See you in Lake Havasu!

Day 206:

Thank you Chris! Thank you Daryl! Thank you Mikey! Thank you Langdon! Thank you Blackmarket! Thanks for coming back to Bassanova one last time before you left Japan. Your albums will always get play time on our speakers. As promised, I'll see you in Lake Havasu someday soon. We need to plan OUR next tour! Good luck with the band and I'll be looking forward to hangin' with all of you again.

Natto ramen anyone?

Showing a rock band the way...

Day 205:

"Show a rock band the way." That was the title of the email I received last month from Chris Davies, the manager of Blackmarket. Apparently, the guys in the band are huge fans of ramen and since they'd be in Tokyo for a show, Chris enlisted the help of myself, Brian, and Nate to show them around.

So where did we take them? Tsukishima Rock of course!

We literally took up half the ramen shop. It was awesome.

It may have just been pure coincidence, but I sat down next to Langdon, the drummer, who happens to be a huge basketball fan like me. Within seconds we were recalling all our memories of the nba when we were kids over a fantastic bowl of ramen. He even respected the fact that I was a clippers fan.

The shoyu ramen we had was, like I said, fantastic! The fragrant smell of ginger was enough for me to say wow!

From left to right: Langdon (drums), Daryl (guitar & vocals), Mikey (bass).

After our first bowl of the night, I was able to tag along with the band to another live in Shimokitazawa where a Japanese rock band was performing.

And then it was time to show them Bassanova!

After a few autographs for my boss, which included the signature of the honorary fourth member of Blackmarket.

Bam! It was time to show the guys what ramen dreams are made of.

By this time, we had all clearly drank too much, but Mikey and Langdon were in no mood to call it a night. So I took them out--ramen rock star style. haha.

The night never ends without eating ramen at seven-in-the-morning and Yamaokaya just happened to be in our path.

There's nothing like bonding over a bowl when you've partied until the sun comes up.

It's all about the circles.

One night + one shared story + 3 bowls of ramen = friends for life.

Rock on!

Sprayed with Blackmarket mist...

Day 204:

No barking from the dogs, no smog, and momma cooked a ramen with plenty of hog. It was a good day. One of the best yet. It started with a visit to Fuuraikyo in Shibuya...

...for some shio ramen. I'm pretty sure Fuuraikyo is related to Santouka because their similarities are endless.

Smooth, sentuous, and scintillating. Yes, I am referring to the ramen.

Now it's time to do what the sign says.

Blackmarket was in town and I got a free pass to see their show.

They rocked!!

They even gave away a free ipad (the first in Japan?) at the end of the show. Unfortunately, only paying guests were eligible to win it. After the show, we got to meet the band and talk ramen. Yes, I was invited to their show because all these guys love ramen. Cool, huh?

The show ended a bit early and I had some time to kill before I had to get back to work, so we decided to go check out the most bougiest of ramen shops in the world--MIST in Omotesando Hills.

C x N = MIST? You may see this on the walls. Translation: Chabuya x Natural = MIST. Yes, MIST is a Chef Morizumi creation.

This is one high-class ramen-ya that even has ramen sushi. I felt a bit awkward sitting in the nice red velvet seats, but I'll do anything for a bowl.

Dude, there's a frickin drawer in the table!

I ordered the shoyu ramen with an egg. Impressive. But all things being equal, would I want to eat here everyday? Probably not.

But I would eat here again. Especially if I wanted to impress a girl. Haha, jk. Okay I'm not.

My neighbor got the shio ramen. It was not as impressive as the shoyu. I would definitely recommend the shoyu ramen over the shio if you go.

Apparently the bowls for the shoyu and shio are different and they are each designed to bring out the best flavors. I was even told that the rim of each bowl represents the size of the noodles used. Yes, bougie.

Time to listen to my new cd!

I think I like 10 and 2 the best...