Adventures in the Big City Pt.2

"Candy, kudasai!" The Japanese answer to "Trick or Treat." Kind of has a nice ethnic ring to it, ne? Sometimes even highschool kids can be too cute. This week I've been having em draw their own jack-o-lanterns, and I need to really document some! Especially the names they give them... My favorites so far have been: Yakuza, Uproarious Pumpkin, Kabo-chan, and Three-Eyed Gentleman (guess what this one looked like?). There's some inspiration for you guys at home. Carve a lantern befitting the name "Yakuza" and you've got a winner.

Anyways, back to part two of my Tokyo adventure.


So Sunday morning, I stumbled to the bathroom and was greeted by a giant golden turd outside the window. In fact, it was the famous La Flamme d'Or, the Philippe Starck designed sculpture atop the Asakusa Super Dry Hall across the river.


Around nine, we headed out to see Senso-ji, the big temple of Asakusa, which was a little anticlimactic due to some structure they're building in front of it, which, in addition to being unsightly, totally ruins the view. The temple itself is very nice though. Lining the walkway to the temple are lots of little vendors selling trinkets, rice crackers, and souvenirs, as well as festival food (like I want yakisoba first thing in the morning). We saw a giant rice cracker the size of a dinner plate, but the lady wouldn't let us take a picture. Then on our way out, we passed by a Totoro shop, but weren't let in! What's going on? That's not how you get on my good side, Asakusa. So just out of spite, I'm going to build a mega franchise out of giant rice crackers, make a fortune, and send a million photos to the vendor lady. >D


After that we took a train to Electric Town Akihabara. Many people who think of Tokyo conjure up images of this neighborhood with alleyways jammed packed with stores selling every electronic device imaginable. And there are also stores selling floors upon floors of manga, DVDs, videogames, and "hobbies" (yes, those include the over-18 kinds...). To tell the truth, it's not that interesting, unless you've got something in mind to buy. We did get lots of free tissues though, from AU workers advertising a new campaign/phone/whatever.

For lunch we headed back to Shinjuku for some kaiten sushi (at last!), otherwise known as conveyor belt sushi. It's very to the point, which I like. You just find an empty stool, sit down, grab what you want, eat, and go. The plates of sushi are color/design coordinated so that you can know the price of the sushi with just a quick glance. The sushi wasn't top notch by any means, but it was an experience. And you definitely want to sit at the end of the belt nearest the kitchen to get the first pick (make sure the sushi is coming out of the kitchen, and not going in). After lunch, a nice leisurely browse in the Kinokuniya (one of two in Shinjuku!). It would have been nicer if there were places to sit down though; my shoes were killing me!

At 2:30 we boarded the train out of Tokyo. But our adventure wasn't over yet! After some begging and jumping up and down in my seat, I had convinced my friend the day before to go to the Ramen Museum with me in Shin-Yokohama. Yes, RAMEN MUSEUM! The very same one I'd stumbled across on a website years ago, before I ever dreamed I'd go to Japan. It's hard to describe how excited I was when 40 minutes later, we pulled into Shin-Yokohama station. Even more excited than when I saw the shuttle buses for the only IKEA in Japan in front of the station.

No time for Swedish goods though, as we had ramen to investigate. 300¥ is all that stands between you and admission to the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum and Amusement Park (sic). The website calls it "Ramusement". Really, it's just a giant shop to sink your money into, but it was wonderful. On the first floor is an exhibit on how they make ramen (which I unfortunately couldn't read) and a very extensive gift shop selling all sorts of ramen and supplies and trinkets. The guide book explained the bottom two floors as a place where you could relax with a beer and enjoy a stunning virtual sunset. Virtual sunset???


What greets you after you descend the nondescript, industrial staircase to the basement (I kept thinking of 1984) is a sight to behold! The entire bottom floor of the museum has been transformed into an accurate replica of a working class Tokyo neighborhood circa 1958, complete with a spectacular changing sunset on the ceiling. There's even laundry hanging from the faux-weathered eaves of the buildings. Scattered throughout are 8 different ramen restaurants serving specialty ramen from various localities around Japan. Being true glut--er, gourmands, Jeff and I shared a big bowl of Kyushu ramen as well as a small bowl each of Shanghai spicy miso ramen. We weren't even hungry... but you can't go to a ramen museum and not try more than one ramen! While the garlic flavored Kyushu ramen broth was smooth and rich, my favorite was the spicy miso one. The broth had a delicate hint of fish, which is unusual since most broths are made with pork. A generous dollop of spicy red karamiso on top added a fiery kick. By the end, I was sweating bullets. Unfortunately, there isn't too much to do at the museum, so it's not like you can spend a whole day there, getting your appetite back to try more ramen. : ( All in all, I had lots of fun, and checked off another destination of top places to go in Japan!

One downside to going to Tokyo is, of course, coming back. From Shinjuku to Shimizo-cho, the transition can seem surreal. But that's when you write lengthy blog updates in an attempt to relive the magic.