Rikugien Gardens in Bunkyo-ku

Well, what gorgeous day to visit Rikugien Gardens. It was 36° degrees and I think it's fair to say I was melting! I have never ever experienced weather at this temperature. It made everything... blurry! I kept sitting down in the shade and drinking lots of water to keep me alive!!! Maybe that's kind of dramatic but you know what I mean. Fran has been working hard and is loving his job which is great!!! I have been walking stupid amounts (you can check my pedometer on my phone if you like!!!) Everyday! Everywhere! It's becoming a chore to be honest, but I gotta push past that! So I was wanting an extremely cheap way to entertain myself for the day, so I went with Rukugien Gardens! It cost me ¥300 entrance and it was quite cheap on the train too... so all in all (with the bottles of water I had to buy) I had a great day for around a fiver!!!!

It was so peaceful and serene. I loved it! I had a small map that the lady at the entrance had given me. It read;

"This strolling, mountain and pond-style garden was created based on the theme of Waka poetry in the 15th year of the Genroku Period (1702)" "This garden is a typical example of the famous gardens of the Edo period."

 I saw many birds and insects that I'd never seen before. I was annoyed at myself, I walked around a corner maybe a bit too heavy footed and I think there were about 30 of these birds playing in the water and then just as I realised they were there - they realised I was there and flew off! I entertained myself being as slow as I could to see if they would come back. Whilst I was waiting, I jumped over stepping stones to get to a bench. I wanted to put my bag down and try and take a picture of a massive black butterfly that kep flying past - no luck there thought YET. I stepped back over the stepping stones and realised that I could see a turtles head keep popping up.

He followed me (whilst staying in the water) everywhere I went... I was confused whether he didn't want me there and was trying to chasing me off or whether he was stuck and needed help... I think he may have got caught upstream and couldn't get back down. He was the only terrapin there... I felt bad that I didn't know what he wanted, especially if all he wanted me to put him back down in the main part of the pond. I was afraid that he wouldn't like being handled and maybe bite? I don't know. I hope he finds his way back down though! (Sigh)

Anyway, my patience paid off and the birds came back...

There was a beautiful little Japanese style cafe that I sat down in and took the 2 photos above.

Right, now you can imagine what I'm like when I see turtles... extremely excitable!!! I saw a baby turtle swimming in the water and was so happy because we had only ever seen terrapins in the water here. I walked across this bridge and got half way... this is what I saw...

I just stood there in shock for about 3 minutes with my mouth wide open! haha. I looked around and I couldn't see anyone... I was dieing to tell someone! I heard some foot steps behind me and I turned around and this elderly Japanese man was walking towards me, I just yelled out "LOOK" to him and pointed at the turtles. I felt like a complete idiot as soon as I'd said it! He stood with me for a couple of minutes didn't say anything, he offered me some insect replant (I've got pretty bad bites on the top of my arms at the moment) and then went on his way. I sat down on the bridge (Ow, I just pictured me on a massive bridge... no no, I was sat on a tiny little concrete bridge with no railings... but I made no plans for falling it!) and chilled for about half an hour watching these guys swim around. (I haven't got space to put all my pictures on here so you can check the rest out by clicking here and flicking through to the right.) But I have to post the videos of them!






And then, to top my lovely day off I saw a Grey Heron on the boat which was moored to the island in the middle... I got out my long distance lens and took like a hundred photos of him. (that was a nightmare deciding which one was the best to keep) I really hope it's a rare occasion for him to sit there because it felt so perfect!