Tonkotsu Ramen in Shinjuku

Seems to me that amongst the various kinds of ramen (Shoyu, Miso, Tonkotsu, etc), Tonkotsu ramen is the most popular with Singaporeans.

I'm a big fan of Tonkotsu too. Recently I also got addicted to Shoyu - thanks to Miharu restaurant - but I still have a thing for Tonkotsu.

In my first trip (or was it my first 2 trips) to Tokyo in recent years, we stumbled upon a shop that sells very, very umai ramen. If you tried Tonkotsu ramen at the Santouka (山頭火) outlet in S'pore and think it's heavenly, wait until you lay your hands on this one. Imho this is streets ahead of Santouka - nevermind the shop's unassuming exterior and ojisan-like ambience.

We chanced upon the shop again this time. I ordered cha-shu (braised pork) and she ordered kikurage (black fungus) ramen. Add the condiments, as desired - they have spicy takana (salted vege) and benishoga (pickled red ginger).

By the way, they have an interesting 'service committment' to fulfil you order within 30 seconds. They did just that.

Name of the shop is Hakata Tenjin (博多天神). It's at the Kabuki-cho area in Shinjuku. Exit from the East gate of JR Shinjuku Station and just keep walking until you reach the traffic lights. It's along that stretch of road.

Trust me - once you try this, Santouka suddenly becomes mediocre.

Find out more about Hakata ramen here: http://www.rameniac.com/ramen_styles/hakata

Kichijou-ji

When I was studying in Japan I had to make the best of my monthly allowance. People always find Japan an expensive country - in many ways I tend to agree but cheaper places do exist.

Kichijou-ji (吉祥寺) is a western suburb of Tokyo, accessible by the Inokashira Line. It does appear out of the way, considering that tourists would usually muck around in areas like Ginza and Shinjuku. However, Kichijou-ji is a really cheap and good place for clothing, shoes and accessories if one doesn't mind the longer train ride.

Inokashira Line is part of Keio Railways (not JR). Interesting about Keio is that they have various train services running on the same line - Normal (各駅停車) , Rapid (快速), Commuter Rapid (通勤快速), Express (急行) , Semi Special Express (準特急) and Special Express(特急). To use the services effectively one has to switch between these services, but if it's too much hassle you could just stick to Normal - although that would naturally mean a significantly longer journey.

Stumbled upon a rather good ramen restaurant in Kichijou-ji. It's called Shou and sells Kyushu Ramen. The pork bone broth was thick and tasty but not overwhelming - I found it rather addictive.

Akihabara

As you know, Akihabara (many locals call it Akiba) is the famous electric town in Tokyo. In my school days I'd be there almost every other weekend - mostly browsing PC and Nintendo games and the 'strategy guidebooks' for the games. Brings back many fond memories of Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Romance of the 3 Kingdoms etc.

Maybe I spent too much time there in the past, so I no longer feel as excited the last time I went there. Or maybe it's because the scenary has changed quite a lot; there're many more new buildings especially around the train station.

There's one good thing about all this change though. My recommendation - head straight for Yodobashi Camera. It's a big building right next to the station. For starters it's probably the only place you need to go to know Akiba. Nevermind that it's called 'Camera'. They probably started selling only cameras many decades ago but today, they represent everything that Akiba is about.

Besides electric gadgets, they also sell toy models and figurines - Gundam etc. They dedicate an entire floor to just this.

As usual, I have something to say about ramen. There's a good one on the top floor, name's Chabuton. Apparently this is the first ramen restaurant ever to be listed in the Michelin Guide.

More info on Akiba here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara
(Can never underestimate Wiki's usefulness :D)

Tokyo Tower

It's probably not as famous as the Eiffel Tower but still worth a detour, if you happen to be in Tokyo.

And I mean detour cos it's not exactly near any major shopping or sightseeing place. I like the night view. Walk around the observation tower and you should be able to see the Imperial Palace, Shinjuku, Yokohama etc. depending on the direction you're facing.

Restaurants and souvenir shops are located on the lower floors. There's this interesting curry rice restaurant, name's Tokyo Curry Lab. What's on the menu is slightly different from the 'traditional' Japanese curry, and it's nice. I'm not sure about the other flavors but I'd recommend the bitter beef curry and spicy pork curry. After the meal they serve you a yummy shot of yogurt.

What's most interesting to me was the paper tablecloth that looked like a map from Pirates of the Carribean. It's educational e.g. did you know that curry increases blood flow to the brain? And how to remove curry stains... :)

More info here - http://www.tokyotower.co.jp/

Staying in Shinjuku

It's Shinjuku Star in AsiaRooms, but the actual name now is Star Hotel, Tokyo.

Room's incredibly small. The last time I was there, the window would open only 2 inches because it'd hit the wall of the next building. I'm not exaggerating!

But other than that, it's really the best considering price, location and distance. Why location? Because it's situated in Shinjuku - a must for beginners and non-beginners :) And Shinjuku Station is very central. You can get to almost anywhere quite easily by rail/ subway. Not forgetting that the Narita Express brings you straight to the airport.

The hotel is barely 5 minutes by foot from Shinjuku Station. (3 minutes if you have longer legs.) No other hotel at this budget is so near any station, much less Shinjuku.

Oh, and the food. They serve breakfast buffet. It can be quite addictive because the food looks and tastes so homely. They serve this grilled fish on hot stones... I was wondering why not just over a small fire or something, and it occured to me that the stones, while keeping the fish sufficiently hot, serves not to overcook it. Haha.

Anyway, here's the link to the hotel, with lotsa reviews. But don't be fooled by the picture of the hotel, in reality it's sandwiched between two other buildings. http://www.asiarooms.com/japan/tokyo/shinjuku_star.html

If you're more adventurous, go to their own website at http://www.starhotel.co.jp/city/tokyo/index.html. That gives you much more options on rooms and rates.

Narita Express

Narita Airport is in Chiba prefecture, and it's quite a long distance from Tokyo. As travellers I think we normally prefer to take cabs or buses but I always take the train.

My favorite is the Narita Express because it takes me to Shinjuku Station in under 100 minutes (faster than by bus), is the only direct train to Shinjuku (the other train, Keisei-sen, terminates at Ueno) and is cheaper than by cab.

Some of you may wonder why Shinjuku Station. More on this, next time.

It's easier than you'd imagine. Once you get out of Customs, head for the ticket sales booth for JR Narita Express. Choose the departure time of your train - if not mistaken, there're 2 departures per hour. The price per adult is slightly over 3,000 yen.

Yes, the staff do speak English. Rejoice.

Having collected your ticket and enjoyed your first encounter with a Japanese sales staff, proceed to the platform via the gantries. Once you reach the platform, try to stand at the spot where your cabin will stop right in front of you. For example, if you're assigned Cabin #7, look for a signboard on the floor that says "Narita Express, Cabin #7". Pictures attached. You can't go wrong.

Don't worry too much about input and output. I mean food and toilet. The facilities and means are available in the train.

But guys, be warned. One, the doors to the urinals are transparent, so you'll be showing your 'sexy back'. Two, the train may be jerky at times so you should either stand firm, or wear pants that are quick to dry.

And enjoy the view. Notice how trees and farmhouses are replaced by apartments and commercial buildings as we move from Chiba to Tokyo.

O-Den

O-den is essentially Japanese yong tau foo. It's one of my personal favs. It's best when eaten in cold weather.

It may be an acquired taste to some of us. For myself, I picked this up when studying in Japan. It's easy to cook. Just throw everything into a pot and boil.

When the weather turns cold, convenience stores in Tokyo will start selling o-den. Not the packaged kind. You literally scoop whatever you want, dump them into a foam bowl, pour some soup inside, and pay at the counter. It's probably 200 to 400 yen. Small price to pay for satisfaction.

(Some guys pay a lot more to get satisfaction at night.)

It has become a habit - now whenever I stay in Tokyo, on some nights I'll grab o-den at convenience stores on my way back to the hotel, for late night supper.

And you occasionally get away paying less. How? Try to hide some of the items underneath others. The bloke at the cash register isn't going to empty the bowl and count. So he may end up undercharging you.

Smiling? Then you're definitely Singaporean.

More info on this delicacy can be found here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oden