park life

The older I get, the more I realise that nothing ever goes to plan. It was the sunniest day of the year thus far and so the Brit inside me naturally thinks 'BBQ!' but I havent seen any disposal ones being sold, which leaves the next best thing: a picnic. Problem is that I live in Nagoya, which Patrick described as 'just concrete' when I told him I was coming here last year. There are some leafy areas in Nagoya but they are far and few between, but Kevin, Kyla and I decided to head to Higashiyama Park and try our luck there. We didn't know that there was just the zoo and the botanical garden there (entrance fees apply), and actually the park doesn't really exist. I hate zoos, I think that animals are much happier in the wild and it makes me sad seeing them locked up in small cages. Japanese zoos are worse than most, since the cages are teeny tiny and not much effort seems to have been made to try recreate the animals' natural habitat.

Having headed to Higashiyama Park, we've discovered there is no park but we did stumble upon Jae, who works in the zoo manning the peddle boats. He was on the other side of the wire fence that stretches all the way around the zoo. We spent a bit of time acting out melodramatic scenes pretending we were lovers, imprisoned and separated by the wires. You wouldn't be able to guess that we are all twenty-somethings.

Jae came over in a bit with keys to the gate and snuck us in so we could go on his peddle boats. It completely made our day, peddling about and trying not to crash into the other boats. The wreckless kids, children just cannot steer properly these days! I didn't want to go into the zoo but Kyla wanted to check it out so I gave in and said we could walk through it real fast. I am dismayed by the lack of care that the animals are given. For example, its sweltering hot and the polar bears were locked in barren cages with no water or anything to amuse themselves with. It was a heartbreaking scene. The camel pen was only big enough for them to walk about five paces before they reached the perimetre, and the seals' waterworld' was molded plastic painted to look like rocks. I dont think the seals are fooled! Grrrrrr! Majorly vexed, I am never ever going in another zoo again.