Asahiyama Zoo

May 28th....10 o'clock a.m....pouring rain...blowing wind....and three girls road-tripping their way two hours north to currently the most popular zoo in Japan. Apparently, the zoo didn't used to be very popular, but they are now trying to change a lot of the animals' habitats to make them more realistic and entertaining (for both viewers and animals).
So, despite the bad weather, we had a great day at the zoo, and added one more memory to our repertoire for my year in Japan.
Unfortunately, the pictures don't nearly do it justice. But here are a few anyways.


Saori, Momoko and I...

















Momoko with one of the big polar bears...

















Polar bear lounging in his little pond...

















The orangutans had to climb from their cage, up a big tree, across this high ropeway, and down into another "playground" area to get their food. As soon as their keeper showed up they started climbing!

















Mom and baby having a little play after their snack, and before heading back across the high-rope to their cage...

















And the penguins....my favourite! There was even this amazing glass tunnel underneath the water that we could walk through to see them swimming (but unfortunately no pictures allowed).