Exploring Ikebukuro

I'm having so much fun with my cousins.  It is great showing them around and watching them get excited about things.  It has been interesting seeing what peaks their interesting and really gets a reaction. 

Today we headed to Ikebukuro for some fun.  There are so many things to do there, it is a great day to spend several hours and be able to see lots of things.

We started by going to Sunshine Aquarium, where my son and I have had lots of adventures.  The girl's favorite things were the cuttlefish, octopus, and sting ray.  Of course, they were also impressed with the overhead tanks for the sea lion, pelicans, and penguins.

Photo credit: unnamed cousin

Next we headed over to Ikefukurou Owl Café.  The girls were super excited to hold the owls.  Since they were the driving force behind our visit to the owl café, it was interesting when they commented on their mixed feelings regarding the joy of holding the owls versus their sadness of the owls being in captivity.  I appreciated that we felt similarly regarding the subject.

GIF credit: unnamed cousin

GIF credit: unnamed cousin

To wrap up our day, we took the girls to kushiage.  They were super enthusiastic to eat a dinner of fried foods.  Typically when people think about Japanese food, they think of sushi or ramen.  So, it is really fun to show them the diversity of food here.

Although we didn't do anything new to me, it was new to them.  Seeing their reactions is so entertaining for me.  We all had a great day exploring Ikebukuro.