Ueno Zoo, Tokyo

When Shah and I went to Ueno Park, we had zero idea that there was a zoo inside the park. I'm not talking like a little petting zoo but a full-blown, proper zoo. And if you don't know this about me, I love zoos and visiting zoos to me is like a treat; like, if it were my birthday, you could take me out to the zoo as a birthday present and I'd be super happy!
Ueno Zoo is particularly beautiful, especially with all these still-autumnal trees.

One of the best things about visiting a zoo in a different climate than your own country's is you get to see different types of animals. Even though Zoo Negara in Malaysia recently received some pandas, I haven't had the chance to visit them so I made a beeline for the giant pandas in Ueno. I had furiously circled 'red panda' on the Euno Zoo map, too. (Bonus info: Did you know that Shifu of Kung Fu Panda is a red panda? And everyone was calling Po 'panda' like it's not the best thing ever. Although I must mention that red panda is not in the same family as the giant panda.)
I was excited about seeing giant anteaters written on the map but they were mysteriously not physically around.

 Gorilla was like "Really, humans?"

 Baby gorilla! And possibly with Papa and Mama Gorilla

 The Thai Pavillion, a gift from the Royal Thai Government

One of the birds of Japan, who really has the cutest beak

Penguins!

Unlike the gorillas, the penguins were really, really soaking up the humans' attention

 RED PANDAAA

Serious red pandas are the cutest things ever. 

Do Google them if you don't have faith that they are; I promise you will not regret witnessing the excess cuteness in those Google images

 This is real. Not stuffed. It's quite badass. This is a shoebill.

This is a Palas's Cat (it's mostly spelled "Palas's" and not "Palas'") and it is seriously adorable. I'd steal this if I couldn't get the red panda (you know, if stealing animals at zoos is considered not illegal and not immoral)

I wish I could've taken more photos of the animals but since I couldn't, you really should head over to Ueno Zoo yourself if you love looking at cute animals and if you ever get the opportunity!