• Oodles 2: The Ramageddon

    June 4 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    So today started off relatively slow, with only one thing on our agenda, exploring the Imperial Palace.

    We strolled over and wandered along about a quarter of the expansive outer walls before we googled and realised that you actually need to book a tour to go inside... which we hadn't done. So we cut our losses and decided to hunt for lunch instead.

    While googling, alongside the palace’s moat, we stumbled across a revolutionary discovery, the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum. Not only is it a museum, but it’s also the world’s first ramen-themed amusement park. Obviously, we jumped on the 45-minute train and headed straight there.

    The best part of this obscure find is that it hosts seven ramen shops, all set in a street-scape replica of 1958 Japan, the year the world’s first instant ramen was invented. Each ramen shop offers small bowls so you can try multiple places. We ended up venturing into three of them (we almost went for a fourth, but decided to save ourselves for dinner).

    After enjoying our delicious ramen tasting tour, we explored the main museum area and learned about the history of ramen. Then we jumped on a train and headed back to our accommodation to hibernate and digest.

    After not moving for a few hours, we realised we needed to get up and move to hit our step count for the day. We walked out the front door, looked at each other and went: “??? Where do we go?”

    Where we went was back on a train to Shibuya, to revisit our favourite ramen spot of the trip. Were we hungry? Absolutely not. But we needed to confirm that it was, in fact, our favourite. Spoiler: it is.

    After more ramen (and feeling very full and slightly ill), we played some claw machines and then headed back — our step count achieved and the night getting late.

    Step count: 15.5k

    PS: I don’t think we’ve talked about how much of Japan is underground. The train stations and subways are never-ending. There are shopping malls inside them, and they web out as far as the eye can see. Plus, pretty much every building has basement levels. It’s wild.
    Read more