Solo in Tokyo Part 1: Meguro

Finally the sun showed up during the weekend!

I have just gotten back from Roppongi… My legs are sore from all the walking I’ve done over the weekend… should’ve worn shoes that are more comfy. But I LOVE Roppongi, I wish I could walk further to see more.. but I guess I’ll pay another visit soon! I realize I haven’t blogged about my weekend trips much… I almost forgot what I did in Asakusa/HakkeiJima… so while it’s still fresh on my mind, I’ll first write about what I did yesterday 😀

Yesterday was Hina-Matsuri (雛祭り ), Girl’s festival in Japan…

One could see Hana Matsuri food for sale everywhere over the past 2 weeks...

Some ridiculously pricy hina-cupcakes... featuring Odairi-sama (Prince) and Ohina-sama (Princess). 600yen!!

And the reason why I chose to go to Meguro (目黒), was to see the Hina Dolls Exhibition at Gajoen(雅叙園). I found out about this from Sensei of my free Japanese class.

Woke up at 7:00 and arrived in Meguro at around 9:30... Meguro is a pretty bland area, which is a good thing- not too crowded. Outside the train station, there was a huge sign pointing to the direction of Gajoen. 

Yet, I still managed to get lost in a residential area... had to pull out my phone to find my way out.

Turned out I was only two blocks away....

Huh? So Gajoen is this modern building?

No, but it's CONNECTED to it... which is kinda odd IMO

Ticket cost 800 yen, and this was the student discount price...

Gotta carry our shoes in plastic bags, of course,we were provided slippers.

Hina dolls display while lining up... so cute!

Inside the Exhibition area.. there were 7 rooms amongst 6 floors.Felt bad for elderly people who had to climb up those stairs.

This was the largest Hina-Doll display. If I were still a kid, I would find it creepy to have these many dolls staring at you.

These were the largest Hina-Dolls to date.. each measured a 73 cm of height. And the round thing at center was a tank with a goldfish.

Cute Hina-dolls towing a fish... it's based on a Japanese folklore.

Display of Hina dolls from different areas of Japan.

Reminds me of the gigantic doll house that I had as a child. Was very pissed when my parents donated it to my kindergarten. I remember being jealous every time I saw other kids touching my toy.

To be honest, I wasn’t too interested in the dolls, mainly because I could not understand the stories behind them (descriptions in Japanese). But the decors inside Gajoen were stunning.

I loved the windows made with paper, made me want to poke a hole.

There were traditional paintings on walls and ceilings, couldn’t take photos though. I also enjoyed looking at the paintings/statues rather than squeezing myself into a big crowd to catch a glimpse of the dolls. They were pretty similar anyway: It’s about the wedding of the Prince and Princess… Of course, they were always placed at the top. Below them, there were some Kanjo (Maids), Bayashi (Musicians), and food.

Families with girls would put up Hina-doll display prior to the festival. However,t is important to PUT DOWN the dolls immediately after the festival… because Japanese believe that girls would have trouble getting married otherwise. A colleague told me her father purposely kept the display for a month after the festival, as she was an only child and he didn’t want her to get married too soon ;P She did anyway, at the age of 27. Then I started teasing another colleague with a daughter… He said he wanted to take them down, but his daughter insisted to keep the dolls since she liked them. Just as their “year-round” christmas tree lol

See what I mean? they should totally build an elevator 😀

A toilet for display. No, I'm serious... Nobody could use it, I hate the squatting type anyway.

After the exhibition (finished in an hour), I took a stroll around Gajoen.

Everywhere has hina-matsuri decor...

Cute bunnies 😛

Common sight to see ladies dressed in Kimono... Since Gajoen is a popular site to host weddings.

Kimonos are so graceful.

Kimono campfire? XD

Reception area of a wedding. One of my coworker got married yesterday... wonder if it's held in Gajoen?

My next stop.... to visit the fancy washroom. Really, some travel guides said Gajoen's WC was nice.

It's alright, had a small fountain and 3 roomy toilets.

Lucky I went much earlier. Crazy line up to the exhibition

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After leaving Gajoen, My next stop was to visit the Parasitological Museum 15 mins away (supposingly). But I took my time to “stroll” around town.

On the Shin-Meguro bridge... In spring, a popular spot to view cherry blossoms growing along side the river(sewage?)

A little girl holding a DIY Hina Matsuri card. And... I want a bike!!

Saw a jinja aka shrine called 大鳥神社 on my way.

A place to drink "sainted" water?

The water tap was automatic btw. The moment I stepped on the platform, water started flowing.

Front of the shrine.

People praying...

a bunch of wish tags(plates)?

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Arrived at the Parasites Museum. It's fairly small, spanning two floors.

And this is how big the first floor was....

All parasite specimens were taken out from a real body (human or animal)... Think of them as different kinds of noodles... raman, udon etc.

Disgusting.

The world's longest tape worm pulled out from a human body- 8.8 m! The dude infected said he couldn't feel a thing....

Parasites growing inside a mouse.

Look at the heads of different parasites... much like aliens!!

Left the Museum after 45 mins since it was pretty tiny to begin with. Basically what I learnt was to eat thoroughly cooked food (I’ll try)… even sashimi, if handled improperly can be infected with parasites. You want some “noodles” growing out of your organs?

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A building next to the museum and I liked... love the exterior texture!

On my way to lunch, saw this big campus of kindergarten, junior high, and highschool.

Finally, I found the Mos Burger that I was looking for!!

You may wonder why I would wanna eat at this Mos Burger in particular, I mean, there’s one 5 mins away from my dormitory! It’s because of a song …

A song named “目黑” I used to listen to in highschool by Endy Chow (周國賢)… Lyrics below:

命運就地改寫　只因你我當天那一眼
靜靜互望啞口無言　原來邂逅太簡單
大地就像一黑　只得你那身影最顯眼
月下漫步東京同遊　遺忘晚上變得越來越冷

黑色眼睛　沿途與你有過一幀風景
但路上　誰也沒名沒姓
靜靜行經　留影　目黑之夜有星
遊歷過　下一次未必經

坐下在目黑區深宵那個摩斯漢堡店
默默用著雙手談情　然而漢字會一點
又是互望開始分手作結的戀愛短篇
但特別在這幾年來　時時暗地記起亦紅著臉

黑色眼睛　沿途與你有過一幀風景
但路上　誰也沒名沒姓
自問曾經　憧憬　留低此地看星
無奈我　未得到被邀請

黑色眼睛　沿途與你有過一幀風景
但路上　誰也沒名沒姓
自問曾經　憧憬　留低此地看星
無奈我　未得到被邀請

The MV has nothing to do with the lyrics though. I guess they didn’t have the budget to film it in Meguro XD BTW, direct translation of 目黑 means “Black eyes”… There’s actually a place called 目白 (white eyes?) near Meguro…

I met this energetic little boy (not girl, despite his long-ish hair) outside of Mos Burger… I was looking at the menu, and he came by and pointed at the fish filet burger to me.

I quickly took a snap of him… At first he said “Dame” (No!) but later it turned into a fun game of hide-and-seek, as I tried shooting him hiding from the camera. He kept waving goodbye at me when I walked into the restaurant too!

Waiting for my burger to come... And no, thats my burger wallet XD

The real burger came and I did not take the boy's recommendation haha

I kept looping the song when I was having lunch (6 times?)… perhaps I will listen to “富士山下” when I climb mount Fuji, “櫻花樹下” when I watch the cherry blossom or “迷失參表道” when I go shopping in Omodesando lol

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On my way back...

Decided to head to the Garden museum... even though I knew it's closed for renovation

Saw another shrine on my way...

This time I tried ringing the bell since there's nobody there XD

A teddy bear shop called "Dear Bear"

A very pretty garden I heard... Hopefully it will reopen soon so I can come visit again

Right next to it was the Institute of Nature Study, an educational park. There was admission fee and the weather wasn't too nice, so I did not go in.

Saw this cute girl outside the park... and she and her parents were walking ahead of me during the 15 mins walk to the Meguro station...

I was playing with her (at a distance) the entire time.. making faces and stuff. I taught her how to stick her tongue out and roll it ! lol

This marks the end of my short trip to Meguro, I went straight to Shibuya afterwards… which I will talk about in a different post. I like Meguro, because it’s laid back compared to places like Shibuya… I will visit again when cherry blossoms spice up the town!

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