♥Japan 2014! Trip Report → Day 2 Part 1 (Ueno Zoo)♥

Hello everybunny! A very warm welcome to part one of my day two report! A very... very warm... super hot welcome. OTL I think this was one of the hottest days of the holiday ahah..;; But it was also incredibly fun!♪ 

We decided to do some good ol' sightseeing, so our plan was to head to Ueno & go to the zoo, possibly some museums too. From there we were planning on heading to Asakusa and then onto Tokyo Skytree.^^ It's all pretty staple sightseeing stuff though, I definitely recommend it! I think depending on what you enjoy, you might want to split this into two days or more. I kind of wanted to condense it because I had a ton of theme park trips planned ww. One day I'd like to take it all in when it's not summer and when it's not so crowded.^^ Let's start!

The first thing we did pretty much every day after leaving the hotel was to get breakfast and a drink from the konbini.♪ Our nearest konbini was a Seven Eleven, and gosh it was useful.♪ I could also get cash from there each morning for that day's adventures! If you're travelling to Japan and don't want to keep a load of cash in your hotel room, I really really really recommend getting a prepaid credit card!♪ It's basically a card that you can load money onto, and then use while you're travelling.^^ It has the daunting  words 'credit card' but it's more of a gift card that you just load up with money. c: Seven Eleven ATMs accepted my visa prepaid credit card with no problems. I felt more secure carrying money this way because even though cash was most convenient in places, I wasn't leaving wads of cash in the hotel, and I was just taking out what I needed each morning or as I needed it while I was out and about. Though if you're going to do things this way, please do your research!! Make sure to check which ATMs in Japan will accept your prepaid card, and make sure to research the company that you're getting your card from. c: On my next trip, I'll try to get konbini photos so I can show you how awesome they are! :D

 

After grabbing a snack for breakfast and the all important drink, it was time to head to Ikebukuro station! The first mission was to get a Suica card.♪ For anyone who has used an Oyster card, Suica cards do the same thing except they not only work for metro/underground trains, but also most other trains, buses, vending machines, and some konbini! Useful, right? The Suica machines, as well as the normal train ticket machines, have an English language option. It might also be handy to get a card holder for it that you can attach to your belt or bag.^^ I actually got so fed up of pulling mine out of my wallet on this day that I ended up buying one at Skytree ahah...

 

After a brief trip on the Yamanote line (the circular line that loops around Tokyo), we arrived at Ueno!

 

Ueno was one of the goal stations for the Pokemon stamp rally! They also had blank stamp rally booklets so Josh & I each got one ww♪

Leaving the station to head to Ueno park.♪ (I realised once we'd left the zoo, that we took the wrong station exit and went the scenic route around ww It was very pretty though!)

 

It was really clean and well-kept.

 

There was a lot to look at as we strolled to the zoo, I really enjoyed it.^^

 

 

Froggies on my zoo ticket.♪ There was a ticket machine, and that had an English option. I think a lot of people worry about the language barrier in Japan, but I think the culture barrier is more important to consider. Like using dining etiquette, or the no tipping rule, for example.

Two weenies on holiday.♥ Sadly even my nice flowy poncho tunic didn't help against the heat ahah OTL

 

Panda!♥♥

 

I'm not sure if pandas always just lay about like this or whether it was just really tired from the ridiculous heat. If Shirokuma Café is anything to go by, this pose is standard ahah - 7 -♥

 

 

I'm not 100% sure what this was, but it was amazing!♪ 

On a small note, it was amazing to be in the middle of Tokyo, but rarely see a tall building. The zoo felt really.. far from the hustle & bustle, it was incredibly peaceful.^^

 

Birbs♥

More birbs♥ I love seeing cute & interesting birds in zoos.^^ Though a strange thing was that we saw a kingfisher! In the UK in the countryside around rivers, they're pretty common. o: It was odd to see one in a zoo setting.^^;

 

I was quite jealous of the polar bear, I'm sure it was lovely and cool in the water.♪ I hope you like polar bears because there's a lot of polar bear photos. - 7-♥

 

 

Capybaras! :D

 

This llama walked around the corner to greet us, and then just flopped on the floor and sort of rolled around to have a sand bath. I think it was pretty done with the weather too ww..

 

We got to the elephants just as they were getting a snack! ;; v ;;♥♥

Elephants are one of my favourite animals, possibly my favourite. If I had big ears instead of big teeth, I'd be Elizaphant. ;; 7 ;;

 

I kind of just stood with this elephant for a while and had a chat, it was very friendly, and was also enjoying its snack.♥

 

 

Wow, macaque's really hairy.

(I would have disappointed a fair few people if I didn't make that joke ww)

 

After this point, we had a snack and popped to the gift shop because it was time for me to go for a while ; 7;'' I needed to collect the Tokyo Disney Resort tickets from the shopping service owner! (Instead of buying them online, I asked a shopping service to buy them for me so I could get physical tickets as souvenirs. :3) I was due to meet them at Shinjuku station, so all I had to do was take the Yamanote line, right?

Nope. OTL

I got on a Yamanote line train and it went nowhere. D: The line wasn't working because of an accident or something, so I hopped to another station and tried to get to Shinjuku by metro, which didn't go too badly!;; I was quite panicky because I literally had the whole trip planned out & it was going to be super simple. ;; I was also disappointed that I didn't even take into consideration that need for a contingency. >< Shinjuku station is also very very big, and I was already late to meet the owner, though thankfully I was able to get wifi on the metro and exchange some emails with them. I finally found them and... panic over. ;; v ;; After all that, the Yamanote line was back up and running and I texted Jen to say I'd be late to meet her & Josh back in Ueno.>< Luckily the journey back to Ueno was smooth. ; v ; The train was also nice and quiet, so I was able to calm down.^^ Below are some more photos from Ueno zoo, brought to you by Josh, I hope you enjoy seeing his photos!♥

(I'll get him to add a commentary soon! Times like this make me wish we could see each other easier so we could make this trip report together hah OTL)

Thank you so much for reading!♥ I hope you'll look forward to part 2 & the other trip reports!♪

Love, Eliza♥