Lions and tigers and bears (sugoi)

Japan pictures

Saturday morning I was hanging around the dorm lobby in case anyone emerged and wanted to go to Tokyo with me but I gave up waiting at 11 and went off on my lonesome. I got the bus and then the train into Akihabara and then the train to Ueno which quick internet research told me was home to gardens, a zoo and many museums. I thought whatever the weather, this should provide me with a good day. It turns out that the weather was brilliant. The skies were blue and the air warm. So I decided against the museums and enjoyed the park and zoo.

It was about 1 o' clock when I got to Ueno and I followed my nose to a collection of stalls by the park entrance selling food. I decided to pass on the squid but was tempted by the chocolate coated bananas. But in the end it was the stuffed pancakes that made my money leap from my
purse into the ticket machine. I selected the strawberry and kiwi option and took my ticket to the stall where a machine made two perfectly formed pancakes and a girl put together the
strawberry/kiwi/custard/cream/sponge cake/pastry creation.

Delicious.

And I almost got in a mess when eating it on a wall, spied upon by ravens (nevermore). But somehow I made it through.

Cheered by high sugar levels once again, I espied the entrance to the zoo. Again, tickets were dispensed by machines. None of this human interaction nonsense. I purchased my adult ticket for a mere 600 yen and entered the zoo. The advised route was clearly marked and I am not one to improvise so I followed it past cages of brightly coloured birds- mainly pheasants with some pigeons (not so bright) and peacocks. I started by taking pictures of every single bird but that soon grew ridiculous especially since birds are far from the main exhibit. Which I do believe came next. The panda. It was huddled on a ledge in plain site of the huge crowd that had gathered, turning its head away from the people and camera flashes. Zoos are very much a mixed blessing. I wouldn't have the chance to see a panda otherwise but is this the way I wanted to see one? Its head was raised for a few moments and I took pictures just like the rest of them.

My memory is hazy as to the order of the animals after the panda but it went something like this: Eagles, vultures, tigers, gorillas,
songbirds, lions, foxes, penguins, polar bears, tapirs (for Mike),
llamas, porcupines, aardvarks, hippos, giraffes and, of course, the
mating rhinos.

I will not attempt to describe that. I had to manoeuvre myself carefully to get a shot of it that didn't require air-brushing for a pg audience. I knew people would complain if I didn't capture the act but I was not going to turn my photobucket into an animal porn site.

Before I left the zoo, I passed a Japanese five-story pagoda with many ravens flying around. It felt quite ominous given the book I was carrying in my bag. The bag, I belatedly realised, with the Chinese characters that could have been saying anything. And the bookmark in the book which may have said "Keppet" but on whose authority do I know that for sure?

I left the zoo and took a right turn coming across a gap in a wall
with a booth handing out tickets (for 400 yen) to whatever was beyond. I handed over the coinage and entered into a small rose garden. Well, actually I have no idea what the flowers were but there were certainly a lot of them and they were of many bright colours. Parasols were everywhere seemingly protecting the flowers from the sun or maybe they
were just decorative. I kept turning each corner expecting more but I just got more of the same until I popped out not far from where I started.

They were pretty flowers though.

Undaunted, I yet again handed over the yen (200) at the next booth. This led onto a shrine. It was a beautiful building with red and gold paint. I had to take off my shoes to enter and I got into a tussle with the attendant who kept trying to help me put my shoes into a carrier bag. I can manage thank you! I was trying to save him from the stench but her persisted and I think I only extended his exposure by resisting. But it was a very nice shrine with various artefacts such as works of art and old suits of armour.

After the shrine I continued in the same direction and found myself just wandering amongst blossom trees and another shrine. There were street artists here. I watched the clown make balloon animals and hats for a while. I neglected to mention the previous street artist I saw as I was distracted by talking about the wonderful pancake I ate for
lunch. He stood just a little past the food stalls and played "gypsy"
music and had string puppets dancing for him and performing
acrobatics. It was most amusing and he got quite carried away with the violin playing and cymbals (operated with his feet) crashing.

Feeling that I had done enough of the park without visiting museums (there was a science museum and an art museum which had a Rodin exhibition) I hopped back on the train to the Tsukuba Express at Akihabara and from there took the express to Tsukuba centre. I knew I didn't need to rush back to the lab so I wandered around the shops in Tsukuba. To my surprise not only had the insidious US businesses Starbucks and Gap made their mark here but there was also a Body Shop and a Lush. But I was distracted by the stationary shop where I was swayed by a bright yellow umbrella. Closer inspection back at the dorm told me that this was a parasol and offered UV protection but I am sure it will also serve as a replacement for the red umbrella damaged by the UoD.

After my purchases of an umbrella, some writing paper and a spontaneous gift for Louise, I ate a panini and drank a latte at Starbucks (while reading my book). I caught the second to last bus back to the lab and bumped into Alexander, a member of my group (Russian and hard to understand but not someone I have problems coexisting with) so we ended up talking about zoos and a man who, apparently, taught eagles to fly and flew himself up Everest.

It was a good day.

Incidentally, the people I had sat in the lobby anticipating emerged at 3pm and went into Tokyo spending all night in bars and clubs, stumbling back to the dorm at 8am the next day.