at the whim of a fancy, i booked a flight to
tokyo over the weekend. i'd just lumbered back home after a terribly tiring and stressing day at work, and decided to join the passport control queue of
pot-bellied passengers and
anxious first-time travelers for a much deserved break.
yokoso japan!
all packed for a japanese ramen romp.
here's a couple of tips when traveling though:
1.
steer clear of bassinet-laden cabin areas. i'm not big on crybabies, and the infants really do a great job of tearing up on the crying front that anyone in their vicinity trying to sleep would be deprived of it. after that, you have this enormous amount of expletives in your head that you want to shout out but you can't.
social manners.
2.
wear thick mitts and overalls for delta airlines flights. it's either the tragically thin blankets or the copious amounts of air-conditioning. i was getting cabin shivers throughout the flight.
3.
eschew pre-dawn flights. you wouldn't want to drag your tired ass up the plane at four in the morning, resplendent with
eye booger and a
heavy dose of halitosis.
anyhows, i slept as much possible through the flight, despite the cacophony of crying babies, so that i could feast like a pig when i got there. after a while's wait through the necessary customs and carousel pickup for the luggage,
an hour and a half's trip on the dizzying bus to the city area, and another
twenty minute's cab ride to my holiday crony
jun's abode, i was almost feeling faint. i almost yielded to any food in my hunger-addled state when after dropping our luggages at his place, but no, my friend jun had to get his phone card fixed and that meant
another hour of waiting. thanks for the love bud.
the incessantly talkative jun, my travelling buddy
jun's humble abode, which was featured in some interior design's magazine.
a look at the myriad offerings of mobile phones
our first ramen stakeout: guang mian ramen
kyushu jangara: he best of the lot!
during my
four days there, i was on a
ramen pilgrimage and attacked all the various flavors and stalls. nothing beats the real mccoy back in its own homie-ground; the ramen was off the charts delicious. honors goes to jun, who went out of his way ushering me to the more popular ramen ghetto spots.
day 2.
home to famed football superstar nakata
the intricate web of railway stations. it didn't help that everything was in japanese symbols.
tokyo bridge by day.
tokyo bridge by night.
ramen bowl no. 4 @ kujukyu.
and on to number 6.
a little break from ramen intoxication:
a breather of hot chocolate, courtesy of bvlgari
tokyo is an eccentric's haven. i saw a weird contraption that was to contain a banana, an old lady talking into her gunnysack of a bag, tons of ass-flashing folksies in their ultra short kimonos. i tried to make a camera movie but my iphone ran flat before i could do so. thankfully, i managed to snap some shots (shorts).
a banana keeper?!
condoms for your finger.
mega-sized cloth peg. who even needs that?
this lady was seen talking surreptitiously into her bag. apparently, talking on the phone in public transport is met with disdain, hence the awkwardly comical disposition.
and we saw some butts.
ramen no. 7 at azabu's
and finally, one for the road. my final ramen at the airport.
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