SUNDAY, APRIL 15, 2007
Although the main objective of our three-day weekend trip to Sapporo was to see the world famous Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival), we decided to take in one of the local sites as well - the Asahiyama Zoo. There is nothing spectacular about this zoo at all. The San Diego Zoo is much better as far as numbers of animals and "quality" of cages goes... if cages can even have varying degrees of quality... Anyway, by far the cutest thing, and the only reason to come to this zoo at all, is the Pengin Sampo (Penguin Walk). No, I didn't misspell "penguin." Japanese people pronounce it "pengin," without the "u".
OVERWEIGHT PENGUINS The zoo staff felt the penguins were becoming too fat... you know how lazy caged-up animals can become... so they instituted a penguin exercise regimen that consists of two laps around the zoo per day. The zoo soon discovered that they could make money off of this little venture because Japanese people... and gaijin too... just cannot get enough of seeing these oddly built little creatures waddling unsteadily past. Now the Pengin Sampo is the zoo's star attraction.
PENGUIN PARADE We lined up 45 minutes before the Pengin Sampo started, just so we could get a good spot along the parade route. It wasn't quite as intense as jostling for a good position to see Fantasmic at Disneyland, but the obachans (grandmas) can be quite pushy. Prior to the parade a very serious zookeeper walked along the parade route and gave instructions to the audience. It was in Japanese, so we couldn't catch everything, but judging by the seriousness of his tone, we think he said something like, "Do not attempt to approach the penguins in any way. I am armed with a taser and will not hesitate to shoot at the slightest provocation... enjoy the show."
HERE THEY COME! Supa Kawaii! (That means "really cute" to those of you unfamiliar with the Gwen Stefani song.)
AND THERE THEY GO... It took them all of two minutes to waddle past.
GAIJIN PENGUIN WALK And what do the gaijin think about the Pengin Sampo? Well, the world may find out one day... The five of us were interviewed for a potential podcast about the Asahiyama Zoo Pengin Sampo. I think the interviewer was desperate to find some people who spoke a modicum of English so that he could get some quotes for his show. When asked what we thought about the Penguin Walk, we all ended up using different one word synonyms for "cute." I bet the interviewer wishes he could have come across a more articulate bunch of gaijin, but what can you expect out of people who have been living in Japan for the last year and a half? Anyway, if any of our friends or family happens to hear us on a podcast, let us know!
For those interested in the rest of the animals at the zoo, check out this slideshow:
Want to see more from Sapporo? Click here:
Sapporo Yuki Matsuri
Sapporo Snow Festival Ice Sculptures
Eating and Drinking in Sapporo
