playing tourist in ueno

Friend Val was visiting from Hawaii...she wanted to see the pandas at Ueno Zoo.

It was my first time to the zoo...and even on a weekday, there was a long line to see the pandas.

Before turning the corner to see them, there was a sign that said, "you have 1 minute to view the pandas...do not stop to take photos..blah blah blah" (WT!)

Well, when we turned the corner this is what we saw...the panda with its butt facing us.

How disappointing yeah?

We were like..."we stood in line for this?!"

The next two display areas were empty and we were feeling gypped.

Luckily, the panda in the next display area wasn't camera shy...

If you are interesting in seeing a really short video of the panda moving, click the link here.

Luckily, there were kanhizakura (a type of early blooming cherry blossom) just outside of the zoo.

Loved the dark pink color!

Lunch was at a place called Bal Pinolo...the pizza sauce was a bit watery but overall it was a nice lunch.

And since we were near Okachimachi, I took Val to Takeya.

They had everything she wanted and we were glad to be able to find everything in one place. (Thanks again V for telling me about this place! It is now Val's favorite place too!)

It was a beautiful day and it was nice to spend some time with a friend from Hawaii.

Ueno Zoo
9-83 Uenokoen
Taito, Tokyo
Closed Mondays
Hours: 9:30-17:00

Bal Pinolo
7-1-1 Higashiueno, Atre 1F
Taito, Tokyo
Hours: 11:00-23:30

foodie sunday in kobe

This past Sunday, we met up with Satoshi's friend and his son at Oji Zoo in Kobe.

It had been ages since I had been here! It was Satoshi's first time.

We started off by having lunch at a nearby cafe, Nim Cafe.

Apparently, the place is usually packed, but we got there right when they opened so we were able to get a table.

I had their BLT this also came with a vichyssoise, salad & tiny dessert (orange gelatin)...950 yen.

Satoshi had their daily pasta (clam and cabbage) and his friend had their omu-rice...900 yen each.

Since it was a Sunday, there were many people at the zoo and the neighboring areas.

The weather was nice but hot!

We got to see the zoo's panda.

There was also an exhibit area with this mural of the world.

I liked how they used shapes of animals to make this, here's a closer look.

On the property is also an amusement park. There are many rides, and you need to purchase tickets before riding. It reminded me of the days when we used to have carnivals at a local park in Hawaii.

I was amazed at how close up you could get to some of the animals...

The property is huge, but we managed to see a lot.

There are a lot of sakura (cherry) trees too, so this is a great place to visit when they are in bloom.

We went to a nearby shopping arcade to re-fuel.

This tiny kushikatsu stand, Ittoen, was a nice place to have a snack.

We had several sticks (quail egg, tako, shrimp, fish), the guys shared a beer, while I and the little guy had some soda...2130 yen.

And then we walked through the rest of the shopping arcade.

I came upon this cute bakery, Nico Neko-do. They make a cute (and delicious) Hello Kitty bread filled with custard...130 yen.

And this one filled with peanut cream. I was surprised at how sweet their peanut cream was (I think they mix peanut butter with frosting or something similar). Slathered in a baguette this was delicious though.

It was a long day, but we got to see a lot and eat a lot...thanks for a great day!

Oji Zoo
200 meters from the Hankyu Oji-Koen station
Admission

Nim Cafe
6-1-15 Nakahara-dori
Nada, Kobe
Phone: 078.806.3707
Hours: 11:00-22:00
Closed Tuesdays

Ittoen
5-2-24 Suido-suji
Nada, Kobe
Phone: 078.801.6332
Hours: 11:00-23:00
Closed Mondays

Nico Neko-do
2-16 Suido-suji
Nada, Kobe
Phone: 078.777.1734
Hours: 7:00-19:00
Closed Tuesdays

asahiyama dobutsuen and sapporo yukimatsuri

After breakfast, we travelled to Asahikawa to check out the Asahiyama Dobutsuen (Asahiyama Zoo). This zoo is not big like most zoos but they have created quarters in which the animals can "enjoy" being in--they try to make it as natural as possible for the animal. When word got out about this, their popularity took off. When we got there at 10:30, it was -8C(17F) and there were already many bus loads of people there. Many were lined up to see the penguin parade at 11:00.

Instead of standing in the cold to wait for the penguins, Satoshi and I visited the different areas. We were able to see many animals like the polar bear, tiger, lynx, lion and seals. After the penguins returned from their parade, we were also able to see them. I think Satoshi was most intrigued with the wolves. They were howling and it was the first time for him to see/hear this. I told him when we were growing up, many dogs in our neighborhood would howl similar to this.

We then went to the Asahikawa Ramen Mura to have lunch. As ramen in different parts of Japan have different types of broth, Asahikawa ramen's broth is commonly shoyu-based. This place is actually a community of ramen shops. You choose the ramen shop you want to eat at and go in to have your ramen. We chose Aoba, which has been serving ramen in Asahikawa for over 60 years. The broth was quite heavy tasting but it was a nice way to warm up after walking in the cold.

From Asahikawa, we went to Sapporo to the Yukimatsuri (Ice Festival). This year was the 60th anniversary for the event. My parents and many people I know from Hawaii have gone to this festival over the years. I've always wanted to go but this was the first time Satoshi was able to get away from work.

The weather was forecasted for snow and snow it did, non-stop....boy, was it hard to walk in...We didn't have proper shoes. Skechers and Nikes are definitely not shoes to walk in the snow. I was constantly nervous about falling down, luckily I would just slide a bit and catch myself. Satoshi on the other hand actually went sliding like a surfer for several feet, not by choice though. A lot of people had those stoppers/cleats that you can attach to your shoes, but I saw a lot of these people falling down with them on.

The sculptures were beautiful and huge! several stories high. 12 big blocks of sculptures, they were all amazing. We had been looking forward to eating dinner at a noted izakaya (Japanese pub), but when we called they were booked until 23:00, so we ran into the first place we saw...a soup curry shop called Garaku. A couple of years back, soup curry was the craze. It is still quite popular and was a great way to warm up. I had their 15 vegetable curry (it really had 15, I counted) 950 yen (about US$9.50). Satoshi had their lobster seafood curry 1250 yen (about US$12.50) (it had a whole lobster head used to take the stock) as well as a lot of different seafood. This shop was good in that you could choose the amount of rice and amount of spiciness from 1 to 10. I chose #2 and Satoshi chose #3 but we think they got it mixed up because Satoshi said his curry wasn't spicy at all and mine was quite spicy. It was a great dinner though.

After warming up, we walked a couple blocks down to the Susukino area to check out their ice carvings, then made our way back up to the television tower. This tower isn't as tall as the Tokyo Tower (I think) but the line to get up to the observation deck was long. You can see the whole length of the Ice Festival from here. We waited a half hour to get to the observation deck and another half hour to get back down.

It was a long day, lots of snow, lots of adventure.

Aoba
inside Asahikawa Ramen Mura
11-4 Nagayama-cho
Asahikawa, Hokkaido
Phone: 0166.47.2681

Soup Curry & Bar Garaku
2-7 Minami 3 Jo Nishi, Kushidori 2F
Sapporo, Hokkaido
Phone: 011.233.5568