Saturday, March 10, 2007

Things That Make You Go 'Ewww'

Yesterday was a day of total freeness. You would be amazed at how many free attractions they have in Tokyo! We started our Freeness Tour at one of the most unique attractions in Tokyo -- the Meguro Parasite Museum -- which holds the honor of being the only official museum in the world dedicated entirely to the study of parasitology.

The museum was small, taking up only two floors of specimens, but its variety was quite incredible and was full to the brim of things that make you go 'eww'. It had every type of parasite imaginable, from things that fly and suck your blood, to worms that crawl deep, deep into your intestine, growing slowly, slowly, making you lose weight. It truly was stomach-turning, but morbidly fascinating!

Here are a few pictures that I snapped:




The creepy crawly alien-looking creature above is actually part of a dolphin's stomach that is infested with parasitic growth. Ewww.





Here is a tapeworm found in a Japanese man's body. It measured 8.8 metres long and the man had no idea he was host to this creature. Hanging next to the real thing is a white rope which shows you the full length of 8.8 metres. It was more than enough to stretch across the room. Eeew.




This one was almost enough to make me never want to eat sashimi again -- a fish with a massive parasite growing in its stomach. Some of the other fish had parasites growing on their eyes and in their gills. Ewww.




This picture, which I have simply named 'balls', is also taken in Japan, but the best part is the drawing on the left, which shows a man walking with his massive, parasite-swollen balls in a sling attached to a bamboo pole. Ewww.




This is enough to turn anyone off of curry crab and dumplins... Ewww.

The Parasite Museum was certainly an interesting and even educational attraction, but we didn't have the stomach to stay too long once we saw all the specimens. In fact I didn't feel like eating after that at all.

So we jumped on a train to Shinjuku and I was treated to the joy of trying out massive new golf drivers for free in the Victoria Golf shop. The best part of this store is the practice range room with equipment that measures your distance and speed. I was quite proud when, on the Ladies Clubs floor, I tried a driver and the lady working there said that I hit just like a man and need heavier clubs! So then we went to the men's floor and again I tried a few more clubs. God it felt good to walk off the street and hit 40 balls just for the heck of it. And I felt like a shiny shilling when the guy showed me the computer statistics, and said I actually hit the average distance of the typical Japanese male who comes into the store. Do I rock or what. When I have some more money I would love to buy some of the clubs I tested, especially the Mizuno which let me drive 200 yards! I can't wait.

After I was through stroking my golf ego and I was glistening with a light sheen from hitting the hell out of those drivers, we took a stroll through Shinjuku.




I tell you, I know I am a beach girl but I really get a kick out of this busy city. Sometimes it is too crowded and you feel you might go insane from the claustrophobia of human traffic. But I love when the evening is drawing near and all the neon lights start coming on downtown. Good fun.

We then walked to the free Government Observatory tower 45 floors up to take in the bright lights of the city as the sun was setting. Later, after deciding that our stomachs were strong enough to handle some food, we went to a small Chinese spot for gyoza and happy hour beer. God how I love gyoza, Chinese dumplings. I must have been Asian in a past life, I just know it.

Anyways, if anyone is coming to visit me, just let me know if you feel strong enough to handle the Parasite Museum! Do you think I should take my dad there???

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh YUCK! the balls finally did it for me! what was wrong with that man? or more rightly, what was in that man?

i say yes to taking bob by the way!

Yam

atrm said...

ick!

Unknown said...

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. I was horrified. I already don't eat anything other than seafood and chicken. DO you want me to starve?!!!!!!! Btw how are you my friend??? I miss you!
Love Ila