kimono lessons, take two!

So exactly a year after I took lessons to learn how to put on a kimono, I decided to continue and take the intermediate class! And a good thing I did, too, because it turns out I remembered pretty much nothing about how to put on a kimono, but now I've reached the point where today I successfully remembered all the steps and put on a kimono entirely by myself at home, in less than forty minutes! (If that sounds like a long time, it is, but it's a very elaborate process so I'm pretty sure even my teachers take at least 20 minutes.)

Here's some shots of me feeling accomplished, because the first time I tried to put on a kimono outside of class, it took at least an hour. -.-'

The kimono, obi, and accessories in these pictures were all ones that I found at a recycle shop nearby; even though kimonos (and obis and accessories) are pretty much all really expensive if you buy them new, I've found that there are lots of places where you can find used ones, which is fantastic! I think I actually like shopping at used clothing stores more than regular ones, because it's more fun to see what you can find (plus recycling and cutting costs is always a plus), so it's pretty cool to be able to find kimonos too, and whenever I see kimono stuff for sale I always have to go take a look. (Actually, I just always have to go look when I see kimono stuff anywhere - I think I'm really starting to get hooked, haha.)

I still haven't decided yet if I want to continue on the the advanced class right away or not, but I do think I will take it eventually. Now that I actually own my own kimonos and accessories, it's pretty good motivation to remember how to put them on, haha. And I feel like I might be on the verge of starting a collection...not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but. :)

chiba zoological park

This post is a bit late, but last month I finally made it out to the Chiba Zoological Park! I've been hearing about it every since I came to Chiba City but never actually went - until now, that is. I must say, I didn't have super high expectations for it (the last zoo I went to in Japan just depressed me a little), but we were both pleasantly surprised!

To start off, maybe because it's called a zoological park instead of a zoo, I was expecting it to be pretty small, but actually it's quite big! After asking around a bit it seems that the reason for the name is that it's not only a zoo, but also a park (as in, there are areas without animals that are meant to just be enjoyed as they are, like a huge lake and a promenade with flowers and benches). Makes sense!

I also learned the other day (via the mayor's Twitter, haha) that the Chiba Zoological Park has no meat-eating animals, which I assumed meant that everything would be pretty dinky, but again I was proven wrong! The zoological park is split into several small areas, including a monkey zone, lake area, children's zoo, origin of farm animals zone (...? Like actually, that's the name, and I seem to recall it including reindeer and bison and other things that I guess are the ancestors of farm animals?), a little amusement park (which we didn't go to, though I kind of wanted to), and more. And they actually have quite a large variety of interesting animals (not just farm animals and their ancestors, haha), so all in all I was impressed.
 
Anyway, we got there via the Chiba Urban Monorail, using a weekend day pass, where you can ride the monorail as much as you want for just 600 yen! Considering it can cost up to 400+ yen to go from one end of the line to another (and the starting fare is 190 yen), the pass is really a great deal. Plus it gets you a discount to places like the zoological park, Port Tower, the Chiba City Museum of Art, and more! My companion for the day had never been to Chiba City outside of work before, so of course I had to take him on the monorail (besides the fact that it's also the only way I know how to get to the zoological park), and he seemed pretty impressed. :D

When we got to the zoo, our first stop was the monkey zone, which was not so bad, considering I am terrified of monkeys. (Though it didn't help that my companion kept pointing out how easily it looked like they could escape...-.-') There were big monkeys and little monkeys and medium-sized monkeys (those are the scary ones), including a mandrill, and we got to see them right around feeding time.

Other highlights include: finding birds and a sloth in the tropical/jungle area, bats and bushbabies and a slow loris (it really moves so slowly it's hilarious, I couldn't stop watching it) in the nocturnal area, and finally seeing the red pandas that they PR like crazy! We couldn't figure out which one was Fuuta-kun, who is (I think) the Chiba Zoological Park's mascot (he's even on the monorail day pass) and is famous for standing up on two legs and just turned 10 last year, but they were pretty cute, it's true. (Random fact - in Japanese they're called 'lesser pandas' for some reason.)

All in all, it was a lovely afternoon filled with cute/interesting/scary animals, and I'm glad to have finally gone! The mayor was tweeting about how the zoological park is considering acquiring some meat-eating animals in the future, so who knows, it could have even more to offer soon!


Chiba Zoological Park
Address: 280  Minamotocho, Wakaba-ku, Chiba-shi, 264-0037
TEL: 043-252-1111
Hours: 9:30AM - 4:30PM, closed Mondays
Admission: 500 yen for high school students and older (200 yen discount available with a monorail day pass), 100 yen for middle/elementary school students
Access: just outside Chiba Urban Monorail Dobutsukoen Station
Website (Japanese only): https://www.city.chiba.jp/zoo/index.html