National Museum of Nature and Science

Right after we got back from Okinawa, it was Labor Day, so we decided to take advantage of Peter's day off and go back to Ueno Park to check out the National Museum of Nature and Science.  It was a fun outing--the museum is quite large and has some really amazing artifacts.  But, what I loved most about the whole place were the layouts and the design of the exhibits.  They were so modern and bright; it felt very fresh--I loved it!

There is so much to see and do at Ueno Park!  Check out my other posts about Ueno Park here and here.

GPS Coordinates:  35.716703, 139.776324

Cherry Blossoms Part 2

Since Ueno Park is the mecca for hanami, or sakura viewing, it was number one on my list of places to visit.  So, last week we headed into Tokyo to experience Ueno Park and all of its crowds and cherry blossom glory.  And it did not disappoint!  We ate snacks and wandered around under the main sakura tree-lined path of the park, enjoyed being surrounded by people doing the same, and took lots and lots of pictures . . . 

After walking through the main part of the park, we went down to the lake where all of the festival food vendors were set up and we bought lots of yummy food like cotton candy, pancakes shaped like Doraemon and Hello Kitty, yakitori, yakisoba, and some more chocolate-dipped pancakes on a stick.  We ate them as we looked over the lake with the cherry blossoms picturesquely hanging over the edges.

And then, right as we were leaving, all of the lanterns were turned on amidst the sakura, making it the perfect ending to our visit to Ueno Park!

Ueno Park (With the Zoo! and Toshogu Shrine!)

A couple weekends ago, we ventured out to Ueno Park.  Ueno Park is a huge park in Tokyo that has a zoo and many shrines and museums.  You could really spend a few days there exploring everything that the park has to offer.  When we went though, we decided to have a picnic at the park and then check out the zoo and the Toshogu Shrine.

The Ueno Zoo was so much fun!!!  It's Japan's oldest zoo and it's awesome, and so affordable!  It's only ¥600 for adults, and kids 12 and under are free!  The zoo's big attraction are their two panda bears, and we had so much fun seeing them--they were so cute!

Inside the zoo is also a pagoda that used to be part of an ancient temple.  

The polar bears were also a huge hit--they other visitors to the zoo were freaking out over this guy!  He was pretty fun to watch though :)

And, then there was Peter's favorite of the day, the secretary bird.  This thing is so creepy!

They had tons of animals, and we actually didn't even make it through the entire zoo!  We'll be going back for sure.  After we left the zoo, we walked over through to the Toshogu Shrine, which was really beautiful with its stone lanterns leading up to it and gold-plated architecture.

Next time we go back to Ueno Park, I want to be sure to visit the National Science Museum and let the kids take a few ¥100 rides at the small amusement park outside the gates to the zoo!  Oh, and in April to see the cherry blossoms!  There will be definitely be an Ueno Park follow-up post in the next few months :)

Ueno Park is super easy to get to by train--just get off at the JR Ueno Station!  But, if you're driving the GPS Coordinates are:

35.714396, 139.772613