Finding Ueno

Having agreed with Jasmine to meet near the Panda Bridge Exit of Ueno Station at 9am, I am up fairly early for my second full day in Tokyo. We are heading off to Ueno Park, a massive park behind the station which is next to my hostel. This park is home to, among other things, Ueno Zoo and Tokyo National Museum (the oldest museum in Japan) and we are planning on going to both today. Originally Jasmine mentioned doing Disneyland but the price and need to get there even earlier didn’t appeal to me a great deal, so she kindly agreed to accompany me for the day exploring the local area. We enter the beautiful park with the sun shining down on us and start wandering, passing by shrines, statues and a pagoda as we make our way to the zoo. I have always loved zoo’s – many happy memories visiting London Zoo with my mum as a child and whenever I enter a zoo I can’t help but have a smile on my face.

It is a great zoo; not too big not too small, a great way to start the morning. We start our exploration, making our way round the massive pond as we head for the aquarium, passing some lemurs and fossas on the way, the aquarium building is full of great creatures from alligators down to axolotls, toads and weird looking fish and turtles. After the aquarium we head out to the long necked beauties that are giraffes and the solid blocks that are the rhinoceroses and an animal with a surprisingly high human kill rate, the hippo. Next we go to one of my favourite sections, the nocturnal area, a place were I discovered it is almost impossible to get a good photo, at least if you have the photographic skills of toddler with a play camera. Next were the bears; polar, black and Japanese, the Japanese being a lot smaller than I realised! Then on to the tigers, elephants and gorillas getting in otters and meerkats along the way. All in all it was a fun zoo and what made the experience better was the massive and frequent groups of school kids clearly on class trips, Jasmine and I enjoyed the sounds of amazement they make upon seeing any animal on their tick list and of course the cuteness overload they provided.

Tomb of Shogitai Warriors in Ueno Park

Omelette with beef ragu type sauce

Once in the museum we realise that it is a hell of a lot bigger than we realised and full of amazing art. There are exhibitions around silk paintings, clothing, armour, fans and paintings. The exhibition that really catches our attention though is a collection of minute tobacco pouch carvings. These extremely intricate statues that are now considered a valuable collector’s item. My favourite is a small monkey carved into a position of deep thought similar to Rodin’s The Thinker. Another fun activity Jas and I get up to is making our own postcards, with a line of stamps numbered one through to six, so of course I stamped mine from six to one to prove that we shouldn’t be restricted by societies rules and sometimes you get the best results by going against what is expected of you. A stupid monologue that had Jas rolling eyes until my postcard came out looking better than hers and we both end up just laughing at how this charade has somehow worked out for me! We, of course, end in the museum gift shop, arguably the best part of any trip to a museum, and see the same postcard we have just made ourselves for free for sale, although probably slightly better quality!

Fossa in Ueno Park Zoo

Having been on our feet all morning by the time we are leaving the zoo both Jasmine and I agree it is time for lunch. Luckily for us this park has a number of lovely looking cafés. We head to one with outdoor seating making the most of the beautiful weather. Taking our seats at the café we look over the menu, thankfully with an English translation, and make our choices. I for rice covered with an omelette and beef ragu type sauce, it is very nice. However, I am little jealous of Jasmine’s choice; a platter style dish with pork and various vegetables and pickles, it looks delicious. But we are both jealous of the kid at the table who also has a platter of sorts but his comes in a bullet train style plate that looks awesome! After our food and another cup of tea for me, we continue to explore the park making our way to the National Tokyo Museum, an art museum with a mixture of historic and modern art from around Japan. It is the oldest museum in the whole of Japan. I am excited to get my first taste of Japanese history, however Jas and I did spot an advert for cold beer on our walk to the museum so we are now both looking forward to coming out of the museum as well!

Bronze statue of Prince Komatsu Akihito, Imperial Japanese Army general in Meiji Era in Ueno Park

Blue Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus")

Tokyo National Museum

Infant's Coffin?

The Thinker

Armour from the 1500s

After the museum we head back to the café for that beer but realise while in the queue that, although having many posters for beer, this is very much a café and so we decide to do a quick google to find some of the closest bars. To our shock we find that unlike England and Canada, Jas’ home country, bars don’t open until 5pm here, so no midday beers for us. Then I remember the hostel has a beer fridge so we wander back and share a cold one in the lobby. After we have finished our beers Jas heads back to her hotel and I back to my bed for a nap.

View from the New York Sky Club bar

Later we meet back up at the New York Sky Club. We are joined by Amanda, another member of what will soon be our group. As I arrive it takes me a while to figure out how to get up to the bar. The lower levels of this massive building are offices and I have ended up walking around them like a headless chicken. Finally I figure out how to get through the offices and up the two separate elevators to the hotel that the bar is part of. Amanda, Jas and I enjoy a single drink while admiring the view. We would have stayed for another if there wasn’t a surcharge for non-hotel guests. After the drink we decide to head out for some food and follow a crowd of people until we stumble upon a bbq style restaurant. The type of place that has a grill in the middle of the table so you can cook the meat you order. The meal was delicious and the company great. I am looking forward to seeing who else will be joining our group. I joke with Amanda and Jas that worse comes to worse we can form a clique and just recruit the best people. After the meal Amanda kindly lets me jump in her uber as she heads for an onsen to get me closer to my hostel. I then order another uber for the final part of the journey which, slightly awkwardly, gets accepted by the same driver who now has to go round the block to pick me up again.

Just the one