ramen museum

day 34
despite the stupor induced by bowls of ramen consumed so far, we're huge fans. so a visit to the ramen museum in shin-yokohama was highly anticipated.

first, some odd sights on the way to the museum.



a roasted chestnut stall.






i believe all cats have this view of themselves.






so cute. unfortunately, destined for soup.





















ahh.. the museum. 1958. admission is $3, and "every adult is exected to order at least one bowl". that's not going to be a problem for us.






resting between bowls, we got caught in the front row of an impromptu bingo game held by these fine officers. i won a giant ramen lollipop with a craftily composed card row of sumo, baseball, and curling.






believe it or not, this is a mini-bowl. one of the things that makes ramen so enjoyable is that it comes in infinite varieties. this one with miso base, round noodles, roast pork and secret powder.

each of the 11 restaurants makes one type. we also tried fish base, curly noodles with sea dragon topping.

we were thinking of getting a third bowl, but took a detour upstairs and never made it back. thank goodness.