Ueno Zoo Weekend

It's just starting get a little chilly. I'd been drilling the locals for what the winters are like here. Some people say 'oh, it's freezing!' and others say 'it's not too cold and almost never snows.' I have gathered that it depends on where you lived before. Like, if you ask someone in Seattle what winters are like there and they came from California, they'll say that they are freezing and depressing. Having grown up in Cleveland, however, the winters in Seattle do not seem so bad. From what I've seen so far this fall, it is going to be milder than Seattle. The leaves have just begun to change, and I've seen many trees that still have fruits and flowers.



















In fact, I am sitting by my open patio door right now, and I'm not freezing. What makes people complain about the cold in Japan, I think, is because the houses have horrible insulation and lack central heating. Kerosene space heaters are popular. People buy electric rugs and these coffee tables with heaters under them. You put a comforter under the top of them and keep your legs toasty.













I don't think we will need one, however. When it gets a bit nippy at night, we run our installed heater in the living room and dining room and shut the door. Perfectly toasty. There are heaters installed upstairs, too, so the kids won't freeze at night. (Not that they really ever get cold; the amount of energy coursing through their little bodies could heat a small country.) The only room lacking a heater is our bedroom, but we have our lovely down comforter. We'll see how high our electric bill is next month and if it's worth pursuing more Japanese options.

I got a few emails from the States and Canada asking me if we survived the big earthquake. Truth be told, I didn't even know we'd had one until Val asked me and I googled it. It was a big one, up north in the Pacific, and there was general momentary panic as the state-of-the-art tsunami warning system went off (I talked to a woman living on the base in Yokosuka and her family was awoken by the loudspeakers squawking "seek higher ground!" They checked on the armed forces TV and radio stations, but there was nothing, so they went back to sleep. Apparently, though, many people bugged out and took hotel rooms in higher ground). In any event, the fears were groundless, as the biggest wave recorded was 40cm or so.

On Thursday, as part of Jeff's Japan Orientation class assignment, he took the afternoon off work for a "field trip." He was to learn to use the trains and busses and go somewhere. This assignment was rather too late for Jeff, as he had pretty much figured out the system awhile ago, but he decided to use the time to visit the other nearby base in Negishi, where I joined him. Pretty unexciting, as most military bases are, but it is situated near an old racecourse, which looked pretty cool.















Also, they had a library full of books and movies in English, and that made me very happy. We rented the original Shogun miniseries, which I was excited about. I remember seeing it when it first aired in 1980, shocked at the beheading scene and Richard Chamberlain being urinated on. One just didn't see such things on television. At least at age 9. I also rented Lost in Translation, which is still great and even funnier now that I live here.

Also, as a result of the orientation classes, he was permitted to get his Japanese driver's license, which he has successfully done. I'm scared of the first trip or two.

Over the weekend, we decided to celebrate our 3-monthiversary by going to Tokyo for the weekend, specifically Ueno Park and staying at the New Sanno.

Ueno Park. We ate our station-bought bento boxes here before we went to the zoo.















The Ueno Zoo is cool. It was very reasonably priced, at 600 yen per adult and kids under 12 FREE. The first exhibit was the Giant Panda. This was exciting, because we have tried to see pandas at 2 different zoos (Thailand and San Diego), and were thwarted by pandas being on vacation in China or resting periods or whatever. Jeff was especially excited because he had wanted to see a real, live panda since he was a kid writing reports on them. The legendary polite queue of visitors who took their pictures and moved on so the next group could do so was nowhere in evidence as the people flocked en masse to the window to catch a glimpse and a photo. Luckily there are digital cameras you can hold over the heads of the spectators and click off as many shots as you like.

















Here is a lovely five-tiered pagoda in the park




















As for the rest of the exhibits, they were a real treat. I don't know how many times I've come away from a zoo visit disappointed, because the animals were sleeping in a nook somewhere, hiding behind a tree, or far away across a huge, safe trench. Not this zoo. The only thing separating you from the animals is a fence or a couple inches of glass, and they are right there in front of you.















This guy was so obliging. He walked back and forth in front of the window so everyone could see him, played with his wives, and rolled around on his back like a giant kitten. Jeff started to get the feeling that the animals were trained to be photogenic.



















Lions' lunch. I haven't seen this so much in evidence before. The kids were slightly appalled. Whose bone is that?



















Anyway, I took a lot of pictures, and the more animals we saw, the more Jeff became convinced that the animals were actors. It became almost comical as a gorilla would walk over to one window and pose, then walk over to the other window and sit down and pose again, making sure everyone could get a good shot.



















Our own little primates


















Biggest elephants I'd ever seen!














M comparing the size of his brain to that of the pacyderms'














Picturesque crane. I may paint this one.














Jeff's favorite bird: Cock-o-the-Rock. It looked to me like a giant cheese puff to which someone had glued googly-eyes.



















Regal Emperor Penguins


















Cool, fierce-looking bird



















Baboon on Monkey Island. I had fun watching them for awhile. They looked like they were having such a good time chasing each other and swinging around with ease. I saw one jump up and down on the suspension bridge, just like a kid.















I forget what these monkeys are called, but they were cute.



















Mom and baby capybaras. I've always thought they resembled giant guinea pigs.












Tapirs













Bunny!



















More penguins












M&D donated a few yen to the penguin cause.



















Partridge, sans Family.
















Polar bears! The kids were convinced they were robots, from the way they repeated the same head swings and mouth-openings as they paced back and forth.














One small way this zoo didn't measure up to others I've known: the peacocks are caged instead of roaming around the park. Didn't hear their usual creepy cries, either. I'm not sure if that's preferable or not.


















Seal love. Actually, I think they were fighting. Same thing.



















A highlight for me. A very photogenic tiger, once I got the flash off and it sat still for me. So pretty.
















Sadly, since we had gotten such a late start, the park closed at 5 with half of the zoo still unexplored. D panicked when I explained that the music they were playing through the speakers meant that the zoo was shutting for the day, especially when Auld Lang Sine, Japan's official closing-time song (don't ask me why) began. D was convinced that if we didn't hurry, we'd be locked in and have to spend the night there. Due to the inexpensiveness of the zoo and the myriad features of the park (including an art museum that was having a Dali exhibit), we decided that we would come back the next day, too, instead of going to Harajuku to see the denizens dressed up in their costumes. (I have to do this sometime.)

It was a short subway trip to the New Sanno Hotel. The Sanno is a hotel for military personnel, and it's quite nice. It has a wonderful and inexpensive gift shop, an mini exchange, a 'general store,' a few restaurants, and, most importantly, a pool.















There were other American kids there, which I think M&D really enjoyed. They haven't spoken to another American kid since we've been here, I don't think. I think this is really starting to get to D, who is craving some real conversation with a native English speaker. I have heard that their school may be getting a pack of 4 American brothers soon, though. I hope so, for their sake.

Another feature of the Sanno is their sumptuous Sunday brunch. Jeff was told that they serve pretty much everything you can think of, and I have to say that the statement was accurate. The dreamlike haze of the photos is due to my crappy ketai (cellphone) camera, but I thought it appropriate.








































































Those shiny bits on the kiwi were not just refelections; they were silver sparkles!

The boys especially enjoyed the dessert table. Shocker.





































Unfortunately, Sunday was a very rainy day, so we bagged the plans to go back to Ueno. But there are sufficient reasons for a return trip in the near future. I'm thinking that it would be a fun diversion while Jeff is out of town (for almost 2 weeks, ugh. Stay tuned for insane babbling in the next couple posts).

One last note: I finally sang karaoke in Japan last night. We had our final Japanese class of this session, and they threw us a party in which they stuffed us full of sushi. All the volunteer teachers were there, we took pictures, and presents were given to those with perfect attendance (not me, I skipped for Halloween). They were there things you hang on your door from Dec 31 - Jan 7 - the bad luck week at the end of the year. It's supposed to protect your house, I guess.

Anyway, after, Jason actually took me up on my beer suggestion. Alex had laundry to do (lame), and I was happy that J wasn't going to be weird about going out with just me, a married woman and a mom of his students. He took me to a tiny bar near Horizon and we had a couple beers and listened to the middle aged men sing Japanese love songs. I knew it wouldn't be long until the little karaoke song-selecting machine was urged on me, the novel gaijin woman. They couldn't figure out how to find Patsy Cline (is she standard karoke fare in Japan like she is in the US?), so I settled for Kim Carnes' Bette Davis Eyes before it got too drawn out. Not my finest performance, but I got the obligatory claps and Jason still wants to perform at the Blue Corn with me, so it couldn't have been too bad.

Speaking of the Blue Corn, I'll be there tonight, since Helen actually has the day off tomorrow, and this will be my last night out for awhile. Jeff leaves Monday. We are having Thanksgiving tomorrow at the Frenches', and on Friday at the Steigers' (this is an overnighter). And here I thought that Thanksgiving would be a non-event here. Just like Halloween, I am surprised.