Day 31:
With the rain now gone, the skies cleared and the temperatures rose for a beautiful day in Tokyo. Sadly, I have no pictures to prove it. I've been really thinking about buying a small point and shoot camera since lugging my dslr around has become quite a pain in the a**. But I'm not sure I should spend a significant chunk of my ramen apprentice salary on another camera. Well, I guess since it's for my blog and for my few faithful readers who actually read it everyday, I can justify buying one. I suppose I can sacrifice a few meals until I get paid again. Cuz sharing my dream through pictures is more fun than just writing about it. Right?
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Rain...
Day 30:
It rained hard all day today, but we still managed to get plenty of customers. Not much else happened, at least that I can remember. Like with most jobs, I'm starting to get used to the daily grind. Today was soup making day so it was just another 14-hour day of work. This may sound crazy but even on my days off I miss being at work. Yeah, I'm crazy.
Anyway, this is the view from the second floor of Ivan Ramen.
Minami Karasuyama is a small town that doesn't even have a McDonald's, but I think it's better that way. Someday I'll give you a grand tour of the surrounding neighborhood. Someday.
It rained hard all day today, but we still managed to get plenty of customers. Not much else happened, at least that I can remember. Like with most jobs, I'm starting to get used to the daily grind. Today was soup making day so it was just another 14-hour day of work. This may sound crazy but even on my days off I miss being at work. Yeah, I'm crazy.
Anyway, this is the view from the second floor of Ivan Ramen.
Minami Karasuyama is a small town that doesn't even have a McDonald's, but I think it's better that way. Someday I'll give you a grand tour of the surrounding neighborhood. Someday.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Go Ramen! mentioned in Maxim!!
I'm not a regular reader of Maxim Magazine, but last week I received a message from edjusted saying that my blog was mentioned in there. I didn't believe him so I went to the closest foreign bookstore and purchased a super expensive copy.
Sure enough there was an article about ramen and at the very end down at the bottom of the page...
It mentioned my blog!! Awesome! I'm sure Murakami-san will like this too.
So cool!
Sure enough there was an article about ramen and at the very end down at the bottom of the page...
It mentioned my blog!! Awesome! I'm sure Murakami-san will like this too.
So cool!
Another day off...
Day 29:
Although I am living the ramen dream and love my job very much, it's always good to have a day off. Especially if it means spending it in search of new ramen shops. I recently bought this magazine that lists most of the popular shops around the major Tokyo train lines. It's a good starting point for someone like me. Unfortunately, Ivan Ramen is not in it. Their loss.
Today I decided to check out Rinki in Nishi-Eifukucho. It's only a 1o minute trek on bike from my house and my coworker also mentioned that it was good so I was off.
I ordered the Hanjuku Tamago Ramen. I'll post more about it later but it was a very light broth with thin curly noodles. It was good, but I wasn't diggin' the noodles. Their tsukemen comes with "mix-men", two different types of noodles. I'd like to try it someday.
Afterwards, it was off to Shinjuku to hang out with friends.
And get my picture taken.
That was my buddy's gf. We are such dorks! haha. Good times!
Although I am living the ramen dream and love my job very much, it's always good to have a day off. Especially if it means spending it in search of new ramen shops. I recently bought this magazine that lists most of the popular shops around the major Tokyo train lines. It's a good starting point for someone like me. Unfortunately, Ivan Ramen is not in it. Their loss.
Today I decided to check out Rinki in Nishi-Eifukucho. It's only a 1o minute trek on bike from my house and my coworker also mentioned that it was good so I was off.
I ordered the Hanjuku Tamago Ramen. I'll post more about it later but it was a very light broth with thin curly noodles. It was good, but I wasn't diggin' the noodles. Their tsukemen comes with "mix-men", two different types of noodles. I'd like to try it someday.
Afterwards, it was off to Shinjuku to hang out with friends.
And get my picture taken.
That was my buddy's gf. We are such dorks! haha. Good times!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
"I'm eating pho with the ramen guy? What the pho!"
Day 28:
I bet that's what Ben and Ivan were thinking when we met up for lunch and yes...ate pho not ramen. Anyway, I'll get to that later. We did some crazy shikomi (prep) yesterday so I didn't have to be at work until 3pm. That means I got to have breakfast with the girls!!
And watch them get ready for school. Go Nieces! haha.
Back to the pho. My original plan was to meet Ben and Ivan at the new Ramen Street in Tokyo, but I miscalculated how much time I would have for lunch. By the time we met up, I only had 30 minutes to sit down and grab a bowl. And not to mention we were still about a 10 minute walk from the Ramen Street so we just sat down in the only place that didn't have a line--Com Pho. I ordered the Green Curry Pho. It was good but it wasn't the pho I grew up on in Cali. I miss Pho 79!
So let me tell you a little about brothers Ben and Ivan, the first Go Ramen! fans to visit me in Tokyo (aside from my friends). Ben is an artist and inventor on the rise. He showed me some pics of his latest invention that deals with the iPhone and it was a pretty cool idea. I certainly could use one here in Tokyo. Ivan is an internet dude that has designed and programmed some cool websites, including Flixya--a site where you can "share everything" and also make money doing it. They also told me that they like to experiment with making noodles and different soup broths in their spare time. Perhaps someday we can share some good recipes. Thanks for visiting all the way from SF! Next time we'll go eat ramen! haha.
Ben also asked me for my autograph. I've never been asked that before and it felt strange to do so, but I wasn't gonna disappoint the man and say no. So Ben, you are the first and possibly the only person to ever have my autograph. Take care of it. haha.
I bet that's what Ben and Ivan were thinking when we met up for lunch and yes...ate pho not ramen. Anyway, I'll get to that later. We did some crazy shikomi (prep) yesterday so I didn't have to be at work until 3pm. That means I got to have breakfast with the girls!!
And watch them get ready for school. Go Nieces! haha.
Back to the pho. My original plan was to meet Ben and Ivan at the new Ramen Street in Tokyo, but I miscalculated how much time I would have for lunch. By the time we met up, I only had 30 minutes to sit down and grab a bowl. And not to mention we were still about a 10 minute walk from the Ramen Street so we just sat down in the only place that didn't have a line--Com Pho. I ordered the Green Curry Pho. It was good but it wasn't the pho I grew up on in Cali. I miss Pho 79!
So let me tell you a little about brothers Ben and Ivan, the first Go Ramen! fans to visit me in Tokyo (aside from my friends). Ben is an artist and inventor on the rise. He showed me some pics of his latest invention that deals with the iPhone and it was a pretty cool idea. I certainly could use one here in Tokyo. Ivan is an internet dude that has designed and programmed some cool websites, including Flixya--a site where you can "share everything" and also make money doing it. They also told me that they like to experiment with making noodles and different soup broths in their spare time. Perhaps someday we can share some good recipes. Thanks for visiting all the way from SF! Next time we'll go eat ramen! haha.
Ben also asked me for my autograph. I've never been asked that before and it felt strange to do so, but I wasn't gonna disappoint the man and say no. So Ben, you are the first and possibly the only person to ever have my autograph. Take care of it. haha.
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