Ramen Jiro

So on Friday in Tokyo, Kazu did me the great honor of taking me to Ramen Jiro for lunch. If you watch Seinfeld, think Soup Nazi with Ramen. Kazu did a great job of preparing me mentally for the task. Even before getting there, I knew what to expect. An L-shaped counter that seats 5 on one side, and 5 on the other. The "menu" consists of small or large, and the option to get extra noodles, vegetables, or fat. The chef makes 5 bowls of soup at a time, and once he's finished with his current 5, he starts on the next 5. There's always a line and people waiting, so you basically have only about 10 minutes to eat your bowl and woe is you if you can't finish in time. Chopsticks only, no spoon. No rookies allowed here.

Ramen Jiro is open for lunch from 12-2. We got there at around 11:35 and there was already a small line. We were in the second bacth of 5. This gave me a good 30 mins to get myself properly psyched up. I felt like an athlete before a big game. It's a wonder I didn't start stretching. When the time came we both ordered regular smalls. You'd have to be a mad man to get the large. The small is the size of a large Pho 75 bowl... 500 Yen (about $5) for the bowl. I was ready.

When the chef put the bowl in front of me, I went to town. At time employing Kazu's technique of holding my next bite of noodles out in the air to let them cool, while I chewed on the current bite. Looking over at Kazu every now to monitor my progress and make sure I was on track. I'm happy to say, that as a representative of the Friday Guy noodle tradition, I did ok for a rookie. Finishing in time, and only leaving a bit of broth in the bowl.

There's no AC in Ramen Jiro, and the soup is hot, so when we got out, we were both sweating like after a good workout. Job well done!

And yeah, it was hella tasty!

Check out this sound clip from NPR about Ramen Jiro. Hilarious...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1604880

"Fabian bets money...

... that Jnet had to call Tamara to figure out how to publish a post on this bulogu."

Here are some pictures of last night:
11 p.m. - 1 a.m. : doing Karaoke
1 a.m. - 4:30 a.m. : drinking at Tina
5 a.m. - 7 a.m.: at the fishu marketu + sushi

Last night in Kyoto & Nara

Here are some pics of our last night in Kyoto, and the following morning in Nara. Fabian, being the weak-sauce that he is, wanted to go "sleepy sleepy" on our final night in Kyoto. I dragged him out for "one" last drink, and we happened to stumble upon a nice little bar in an alley off an alley...called Tombow (dragonfly). I played the "I brought these stupid foreigners" angle, and we had a great night having a few drinks and chatting with these two lovely bartenders -- the elder sister, the owner.

The following morning, Fabian and I took an excursion to Nara (about 45 minutes from Kyoto). Here are pictures of me being attacked by deer, and a picture of Toudaiji. Toudaiji is the largest wooden structure in the WORLD and houses the biggest buddha you've ever SEEN!!! An impressive sight, and I was glad we made the trip.

Kyoto

Here's a small sample of what we saw in Kyoto. Kyoto is considered by many as the cultural capital of Japan. It has a ton of temples and shrines as you can see below. Aaron joined us on the last leg of his 5 week Asia trip which was really cool. We got to Kyoto on Monday afternoon and wasted no time in heading to some of the sights. The second day we were there was less cooperative weather-wise, but we made the best of it. And of course, through all the sightseeing we ate well and drank plenty :)

Below:

Golden temple, Kinkaku-ji
Kiyomizu temple
Ni Jo castle

NO

You guys, I can't help thinking about the 4754 extended family New Orleans trip that we took a few years ago. That was an awesome trip, and New Orleans is such a great city. And the Soul Rebels... What more can I say!?

But the pictures on the news are just incredibly sad and the devastation is terrible. I can't imagine how New Orleans will recover and I know it won't be the same city. And the people... I really can't imagine how horrible it must be for the people who live along the Gulf Coast.

I know I am not really adding anything new to the dialogue about the hurricane destruction, but I keep thinking of that trip every time I see the damage on TV...

Day 3

Alright, my turn.

After a rough night last night (until 3a.m.) We woke up around 10ish and went to a nearby museum that was holding a Star Wars exhibit. Pretty sweet stuff they had. Original concept paintings, actual props used in the movies, etc. Then we walked (a lot) through the Shibuya and Harajuku districts. Had a few drinks in the afternoon and had dinner at a nearby restaurant that serves kickass tonkatsu (pork cutlet).

Tomorrow morning, we meet up with akl, and take the bullet train to Kyoto. Won't be able to update the BULOGU while we're there, but look forward to updates.

Kazu

No comment necessary

Ok, I lied. Couple of comments:

1) Happy birthday Kia!!!! (aka Amazing Kong)
2) Tina's rocks

3) Kazu still sucks at darts

4) We ate cow diaphragma, pig throat, cow heart

First night in Tokyo baby!

Yo!!!

First of all, the rest of y'all are weak for never posting on the BULOGU!!!!! (that's Japanese for Blog you bitches!)

But now that I got that out of the way, I got in to Tokyo today. Took the train downtown from the airport where Kazu met me. Took a cab to his place and proceeded to have a beer. Yeah! Then we went out to eat some tasty Japanese food (sashimi and bbq stuff) and then we went to a jam session where Kazu sucked (um I mean kicked ass).

Here are some pics:


















Wish we could talk more but Kazu wants me to drink more.

Holla!