fish!

I went to Sunshine City☼ today in Ikebukuro. It's a large building complex with hundreds of stores selling various things from clothing to toys to household goods. The entire building is quite large and features an observatory, an aquarium, a planetarium, as well as an indoor theme park.

Well, it's the 35th anniversary of Sunshine City and they decorate the interior with whatever festival is coming up. Around this time of year, it is Okinawa Mensore Festival. Mensore means welcome in Okinawan dialect.

We went into the Disney store because I was still in a Disney craze from my trip to DisneySea a week ago. It was quite different from the store in New York (well, what did I expect? It's a different country..). The merchandise were all kawaii-fied.

Mickey Mouse spatula
I would so hate to ruin this with heat. If I bought it, I would probably never use it.

keychains/bag straps–aren't these so cute??

Next, we went to a Totoro store, which sold stuff from the works of Hayao Miyazaki.

Towels are a popular item in Japan, probably because many public restrooms do not have paper towels or dryers. Most Japanese tend to carry handkerchiefs with them.

and my favorite<3 so cute :)

Then, we stopped by a couple other stores. Some places sold really odd things:

so cute!
These are bowls, stacked on top of each other.

"I like you, the times I'm with you, your smiling face, I love all of you!"
"Always together, through the happy times, the sad times, let me stay by your side, ok?"

lolwut?

cool T-shirt lol
The shorts were also like that.

And lastly, we went to the Sunshine Aquarium!~ <º))))>< There are two floors (or sections) to the aquarium. One is located outside, where all the mammals are, and the other is inside, where all the fish are.

The sea lion. They were placed in a tank that circled around. I loved the way they swam. Not only do they sway side to side, they also rotate, so it looks as if they're torpedoing through the water.

and the texture of their fur.

There was a sea lion show, where they performed a couple of tricks. They were adorable, so much to the point of looking fake (like dolls). Their eyes were large, round, and clear and their whiskers were thick and sharp. The way they walked was really funny. 

 

armadillo and flamingo

African Penguin

I didn't know penguins existed in Africa until today. -.-

They smelled really bad, though. ><

Pelican feeding

They were eating these tiny shrimp. 

Then, it was time to look at the underwater animals.

This really cool-looking fish. I forgot the name of it, but it looks like a combination of a fish and a shrimp.

These weird worms that stuck out the floor (of the tank) like grass. 

This tank was really pretty. I usually don't like clusters of things, but the fish in here had shiny scales and as they swam in circles (in the same direction), it was really beautiful, like silk blown in the wind. 

starfish and?

This was probably the largest tank in the aquarium. There were a lot of large fish, as well as some small ones,  but apparently, some (or all) of these originate from Okinawa.
I really like all the fish in here, but I thought the fish with the yellow tails were so pretty.

stingray and guitarfish

There was a show here, too, but unfortunately, my camera died before this, so I couldn't get any video footage. But basically, someone was swimming inside the tank and the fish just followed her (probably because she was feeding them). But it was really cool the way they all gathered together and completely covered her. Also, the big fish even allowed her to hug them and hold them while swimming, which is not the usual characteristic of a cold-blooded animal.

weird half seahorse, half fish

These weird shrimp-like animals that looked like roaches. 

A giant lobster. 

A type of red mold? 

This picture came out really dark, but it was a GIANT crab. It was seriously really big. Just one leg was over a foot long.

And a giant octopus. Looks like it's sleeping.

These are called sea angels. They were so tiny and they had transparent bodies that glowed a bright blue. If you look closely, they really do look like angels, especially since they spun (rotated) up and down.

There's something about jellyfish that just captivates me. They're such strange creatures, with only a head and legs. There are so many different kinds of jellyfish and they all give a different feeling.

Starfish are the same; they also come in different sizes and colors. 

This is called the sea ninja. I don't know the reason, but it didn't move much--actually, it didn't move at all. 

starfish that looks like a pizza crust. Am I weird for thinking that?

And now, we have the tropical fish. The flower to the left is actually a carnivorous plant.

This fish was so pretty. It was small, but I really liked the shape.

You can't see much from the picture, but there was so much going on here. It was like a whole other world.

These creepy looking fish. o.o 

When they're still babies. 

Now, for the amphibians!

These are the poisonous frogs. You can sort of tell by their color.

turtles!

Doesn't this fish look so cool? It looks computerized.

Nemo!

And that concludes my aquarium visit. Just a couple of random things:

Lunch in the shape of fish! So cute! 

sand art