December 24th, Day Three, YOKOHAMA
Today started off early, but we took our time actually getting ready and leaving the Guest House. On the way to the station we stopped at Lawson's for breakfast. (No ice cream this time! haha) We grabbed a few onigiri, breads and tea. There was also a flavor of Cheetos that I had never seen before, Garlic Butter; sounds delicious right? So we grabbed them as well.
We ate our onigiri and sampled the Cheetos (delicious as expected) as we walked to Kamata Station. The weather was great. There was no sign of rain or even a cloud in the sky. From Kamata Station we took the JR Line to Sakuragicho Station. Now we were in Yokohama, the port city. I just remember being taken back by all the blue! The sky, the ocean - it was a perfect day. Shout out to the lone guy chilling and just reading his newspaper on the grass. Why not?
Today's main destination was the Cup Noodles Museum. Not only is it a museum that presents the full history of what we know today as "Cup Noodles", starting with its creation during the War, but there is also a hands-on Cup Noodles Factory.
I'm not going to lie, with all the hype about Cup Noodles, and all the innovation that has stemmed from it, I was expecting the exterior of the Museum itself to be more... eye-catching. There's modern art for you, simple.
So the outside wasn't much to look at. However, the entire inside of the museum was covered with Cup Noodle mascots and modern art. Everything was a strong white and red motif, very simple, very clean. And not surprisingly crowded. We purchased our entry tickets, 500 yen each and received our time slot for the "MY CUP NOODLES" Factory. The bulk of the people were gathered on the 3rd floor, constructing their own Cup Noodle, or waiting in the cue. Our time slot was 11:00~11:30.
There are actually two working areas on the 3rd floor. One is the MY CUP NOODLES Factory and the other is the Chicken Ramen Factory. At the Chicken Ramen Factory you experience making your own Noodles from scratch. However, you cannot just arrive on the day and decide to participate. Most reservations for the Chicken Ramen Factory are taken 3-months in advance.
For a good 10 minutes we were waiting at the front of the cue line that started at 11 o'clock. All the while watching people move into the other line towards the MY CUP NOODLES. Turns out, yes, we were in the wrong cue, so we quickly slipped over and got into the correct line. (My fault for not properly observing the situation and posting pictures to Facebook, I know.)
In any case, at the MY CUP NOODLES Factory you purchase your cup for 300 yen and then your group is guided to a table. With your blank, empty cup, you now have time to decorate it with the markers provided. Get creative! Just remember to stay within the red lines and mark the date!
Now you have a personally designed cup! It's time to put in the noodles and toppings. The noodles are placed on a belt and the cup is placed over them so they fit perfectly. No crooked noodles here. That orange and blue mess is my cup.... It wasn't half bad BEFORE I added to much blue and there was no going back. (And I'm the art major *shakes head*)
Once the noodles are in your cup(s) then it's time to choose your flavorings! One soup stock and four toppings per cup. There are four soups to choose from, including the regular Chicken Ramen, Chili, Tomato, and Curry. There are also twelve toppings in total, such as shrimp, egg, chicken, cheese, garlic, kimchi, green onion, corn... and so on.
After your toppings are all set, it's time to seal the cup. You get the official paper lid, and then the cup is put into a plastic which will vacuum seal itself as it goes through an oven.
By this time it was nearly noon. We finished walking around the rest of the museum, which included a short animation about Cup Noodles history, and while it would have been interesting to have lunch at the Cup Noodle Bazaar on the 4th floor (featuring noodles from around the world), we were not willing to line up at the time. I actually had a different idea in mind for our lunch.
We left the museum and started to head back towards the city, passing the famous Red Brick Warehouses on the way. It's another nice location for a day out at the port, but that was not where we would have our lunch. We continued walking and soon found our way to Yokohama's other popular attraction - Chinatown.
As much as I hope to avoid crowded places, I can't help the fact that all the "tourist" spots are always crowded. Chinatown was no exception. Far from it. The streets were so packed that navigating was a chore, especially with full backpacks. I noticed that most people were lined up for nikuman, which is a meat but usually made with pork. None of us eat pork, so that was off the menu. I was sure that there was another option somewhere.
We first found these sesame donuts with anko, red bean paste inside. It was a good snack, but we needed something more.
It just so happened that the place we bought our buns from was right across from a BEEF and CHEESE Gyoza place! Score!! We ordered one set, 4 pieces, to try them out. If you like burgers, you can imagine the taste I bet. I would definitely get them again, but not to share! We shared all the food we bought, so we didn't really eat properly, but it was great to try all the different treats. I recommend sharing food on trips, and don't be afraid to get seconds!
It was sometime after 2 p.m. when we left Chinatown. I reserved a bus to take us back to Nagoya, so we had to be at Shinjuku Station by 5:45. On our way to the station we remembered the Cheetos we bought that morning. Did we finish eating them? As we tried to remember what happened, my brother's eyes widened, "Um, I think I threw them out with the garbage." Noooo! No more Cheetos...
We rode the JR Line to Tokyo Station and went to grab our luggage (which was when I realized it was not a one-time charge, but 600 yen per day). Once we had our luggage with us, we headed straight to Shinjuku with time to spare.
It had been nice, almost warm weather all day, but when evening fell, so did the temperature. Our bus ended up being late due to traffic and we had to wait in the cold. However, we were able to finally relax on the bus as it drove us back to Nagoya.
By the time we arrived at Nagoya station it was almost midnight, so we caught the last train to my place. I live in a simple 1K, so I didn't have much to offer. Thankfully, my friend lent me his air mattress, and I had bought an extra bed set for myself before the trip. One brother passed out right away, while the other kept me company as I unpacked the goods they brought for me from home.
No surprise, tomorrow is another early day. I was glad to be home, even for just the night.
<<PART THREE: TOKYO, DAY TWO PART FIVE: OKAZAKI, DAY FOUR>>
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