"Sunday we went to the zoo". I was invited to the zoo by An & her sister last week and this sunday we went to Asahikawa to the Asahiyama zoo. An had a couple of friends that go to school in Sapporo & they rented a van to take us there. I asked if they knew if the train went there & they claimed not too (but there definately is & it's like half the time). So there were 7 of us, An, Gyung Jin (sister), 2 other koreans from sapporo, Barney, Eagle, and myself. It was really funny because Barney & Eagle sat in the very back and they are TALL you know? So they were stretched out about as far as they could get the seat to push back. Lol. Then after we stopped for drinks & bathroom breaks Jin climbed into the back & instead of sitting in the middle she sat on Barney's lap. It was totally cute.
We left at 10 am and walked down to Nagasakiya where they picked us up. And then we were off! 3 hours later we arrived in Asahikawa which is supposed to be a pretty famous town. Actually the zoo is supposedly famous in japan as being second only to the one in Ueno park in Tokyo. If this is true then Japan must have some crappy zoos because it was about the size of Binder park, with different animals of course, and it had a small amusement park attached which was closed for the season.
First thing we did was see the penguins! They had 4 different varieties including one HUGE brown one that they had caged seperately from the others. It's apparantly the "King Penguin". We didn't get to see the penguins very well the first time because there were so many people at Asahiyama but we did get to go under the penguin tank and walk through the tunnel & got to see them swimming around. They are such strong swimmers! And so fast! It was really awesome. :) Then we moved on to the polar bear exhibit which was also pretty cool. And from there we visited all of the animal kingdom including a black panther, tiger, lion, and cheetas that were sitting on top of the cage & we got to see their furry butts hanging through the cage. We also got see a hippo who was having his teeth cleaned by a giraffe. According to eagle they do this in the wild which I think is really strange. Gian insists that it is small birds & not giraffes that do the teeth cleaning. I refuse to take sides.
The second time that we saw the penguins it was just before the place closed & we ran back over there and got to take pictures of all of them. Didn't go back into the tunnel tho'(we should have!!!). But I did see something really funny. This japanese family had a little girl with her, about a year old and the mother sets the baby down on the raised platform they have for the kids to see from & the penguins there were coming over and trying to peck her through the glass. It was hilarious, it was like the penguins wanted to eat her hat. And they were even fighting each other over who was going to get her! So funny, and of course the whole extended family had to pull out their cell phones and video cameras to record the event. Lol.
Last stop at the zoo was the gift shop (seriously 5 min before closing) where I bought some hagaki (postcards), a penguin keitai chain & a polar bear one for Eagle. Then we headed into town to eat & ended up having Ramen because that is supposedly famous in Asahikawa also. Some japanese people I told about it on Monday seemed impressed anyways. Well the ramen was good, but I think the ramen here in Otaru is just as good. We also had some ice cream (it was really soft! Very strainge) and then headed back to Otaru. Only on the way back it took us twice as long because they refused to travel on the toll road & made us go through all the little towns along the way & then we got caught in evening traffic into Sapporo which meant of course that it took even longer.
Long story short 3 hours to get there 4 1/2 to get back. Gyah. When we got back I was exhausted & all I wanted to do was get out of the car and not get back into it. Oh, and also for the record? 7-11 bathrooms in Japan are disgusting, they are squat toilets but they are raised up from the floor which just makes it weirder. It was like sitting on a shelf. Sometimes I really which I was guy... but only for a minute. Then I realize that I'm glad I'm a girl. :)
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