NG were going to go to Brighton today but she was ill so I dumped her and decided to do my own thing.

I was sitting outside this morning on the step and looked down and saw a filthy 5p piece. It was so dirty I thought it was a dirty 1p but nope – five more pence for my collection. Wooo.

I had a walk around London with the intention of sitting on the Southbank nursing a drink and watching the world go by but hit upon the idea of going to Camden and milling around the markets. I love Camden. All those people trying to stand out in a place where everyone dresses the same. Excellent! I especially like it when I see kids dragging their parents around, hoping to buy some Emo clothing. That is just so blisteringly excellent.

After walking around Camden for a while, I came upon the realisation that I was only ten minutes from London Zoo. Oooh, animals! This was now my mission for the day. Off I headed…

I checked how much cash I had on me – about £13. Should be enough to get me in the Zoo no problem I thought. Wow, how happy was I? Nice sunny day, not a care in the world, heading off to the zoo. Wooooo!

I was a little taken aback when I arrived at the zoo and looked at the entrance prices. A whopping £18.50 to get in!

Wha…? Yes. £18.50! This put me off going in. For about two minutes anyway. I was going to see animals this day and nothing was to stop me! I had a bit of a headache that was threatening to get worse so I decided to eat and drink first as I suspected that it was due to being dehydrated. I had a nice plate of chips and beans and a bottle of water.

Chips = £2.20

Beans = £1.95. Yes, you read that correctly. £1.95 for a side order of beans. They were dry and uninspiring too. If there’s one thing I want from my beans, it’s inspiration! Chips were nice though but were brought down by those beans. Plus the knife and fork were those wooden types.

Now, I like zoos. Or at least the person I think I am, in my head, likes zoos. I walked around becoming more and more upset at all the animals in the cages. The feeling that these animals were being wronged reached its zenith when I visited the gorilla enclosure. I found that there was no one else around as I walked past a glass enclosure and there was a gorilla sitting by it only a few feet away. I felt incredibly privileged to be in its presence. The gorilla was playing with a blanket. It looked so frustrated, bored and at a total loss as to what to do. I felt so sorry for it. (I understand that I may be anthropomorphising). Then a group of people came and saw it and began taking photos, with flashes. At this point the gorilla slowly walked off outside where it was met with many other people with cameras.

Particulary annoying was attempting to have a chilled walk around the aquarium but being prevented from this by masses of people with their cameras up against the glass taking pictures with the flashes on, with no regard for the animals. Fish, frogs, crocodiles, turtles etc.

I don’t think I’ll be going to another zoo for a long time. It just made me sad.

I did find 1p though; near to the lion enclosure.

On the way home I went for a burger. I found another 1p under the counter

I found yet another 1p on Hornsey High Street.

So, 8p found today. That brings my total up to:

£3.96 Tra la la…