New York City Summer 2025 Travel Log: Day 2 — Exploring Central Park Zoo

Having a 21-month-old nephew who is fascinated by animals gave us a great reason to visit Central Park Zoo, which I had never been to before despite having been to NYC at least 30 times. So, we spent the morning exploring the flora and fauna:

Scarlet Macaw
Toco Toucan
Victoria Crowned Pigeon
Australian Ringneck
Plush-Crested Jay
Tricolored Heron
Banded Mongoose
Gila Monster
Bolivian Gray Titi Monkey
Black and White Ruffed Lemur
Japanese Macaque
Patagonian Mara
Emperor Goose
Mandarin Duck
Hydrangeas
Begonia Grandis
Canna Indica
Hydrangeas

As someone who doesn't particularly like spending time in nature, I hadn't felt the need to go to a zoo in over three decades and somehow forgot just how fascinating wild animals are. Kinda disappointed that we didn't get to see the leopards or bears or red pandas (toddlers get fussy REAL FAST and it was getting to nap time), but it does give me more reason to visit again. Of course, leave it to me to spend more time in nature in New York City of all places when I live in Canada…

Central Park Zoo

Central Park

830 5th Ave.

New York, NY 10021

(212) 436-6500

Hong Kong 2024 Travel Log: Day 2 — Walking Through Kowloon Park

Okay, so my mom and I decided to just take a stroll through the Jordan neighbourhood after breakfast because nothing was open yet and somehow ended up walking into Kowloon Park and guess what we found?

Flamingos!

FLAMINGOS!

FLAMINGO FEEDING TIME

Flamingo habitat

Aviary waterfall

Hibiscus flowers

Hibiscus flower

More hibiscus flowers

A massive fountain

Another massive fountain

Among other things, FLAMINGOS! FLAMINGGOOOOOOSSSS! Dozens and dozens of them just hanging out IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS MASSIVE URBAN CITY. WHY DOES NO ONE TALK ABOUT THE FLAMINGOS?

Kowloon Park

Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Hong Kong

Photolog 2020: Day 88 of 366

So I went out for a smoke around 4:30AM and heard a really loud growling sound. Thought it might be a fox getting ready to attack its prey. (The neighbourhood I live in has quite a number of foxes. Apparently one gave birth to nine pups last year, so they're just roaming around now. When you hear one of them attacking an animal and tearing it apart, it's... disturbing, to say the least.) Anyway, I quickly went back inside and went upstairs to my bedroom, 'cause like, growling animals in the middle of the night is gonna be a no from me, dawg. As I got ready for bed, I heard even louder growling coming from the direction of my windows (which faces the front of the house) and was wondering what the fuck it was because it sounded pretty close but I was on the second level. So I turned off the lights in the bedroom, opened the blinds, and saw this raccoon on the neighbour's roof. He totally saw me, too, and started acting all innocent and shit. DON'T EVEN GIVE ME THAT LOOK, YOU FUCKING FURRY BANDIT. I KNOW YOU'RE UP TO NO GOOD.

Photolog 2020: Day 27 of 366

Went over to my friend Chelsea's this afternoon to hang out. She made us some tasty snacks.


And we played with her new four-month-old puppy, Selina, who is a rescue dog from the Dominican. She is adorable.


It was a great day.

(Doesn't this post sound like something you'd write in a diary in elementary school?)