The land of misfit animals

Lauren and I left late Thursday evening (October 9th), and took the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Osaka. We found our hotel and were VERY pleased. Our accommodations were cheap even though the place we were staying was called The Weekly Mansion. This place was decked out as far as cheap hotels go. Lauren and I concluded that our room was about the same size, if not bigger, than each of our apartments. But I am also happy to say that we spent very little time in our hotel room, as we had many places to see and fun people to meet!

On Friday morning we headed to the Tennoji Zoo. This zoo is combined with a botanical garden as well as an art museum. The entrance fee was $5 for all three locations - that should have been a tip-off right there that the zoo was, shall I say, interesting. We did not begin with the animals however, we started with the flowers and shrubbery. Upon walking through the gates there were elementary school children running around and enjoying themselves. There were also bushes growing out of large wooden animal faces - they had a distinct Chia Pet look about them.

The gardens are just beyond the Chia Pets. I really like to look at flowers and I think some of them are just gorgeous when I happen to get a good picture of them. I practiced taking a lot of flower photos during this little excursion through the green houses in front of the zoo. Note: there is an interesting looking cactus photo. I took it because the child inside got the better of me and reduced my maturity level to that of a 12 year old boy for a moment; I hope you think it's funny too.

Before we actually hit the zoo Lauren and I ducked into the art museum. I am always sad that pictures are not allowed to be taken in art museums. Art is one of those things that makes me really really happy, and I want to be able to share my thoughts about certain pieces I see, but if you cannot see them too, it makes that a little more difficult. I saw a beautiful Japanese piece of art depicting each of the four seasons. It was a very old piece, but the colors were still extremely vibrant and each season looked happy and inviting. The painting was on four different panels of rice paper sliding doors. I have similar doors in my apartment and if only I were an artist, I would try painting them too. Of course there was a gift shop and I bought a puzzle there. I love puzzles and these are of famous paintings so it makes it even cooler.

This finally brings me to the zoo. The pictures I have just don't do it justice, but this truly was the land of misfit animals. To talk about it on here and give the impression that it is funny may seem wrong and heartless, but believe you me, these animals were a laugh riot! It reminded me of the part in the claymation Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer movie when there are on the island of misfit toys. We walk in a see these monkeys just swinging from branches in a faux habitat. There are about 5 monkeys and one of them has a huge growth right on his hind quarters. This thing was at least as big as his head. It was gross to see, but I just couldn't look away. Needless to say, we made jokes about it for the rest of the weekend and are still making jokes two weeks later. (Sorry about the bobbling near the end, I was laughing so hard I couldn't hold my hand still.)

After that round of monkeys we went to check out the seals. The water was a bit murky green and then we saw one seal with a bit of a swollen eye. The poor thing looked diseased, but it was then that I started to catch onto the fact that the animals here just weren't right. We saw the different kinds of bears next. The first had black fur, but then a yellow and orange colored faced. The second looked like a shaggy dog and the third must have forgotten to take his Ridelen because he was totally hyped up. This bear looked like a cross between a dog and a monkey and it couldn't sit still - or even walk slowly. The polar bear looked brown because he was so dirty and his "ice" needed a new paint job.

We saw a lot of different kinds of birds, and I have to say my favorite are the flamingos. I just try to contemplate how a bright pink bird happens. Pink is a rather unnatural color - when you think of natural colors don't you see greens and blues and browns mostly? How and why would an animal adapt to such a florescent shade? We moved on from there to the indoor monkeys and they were just as crazy as the outdoor monkeys. I started teasing a monkey who was swinging on a faux branch suspended from the ceiling. I was moving my body back and forth with the swinging of his branch and I could tell I was aggravating him maybe a little. Next thing I know, this monkey is launching himself at the glass barrier between us to try and eat me alive. He immediately fell off the glass because it was smooth and there was nothing to hang on to, but he was undeterred; he kept jumping at the glass and trying either hug me or eat me. In the next cage there was a monkey hissing at everyone who passed by. Again I decided it was a good idea to taunt the monkey and I started hissing back. He didn't come flying at the glass, but he was surely not happy with me and eventually expressed this by showing his butt and then sticking out his tongue. Lauren and I thought these monkeys were hilarious.

Sadly, we weren't allowed to take pictures in the koala house. I have only seen koalas at the zoo, but they look so incredibly cuddly it makes me want to have one as a pet - for about ten minutes, because that is as long as I want any pet before I am finished with it. After the koalas we tried to check out the African safari part of the zoo, but the animals had all gone in for the day. I have some pictures of bronze animals to take the place of the pictures I didn't get of the real animals. Soon after we realized we weren't going to see anything else, we left the zoo. Subsequent observations and adventures will be saved for next time. And every entry will probably be very long. Just be glad you can read a little and then come back. At least I'm not sitting in your living room rambling on...haha. I will try getting the pictures up as soon as possible. It is hard to do it on my school computer.