Pandas

A major tourist attraction in Tokyo is the Asakusa Shrine which honors the three men who founded the nearby Senso-ji.

I thought this was cool.  The citizens of a city in Japan got together to make this huge rope sandal, which hangs on the wall of one of buildings.

As at all Shinto shrines, you can get your fortune.  First make a donation of 100 yen.  Then shake the canister and pull out a stick.

On the stick will be printed a number.  Then find the drawer with the corresponding number and you get your fortune.

YES!!  I thought everyone got good fortunes, but when Onions did his, it was mediocre.  The tradition is when you don't get a good fortune, you tie it to one of the strings nearby so you don't carry it away with you.

The shrine complex was packed with people, combine that with our general lack of interest in shrines, Onions and I departed within a half hour.  We decided to head over to Ueno Park for a stroll.

As we are enjoying the park, I see a sign for a panda.  It turns out that the Tokyo Zoo is located in Ueno park AND it's home to a couple pandas.  Our plan was to simply go in and see the pandas and leave, but we spent the rest of the afternoon at the zoo.  It was unexpectedly a total blast.

I apparently most closely resemble a panda bear.  And to me, Onions' spirit animal is the penguin.

Onions likes penguins and this is the first time he's seen penguins live.

'roo porn!

Hippos in Chinese are translated to "river horse."

Ever seen the inside of a hippos mouth?  Now you have.

Fugu.....PUFFERFISH!