Monday, March 28, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
AH I am growing a third arm!
wouldn't that be useful? I would be able to hold and drink a cup of coffee while I type this blog post.
Anyway, it is a lie. I am still here with only 2 arms, taking breaks every few minutes for a sip of coffee.. Here is the update from my end. It is mostly websites that you can click and decide for yourself what you want to believe. First, an excellent breakdown of radiation in daily life (and beyond)
Radiation Dose chart
Second, we have some more information about radiation levels in Japan:
Japan radiation levels
I live in Nagano prefecture, and if you cannot find it and do not know how to do that fancy Ctrl+F search thing, then, if you go under where it says "Latest Graphs (English)" and then find "Chubu Region," and then look to the right, you will see Nagano towards the middle/right. Give it a click and see what is what. It is a graph, and under the graph it has information about tap water.
This one is the International Atomic Energy Agency, and as far as I can tell, they are providing accurate, not exaggerated updates, pretty much on a daily basis.
IAEA
Ok, so those are useful. I do suggest you check them if you are interested, and keep in mind that there is a big (BIG) difference between "elevated" levels of radiation and "oh my God, we are all going to turn into monsters from that movie" levels of radiation.
A note about water and vegetables. Yes, the tap water in Tokyo (and now also in Chiba, Ibaraki and Saitama) has been tested and has higher levels of radiation. However, it is still ok to drink, just not for infants under 1 or pregnant or nursing mothers. The vegetables and the milk from Fukushima also had higher levels of radiation, but, same deal. You would have to eat 1kg (2.2 lbs for you "kg? what is a kg?" people) of the contaminated spinach every day for a significant amount of time to notice any difference. That is a lot of spinach.
I am getting so frustrated with the US media. It makes me distrust everything I read, and that is sad. I think the one that got me angriest so far is an article I read about an acquaintance returning to America. She lived south of me in Nagano prefecture, but the news report stated that she was "several miles from the epicenter" of the quake on March 11. Try several hundred miles. It is little things like this that are driving me insane. Keep that in mind as you read anything in the US news.
Again, I emphasize that this nuclear mess has caused everyone to overlook the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of people without homes in the Tohoku region of Japan. They have stopped rescue efforts and everything is pretty much at a stand still. Donations are still needed, so also keep that in mind.
Alright, that is all from me. I am still planning to stay here and go to work every day, I am still feeling aftershocks, my emergency bags are still packed, and I still love chocolate.
Anyway, it is a lie. I am still here with only 2 arms, taking breaks every few minutes for a sip of coffee.. Here is the update from my end. It is mostly websites that you can click and decide for yourself what you want to believe. First, an excellent breakdown of radiation in daily life (and beyond)
Radiation Dose chart
Second, we have some more information about radiation levels in Japan:
Japan radiation levels
I live in Nagano prefecture, and if you cannot find it and do not know how to do that fancy Ctrl+F search thing, then, if you go under where it says "Latest Graphs (English)" and then find "Chubu Region," and then look to the right, you will see Nagano towards the middle/right. Give it a click and see what is what. It is a graph, and under the graph it has information about tap water.
This one is the International Atomic Energy Agency, and as far as I can tell, they are providing accurate, not exaggerated updates, pretty much on a daily basis.
IAEA
Ok, so those are useful. I do suggest you check them if you are interested, and keep in mind that there is a big (BIG) difference between "elevated" levels of radiation and "oh my God, we are all going to turn into monsters from that movie" levels of radiation.
A note about water and vegetables. Yes, the tap water in Tokyo (and now also in Chiba, Ibaraki and Saitama) has been tested and has higher levels of radiation. However, it is still ok to drink, just not for infants under 1 or pregnant or nursing mothers. The vegetables and the milk from Fukushima also had higher levels of radiation, but, same deal. You would have to eat 1kg (2.2 lbs for you "kg? what is a kg?" people) of the contaminated spinach every day for a significant amount of time to notice any difference. That is a lot of spinach.
I am getting so frustrated with the US media. It makes me distrust everything I read, and that is sad. I think the one that got me angriest so far is an article I read about an acquaintance returning to America. She lived south of me in Nagano prefecture, but the news report stated that she was "several miles from the epicenter" of the quake on March 11. Try several hundred miles. It is little things like this that are driving me insane. Keep that in mind as you read anything in the US news.
Again, I emphasize that this nuclear mess has caused everyone to overlook the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of people without homes in the Tohoku region of Japan. They have stopped rescue efforts and everything is pretty much at a stand still. Donations are still needed, so also keep that in mind.
Alright, that is all from me. I am still planning to stay here and go to work every day, I am still feeling aftershocks, my emergency bags are still packed, and I still love chocolate.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Earthquake update #2
I just want to clear a few things up:
1. There has been no ordered evacuation of any non-Japanese from Japan. I am not disobeying any Executive Orders by staying put and going to work every day.
2. There is currently a "voluntary" evacuation happening for anyone who does want to leave. The State Department will cover the cost of a flight to Seoul or Taipei and from there, Americans are on their own to get back to America or hang out for a few weeks. This is mostly aimed at family members of military personnel and diplomats. Specifically those in tsunami affected areas, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Nagoya.
3. I am not planning on leaving anytime soon. I am safe. I am not going to become radioactive (and if I somehow do end up radioactive, then I will be radioactive with everyone else and that is fine. The other Iiyama JETs and I have discussed it and we feel that we are all here and all together and we are not going to panic without a really good reason.)
4. My evacuation bags are still packed, just in case. I am not stupid. They now have canned tuna and peanut butter in them. Gizmo is still there, too.
5. In this process, I have learned a lot of interesting Japanese: earthquake, aftershock, shaking, radiation, emergency shelter, the end of the world, tsunami (oh, wait...)
6. People in America... please stop believing everything you hear. And also, please stop hearing things, making them more dramatic and passing them on to someone else. It is not helping the situation in any way. Though I will admit I have heard some really funny things the last few days either from facebook or from my mom.
7. Chiba Radiation meter This is a link to a live feed of a radiation meter in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo. (Narita Airport is in Chiba). Around .16 is normal.
8. To take a leaf out of Sarah's blog: I do appreciate hearing from everyone to make sure I am safe and well. It is nice to know that there are so many people who care, especially the people that maybe I have not talked to in a while. I mean, even my dentist called my house to ask my mom what she had heard and if I was ok. wow. Thanks, everyone.
9. If you find yourself wishing you could do something to help, how about donating money to the Japanese Red Cross Society? Many people are under the impression that Japan, being a developed country, does not need nearly the aid that other developing countries would need in a similar situation. This is not true.
10. One last thing to share. This was sent out yesterday, but the conference call took place March 15. It is from a Prefectural Adviser in Miyagi Prefecture. (Sendai city is in Miyagi) The main thing to take from this is that there are very qualified people keeping an eye on the situation. Also, at the end I linked to a transcript of the call. At the end of the transcript, John Beddington says that he would "characterise the nuclear issue as a sideshow" considering all the wreckage from the earthquakes and tsunami.
From the Miyagi-ken PA:
"I have just returned from a conference call held at the British Embassy in Tokyo. The call was concerning the nuclear issue in Japan. The chief spokesman was Sir. John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, and he was joined by a number of qualified nuclear experts based in the UK. Their assessment of the current situation in Japan is as follows:
* In case of a 'reasonable worst case scenario' (defined as total meltdown of one reactor with subsequent radioactive explosion) an exclusion zone of 30 miles (50km) would be the maximum required to avoid affecting peoples' health. Even in a worse situation (loss of two or more reactors) it is unlikely that the damage would be significantly more than that caused by the loss of a single reactor.
* The current 20km exclusion zone is appropriate for the levels of radiation/risk currently experienced, and if the pouring of sea water can be maintained to cool the reactors, the likelihood of a major incident should be avoided. A further large quake with tsunami could lead to the suspension of the current cooling operations, leading to the above scenario.
* The bottom line is that these experts do not see there being a possibility of a health problem for residents in Tokyo. The radiation levels would need to be hundreds of times higher than current to cause the possibility for health issues, and that, in their opinion, is not going to happen (they were talking minimum levels affecting pregnant women and children - for normal adults the levels would need to be much higher still).
* The experts do not consider the wind direction to be material. They say Tokyo is too far away to be materially affected.
* If the pouring of water can be maintained the situation should be much improved after ten days, as the reactors' cores cool down.
* Information being provided by Japanese authorities is being independently monitored by a number of organizations and is deemed to be accurate, as far as measures of radioactivity levels are concerned.
* This is a very different situation from Chernobyl, where the reactor went into meltdown and the encasement, which exploded, was left to burn for weeks without any control. Even with Chernobyl, an exclusion zone of 30 miles would have been adequate to protect human health. The problem was that most people became sick from eating contaminated food, crops, milk and water in the region for years afterward, as no attempt was made to measure radioactivity levels in the food supply at that time or warn people of the dangers. The secrecy over the Chernobyl explosion is in contrast to the very public coverage of the Fukushima crisis.
* The Head of the British School asked if the school should remain closed. The answer was there is no need to close the school due to fears of radiation. There may well be other reasons - structural damage or possible new quakes - but the radiation fear is not supported by scientific measures, even for children.
* Regarding Iodine supplementation, the experts said this was only necessary for those who had inhaled quantities of radiation (those in the exclusion zone or workers on the site) or through consumption of contaminated food/water supplies. Long term consumption of iodine is, in any case, not healthy.
The discussion was surprisingly frank and to the point. The conclusion of the experts is that the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami, as well as the subsequent aftershocks, was much more of an issue than the fear of radiation sickness from the nuclear plants.
Further, at a meeting today, the NZ, Australian US, and Canadian embassies backed this information."
full transcript of the conference
***
1. There has been no ordered evacuation of any non-Japanese from Japan. I am not disobeying any Executive Orders by staying put and going to work every day.
2. There is currently a "voluntary" evacuation happening for anyone who does want to leave. The State Department will cover the cost of a flight to Seoul or Taipei and from there, Americans are on their own to get back to America or hang out for a few weeks. This is mostly aimed at family members of military personnel and diplomats. Specifically those in tsunami affected areas, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Nagoya.
3. I am not planning on leaving anytime soon. I am safe. I am not going to become radioactive (and if I somehow do end up radioactive, then I will be radioactive with everyone else and that is fine. The other Iiyama JETs and I have discussed it and we feel that we are all here and all together and we are not going to panic without a really good reason.)
4. My evacuation bags are still packed, just in case. I am not stupid. They now have canned tuna and peanut butter in them. Gizmo is still there, too.
5. In this process, I have learned a lot of interesting Japanese: earthquake, aftershock, shaking, radiation, emergency shelter, the end of the world, tsunami (oh, wait...)
6. People in America... please stop believing everything you hear. And also, please stop hearing things, making them more dramatic and passing them on to someone else. It is not helping the situation in any way. Though I will admit I have heard some really funny things the last few days either from facebook or from my mom.
7. Chiba Radiation meter This is a link to a live feed of a radiation meter in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo. (Narita Airport is in Chiba). Around .16 is normal.
8. To take a leaf out of Sarah's blog: I do appreciate hearing from everyone to make sure I am safe and well. It is nice to know that there are so many people who care, especially the people that maybe I have not talked to in a while. I mean, even my dentist called my house to ask my mom what she had heard and if I was ok. wow. Thanks, everyone.
9. If you find yourself wishing you could do something to help, how about donating money to the Japanese Red Cross Society? Many people are under the impression that Japan, being a developed country, does not need nearly the aid that other developing countries would need in a similar situation. This is not true.
10. One last thing to share. This was sent out yesterday, but the conference call took place March 15. It is from a Prefectural Adviser in Miyagi Prefecture. (Sendai city is in Miyagi) The main thing to take from this is that there are very qualified people keeping an eye on the situation. Also, at the end I linked to a transcript of the call. At the end of the transcript, John Beddington says that he would "characterise the nuclear issue as a sideshow" considering all the wreckage from the earthquakes and tsunami.
From the Miyagi-ken PA:
"I have just returned from a conference call held at the British Embassy in Tokyo. The call was concerning the nuclear issue in Japan. The chief spokesman was Sir. John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, and he was joined by a number of qualified nuclear experts based in the UK. Their assessment of the current situation in Japan is as follows:
* In case of a 'reasonable worst case scenario' (defined as total meltdown of one reactor with subsequent radioactive explosion) an exclusion zone of 30 miles (50km) would be the maximum required to avoid affecting peoples' health. Even in a worse situation (loss of two or more reactors) it is unlikely that the damage would be significantly more than that caused by the loss of a single reactor.
* The current 20km exclusion zone is appropriate for the levels of radiation/risk currently experienced, and if the pouring of sea water can be maintained to cool the reactors, the likelihood of a major incident should be avoided. A further large quake with tsunami could lead to the suspension of the current cooling operations, leading to the above scenario.
* The bottom line is that these experts do not see there being a possibility of a health problem for residents in Tokyo. The radiation levels would need to be hundreds of times higher than current to cause the possibility for health issues, and that, in their opinion, is not going to happen (they were talking minimum levels affecting pregnant women and children - for normal adults the levels would need to be much higher still).
* The experts do not consider the wind direction to be material. They say Tokyo is too far away to be materially affected.
* If the pouring of water can be maintained the situation should be much improved after ten days, as the reactors' cores cool down.
* Information being provided by Japanese authorities is being independently monitored by a number of organizations and is deemed to be accurate, as far as measures of radioactivity levels are concerned.
* This is a very different situation from Chernobyl, where the reactor went into meltdown and the encasement, which exploded, was left to burn for weeks without any control. Even with Chernobyl, an exclusion zone of 30 miles would have been adequate to protect human health. The problem was that most people became sick from eating contaminated food, crops, milk and water in the region for years afterward, as no attempt was made to measure radioactivity levels in the food supply at that time or warn people of the dangers. The secrecy over the Chernobyl explosion is in contrast to the very public coverage of the Fukushima crisis.
* The Head of the British School asked if the school should remain closed. The answer was there is no need to close the school due to fears of radiation. There may well be other reasons - structural damage or possible new quakes - but the radiation fear is not supported by scientific measures, even for children.
* Regarding Iodine supplementation, the experts said this was only necessary for those who had inhaled quantities of radiation (those in the exclusion zone or workers on the site) or through consumption of contaminated food/water supplies. Long term consumption of iodine is, in any case, not healthy.
The discussion was surprisingly frank and to the point. The conclusion of the experts is that the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami, as well as the subsequent aftershocks, was much more of an issue than the fear of radiation sickness from the nuclear plants.
Further, at a meeting today, the NZ, Australian US, and Canadian embassies backed this information."
full transcript of the conference
***
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Earthquakes
I thought I should provide everyone an update from my end
On Friday, a magnitude 8.9 (now upgraded to a 9 or maybe even a 9. something) earthquake hit near the coast of Miyagi Prefecture. This is the biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years. I have been trying to follow the news, but I think I have the same information as everyone else. The Sendai airport is flooded, there has been massive damage in several prefectures and estimates of more than 1000 deaths. There are also some concerns about nuclear power plants in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo and in Fukushima prefecture. Those of you in the US watching the sensationalized news... well, I will leave it at that.
Yes, I felt the earthquake all the way in Nagano. My school was gathered in the gym for a ceremony and when the quake hit, we evacuated, went back in to continue the ceremony, felt an aftershock, canceled the ceremony and sent the students home early. No, teachers did not leave early. Teachers are impervious to earthquakes.
Then it started snowing a lot. (apocalypse, anyone?) Sorry, I should not make light of such a serious situation.
I went home at about 5:15, went to sleep at about 11 and woke up at about 3:30 because of an earthquake. They have been happening continuously since, though, they are becoming softer and more spread out, so I hope I can say the worst is over. From the news, it seems that aftershocks can continue for a month, which I suppose makes sense if we consider tectonic plates and just how if the plates shift enough to create a magnitude 9 quake, it certainly will take some time for them to shake themselves even. "even" rather since there is always pressure down there.
Saturday morning at about 4:30, an earthquake hit Sakae Village, which is about 20 minutes north of me, right on the border between Nagano Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture. It was magnitude 6.7 and scared the crap out of me and everyone. I did not get a lot of sleep Friday night. The Iiyama train line was damaged and is not running it's full course, but the trains are running between Nagano City and Iiyama. Nozawa Onsen Village had some damage Since then, many more quakes have happened, several within Nagano Prefecture.
I just hope that Aomori, Miyagi, Iwate, Chiba, Fukushima, and any other affected areas are fine and that the quakes stop so rebuilding can begin.
I have learned that my cellphone has an earthquake warning. Of course, when I say "warning" I do not mean advanced warning. Sometimes it beeps during the earthquake (yes, phone, I know) and quite often, it beeps after (thanks, phone, I will go stand the shelves up now). On one occasion, it went off before, and then I sat there waiting and waiting (ok, phone, where is it?)
There are predictions of a magnitude 7 aftershock hitting sometime in the next 3 days. 70% chance. Fingers crossed that it does not come.
Nagano prefecture is running low on gas, so I need to go ahead and fill my car, try to get one more container of kerosene and hope for the best.
I have my emergency bags packed just in case I need to evacuate. I should make sure I put Gizmo into there for the time being. (Gizmo = stuffed animal of the cute creature from the movie Gremlins...I have had her forever and she has probably been to more continents than you have. She has also had her ears pierced, been thrown up on (and washed and dried), worn contacts(aka those little stickers you use to put on fake nails), had her eyes colored (with crayon), and had many other adventures. You can see the value of making sure she gets evacuated.)
Unfortunately, I have become neurotic. This weekend I went out with the other Iiyama JETs and we did normal things, but when I sit at home alone, any little anything freaks me out. Cars driving by have become scary, and I really have nothing to complain about here. Though I did just feel a real one (confirmed with Kim)
Ok, so that is the earthquake update. The moral of the story is that I am fine.
In case you want to follow up on earthquakes and magnitudes: Japan Meteorological Agency
I am in "Nagano-ken Hokubu" (hokubu meaning north area), specifically Iiyama, but if you see Nakano, Nozawa Onsen, or even Nagano or Sakae, odds are I felt it.
On Friday, a magnitude 8.9 (now upgraded to a 9 or maybe even a 9. something) earthquake hit near the coast of Miyagi Prefecture. This is the biggest earthquake to hit Japan in 140 years. I have been trying to follow the news, but I think I have the same information as everyone else. The Sendai airport is flooded, there has been massive damage in several prefectures and estimates of more than 1000 deaths. There are also some concerns about nuclear power plants in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo and in Fukushima prefecture. Those of you in the US watching the sensationalized news... well, I will leave it at that.
Yes, I felt the earthquake all the way in Nagano. My school was gathered in the gym for a ceremony and when the quake hit, we evacuated, went back in to continue the ceremony, felt an aftershock, canceled the ceremony and sent the students home early. No, teachers did not leave early. Teachers are impervious to earthquakes.
Then it started snowing a lot. (apocalypse, anyone?) Sorry, I should not make light of such a serious situation.
I went home at about 5:15, went to sleep at about 11 and woke up at about 3:30 because of an earthquake. They have been happening continuously since, though, they are becoming softer and more spread out, so I hope I can say the worst is over. From the news, it seems that aftershocks can continue for a month, which I suppose makes sense if we consider tectonic plates and just how if the plates shift enough to create a magnitude 9 quake, it certainly will take some time for them to shake themselves even. "even" rather since there is always pressure down there.
Saturday morning at about 4:30, an earthquake hit Sakae Village, which is about 20 minutes north of me, right on the border between Nagano Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture. It was magnitude 6.7 and scared the crap out of me and everyone. I did not get a lot of sleep Friday night. The Iiyama train line was damaged and is not running it's full course, but the trains are running between Nagano City and Iiyama. Nozawa Onsen Village had some damage Since then, many more quakes have happened, several within Nagano Prefecture.
I just hope that Aomori, Miyagi, Iwate, Chiba, Fukushima, and any other affected areas are fine and that the quakes stop so rebuilding can begin.
I have learned that my cellphone has an earthquake warning. Of course, when I say "warning" I do not mean advanced warning. Sometimes it beeps during the earthquake (yes, phone, I know) and quite often, it beeps after (thanks, phone, I will go stand the shelves up now). On one occasion, it went off before, and then I sat there waiting and waiting (ok, phone, where is it?)
There are predictions of a magnitude 7 aftershock hitting sometime in the next 3 days. 70% chance. Fingers crossed that it does not come.
Nagano prefecture is running low on gas, so I need to go ahead and fill my car, try to get one more container of kerosene and hope for the best.
I have my emergency bags packed just in case I need to evacuate. I should make sure I put Gizmo into there for the time being. (Gizmo = stuffed animal of the cute creature from the movie Gremlins...I have had her forever and she has probably been to more continents than you have. She has also had her ears pierced, been thrown up on (and washed and dried), worn contacts(aka those little stickers you use to put on fake nails), had her eyes colored (with crayon), and had many other adventures. You can see the value of making sure she gets evacuated.)
Unfortunately, I have become neurotic. This weekend I went out with the other Iiyama JETs and we did normal things, but when I sit at home alone, any little anything freaks me out. Cars driving by have become scary, and I really have nothing to complain about here. Though I did just feel a real one (confirmed with Kim)
Ok, so that is the earthquake update. The moral of the story is that I am fine.
In case you want to follow up on earthquakes and magnitudes: Japan Meteorological Agency
I am in "Nagano-ken Hokubu" (hokubu meaning north area), specifically Iiyama, but if you see Nakano, Nozawa Onsen, or even Nagano or Sakae, odds are I felt it.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
What did I do this weekend?!
I learned two things...
First, dolphins in Japan know how to bow.
And, second, dolphins have the greatest smiles on the planet...
(oh, I also learned that dolphins feel like rubber! not at all what I expected a dolphin to feel like.)
What an educational weekend!
First, dolphins in Japan know how to bow.
And, second, dolphins have the greatest smiles on the planet...
(oh, I also learned that dolphins feel like rubber! not at all what I expected a dolphin to feel like.)
What an educational weekend!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Oh, yeah
Posted on facebook, but...
I passed the kanji test I took at the end of January! Yay!! Here is my beautiful certificate. And, if I had been at the elementary school when the results arrived, they would have "presented" it to me with bows (Japanese bows, not hair bows....love English) and everything. Now I am studying for the next level...and the kanji have become exponentially more difficult. gulp.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Hokkaido Day 3 (part 2)
In which Sarah and I spend a decent chunk of change on the best crab dinner ever.
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| the restaurant |
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| first dish...actually no crab here. some salmon, tofu (it's the top layer that is taken off when tofu is made...can't remember the name) and a mollusk product of some sort. |
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| crab tofu. |
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| crab chopstick rest. |
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| crab legs |
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| crab salad. |
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| crab...er...hot pot of sorts. boiled it in the broth until it was cooked and then yum! |
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| crab gratin |
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| crab cream croquets |
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| best croquet ever. seriously. |
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| Sarah shows us the menu! |
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| close up of the menu. All the things we ate. |
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| ohhh...what was this.. crab something. served in a crab shell. yum. |
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| side view of the crab shell. staring at me as I eat its fried insides. |
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| crab futo maki. |
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| crab miso soup |
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| and crab fruit...er, no, just fruit. |
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Hokkaido Day 3 (part 1)
In which Sarah and I set off with intentions of going to one zoo, end up going to a different zoo, a chocolate factory and eating the greatest dinner ever (but you have to wait for day 3 part 2 to read about that...it was so amazing, it deserves its own blog! But I will give it its own post, instead)
Lots of pictures, brace yourself.
So, we initially wanted to go to a zoo that is sorta far from Sapporo city. Our hotel actually offered a shuttle/day trip package to this zoo, but apparently it had to be reserved before checking in or something (I don't know...I don't speak Japanese.) Anyway, there is also a zoo in Sapporo which we ended up at. But getting there... well,
Ok... that was day. Then we went back to our hotel area and ate dinner... and you will just have to wait for part 2 to see the amazing things we ate!
Lots of pictures, brace yourself.
So, we initially wanted to go to a zoo that is sorta far from Sapporo city. Our hotel actually offered a shuttle/day trip package to this zoo, but apparently it had to be reserved before checking in or something (I don't know...I don't speak Japanese.) Anyway, there is also a zoo in Sapporo which we ended up at. But getting there... well,
 |
| we took a walk through the woods... |
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| ...and over the river. |
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| And then there were baby monkeys sucking their thumbs while sitting on a zookeeper's shoulder! |
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| This zoo had... SQUIRRELS! dunh dunh DUNH! the sign says "There are squirrels, so after you enter, please close the door quickly!" |
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| This one says "the squirrels will get fat, so don't feed them." lol. There was a cute wooded area that apparently has 5 squirrels that just roam around inside the building. Hence, close the door quickly. |
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| beaver. I love his tail. |
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| No zoo trip is complete without giraffes! The greatest animal ever. |
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| Giraffe judging the hippo. |
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| hmm... raw chicken... |
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| ROAR! LIONS! They are HUGE! I do not think I have ever actually been this close to a lion before. While I do believe that Japan zoos are awful in how small the cages are, I was grateful just this once because I was able to appreciate the size of lions and tigers. |
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| nom nom nom... I am a tiger. A beautiful tiger. |
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| graceful lioness. |
ROAR! Literally. This lion was not so thrilled that there was a pacing tiger next door. If you listen carefully, you can even hear a Japanese child imitating the lion! roar.
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| baby monkey. |
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| hyena. I am still not sure if I think they are cute or not. |
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| penguin pretending to be a cat. |
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| peach-colored pelican! They are also much larger than I ever gave them credit for. |
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| awww...Though I did almost die falling on ice in the process of getting this picture. |
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| wolves are beautiful. |
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| even when they fight. |
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| just beautiful. |
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| so playful! |
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| my second favorite animal. The Lesser Panda. |
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| just look at that face!!! |
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| polar bear and his toy. |
Polar bear playing with his toy. SO cute! Then, the poor bear dropped the ball down a pit of sorts. It had steps, but they were iced over, so he did not try to get it. Instead, he would look over into the pit and stare for a minute or so, and then go stand by the door where the zookeeper comes from. Then he would repeat...
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| Yes, that says CHOCOLATE FACTORY! After the zoo, we went to the Shiroi koibito factory. These are famous cookies made in Sapporo. They are like crisp sugar butter cookies with white chocolate in the middle. |
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| Chocolate time tunnel. yum. |
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| hot-chocolate cup room?! |
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| making the cookies. I could never work here. One chocolate for cookies, one for me, one for cookies... |
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| stacks of white chocolate slices. |
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| quality control |
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| wrapping |
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| tiny chair! perfect for gathering your thoughts, or for getting stuck when you remember after sitting that your derriere is much larger than the average Japanese person. |
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| ok. I will hold the thing firmly in my grasp so I do not drop it. |
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| clock tower. |
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| another amazing parfait...noticing a trend here with me and dessert? |
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| YAY! |
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| Chiming clock... time to go home. |
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