久留米らーめん 鐵釜 & Pastel- 横浜駅

Spent a whole day in Hakone and decided to have ramen in Yokohama as it was recommended by a co-worker's friend.  It was conveniently located in/near Yokohama JR Station and the name of the shop was Tetsu Kama (Iron Kettle).  Ordered my ramen from a vending machine and selected their spicy char-siu ramen for 900YEN.  It was SPICY, not much meat, and the broth was a bit on the salty side.  I prefer TETSU ramen over this one.  There was another ramen shop also located in Yokohama JR Station that we passed by with a long line.  My coworker told me this one was pretty good.  Will try that one next.

Opposite from our ramen shop was a pastry cafe called Pastel.  So many desserts to choose from!!  I finally settled with a matcha and azuki bean pudding.  The matcha flavor was light on top, but once I got further down in the cup, it was intense!  YUM.  The azuki bean topping definitely paired well with the flavor of matcha.  This one is definitely a keeper at 300YEN.

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Beatles Bar - ぺんじゃっく ライブパブ

Without referral, it would be difficult to find this tiny, tiny bar with an excellent band that plays Beatles all night long.  It is located right under Shinagawa JR Station in a not-so-glamorous setting.  Yes, they sing with an accent, but the guitar and electric guitar players are impressive.

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Franklin Avenue's Burgers - フランクリン・アベニュー

Search no further in Shinagawa for big juicy burgers and fried chicken!  Definitely a keeper in my book.

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Shinjuku at Night

After giving up looking for another festival in Shinjuku, we became increasingly hungry after walking past all the plastic food models in the window.  We decided to try this Korean-Japanese fusion restaurant and was pleasantly surprised by the variety and authenticity of each culture's food.  

Asakusa Samba Festival

Note to self:  Think twice before attending ANY festival in Tokyo.  I was almost swallowed whole by a sea of sweaty people and did not get to see much of anything.  I also found it amusing that there was a sound level recorder trending dBAs.  The parade seems to be JUST below acceptable levels allowed by our company for process equipment.

TETSU Ramen てつ ラーメン屋-つけ麺

Shinagawa has another ramen shop, TETSU, that I would recommend.  It is located right outside of Shinagawa JR station and 5 min walk from my apartment.  

It was my first experience to purchase a ramen ticket from the vending machine and I was a bit skeptical at first but I can see why this method is widely used.  Space is typically limited in ramen shops and in order to minimize time spent indoors, ordering is done outside.  

Anyways, I purchased the special cha-siu ramen for 1,000YEN.  Veggies come seperately at 100YEN.  I was surprised again when my ramen was brought out as the noodles, broth, and vegetables were all in separate bowls.  It was explained to me that drinking the broth was unhealthy due to the sodium and fats and so to avoid the noodles and vegetables from soaking up the soup, it is presented separately.  Additionally, the soup was THICK.  The way to eat this was to dip the noodles into the broth, eat, and repeat.  Similar to cold soba noodles.  I tasted the soup, which is made from seafood and pork bone, by itself and the flavor was intensely concentrated and salty.  If you prefer a thinner soup, chicken broth is offered in thermoses on the table for soup diluting purposes.  

The broth, noodles, char-siu, and egg were much tastier than the first ramen shop.  If there was a ramen shop I would come back to, it would be this one.  Beware though, I heard the line could be demotivating during lunch hours.

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First Ramen Experience in Shinagawa -風神つけ麺ラーメン

This is a sit-at-counter type of ramen shop.  When I went, we waited 15 min for a seat but well worth it.  I ordered their ちゃしゅう麺(Char-siu ramen = chashuu men).  It comes with seaweed, some other pickled vegetable, green onion, noodles, and decently thick slices of char-siu.  The noodles were cooked to my liking as it was not too soft and slightly chewy.  The broth was pork based, not too salty, and deliciously savory.  The ramen cost 900YEN, a bit pricey, but I guess everything in Japan is pretty expensive.   The ramen was good, definitely 10x better than Houston could offer, but not as spectacular as the Asahikawa ramen I had in Hokkaido.  I'm still on the search for a tastier ramen shop.

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Apartments 33 - Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan

I was dropped off in front of the Shinagawa Prince Hotel after a long 2 hour bus ride from Narita Airport.  The last thing I wanted to do was to roll my heavy suitcase and carry my violin, backpack along the streets in the city.  I looked at my map and it said "5-min" from where I was to the temporary apartment I was to live in.  The 5 min turned out to be 15 min because of traffic lights and wasted time trying to locate the elusive building.  Finally, after signing several thousands of papers (seems typical here in Japan to get anything) and paying for my entire stay upfront, I was given my room key.

This was a very nice serviced 1-bedroom apartment.  I was surprised at how spacious it was and the careful attention to interior design.  Some of the highlights include super fast heating induction stove that boils water in 30secs!!! compared to Houston which took 10-15min, dimmer switches throughout, multi-function heated toilet, awesome washer/dryer combo, and the weekly maid service (she even did my dishes and threw out the trash).  There is a gym on the first floor but its not worth describing. Eh.

The downside is that if you are paying out of pocket for this apartment, the average person would probably bankrupt quickly.  This apartment costs 630,000YEN a month plus a 5% cleaning charge at the end the stay.  But if you are on business, this is definitely the way to go.

Having lived here for a month before I finally moved into my permanent apartment, I have no complaints.