Golden Week (GW) is over. Am I the only one who cannot find my work rhythm from today?
First half of GW I went to Mt. Takao; second half, a sortie to Ueno Zoo near Takebashi. A typical nearby pattern — but that is the trend lately (so I argued to my family ´ρ｀；).
We went around noon on May 3 — crowded as expected = photo upper left. Straight to pandas showed a 90-minute wait; persuaded the kids to skip pandas, and a 30-plus-minute line for soft serve was fine if you lick ice cream.
Zoos everywhere are clever with exhibits. From the main gate toward the gorillas, head
along the main street and an acrylic tank juts from the otter enclosure — you can watch swimming otters up close for the first time this visit = photo upper right.
At Bear Hill, snack time: bears are cleared inside, keepers line carrots and apples at the viewing window, then release the bears. They come to the window and munch...... a setup for
close-up bear viewing; the kids' delight was something else = photo upper left.
We looked forward to a newborn gorilla, but for health management there was no ape in Gorilla Forest — the only letdown.
Last stop: giant pandas. On the way out we passed the panda house — the earlier crowd gone, almost no line
n. In crowds only kids get the front row; this time adults could too. The pandas came quite close — first time seeing them up
close. Ri Ri (male) = top photo, flash off so blurry — and Shin Shin (female) = photo upper right = both awake, sitting adorably munching bamboo. First live moving pandas. Ah, pandas really are cute~~.
Final obligatory souvenir: an alpaca plush = photo upper left. Not so much begged for — adults liked the fluffy feel and droopy eyes even more than the kids and bought it. (^_^)