My wife and I are very different people but maybe we complement each other. I brought along this book on pandas for our visit to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo; she bought this panda outfit for him. You can say that we came prepared for the pandas, Lei Lei and Xiang Xiang. We even bought a panda bento box for lunch.

Upon arriving at the zoo, we planned the route and took into account that we would have to make it to the panda enclosure before 2.30pm because that was the cut-off time. But little did we expect that we would have to wait in line for 90 minutes in order to spend some time with these exclusive creatures. Just look at the shaking queue!

Immediately, we were thrust into a dilemma: do we wait or seek other pleasures? My son was adamant that we should wait. My wife, being fast and decisive, suggested that I wait along with him while she would view other animals with my daughter. So, my son and I joined the queue, armed with snacks and jackets and a strong sense of determination.

I believe this account might be useful for people intending to visit Ueno Zoo. Some planning is in order since you only get a few precious minutes with the pandas. Don’t leave the enclosure, feeling like you could have spend your time better. Live life with no regrets!

Lest I get too preachy, let’s carry on. We were lucky to see Xiang Xiang before we stepped into the room comprising her enclosure. I took a quick snapshot then. Notice that it wasn’t very well taken.

Once we entered the room, I first passed my handphone for my son to take one picture.

Then, I took another two photos, aiming to outshine my son. But alas, I didn’t manage to capture good angles.

I also took one video of Xiang Xiang chomping down on the bamboo leaves for about 15 secs before resolutely putting it away. Sometimes, it’s best just to savour what’s in front of you. Viewing the scenery through a lens might actually cause you to have a less vivid memory imprint.

And then, we got to wait some more before we could see Lei Lei. I realised that the most important thing I should do was to take a photo of my son with the panda. So, I did that upon entering Lei Lei’s enclosure.

(Of course, I won’t doxx my son online.)

Having garnered a smug sense of satisfaction because i was the best dad ever taking a good shot of my son with Lei Lei, I repeated the pattern. Passed the phone for me son to take one picture, took a few pictures and one video myself, and put the phone away.

And 1.5 hours passed by, just like that. Was the wait worth it, I hear you ask? Well, my son exhibited determination to get what he desired. Never once did he complain about queueing in the cold with little entertainment options. He also practised taking photos. (You might have read about my wish for him to pursue photography.) So, I guess we will remember this visit with the pandas for some time to come.

My son is waiting impatiently for me to pass my phone to him, so I guess I will end here. That’s what travelling with small kids entails haha.