Japanese Zoo

Matthew flew in for work and had 2 days in Osaka so we had to make the most of it by getting the kids out for an excursion. I really wanted to go into town to buy some new shoes so we combined that mission with a visit to the Zoo in Tennoji. Yuzuki was on her school break so we brought her along.

It is quite a popular spot having over 1,200,000 visitors a year according to their website! For sure we picked a perfect spring day - it was nice and warm but just slightly too many people (especially kindergarden kids).

The building behind is the newest attraction in the region - Japan's highest building, 300m above the ground with 60 stories of shops and offices inside.

We started off with the familiar animal zone. Koalas and a kiwi! It was a shame that we missed the feeding time for koalas and they were all asleep inside.

We could see the kiwi being very active but of course it was too dark to take any photos...

These bats were well lit and we caught them right at the feeding time. Luca was especially fascinated by them and spent a long time watching them.

It was very nice to have Yuzuki with us. The boys enjoyed the cousin time with her very much.

I was hoping to get Ashley with full bloom pink cherry blossoms but unfortunately we were one week too early...

Some of the animals the kids enjoyed: 

After a fun full day at the zoo we were lucky to catch up with my old boss. He has not changed, very soft spoken and funny and great with the kids. 

We had a nice afternoon tea together in a cafe:

The kids had enough by the time we finished in the cafe. Matthew kindly took them home so that I could do some shoe shopping with Ashley. It didn't take long for me to find what I wanted. I always bought shoes from this place when I was working. Their shoes are very comfortable, never gave me any blisters and full of unique/stylish designs.

I checked their website before I went and really wanted to buy this gorgeous looking pair.

Why why why!?  but they didn't have these in the branch I went to and Ashley was getting too tired to go to another branch :( But looking at the new spring collection, I couldn't resist so came home with 2 spring colour (pearl pink and ivory) pairs. Now I have another reason to go back to Japan again.