I was mesmerized...

By a absolutely breath-taking park I went to on Saturday.

My original plan was to go and take a look at some shops my colleagues mentioned to me. Recently I am quite into small shops that sell unique stuff。Like things for the house, small decorations like frames ... simply what the Japanese classified as 雑貨。There used to be this street in Nagoya where I really liked. Filled with stalls of food, 2nd hand books, clothes, CD and shops like this. I don't really like going to chain shops selling these stuff as they are everywhere. I prefer something hand-made, unique in its own taste. Doesn't matter even if it is 2nd hand or looks a little old.

Anyway, decided to set my foot onto one station after the original planned instead for some reasons...

The place 三鷹市 is out of Tokyo's 23 wards. And indeed it looks and feels away though it is just less than 20 mins away from Shinjuku.

As I stepped out of the station, I chanced upon the sign pointing to Ghibili Studios Museum. Didn't know ghibili is there! ( *Ghibili studios is the one that produced world famous Japanese animations like Totoro, Grave of the firefiles, Spirited away etc..)

So decided to walk to Ghibili's as the sign says 1250m.

As I walk along the residential areas... Feeling the cool breeze on my face, I only had one thing is my mind. 癒された。。。It was as if the breeze is slowly melting every ounce of tireness I feel within me. And I realised, physical tireness goes away with ample rest. It is mental strain that doesn't go away till after a long time. Only 3 months into work and I can feel the mental stress building up in me... But that work that afternoon did wonders.

3 months in Tokyo... I have almost forgotten how the it feels to have the sun streaming on my face with lush greenery as the surroundings.

The park was amazing big to have for such a squeezy tiny busy Tokyo.

It was an very interesting place tho. With just that arty farty atmosphere floating around. I feel instantly regretted that my camera was not with me.

There was people walking their dogs, playing soccer, eating bentos, boating rowing in the lake.. so far so normal uh... People drawing, people reading, people sleeping... still so far so normal..

People cutting hair for others in the park! That was surely v interesting =)

There were baskers, people selling hand-made crafts in make-shift stores..

If you want to compare it to the central park or hyde park, you might be instantly disappointed. But I don't think that was its purpose.. Yet, it felt almost like eternity the last time I had the chance to go take a walk at any parks. And of course, the ice-cream cone I had in my hand enhance the whole experience tremendously.

What is my camera when I need it???

Anyway , I walked so much that day that I got muscle-ache. Or should I rephrase it as a signal of the extremely lack of exercise here?