Ueno Zoo

I went to the Ueno Zoo for the first time today. I met up with my friend Chieko, and we strolled over to the zoo (mainly because it was too hot to walk) after some lunch. 

So many adorable animals! The picture in the center is my friend trying to get a good view of the elephants. We went in their direction after stopping for some shaved ice because they were trumpeting and whining and making such a ruckus. After we got there, they were kind of poking each other with their trunks and chasing each other around the pen. Turns out there was a big group around this elephant couple because they were, um, getting friendly. It was kind of funny to see the zoo keepers in the background ready to record any possible data. 

There's another zoo in the Tokyo area, which is actually more in the direction that we live, but we picked the Ueno zoo because they have a Capybara there. He is so cute!! The first time we passed by his pen, it was a little hard to see him since he was bathing, but he moved a little (and very slowly). If you look closely, the pictures with the signs have the animals that the signage is for behind them. (aka the llama and the capybara).

I was also obsessed with these little guys. They were just so cute!!

There was a big pond/small lake on one side of the zoo. It was kind of crazy to see such large, open space in Tokyo!!

Oh. I also discovered that bats are adorable. They can fly, but when they walk on the ground, they choose to creepily crawl around all spider-like. Silly little creatures.

I think that we sat down to rest and drink something or eat ice cream or shaved ice at least once an hour. We felt like old ladies, but it kept us both hydrated and from getting too warm. I remember that one announcement said that it was over 35 degrees Celcius, along with ways to beat the heat. Ack! I want my chilly Seattle back in my life right now! This picture is a little misleading because there aren't any pandas at this zoo right now. It was super cute, and not very expensive (600yen), but it was smaller than I thought it would be. We're going to go to the Tama Zoo next!! I also need to make it back to Ueno because they have a Chagall exhibit going on right now. and I heart Chagall.