Saturday, April 14, 2012

Days 18-20 Final days in Japan

At Taito game station in Akiba, there is this karaoke booth. You go in, close the door put in 100 yen for one song. It runs on Joysound instead of DAM. On a side note, there is a Joysound paid service on PS3 and I downloaded the damn 2 gig application only to find out that I can't use their service because I'm in Japan.  If you click on the above picture, you can see the list of Scandal songs.

Its got Harukaze! Yes! Yes! Yes! This is suppose to be the title screen but I must have pushed the button a bit too late. The audio is that great. Its got a bit of echo/reverb but its convenient when you just want to do a song or two.

My second song. Shockingly, Joysound did not have Mano Erina. WTF. Couldn't fucking believe it. Should have at least sung My Days for You in Osaka, assuming that DAM has her in it.

The reason for killing time at karaoke was waiting for this shop, Tonkotsu ramen hagi to open at 11.30. I think it was Thursday at Osaka this dude looked up best tonkotsu ramen in Asakusabashi and this was it.


Tonkotsu ramen Ogi. The soup is fucking awesome. Really love the thin, crisp noodles. Really reminded me of kan mien (dry noodles back in Malaysia) and came with extra wanton as service. It was called buta something. Truly best ramen I've eaten in Tokyo not counting the Kumamoto ramen at Shin-Yokohama museum. If you're in Asakusabashi, just exit Fukushima station using the exit, turn towards Akiba and keep walking and turn right at the lane before the next main road.

Bloody regret not finding out about Ogi at the beginning of my trip. Right now I bloody want to just teleport back to Japan to eat this stuff. 

Two Legend of Galactic Heroes ships for 16000 yen. If it were figures of Yang Wenli and Reinhard von Lohengram I would consider it. Not much of a spaceship fan.










The sakura leaves have started falling. I got this awesome feeling when I'm walking along and there's all these sakura leaves flying in the wind. Gave me a anime/dorama feeling. Just needed Tabe Mikako standing in front of me.


Went to Supa Potato for more final search for PS2 karaoke game. No luck.

I've got two dead Dreamcasts in Melb and my saturn is in Malaysia.

Didn't know Fire Emblem started on the SFC. Tempted to buy some Megadrive catridges to sniff. :)

Didn't know Tatsunoko vs Capcom was an arcade release. Actually I don't remember seeing it at other game centers.

Last day was struggling with whether to go to Shin-Yokohama ramen museum or Mutekiya Ikebukuro which I haven't tried yet. If only I had the ability to eat two bowls of ramen for lunch. Ultimately, I had to do more shopping and decided Ikebukuro it is.

Charsyu men. Looks pretty good and the charsyu is awesome. So soft and juicy. Still not as good as Tonkotsu Hagi but pretty good. Can see why people line up like crazy for it.

Each Idolmaster gravure for you costs 8000 yen. Someone is milking the hardcore fans like crazy.

The Gundam floor at Labi (I think) Ikebukuro.

For Gundam fans this is a must visit.

Need a shop for old school Macross. Most Macross stuff I see are for Final Frontier.

Sayumi life sized poster. So tempted.



Went to MaiDreaming for the first time at night. Can"t remember the name of the girl but she was super cute. Said she was new and it was the first time she had been asked for. Wish she had chosen some other prop. By the gods, can't believe can't remember her name. I see a ra as the first katakana but doesn't ring a bell.

Carbonara pasta with karaage. Super yum.

Huge 1000 yen nama biru. Should have put my hand on it as a size comparison. I think the girls who work at night are cuter than the ones during the day but this is too small a sample size. Drinking at maid cafe is slightly cheaper than a snack but you don't even get half the attention. Its pretty much like a host club where you have to spend more money to get attention. The only one I had an extended conversation with was the one I take a picture with. Need to find a maid cafe at night that's not too popular next time.

Went to Figure R for shopping on day 20. Its got a cafe at the top floor. Found a very rare figure here. Also went to Tonkotsu ramen Hagi for my last meal, not counting airport food. Right now in post Japan depression. On second last night I just couldn't sleep thinking that all this would be over soon and I would be back to reality.

Oh yeah, on day 19 managed to get a couple of hundred points from this female SF4 player called  donatsu. She had BB+ Cammy, Ibuki and A rank Viper. I play Viper but have no idea to play the Abel Viper matchup. Decided to try my Viper against hers and managed a couple of wins. Bloody impressed and I'm pretty sure she's not a trap like Kayo.

Big shout outs to Bframe for getting my Scandal tickets. Sorry you couldn't make it. Thanks to Iino for taking my SF4 bps and for hanging out.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:06 pm

    wow! a close encounter with a japanese chick. u lucky... haha..

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  2. Thanks for the ramen reviews. I'll have to check out some of those places when I go this summer. Thicker broths like tonkotsu are the only ones I really appreciate. I didn't realize there was a Kumamoto variant.

    When I see falling sakura pedals I always think of April Story with Matsu Takako. There's this surreal scene early on where they almost get you to believe it's snowing.

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  3. Maiku, I am so going Kumamoto next trip just for the ramen. I love tonkotsu. Its gonna be crazy hot in summer, unless you're going Hokkaido.

    April Story, great movie if it had a part 2.

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  4. I was only in Kumamoto for a half day. We went to the garden, no time for the castle. It seemed like a nice enough place but I remember liking the vibe and pace of Kagoshima more. Kyushu's amazing.

    Yeah, definitely not looking forward to the heat. I'll mostly be in the suburbs of Central Honshu (family stuff), but hope to make it to Tokyo or Nagoya for a little while. Thinking of taking the overnight ferry to Hachijojima for something different.

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  5. Only Kyushu place I've been to is Fukuoka. It has a more laid back pace compared to Tokyo and Osaka.

    The only reason to go Japan in summer would be for something like Natsufest.

    How about a trip to Hokkaido to escape the heat?

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  6. Actually I did a summer abroad in Hakodate during college. It was a blast, and very mild weather. I'd like to go back someday. The cities are nice but if you really want to see Hokkaido you need a car. I remember having to kill hours at a national park because I missed an infrequent bus.

    Ever consider doing a summer language course? (They're not just for college kids.)

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  7. Summer course would be good except for the weather. Right now I've got tons of Japanese study material. Its a matter of finding time and having the discipline to study consistantly.

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  8. That's cool. If you ever get curious I went through the Hokkaido International Foundation (HIF) in Hakodate. www.hif.or.jp

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