13 July 2009

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!

22 comments:

  1. Fuck, I didn't know about this place the last time I went to Japan >_<

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  2. Awesome! First time visiting your blog. Enjoyed all the photos, that food at the end looks great! I want some Gundam pens! The museum of ramen looks fun, since I'm a ramen lover~ :D

    Also, I wasn't sure how to contact you, and I was wondering if I could ask you something. I use Blogger.com as well, and I noticed on your main page you nicely have previews of your articles with a "read more" link. I've been trying to figure out how to go about doing this for days! How exactly do you do this with your articles?

    Hopefully after I fix all my blog settings, we can exchange blogroll?

    Thanks,
    -HK

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  3. ramen?.....RAMENRAMENRAMENRAMENRAMEN!!!

    Sorry for that, Im a born ramen/noodles lover^^;;

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  5. Oh man, that food looks delicious! Nice photos again, my friend - and yes, 5,000 yen for a pen is outrageous! But I get why people would spend that kinda money on it, just as a collectible.

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  6. About the nodle world map...Wheres Pancit canton?

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  7. Banana boxes? Wasabi ramune? ...huh.

    Reading this post before a meal makes my stomach growl. T_T

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  8. @ Snark:
    Well at least you get to know one more place to go next time you go to Japan ^^;

    @ Kazushime:
    I'm glad that you enjoy my photos~

    The "read more" feature is actually known as expandable post summaries, and you can check out instructions on adding this right here:

    http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=42215

    I have removed my email address a while ago because of spam, but it's back up now in case anyone wants to contact me that way. It should be fairly noticeable on the right column now.

    Hope that helps, and looking forward to see your blog running~

    @ GunStray:
    I like ramen too~

    I've looked up pancit, and despite its similarity to yakisoba and yakiudon, it's "in the Philippines of Chinese origin" according to Wikipedia (i.e. not of Japanese origin), which would explain why it may not be up on the map.

    @ Apt-1B:
    Expect more food in the future posts too!

    Apparently the pen is listed as an ideal gift for Father's Day. It sure looks interesting, and it would have been nice as a gift for a friend if it were to be much cheaper... Oh well.

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  9. If I ever get to go to Japan, I am going to make this one of the stops. I know my son will probably never leave.

    Thanks for the post - great insight to the happenings there

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  10. @ Bluedrakon:
    The Ramen Museum is surely worth going when one is in a day trip to Yokohama, especially with a hungry stomach!

    Glad that you like the stuff so far. Despite the fact that I have been to Tokyo once a year for the fourth year, I am sure that I still haven't visited everything there yet!

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  11. now that looks like my kind of museum!
    I even sout my favorite instant noodles ( Shin Ram Yun) in your pictures! ^_^

    Is the Banana bOx that much of a novelty? We have those over here aswell

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  12. @ Blowfish:
    Raman Museum is a must for everyone who loves ramen, I think I might go back there again~

    Banana box is not common in most other places; I have yet to see one in Hong Kong too... On the other hand it's worth mentioning that the Germans tend to be on the high-end for innovations too ^^;

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  13. Whenever I get there ill be sure to go there!
    Are there by any chance some English language explanations?
    Our Museums usually have English and German Signs

    Just for the Record heres a link to the German Version of the Banana Box:
    http://www.globetrotter.de/de/shop/detail.php?mod_nr=krk02001&GTID=5ef8b5e3840d9ee6332df312bb4a145aa39

    Its soo great that you were a few times over here and lnow a bit about germany ^_^

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  14. @ Blowfish:
    I've double checked with my sister, and there aren't much English explanations in the museum, but there's an English brochure you can pick up which has a floor plan of the "Old Tokyo" as well as explanations of the various Ramen you can eat there.

    So, the banana box is a bestseller item? Sehr interessant XD

    I admit that I've done quite a bit of flying here and there, but it's been a while since I've last visited Düsseldorf. After reading your blog more and more it seems tempting to go back there again one day~ ^^

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  15. Oh lordy more food XD Good thing I had my fix of Japanese food from the all-you-can-eat restaurant a few days ago ^^ LoL at banana case... not all bananas are shaped like that :P

    Ah and I can't help but stare at Sayla Mass whenever I see a picture of her... Jiii~ >.>

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  16. @ Lightning Sabre:
    I did mention that I will be rolling out more and more food in my trip posts XD

    lol you're into Sayla? It's been a while since I've last heard someone mentioning female characters from Gundam series earlier than SEED... ^^;

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  17. Reading this post makes me hungry! This Ramen Museum is a very interesting place indeed; I should make a visit next time I go. ^^

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  18. @ T.I.P.:
    You shall be more and more hungry as you read each trip posts from me XD The Ramen Museum is definitely worth trying out - not just to look at but to taste as well!

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  19. Ah what a bummer that most stuff is in japanese...Maybe ill know some japanese by the time i get there.

    If you are ever close to Düsseldorf gimme a call and ill be your personal tourguide^^

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  20. @ Blowfish:
    It's never too late to learn some basic Japanese to get things going; I personally find myself reading katakanas very often. Besides various facilities in Japan are slowly thinning the language barrier by adding more informations in English these days.

    I'm not sure when I will get to go to Germany again, but I hope it will be sometime in the near future. When that time comes I will surely contact you beforehand~

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  21. Very interesting place.. Ramen Museum.. it could be nice to visit and enjoyed also taste the Ramen... Peace :)

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  22. @ Zona Indonesia:
    Thanks for coming by! The Ramen Museum is a nice place to stop by if you going to Yokohama. If you are profecient in Japanese you will get to understand the history and background of ramen, otherwise just indulge yourself with ramen of different regions in Japan! Just be sure you go there with an empty stomach though! :)

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