrine. Prayed that spirits could manifest better, which would be a whole lot more beneficial than you'd think. Rang a bell and left Inari-sama a little bit of Yen. I hope that foxes don't come and bite my behind now.
~Visited another shrine, this time dedicated to Kannon, the Japanese equivalent of Kwan-Yin, goddess of mercy. We couldn't go in this one, but it was quite a looker!
~Took lots of pictures; ran down camera battery.
~Had delicious chocolate-vanilla soft-serve. The Japanese really love it!
~The Ueno Park station has a nice little bakery with more cookie flavors than you could ever imagine. Really, when was the last time you had grapefruit cookies?
Quick guide: THINGS THAT ARE EVERYWHERE IN JAPAN
-Grapefruit
-Vending machines
-Gashapon of some kind (I found a Narnia one)
-Crows
-Soft serve ice cream ("soft cream")
Ueno zoo:
~Didn't quite know what to expect. Sunday seems to be THE zoo day, though.
~Pandas are a big hit, there, both the giant and red varieties. The red pandas are marketed almost as much as the giant pandas (one of which died...R.I.P, panda-san!).
~Lions are also big. I was hearing "Lion-san!" everywhere!
~Penguins are also popular, but I knew that before...
~This is one of the few places where one can get an okapi plush. The real okapi, however, was out of its cage for cleaning.
~They had a nice variety of snakes. Dunno why they had the Burm and a red-tail boa housed together, but they did. The rattlesnake was REALLY active, and I think I heard someone call it "kawaii." Also got a snake plush.
~Apparently those mouse deer (remember the vampire deer,
indigo_flames?) and a species of fruit bat are native to the Ryukyu Islands. Edit: Just Wiki'd, and the mouse deer are native to Malaysia and other parts of Asia. They're another living fossil species!
~Not all rabbits have bobbed tails! There were some hares there (spring hares, I think) with REALLY long tails.
~They had an outdoor exhibit of some native Japanese wildlife, including cranes.
~Lots of birds. LOTS OF BIRDS. SO MANY BIRDS! There was a secretary bird...I've never seen one up close before, and this one was eying the audience fearfully. It was pacing back and forth and even flying at times. TOTALLY felt like I was seeing a real live velociraptor!
~I had a pizza with shrimp, scallops, and basil on it. It actually tasted pretty darn good.
Ueno Park (other stuff, Part 1):
~Went to a shrine. Prayed that spirits could manifest better, which would be a whole lot more beneficial than you'd think. Rang a bell and left Inari-sama a little bit of Yen. I hope that foxes don't come and bite my behind now.
~Visited another shrine, this time dedicated to Kannon, the Japanese equivalent of Kwan-Yin, goddess of mercy. We couldn't go in this one, but it was quite a looker!
~Took lots of pictures; ran down camera battery.
~Had delicious chocolate-vanilla soft-serve. The Japanese really love it!
~The Ueno Park station has a nice little bakery with more cookie flavors than you could ever imagine. Really, when was the last time you had grapefruit cookies?
Quick guide: THINGS THAT ARE EVERYWHERE IN JAPAN
-Grapefruit
-Vending machines
-Gashapon of some kind (I found a Narnia one)
-Crows
-Soft serve ice cream ("soft cream")