We’re going to the zoo
Today was for BB Bagel: his first zoo. On the subway to Tennoji, Minmin was more excited than he was.
Tennoji Zoo is old and small, right in the city, and perfect for a one-year-old. Bagel’s favourite was the ape, who sat by the glass and looked back at him. Further along he got very curious about what those monkeys were saying, you can see it in the video. Dead serious, head turning, like they were talking about him. Minmin held a towel over him to block the sun so he could keep listening.
Spring was out too, pink blossom over the paths. The wolf was flat out in the sun, which Bagel respected, and a condor opened its wings for us.
Then a hyena, a jaguar asleep on a rock, and the giraffes.
And a big white stork that walked right up to the fence. Bagel left with a zoo hat, and we left with blue soda ice cream.
Shinsekai
Out the back of the zoo is Shinsekai, loud signs and takoyaki and kushikatsu. We’ve done Shinsekai twice already, the last time sliding down Tsutenkaku. Today was just a walk through.
And that’s why I only have three photos. Halfway down the street Bagel peed his pants, straight through the nappy and onto the carrier. So the next ten minutes were us in a back alley in Shinsekai, Bagel stripped on the pram. I held him down, Minmin dug through the bag for spare pants and wipes, and we changed him together while the takoyaki crowd walked past. A full pit stop with no pit. Nobody took a photo of that, and nobody wanted to.
Then, in fresh pants, on to Namba.
Postcard from Tennoji, Osaka
Opened in 1915, it's the third oldest zoo in Japan, right in the city and a short walk from Shinsekai. Small enough to finish with a one-year-old.
PS: Closed on Mondays.