Tokyo Day 6 (CupNoodle Museum!)

So this was fun!!

I have to admit, when I heard we were going to take an hour-long train ride to visit the CupNoodle Museum in Yokohama, I balked slightly. Again (this is becoming a habit) I am glad I was talked into it! What a great time!  To think, all of those hundreds and possibly thousands of packets of instant Ramen I have consumed in my life, and now I finally know how it is made...

First, though, Yamashita Park on the waterfront was very beautiful, with expansive flower gardens and spectacular views. It was pretty hot out—the hottest day we’ve had—but the heat was better than the washout that was forecast for today and then apparently passed us over.

The Museum and factory is something else. Far from the fly-by-night operation I expected to find, the place is a model of Japanese efficiency.

Before we made our own noodles, we visited the “Noodles Bazaar,” where noodle fans could find (high quality!) variants of the food from all over the world. This is like my Mecca!

For the noodle-making, which was guided at every step by extremely efficient and helpful staff, we donned aprons and chicken bandanas (we get to keep the latter!).

The finished product - with customized packaging!

As usual, by the end of the day, May was spent.

Also as usual, we found Melissa some sushi!

Off to Takayama on the bullet train tomorrow morning! We have really enjoyed our time in Tokyo, but are ready for our next Japanese adventure!

Tokyo Day 5 (Ghibli Museum!)

Ghibli, so far as I can tell, is more or less the Japanese Disney, without the theme parks. Meaning, it is a beloved animation studio, and creator of many famous characters and stories. Syl got really in to one of them, “My Neighbor, Totoro,” via her cousins when she was younger. So this afternoon we visited the Ghibli Museum.

I have an admission. A friend who visited Tokyo last year with her family (and whose advice to date has been unimpeachable) advised me to skip this as a waste of time and money that her kids considered a blown day. I tried to talk Melissa out of it, to the point where she had to express her disinclination to follow my advice in rather strong terms. I’m glad she won that argument. Syl, who is really in to Japanese animation, LOVED this place. And I have to admit I found it charming too. 

There is a strict no-cameras policy in the museum, which I violated immediately but infrequently.

A lot of the place is given over to decidedly low-tech explanations of the animation process. Syl ate them up, despite the lack of English translation.

This guy is a true IronMan.

Just look at this kid’s face.

The requisite daily cute cousins photo on the way home from the museum...

And I just like this shot I quick-snapped of Melissa in the Metro.

Despite having the world’s winningest personality (4 year old category), May was dragging by the end of the day’s adventures, so we split off for dinner. Syl, Melissa and I found this hole-in-the-wall Ramen place (there is no other kind in Tokyo!) that serves vegetarian ramen.

Like most everything else, Ramen pairs well with beer.

Five days in, and this kid is a chopsticks NINJA!!

Speaking of Ramen, tomorrow we are off to Yokohama, possibly to visit the Cup o’ Noodles Museum. Yes, there is a Cup o’ Noodles Museum. If the weather hangs in for us, we may skip it and do some more outdoorsy stuff. We’ll see, Our time in Tokyo is dwindling!

Running in Tokyo

The last couple of mornings, Melissa has shamed me by getting up and going running between 4 and 5 am (!!!) while I snoozed. It is pretty cool, I think, that in Tokyo a young woman need think not at all about heading out into the city, alone, at that hour. But there you have it - nearly zero crime makes for a great urban experience. 

Anyhow, this morning I copied her and headed (later!) to Yoyogi Park. What a gorgeous place for a run!

First, I had to get there (it is nearly 2 miles from our apartment). The wonders of Google Maps meant I barely had to pause while weaving my way through early rush hour Tokyo.

It was worth the weaving for sure. The site of the Olympic Village for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the park is well maintained and beautiful.

This stuff is basically Gatorade. 

Apparently Japan’s first flight took off near here.

On the back end of day 4...

Aya and Syl had a “sleepover” at our place.

Ben and I ventured into Shimokitazawa in search of a bar, with his other cousins. Seemed a straightforward in a teeming restaurant and club district, but our goal proved elusive.

Try one was, basically, a chicken place. We steeped in the vapor of a decidedly funky deep-fryer for one beer, before deciding to try again.

Try two was so bad I didn’t even think to snap a photo. “No biru,” we learned, only after paying our 400 yen cover charges to access a place that basically felt like Greg Brady’s upstairs rec room.

On my way back to our apartment, I walked by a pizzeria that I have been eying since arrival. It proved every bit as good as I’d hoped. So good, in fact, that I ate a whole pizza. At 11pm. Turns out, pizza and beer taste as good in Japan as everywhere else.