Back to normal...

Day 263:

For the most part anyway. I followed up with my doctor today and he said I can go back to eating ramen, sparingly. Woohoo! But I was still craving that curry from Kusamura. It was good, but I think I was craving it so bad that it didn't live up to my expectations.

Back at work, it was a busy Saturday and I managed to get through it without any ill effects. Thanks go out to my coworkers for having my back! 助かりました！

Please excuse the mess...

A day to rest...

Day 262:

I was told not to come into work today so I could rest. And rest I did. Thank you all for your concerns about my health. Honestly, it's not the ramen that's causing it. If anything, the ramen soothes it. The cause is actually my job and all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. Don't worry. I'll handle it and be back to normal in no time. I promise.

Anyway, I rode my bike to Kusamura for lunch and although I didn't intend on ordering ramen, it just slipped out of my mouth. Seriously, I wanted to eat the katsu curry bad...real bad. Oh well.

After a long, long nap, moca called to say she needed help. Her friends were wanting good ramen and she requested that I be their guide. If it were anyone else I would have said no, but since moca always has a way of cheering me up, I agreed to meet them in Koenji, where I took everyone to eat ramen at Tabushi.

Not only do I like Tabushi for their ramen, I like watching how the two dudes run the kitchen. Their setup is impressive.

The regular ramen is a tonkotsu-fish blend that is similar to Mochi Mochi No Ki but better!

Everyone else got the shoyu-tonkotsu ramen, which is the same as this minus the fish. I forgot to take a pic.

I wasn't really craving gyoza, but moca was so she ordered some. And exactly what I thought would happen happened. She ate two pieces and made me eat the rest. haha. Thanks moca!

Afterwards, I went straight home to go back to sleep. Goodnight...

The highs and lows...

Day 261:

As soon as I got home from work, I took a shower then passed out. But for some reason, as tired as I was, I could only manage to get 6 hours of sleep. So with the effects of heartburn still lingering, I went against my doctor's orders and visited my secret ramen-ya again. "What is that for?", I asked. "The curry", the old man said.

This time I decided to go with the Tanmen, which is basically a salt-based ramen with vegetables and pork. Watching the old man make it was something of a gift. I couldn't tell if he was annoyed with how I kept looking over the counter or if he just enjoyed my curiosity. I assumed the former so I stopped being nosy and moved my eyes to the tv. The peppery tanmen was great. But in the end, it's just tanmen.

As I slurped down the tanmen using my pro-ramen-slurping speed, the old man brought me a sample of his curry. Perhaps he did enjoy my curiosity, I thought. I thanked the old man and complimented him on his food and he briefly explained how he makes his soup. Awesome, I thought. Then...as I got up to pay, the old man turns to me and says "I'll teach you. Just ask me and I'll teach you. I'll even let you come behind the counter and cook." "Seriously??", I replied in amazement. "Seriously!", he confirmed. And after a few more "seriously's", I rode home the happiest man on earth.

I celebrated with shave ice in a cup.

Before work, I decided to head back to the burger-joint frisco in Shimokitazawa. I had heard that they will be closing on the 26th and wanted to get one last burger before they did.

This is a great burger. I hope the owner can find a new location soon. As I was leaving, the owner remembered me and shook my hand as he called me brother. haha. Thanks brother!

Now this is where we start to go downhill. The medication I'm taking is surprisingly strong for Japanese medicine. And being as dizzy as I was, I probably shouldn't have been wielding a knife. Yup, you can probably guess where this is going. In short, my night ended prematurely as I had to get my finger stitched up at the hospital. Thank you sis for taking me and thanks for the wonderful dinner!

Slicing my finger may actually have been a blessing in disguise. Only time will tell, but I feel confident about it... Right sis?

A burning heart...

Day 260:

It's been a whirlwind month. I'm not one to complain, but it felt like I was strapped into an intense roller coaster ride that was both frightening and exhilarating. There were times I wanted to just jump off but couldn't and times where I could just ride forever. Anyhow, it's time to change rides. According to my doctor, I need to slow down. Lack of sleep, long hours of work, too many soberless nights, a week with a bad cough, a strenuous trip to LA, and a few lingering personal issues have all contributed to a bad case of heartburn that has been loitering in my chest for the past three days. Needless to say, it hasn't been fun. But I'm ready to move on to that next bowl of ramen. Although there is one problem. Doc says no coffee, no alcohol, and no ramen for the next 3 days. Okay...so the coffee and alcohol I can do, but no ramen?? Hellzz no! Without ramen there would be no blog and therefore I would have no life. Wait, I think I found a loophole. He said no ramen, but didn't say no tsukemen...haha. ;)

After only eating one meal yesterday, I left the doctor feeling extremely hungry. But it was still early and all the ramen shops in the area had yet to open so I found myself in the refrigerated food section of my local market hovering over the packs of instant nama-tsukemen. Like any noodle fool, I chose the one with the famous ramen chefs on the front.

I also bought some packaged chashu to go with the packaged Tan Tan Gomadare tsukemen.

Now how is this for a 'home' cooked meal?

Although I will probably never eat this again, it was actually quite good!

So after eating the tsukemen I took my meds and passed out for a couple hours. And when I woke up, it was time to take some more meds but I couldn't do that on an empty stomach. Thankfully, my sister was testing her new panini griller that arrived today. Mmm...turkey with basil butter and melted cheese.

Doc also told me to skip work tonight, but that wasn't an option. Time for some more tsukemen!

本当に疲れました。何時も僕のブログを見ててありがとう！YOU give me the strength to continue!

My secret ramen-ya...

Day 259:

As I biked along the outskirts of my neighborhood, I came across a hidden ramen shop with no name that I apparently never noticed before. To make a long story short, this is my new favorite ramen shop and I'm gonna keep it a secret. Actually, it does have a name. It's called Shinka and according to the owner it's been around for over 40 years. Good luck trying to google it though. You won't find this shop on any ramen-related or non-ramen related website. Want to know where it is? Send me an email.

After taking a seat at the empty counter, I told the old chef to give me the ramen and half chahan set. The chahan came out first and looked decent enough to eat, but I have to say that this was one of the worst plates of chahan that I've ever tasted. The outlook on the ramen was not looking very good. But...

The ramen was actually really good. Okay so it's not like save-the-world good, but this was a damn good, refreshing bowl of old-school shoyu ramen with a kick of ginger. I really, really need to go back and try it again to make sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. I sit alone in a 4-seat counter staring at noodles...

The set also came with this mini bowl of sprouts and bonito flakes. I wasn't sure what to do with it so I just dumped it in my ramen.

The noodles were great too. I'm pretty sure that they weren't handmade, but they matched well with the light soup.

Speaking of noodles, they say you can tell how a ramen-ya is doing by the height of their men-boxes.

I'd say we're doing okay...