Traveling Back To Asakusa

 Today was a large amount of travel and...not much else, to be honest. We checked out of the hotel at 10 and took the train to the airport, where we grabbed all of our luggage, did some repacking, and checked most of it in for our flight to Haneda. Japanese domestic air travel is so much nicer than US domestic it's not even funny. Every step of the way is how we should be doing it. I won't go on a rant about security theater and our general paranoia, but this was smooth and relaxing, security was thorough but easy, boarding was easy. We were lucky to have an empty seat between us, so we could even spread out a bit.

Arriving at Haneda, we brought our big suitcase with all the snorkeling gear to the baggage storage desk (this is a more recent thing. You can pay to have them store your large luggage while you travel in the country), then took the monorail to Hamamatsucho, then the Yamanote line to Ueno and felt like we were home finally! Stowing our bags in a locker, we set about on some very important business.

Ichiran ramen. Extra garlic and green onions, Heaven

It's funny reading Japanophiles try to knock Ichiranm, saying it's not all that good, overrated, blah, blah. Not only are they stupid and wrong and even more stupid, here's my take on it: It is NOT the best ramen I have ever had. That was in Kyuushuu. But it is a) very good ramen, b) VERY consistent ramen, c) tonkotsu ramen that I can be sure I can eat it without issues (practically all other ramen has fish, at least dashi), d) even with inflation it is still a very cheap meal that serves as lunch and dinner. I actively miss Ichiran ramen when we are home. American ramen places have been a gigantic disappointment to me since traveling in Japan. They are really bad, too heavy, the pork is a slab of meat rather than a thin slice (I actually get mine without the pork) and they manage to somehow make it oily and think everything "Japanese" needs seaweed. 

So I didn't rant about US domestic air travel, I ranted about ramen. But MAN it was good. And after a week of barely anything satisfying, having curry and ramen back to back days has really hit the spot. But enough about food. We rented an apartment for this trip!

"Urban Heights Tawaramachi"

It's a small studio apartment with everything we need: washing machine (no dryer, typical in Japan), refrigerator, sink and hot plate if we wanted to burn the place down. Larger than a hotel room with more amenities and more privacy and less than many hotels. We're very pleased with it. It's right off the Ginza subway line (2 blocks) and half a mile from Sensouji Temple. Far enough from the tourists (because we, of course, are NOT tourists...) but still close to many things to do.

Tomorrow, we're going to do another taiko workshop, this one an O-daiko lesson from a former Kodo member!