Yokohama and Ramen Museum

Back to the Japan trip last month:

After spending the first night eating and staying overnight in Manyo Club, we spent the second day looking around department stores as well as the Ramen Museum in Yokohama.


A lot of people waiting on the final minute before the department store opens.


Gundam pens, along with Ultramen pens on the left XD


For Gundam-related pens I see Zaku, Hyaku Shiki, Quebeley, and RX-78-2. However, they are too expensive (around 5000 Yen each) so I didn't consider getting one.


Kinokuniya book store, which took up a large portion of one of the department store's floor. T'is here where I got the Element Girls periodic table book for a friend of mine.


Banana case so you can safely put your precious banana in your bag without having to worry getting it crushed.

Seriously, Japan has all sorts of stuff there ^^;


We took a JR line and got off at Shin-Yokohama station, which is actually underneath a Bic Camera department store.


Heading out for the Ramen Museum.


Here it is, the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum (新横浜ラーメン博物館). It's perhaps worth noting that the English name there intentionally spells ramen as "raumen".


Went into the lower section of the museum, which takes you back in time and appreciate how Tokyo looks like in the late 50s.


Map showing the old Tokyo / lower section of the Ramen Museum


A blackboard notice with Astro Boy drawing saying that the smoking area is nearby


The central area of the old Tokyo. Other than ramen shops out there, there are also game stalls for little kids to play, as well as decorational shops and people dressed in that time to bring that nostalgic atmosphere.





Ice lollies of various flavours.


There are at least 9 famous ramen shops you can try out yourself in the museum. For those who want to fully appreciate different ramens from different regions, please do come in with a very, very hungry stomach ^^;


Different flavours of ramune are available, but what's with the odd ones such as curry flavour, kimchi flavour, and wasabi flavour on the bottom right?! XD


Ramen croquette - tried one in miso flavour, and it sort of has some taste of ramen, but sort of not ^^;


On the upper floor (which is the ground floor), there are displays and educational information all about ramen. Here is part of the history of ramen.


A touchscreen interaction shows that the Japanese up north eats a larger amount of ramen than those in the south.


Diagram showing various flavours of ramen used in Japan. The brown colour shows that shouyu (soy sauce) is the most common one of all.


There are displays of different kinds of ramen bowls in terms of shapes and artwork


History and development of instant noodles.


Instant noodles all over the world. Recognise any that appears in your region?


Babystar ramen - we have these in Hong Kong too, where they are known as 童星點心麵


Older packages of the said snack noodles. I did see them briefly back in the old days before getting replaced with the one above.


Neko Rahmen merchandise. According to Wikipedia, Neko Rahmen is a Japanese flash anime series based on a yonkoma, which revolves around a cat and his encounters running a ramen shop.


Yummy pudding we've bought in a pudding stand on the first floor of SOGO. The pyrex glasses can be used as measuring cups as it has markings on them. My sister got a limited Yokohama 150th anniversary version :o


We went back to Ikebukuro by nightfall, which is where we stayed for the hotel. Here is a small dish of chicken which is cooked with charcoal. Can't remember the name but in Chinese it's known as 炭燒雞.



Different kinds of yakitori, great to go with alcoholic drinks


親子飯 (oyakodon), rice bowl with egg and chicken


Sashimi rice bowl of some kind, forgot what it's called

Sorry if it seems a little rushed, but will get the food captions sorted by Wednesday night as my sister knows them better than I do.

Lots of food again here and there. Got any you like there? I really wished that I could eat a few more bowls of ramen before leaving the ramen museum. By the time we finished our dinner and got into our hotel rooms in Ikebukuro we pretty much crashed out; we didn't sleep on a proper bed for 2 nights with a fair amount of trekking here and there in Yokohama.

That's it for now. Will get this post sorted out a bit more tomorrow night!