Finally, Ramen!

I kind of can't believe it took me this long to get my first ramen in Tokyo. Anyway, as promised, I returned to Ikebukuro for dinner, this time choosing a little ramen shop. As is common in these here parts, at this ramen shop you go to a ticket machine, which has pictures (labeled only in Japanese, of course) corresponding to buttons. You make your selection and pay at the machine, and then give the ticket to the server, who pins it in front of your seat (or table, but I was sitting at the "bar" in the center). Of course, I can read Japanese even less than I can speak it (using "speak" in its most generous interpretation here), so we had a problem. But I am nothing if not a problem solver!

Much like those mice running their mazes, figuring out which lever to press for food, I ran circles for a bit. Then I just decided to quickly ask the kids (early 20's? Late teens? EARLY teens? How the hell would I know?) who ordered just before I did. Again using my highly developed inter-cultural holistic language skills, I politely said "sumimasen", then proceeded to point to the picture of the ramen I wanted, then waved my hand in front of the buttons. It actually took two tries before one of the kids got the message. I'm pretty sure his friend, just behind him, got it in one, because after the second time, he said something which seemed like "yeah, he wants you to show him which button." He then pointed out the proper button, to which I gave him a hearty "domo arigato!". Money in machine, button pushed, and Kevin is ready for his ramen (suspiciously like those rats).

As I sat at the bar, the friendly waiter said hi, along with some more Japanese. Frankly, even the phrases I know I think I wouldn't recognize when spoken in the heat of the moment. I freeze up pretty much anytime someone speaks to me. I assumed he was asking if I wanted a drink, so I said "coca cola?" He said a few more things which I just assumed meant he'd get me one. Turns out they don't serve any drinks. At least there's plenty of water (which is actually fine with me).

So, the only downside here was either I made the wrong selection (or those little bastards fucked with me) or the picture, while looking like pork, was actually fish. I had ordered (or mistakenly been given) a ramen with fish. But I persevered (which was actually one of the words I saw in the young lady's English study book mentioned in the previous post!) and kept on. Surprisingly this did not ruin my ramen experience. It kind of took some willpower for me to force down my gag reflex after eating some of the fish, but I just pushed it aside and concentrated on the noodles, green onion and broth. Tasty, tasty, tasty (even with fish).

I think this experience just shows how much I've matured and how I am able to deal with adversity of any kind. I truly am, or should be, an inspiration to you.

Pictured: tasty, though a bit fishy, ramen. Again, I don't know the name of the place. If they had a sign (which I'm sure they did) it was in Japanese, so I can't give them the props they do deserve. Great food and pleasant service. About all you can ask for.

One For the Record Books

This morning I took the train... Somewhere. I forget exactly where. Just to wander around. The important part is that after I got on, I glanced over to the book the young lady next to me was studying. It was an English book. She's obviously learning the language. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that the subject of the first example (which, incidentally, was "intense") was Donohue.

Quite amused, I said "sumimasen", pointed to "Donohue", and continued "watashi no namea wa Donahue". She replied something that I interpreted to be "no way. Really?" I honestly have no idea what she said, but I'm pretty sure she was reacting to my saying "my name is Donahue" so I just nodded and said "hai, Donahue desu". She seemed amused.

A very weird coincidence. I took a picture of the page, but Blogger doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Will try to post it later.

Ikebukuro Dinner Success

As advertised earlier, I went back to Ikebukuro for dinner. And I was not disappointed! Chicken katsu:  chicken fillet with panko, fried of course, along with rice, shredded lettuce with fancy sauce (I hesitate to call it a salad since it was just lettuce), miso soup, and curry noodles. All for like 750YEN!! It was actually too much food. Of course, I finished everything (except the miso soup, which I've never really liked) since it would be rude not to. I'm nothing if not polite.

I don't even know the name of this place since they had no English presence whatsoever. Not even a menu. While I am mastering "sumimasen, ee-go ga hanasemasuke", it was to no avail this time! Luckily, the guy knew "chicken cutlet", which I admit kind of surprised me. But whatever, it was SO good. Deep frying in panko is the best.

The guy next to me ordered what looked like a killer stir fry, which I'd REALLY like to try. Sadly, I'll have to do a little Japanese language jujitsu to figure out how to order it. I guess with the Google it shouldn't be too hard. I can always fall back on the chicken cutlet.

Here is the wonderful little establishment. Yes, they have plastic models of their dishes. I often just point to a particular model and rub my belly, while making whimpering noises to order. I mean, that's mostly a last resort, but I have pretty much done that before. Ain't too proud to beg!



And here is the wonderful dish. You'll notice there is a strip of chicken missing on the right hand side. That's because I remembered my camera after I started digging in. I've never been comfortable photographing my food, but this time I just went for it. I really wanted to document this wonderful meal. You can kind of see the lettuce behind and below the chicken. The curry noodle was coiled to the top right, barely visible. Those noodles were amazing, too. Kind of a dry-rub curry paste, as opposed to a sauce. So. Tasty.



And here is the little street this restaurant is located on. It's down the far end on the left. Quite a find!


I still plan on posting about Shibuya crossing, but not tonight. We'll always have to slideshow, though, right?

OH, and just for fun. I stumbled across this poster in the Minami-senju (the Medford or Tokyo, as I affectionately call it) station on my way home. I love how it's a Caucasian guy. Very inclusive.


And yes, the subways have bench-style, springy seats. Very comfortable. And they're heated all along the underside of the seats, so quite toasty. Way better than the plastic monstrosities we have back home.

A Quick Post About Shibuya Crossing

I have several other pictures of this area, but I just wanted to post this slideshow. It's only 6 pictures, but it's fun.

Shibuya Crossing is known as an insanely busy intersection. It really is chaos, but a beautiful chaos. Waves of pedestrians flowing across the intersection, somehow gliding past one another. It's pretty amazing to watch in person. You can find videos on YouTube.

This slideshow was taken today, Tuesday, around 1pm. If it is this crowded at 1pm on a Tuesday, imagine it on a Friday or Saturday night! I will definitely try to remember to do another sideshow capturing that.



A couple notes. First, the slideshow starts out with a shot with a billboard across the way. I absolutely LOVE this billboard! It is amazing! I don't know who the guy is, but that ad campaign makes me laugh every time I see it. Second, I don't really know why the girl in the fifth photo is holding her hand to her face like that. I can promise you that I did nothing to her, though.

An Ikebukuro I Didn't Know Existed

Ikebukuro is one of my favorite areas of Tokyo. When I visited in 2005, this was where Eri and I would regularly meet up and say goodbye, as it's where she got on/off the train home. Plus, it's just a very walkable area, with a lot for the eye to take in, and a pleasing combination of super-packed commercial areas and more low-key side streets with small restaurants serving, I can only assume, extremely tasty Japanese food. I really didn't see much of this area last time, so when I went there today, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed walking around.

Truth be told, I was looking for a branch of the Ishibashi music store, but never did find it. I should probably have taken a copy of the map with me? Whatever, I had so much fun just wandering around, from super-dense stereotypical Tokyo over-signage to small and calm side streets. I saw so many places I wanted to eat at! I will be going back tonight for dinner (tonkatsu!), and likely for several more meals over the course of my stay. So many great places to try!

The road ahead is one of the stereotypical Tokyo shopping areas. Lined with loud signs (literally and figuratively) and tons of people. Note: I've actually been wondering why there are so many school-aged children out and about. Weird.



Yet again, a side street with... um, adult... entertainment. This section of Ikebukuro also had several all-night DVD places, where one could rent a cubby and watch DVDs till one's heart's content. I guess that might be useful if you stay out after the trains stop running? Pop into one of these places and watch a few movies until 5:30am or so, when the trains start? Alternate hypothesis: creepy guys go there to watch completely inappropriate porn.



This one's for Besu-kun. The last thing she said to me before I left was "you HAVE to go to Tokyu Hands!" Look what I came across as I wandered down the street today. Note that the Wikipedia article says that the the Ikebukuro location (this one) has a cat cafe! Even I, as one who is allergic to cats (though I love them!) totally support this. I may have to risk feeling miserable for an afternoon to go in and play with the cats. Well, considering I don't even walk across the street at home to visit the cat adoption every other Sunday, I probably won't. But it's something to consider.



To finish up, a little surprise. I decided to stop at Ueno Park on the way home, just to kill some time. As I walked towards the entrance, there was a group of school kids exiting. I absolutely love the little yellow hats. Huh, just noticed that girl in pink giving me the stink-eye. Not very welcoming. What has the world come to when a 38 year old single guy can't take pictures of school children walking through a park?

A Note on Pictures on the Blog

I've recently learned that if you click on any of the pictures in a particular post, it brings up a nifty slideshow tool, so you can go through all of the pics for that post. Pretty cool!

It's entirely possible that I'm the only one who didn't know this, but based on the fact that my mom just emailed me saying she's looking at the pictures I "sent" her, I'm pretty sure this is news to at least one other person. Two, counting my dad, though I'm pretty sure mom's the one who drives the computer.

Roppongi!

Roppingi Hills is a swanky and expensive area of Tokyo where many businesses and embassies reside. At least the embassies used to reside there. I'm too lazy to look that up, but feel free to do so yourself. The Google office is located on the 26th floor of the MORI building, the main attraction of Roppongi. Yes, the picture on the wikipedia page is actually the building we're talking about here.

It's a beautiful area. There's a mix of businesses, coffee shops/restaurants, and assorted commercial in the office park in which the MORI building resides. It's got its own Metro stop, which just so happens to be the line close by where I'm staying. Good job, Kev!

No pictures of the inside, as that'd probably violate all sorts of Google security rules. Really only a few outside shots too, as it is just a building. And let's face it, there are probably tons of shots on the web that are better than I could ever do.


There's a walkway winding its way down the hill at the base of the building. This is at one point along the way. The glass structure is an ancillary building. I forget what it's for. Maybe an atrium?



This is a much better picture. I kind of like the branches. This was taking at the base of the hill (obviously) where there's a beautiful little park. I have to see if there's WiFi access down there.



The park, as seen from about halfway down the walkway from the base of the MORI building.



The park, approaching from the base of the hill on which the MORI building sits on.



The park, viewed from the end opposite the MIRO building. The washed out building in the background is the base of the winding walkway I had just descended. That's a beautiful manhole cover in the foreground, huh? Sam, I'd like you to PhotoShop that out.