I slept in today (gave myself an extra half-hour on my alarm) and I was still tired. I think I just need to spend a day just sitting around. I keep saying that, and I keep heading out. I’m also kind of running out of places to go.

I’m not sure if I ever took a picture of my daily “free” breakfast, but this is it. The only thing that’s normal-sized in they picture is the tumbler with the orange juice. And the tea bag, but you can’t really see it. This used to get me through most of the day, but now that it’s no longer so hot, I’m getting my daytime appetite back.

Today I headed to Meguro for one reason. But as long as I was there, I figured I’d look around a bit. I was hoping I’d see some things because as soon as I left the station there was a steep hill.

But the hill lead to Daienji, and hundreds of stone Buddhas. Daienji Temple is pretty close to the train station.

One wall has atonement statues of the 500 followers of the Buddha to “appease the souls that departed in the great fire of 1772.”

At the bottom of the hill is a canal.

And across the canal is Ōtori Shrine. I think it’s the season to take pictures of your baby at the shrine because there were a lot of people at Ōtori Shrine taking pictures and I’ve seen others taking pictures at other famous shrines throughout Tokyo. There’s one group with a professional photographer below the stairs, and another couple with a tripod above the stairs.

Later I saw even more people in traditional clothing at the Mos Burger across the street. I’m sure they were coming back from taking pictures, too.

I took this picture on the way back out the neighborhood. I got lost and didn’t realize I was at the same shrine until I was leaving.

This was my main destination for the day.

I only have two pictures of the outside of the building because, well, it’s frigging preserved parasites inside. It’s a popular museum and people were coming in and out all day. I almost bought a t-shirt or pen but come on, it’s a PARASITE MUSEUM and it’s kind of icky.

One thing I did get at the parasite museum (besides confirmation that I should NEVER GO SOUTH OF CALIFORNIA) is a copy of Meguro Walk which sent me down the street next to the museum.

I found a large temple complex of Ryusenji.

The main gate leads to a courtyard.

In the courtyard is a carving of the god Fudō that you pour water on.

The main temple is pretty impressive.

Behind the temple is another garden with a large stone statue 

I headed back towards the train station and it started raining! I thought it might be temporary, so I ducked into a Mos Burger and had the chicken leg I saw on TV yesterday. It kept sprinkling though. Instead of heading straight back, I went to Tokyo Station because my mom always suggests the underground shopping area for when it’s raining. Man, the underground was crowded.

As you walk in the underground away from the actual station, the crowd does let up a little. But the department stores right next to the station are mobbed.

I headed back to the hotel and took a nap.

I asked the from desk if there was anywhere with monjayaki nearby and it turns out there’s a place right across the street. Unfortunately, it was one of those weird party places you find in Shinjuku where they nickel and dime you and my two beers and my monjayaki cost me ¥1,600. The beers themselves were $7.20 each.

Not only that, but I had to cook it myself.

It was good, but I’m not sure I did it correctly. It seemed to take forever to cook.

Of course, I got the heck out of dodge after I ate the monjayaki and headed to Lotteria to get the #7 hamburger and #1 dessert from the TV show last night. That only cost me ¥470.

Now there’s a really loud party going on next door. I sure hope it knocks off early, but I bet it won’t.