Ok, so after the frigid events of Thursday, today we were taking Conrad to the zoo. We had been to Ueno Zoo about 3 years ago, but Conrad had never been. After breakfast at Jonathans, we headed back to the hotel to get ready. It was another cold day in Tokyo. The max temperature for the day was only going to be 7 degrees, but with wind chill it felt a lot less. We had to take the motorbikes back to SCS first, so after suiting up and getting them out of the tiny alley we parked them in, we were soon winding our way through the streets of Tokyo. I only had my normal jacket on, so I was still a little chilly, but not as frostbitten as the day before. We had to fill the bikes up before returning them, so after shooting past the rental place, we did a U-turn before finding a petrol station. It seems fuel prices here vary from station to station, and although I haven't driven here long, it seems that Eneos is the most expensive. Also, some streets are one way from certain times of the day (usually 9-19.00). This meant that we must have rode down the streets the wrong way, but as they were back streets with little traffic , no one seemed to mind.
We dropped the bikes off without much fuss before starting the walk back towards Ueno Zoo. It was Friday, but with some areas of the city receiving very little sunlight due to high buildings on one side and expressway on the other, there was still snow/ice from Monday night on the ground. The wind was blowing as well, so we grabbed a hot can of coffee from a machine to keep ourselves warm while moving to meet the girls at the front of the zoo.
As I may have mentioned a couple of years ago, Ueno is a lower class area, with the black market springing up there after WWII. It's a little more sanitary these days, but with a big park, there is also quite a number of homeless people. Here though, it seems like in return for not being bothered, the homeless have to help with keeping the area clean, as we saw quite a few bums with hi-vis vests on and rubbish bags. Also, there are a large number of feral cats around. They look pretty well fed, and they keep the hobos company. (I actually saw one hobo sleeping in a corner with a cat sleeping on him).
After paying the 600Y entry fee, we noticed that there was a new panda exhibit. When we came a couple of years ago, their panda had died about 8 months before we came, and they hadn't been able to get another one. Now they had 2, with it feeding time. We watched as the keepers put fresh bamboo in the area, as well as hiding carrots as treats. Then they got out of the cages and let the pandas go in. We had to fight through the hoards of prams, school girls, old people and others, but I think Conrad and Dean managed to snap some good photos. Just after this, the batteries in my camera gave up the ghost, so I only had my phone and video camera. We walked towards the birds of prey and I got some nice shots (I think) of some owls, eagles, vultures and stuff.
As you keep on walking, there was the tiger and lions exhibit. I feel sorry for these animals, as they are used to warmer climes, but today it was frigid at best. We got some shots of them, but had to keep moving to keep warm. It was a Friday and there must be quite a few schools nearby, as there were school kids ranging from short grade 1 or 2 kids (with matching hats) to seniors. So they were noisy, but only in the subdued Japanese way... I don't know, maybe it's because I can block them out because they're speaking a different language, but I can ignore them a lot better.
We next saw some gorillas, polar bears, seals, and tapirs, before deciding to get something to eat. It's possibly expensive for here, but for 1200Y or so I got a chicken and chips basket (with a little salad) and a beer... I still love that you can get beer on tap anywhere here, and don't know where else you can get a pint of beer in a zoo for 500Y. Unfortunately for us, it was feeding time at the zoo.... There was a myriad of crying babies, so we needed to leave as we were starting to get crowded our by the pram parade. We quickly saw a bison, some marmosets and spider monkeys and a prairie dog, before we headed across the overpass to the west side of the zoo. We then spent about 3 hours winding our way through the fluffy cute animals (Mum and Whitney had to pat the bunnies) and then small mammals, nocturnal animals, flamingoes, then hippos, rhinos, okapis before we reached the vivarium (reptiles, snakes and lizards). If nothing else, it confirmed for me that the most poisonous/deadly creatures come from Australia. There was a saltwater croc, which is huge compared to other crocodiles, and the look in his eye made him look like he was plotting how to kill you. There were some really annoying american kids with the little girl wearing Minnie Mouse ears, star sunglasses and generally acting like a prima donna. She was also loud, so I wouldn't have minded feeding her to the crocodile (remember, women and children first :P) It was now approximately 4pm, so we headed for the South exit and headed to Ameyokocho(?). It was a street market area (used to be black market) that had bags, clothes, food and more. I grabbed a strawberry skewer, but I didn't really like these markets that much. Maybe it was the crowds, the small claustrophobic shops, or the not so market prices on the items, but I didn't really feel like hanging around.
After I grabbed a kebab pita (nice and spicy) from a Japanese speaking leb, and the others grabbed some sweet thing from a street vendor, we started making our way to the subway station. We wanted to head back to Yaesu, so after grabbing the orange line to Nihombashi we stopped in at Yaesu to try some more stuff from Hasegawa, as well as grab a massage. We stopped in at the massage place only to be told there was a 40 min wait, so we headed for a bar place across the aisle. I didn't feel like having anything to eat just yet, so I just grabbed a beer, while Dean grabbed an antipasto happy hour set. Heineken on tap is good, a massage to your tired bones better, though not as cheap.
After getting pounded and prodded (the person massaging me said I had very tense shoulders), we headed back toward the hotel. Mum and Whitney in the exploring while we were biking had found another gyoza place just down the street from us. It won't replace the one that was in Yaesu mall, but that had a decent go of it. We ordered a few plates of gyoza and a tall glass of beer (Dean reckons gyoza is nearly the perfect beer food). The gyoza was good quality and they had a few different types to try. The problem I had, was that being a whole in the wall type joint, it was all smoking. I could only stand a few people doing it before my lungs gave up. I waited out in the cold while the others finished their gyoza, with the shop attendant beckoning me in, and me in my broken Japanese trying to say that the smoke was making me cough.
After leaving the warmth of the gyoza place, the wind and cold outside was noticable, but it didn't stop us going to Lawson's and getting some ice cream. Once in the safety of our hotel, we had a couple of Chu-hi's, with Conrad nipping downstairs to put some washing on. After what was supposed to be a relaxing day (how can walking heaps be relaxing?), we were all tired and headed for bed.
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