I, like so many others online this year, fell in love with the sad, abandoned baby macaque at a Japanese zoo. ICYMI, the monkey’s name is Punch — or Panchi-kun — and he was abandoned at birth by his mother, due to a stressful pregnancy . The little monkey was then hand-reared by Ichikawa Zoo's zookeepers, who gave the monkey a surrogate mother, a plushie nicknamed Oren-mama. His story struck a chord with millions. Punch struggled to fit in as he was never taught how to socialize with the macaque troop. He was often spotted turning to the doll for comfort. But over time, despite receiving seemingly harsh "disciplinary behaviors" from elder monkeys, he has been slowly learning how to interact, demonstrating "resilience and mental strength," shared Ichikawa Zoo . As one of the many people completely taken with Punch, I was moved by his story. I quietly added seeing him in real life to my bucket list. Then, my chance came in April, when I had a trip to Seoul planned, and I spotted a $60 flight to Tokyo.…