Yokohama Ramen Coma

Continuing on with the Australian Invasion (of one), the next day trip Lauren and I took was to Yokohama.  Our main reason (my main reason?) for going there was the Ramen Museum, however no trip to Yokohama is complete without a visit to Chinatown.  The Yokohama Chinatown is one of the largest in the world, and its a very bright and lively shopping and restaurant area, with a couple of shrines thrown in. 

Chinatown Shrine

So we wandered around there for a while, and I stocked up on Chinese pork buns and egg noodles.  Since we were going to the Ramen Museum later we didn’t have lunch at Chinatown, and we made our way along the bay side to the Minato Mirai area.  There we took a ride on the ‘Cosmo Clock 21’ ferris wheel. 

Cosmo Clock 21 Ferris Wheel

It really struck me how much the Minato Mirai district has changed since my first visit in about 2002.  It’s a much more international tourist friendly place, and there are more things to do.  From the ferris wheel we spotted a couple of things I want to try next time I’m in Yokohama, like the foot bath at the Manyo club, and putt-putt at Vivre.  Both of which are on top of the buildings! 

 

From Minato Mirai it was finally time to get our late lunch (or early dinner) at the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum.  The Ramen Museum is one of my favourite places to go in Yokohama.  Once you enter the Museum and walk downstairs into the basement, you enter a mock-up of what Japan was like in the early to mid Showa era (1925 and onwards). 

Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum

At any one time, there are about nine different restaurants showcasing different varieties of Ramen from all over Japan.  You can buy large or small bowls of ramen, and traditional Japanese sweets.  We were only able to fit in two small bowls of ramen, so we had Tonkotsu ramen (broiled pork bone soup) from the Kumamoto shop ‘Komurasaki’ 

Tonkotsu ramen

and Miso ramen from the Hokkaido shop ‘Eki’  

Miso ramen

 Both were very delicious, but pretty heavy.  I love trying different types of ramen, and tonkotsu still remains my favourite.  Alas, living in Kanto, the regional flavor of ramen is soy sauce, so I don’t get to satisfy my craving very often. 

And, after rolling ourselves home, that was our day in Yokohama! 

Once again, Lauren made a video, and you can check out her YouTube channel here! 

Yokohama Bike Ride

JAPANiCAN ran a free bicycle rental day in Yokohama last Saturday.  It was actually a survey for the Yokohama government in trying to improve tourism and road traffic in the area, so after riding around we had to fill in a survey (but we were also paid 2,000 yen).

I asked a friend to go with me, and we met bright and early on Saturday to get our bikes.  The bikes were really interesting.  I was my first opportunity to ride a powered bicycle, and while fun, I don’t think I could live with one everyday.

We spent the next few hours cycling along the waterfront in Yokohama.  Both of us had been to Yokohama a number of times before, so we had seen most things already, but as this was my first time there with my SLR I took some photos of the buildings.

Here is the Red Brick Warehouses, which are now a shopping mall –

The buildings nicknamed King, Queen and Jack (respectively) –

Jack (the bottom one) is my favourite.

The girl with red shoes on –

And of course, what’s a trip to Yokohama without stopping in Chinatown to have some eats (^-^)v My pick of the day was Chilli Prawn Buns –