Friday morning, Joe called me and woke me up. I thought it was my wake-up call which is a woman's voice, so I was very confused to hear his voice saying, "Hello?"

"Hello?" I said.

"Hello!" he said.

"...Oh, HI!" I said, suddenly realizing who it was!

"Were you sleeping?"

"Yes."

"Why aren't you out adventuring? It's 7:30 already!"

"Joe... It's 6:30."

"No, it's not. Really?"

"Yes, it's 6:30."

"Oh, I guess I... Yeah, I did my math wrong. I'm sorry! Okay, bye!" he said.

"No, you don't have to go," I said.

So we talked a little while longer. He had called to tell me who won World Idol. At first I didn't want him to, but then I did, so he told me, and I was so excited!!! It was the guy I voted for. Go, Kurt!!! Very cool stuff. Then we got off the phone and I got a little more sleep.

* * *

After I slept a little longer, Laura and I got up, got breakfast, and headed out. Harvey saw us as we were leaving the breakfast hall, and asked, "So where are you going today?"

"To the zoo!" we told him.

"The zoo? Wonderful! Can you get in now?" Harvey asked.

"Well, they open at ten."

"Marvelous. I expect a full report of all the animals you see!" he told us. Then he wished us a good day and we wished him the same. And off we went!

We got off at the right tube station, but I couldn't tell where to go from there. Luckily, a woman working at a pretzel shop was wonderfully helpful and nice, and gave us great directions. It was a really nice walk to the zoo, and soon, we were there! We waited until the doors opened and then we used our 2-for-1 pass that we'd gotten at Hampton Court, and both of us got in for L13. (There's no pound sign on this keyboard!)

It was a very cold day at the zoo, which made it all the more exciting. The air was brisk, hardly anyone else was there, and Laura and I had the whole day to ourselves. It was also a free night (no play), so we didn't have to be back by any particular time. All of these things plus the fact that we were AT the London Zoo made me so freaking excited I could hardly stand it. I kept telling Laura, "I'm so happy we're doing this today!" So was she! And we were both happy it was just the two of us!

The first thing we noticed was the sign that told us how to get around the whole place. It said to just follow the green line. We looked and sure enough, there was a giant green paw print that said, "START." And every time we reached another green paw print, we'd find arrows telling us where to look before returning to the paw print and continuing along the green lined path. What a great idea! This way, we were sure to see everything!

We started out, and walked downhill, through a tunnel that had amazingly beautiful "cave drawings" inside. We went uphill before coming to the first green paw print. We decided to go straight first, to see the birds. We saw so many cool ones! There was a tiny peacock pheasant, some really colorful birds, and a grey bird called a Tawny Frogmouth. I'd never seen anything like it! One of the owls flew around and around his enclosure. So beautiful! All of the birds were gorgeous and had a lot of space. They also all had the option of going inside a little hut with a heating lamp if they got too cold. So cool!!

Next, we returned to the paw print and walked the direction of one of the other arrows, towards the hoofed mammals section. The first animal we saw was a Tapir. He was so beautiful! We watched him jog lightly around outside. I'd even go so far as to say he was frolicking! He looked like he was just playing outside, having the time of his life. The mom and baby were inside, so we followed signs to go see them. They were so beautiful! The baby girl even still had her spots and stripes, which camoflauge them when they're young. Signs were posted to tell people to keep quiet, or else the animals would hide and you wouldn't get to see them. The signs were so polite and well worded, but totally made the point of basically saying, "Don't bother the animals." I just thought it was really cool!

Next we saw giraffes. It looked like they were inside their huts, so we just wouldn't get to see them very well. So we stood and watched, and soon we noticed one tiny gazelle in with the giraffes. She ran back and forth, back and forth, like she was on fast forward compared to the slow moving giraffes! She was like, "What's going on over here? Nevermind, I'm over here now!" Running around and around, playing all by herself, sometimes stopping to watch the giraffes, and then going about her business. Then, one of the giraffes swung his great big head down until he was nose to nose with the gazelle. They both paused like that for a moment. It was as if the giraffe was saying, "What on earth are you doing?!" Then the gazelle ran away, and the giraffe brought his head back up and I lamented the fact that the whole thing went by too quickly for me to have taken a picture. Damn! It was so funny, though, I'm sure I'll remember it for quite a long time!

Then we went inside to see the okapis, who were just so adorable! There was a baby okapi, too, but it was not a new baby. She was pretty big, in fact. She was great! Also, it was so cute watching the adults and baby all licking each other's heads!!

When we walked through the next set of doors, we saw the giraffes again! They had an inside viewing area, in case they were too difficult to see outside. Awesome! We watched them for a little while, as well as the gazelle, who popped in and out a few times while we stood there. So funny!

We continued along the green line until we got to a small animal house. Inside, there were marmosets, tamarins, and a variety of other little animals. Also, I had no idea there were so many different kinds of marmosets and tamarins! Awesome! My favorite tiny primates are the golden headed lion tamarins, and I'm so, so happy I got to see them!!! Also, we saw Golden-Headed Tamarins, which are SO cute! In the enclosure, there were four month old babies. By that age, they were pretty big! Still smaller than the adults, though. I had my gloved hand on the glass, and one of the babies came over and started pawing at my hand. I wiggled my fingers, and he seemed intrigued, trying to grab my glove through the glass! I played with him like that for a little while, giggling at his silly antics. He seemed to enjoy looking at us, too! It was so much fun!

We looked at some other animals, including ones that looked like giant guinea pigs. When we rested our hands on the bar in front of the enclosure, it was hot! I think it was for warming your hands. I'm not sure, though, because that was the only one we found. It was pretty awesome!

There was also a Provost's Squirrel exhibit. He was such a colorful and cool looking squirrel! I don't think I've ever seen one up close before. His body was orange with a black and white stripe down his back. A really cool looking animal!

We went downstairs to a MoonLight Animals exhibit. It was very dark inside, for all the nocturnal animals. There were so many cool species down there! Unfortunately, because it was so dark, none of the pictures turned out. But it was still very cool to see!

Inside the MoonLight Animals hall, we saw many different kinds of Lorises, which are those really cool animals with the giant eyes! We also saw a two toed sloth. And, we were lucky enough to see the fruit bats while a girl was in there feeding them! That meant that the light was on for a little while, and we could see them clearly. Hundreds of fruit bats, big and small, all flying around at the same time. There was so much activity! It was hard to make out a lot in the cloud of black wings, but a few were climbing around the branches, and were easy to watch. They are such cool animals!!! Apparently, I was so mezmerized, I completely forgot to even attempt taking pictures of these guys. Unless that's what those completely black pictures were. I have no idea... So happy I got to see them, though!

We also saw meerkats and sleeping otters. Then we watched a whole flock of pelicans! One pelican did this funky yoga move that cracked Laura and me up! Another pelican put his giant bill around another pelican's neck. It was crazy! They were really funny to watch.

About this time, we stopped to sit on a bench and eat our lunch. It was great relaxing and watching people pass by. A very slow Friday afternoon. Eating yummy stuff and looking at the cool buildings and pathways all around was so exciting. I felt such complete happiness just being there, taking it all in.

Soon, we were on our way once more. Next up, the BUG exhibit, which had lots of, well, bugs. But it also had fish and other underwater creatures. Anemones and such. There were even a few golden lion tamarins! We saw some cool spiders and millipedes and other crawly things. I really enjoyed it! There was a lot to look at and learn about. Very cool!

Then we moved on to the cat enclosures, where we saw a snow cat that looked like a large housecat. Next to him lived the Eurasian Lynx. Then we saw lions and tigers! (The bears came later!) One tiger paced back and forth, while the other one slept and seemed totally unbothered by visitors. We didn't hang around the tigers very long, since the one seemed kind of agitated. The lionesses were cool, though. They ran around and played and wrestled. It was so cute!

Then we saw the penguins and the reptile house, where I took a picture, because I think it just might have been the same place they shot that scene in the first Harry Potter movie, when Harry accidentally takes the glass away from the snake cage. Or else I'm completely wrong! Either way, the reptile house was pretty awesome. Then we saw the sloth bears, who were napping on rocks. They were so beautiful! There was a sign explaining that one of the bears rocks from side to side because she came to them from another location, where she hadn't had enough room or mental stimulation. They said they were trying to help her recover from that, but that it can take years, and often cannot be cured. The fact that there was only one of those signs in the whole place is pretty great. They don't seem to have a problem with emotionally disturbed animals. In fact, all of them looked happy and healthy. All of the enclosures were really impressive, and the animals all had simulated hunting or foraging in their habitats. The owls all had thawed out mice strung up around their homes, so they could "hunt." And the bats and other animals had fruit hung from different places so they could go find it. It looked to me as though all the animals were really well taken care of, and it made me happy.

Other animals we saw included the giant anteaters. There we met a man who said he had them as pets. He had us guess where he lived and I finally got it -- Venezuela. Apparently, the adults are hit by cars from time to time, and one time, he saw a dead one, and went on a search for the babies. Well, he found one, and that's how he came to have it as a pet. Some other folks he knew had done the same thing, and when they moved, they gave him their giant anteater. So he had two! Also, he said, on his farm there are vanilla orchids, and the anteaters love to eat them. It sounded like he lived in a pretty nice place! I usually don't condone keeping wild animals as pets, but in this case, it sounded like the animals were well taken care of and happy, and well, I guess that's pretty cool, actually.

We parted ways with the old man at the toucan exhibit (boy are there a lot of different kinds of toucans!), and eventually found the great apes. They were inside, and the windows were foggy, so no pictures. But the gorillas and chimpanzees were beautiful!!!

Last but not least, we popped into the aquarium. There we saw some really neat little sandfish, that look like fish swimming on their sides. But that's just a body adaptation to fool predators. Their eyes sit on top of their heads and bug out, like frogs' eyes. They were really fun to watch, because they'd sit on the sand and fluff their fins until they were buried and only their eyes stuck out, looking like tiny rocks. They were really cool!

By then, Laura's knees were killing her, as were my feet (killing me, though, not her). We stopped at the gift shop, which was closed. The zoo was only going to be open twenty more minutes. We decided we were happy that we'd stopped and seen everything at the zoo! Super cool! So we headed out back to the tube station.

We took a nice leisurely walk back, back through the parking lot we'd come through the first time, down the muddy dirt trail and through the gate, back onto the sidewalk, and then back towards the street that had lead us there in the first place. It was really cool looking around at all the interesting buildings in the residential area we were in. It was quite different from the area our hotel is located, which feels urban and crowded and always bustling. This place was moving at a slower pace, and it was just really cool to walk along the sidewalk, taking it all in.

We took a different line down to another station so that I could take a picture of something. But once we were outside, we realized it had gotten dark! "Woah, when did it become night time?!" I said. Laura asked if I wanted to come back later, and indeed, I did. It was a little freaky being in a strange place at night. Plus, the picture wouldn't have come out!

We went back to the hotel to relax and talked about how great it was that we'd just had such a wonderful day. I got to see the London Zoo!!! That was the number one thing I'd wanted to do there, and I did it, and what's more, I got to go with a cool friend, which made the day that much more enjoyable. Nice experiences are fun, but are even better when shared with someone cool!

* * *

Laura and I were relaxing in my room when Lily called. She wanted to come on down, so we welcomed her, and soon she was in my room, too. I was amazed three people could fit in my hobbit hole!

She had something very cool to show us, as evidenced by her excitement bubbling up all over the place. Then, she pulled him out. MR. HAPPY!!! "Do you remember these books?!" she asked.

I freaked out. "Holy crap! I used to read those all the time! I love these!" Then she made Mr. Happy laugh and it was all over. I laughed so hard. Laura and I decided we had to go get some for ourselves.

Once the excitement had calmed down a bit, Lily asked if she or Kat had done anything to piss us off. I said I'd needed a quiet day to myself, and Laura came along but that was about all I could handle. She pointed out we'd been avoiding them for longer than that, and I said, "To be perfectly honest, I have differing levels of tolerances for the amount of time I can spend with people I know. I get along with Laura really well because we're similar and have lots in common. But also because we have similar physical problems, and her knees wear out at about the same time my feet do. So we understand each other there." Lily nodded. "I think you're really cool, too. So I can handle being around Laura the most, then you, then Kat, then Alex. But honestly, Kat and Alex both piss me off, and I don't want to spend time with either of them. If you want to hang out with us at any time, you're more than welcome. But I can't be around the others anymore, because they bother me too much."

That was the gist of it, anyway. I think Lily was glad that we weren't mad at her at all, even though I'm not sure she understood my annoyance of Kat and Alex at the time. She defended them a little, but I was just so done, so I didn't worry about it.

Lily headed back to her room, and Laura and I went to McDonald's. They told us that we had to buy the Happy Meal that goes with it, so Laura bought both of us one. She is so sweet! We got back to my room and opened our toys. Laura said, "Watch, yours won't work."

"Quiet, you!" I said, as I flipped Mr. Happy's switch on. I held both his hands and... nothing!

"Shake him!" Laura said.

I did, and tried again and he laughed!

"Clearly, whatever I say goes," said Laura, and we both giggled. She grabbed Mr. Happy and he worked. I tried hers and he didn't laugh.

She tried hers, and he did. Then we both tried mine and he had completely stopped working.

Laura slapped my Mr. Happy (that sounds SO dirty!), saying, "Work, Mr. Happy! DAMN IT!" She had such rage in her eyes that I couldn't help laughing myself silly. We called Lily who raced down and was in my room in what seemed like ten seconds after we'd called her! She tried, too, and my Mr. Happy just wasn't working. We decided to return him the next day. So we spent time playing with Laura and Lily's Mr. Happy dolls instead, and it was great fun!

I guess maybe you had to be there? Trust me, we laughed and laughed. Good times.

Laura and I had gone grocery shopping earlier and so we had some alcohol in my room. We didn't have a bottle opener, so we called housekeeping and they brought one over. They wouldn't leave it, though, so Laura only drank one vodka blue that night, and I just had one cider (my cider was in cans, so no opener necessary!). Then we wandered over to the internet cafe and typed some drunken stuff online. We stayed up late talking and goofing around before finally calling it a night. We had such a fun day together! It was awesome!