On this trip I ended up relying on convenience stores a lot, for all sorts of reasons. It was a business trip rather than a holiday, and there was simply too much to do.

Drinks

Suntory had a new Premium Malt’s ale out, the Kaoru Ale. Nice and refreshing. The Horoyoi was good too. I hear it has launched in Korea as well?

BIC SIM card

This was a big help on the trip. 1GB isn’t much, but it was fine for social media. Japan has plenty of prepaid and budget SIM plans these days, so there’s a lot more choice. Bic Camera in particular will do the initial setup for you, which is a real plus. Prepaid SIMs are sold at the airport too, but if you’re not sure how to set one up, drop by a Bic Camera in town. The setup needs Wi-Fi and is a bit fiddly.

Asakusa

The scenery never changes, and that’s what makes it so comforting.

Matador cup ramen

Hmm… well… it was okay, I guess…

Taimeiken’s Omu Kuro Ramen

Butter and ramen, of all combinations… a pretty bizarre concoction, honestly.

Early cherry blossoms

Cherry blossom season is late March, so sadly there was no blossom viewing this time.

Surumeeza

Squid-flavored; it was okay, nothing more.

Sano ramen

Sanomaru is on the lid too.

Inside

A pretty faithful recreation of Sano ramen.

Ippudo

I bought this because it’s supposedly the best-selling ramen at 7-Eleven this year. It was about 250 yen.

Inside

Remarkably close to what the shop actually serves. No wonder it’s number one.

Pierre Hermé yogurt

The convenience store had a Pierre Hermé collaboration yogurt, so I gave it a try, and it was delicious. Airy and smooth in texture, with a tangy orange flavor running through it.

This one is vanilla

A different character from the mandarin, but just as good. Very Pierre Hermé.

Sapporo rich miso ramen

Same Sugomen series as the Sano ramen, and the whole line is consistently high quality.

Inside

Well recreated.

Tom yum Cup Noodle

It seems to be popular lately, so I picked one up.

Inside

There really are shrimp in it…

Rich pork-salt wonton noodles

I bought it because it’s from Maruchan, and…

There are actual wontons in it…

And they tasted like real wontons too. A little on the small side, though.

Vegeta pork and cabbage

This one claims to contain a third of your daily vegetable intake.

Inside

The amount of vegetables was no joke.

Sarashina Horii tempura soba

Inside

Slightly spicy, but the noodles were good and the tempura went well with it.

Donbei udon

Ordinary udon flavor. I was getting a bit tired of nothing but cup ramen, so I mixed things up a little.

Fruit

There were all kinds of fruit jellies for dessert, so I tried a few.

Raoh tantanmen

I stumbled on it by chance; it wasn’t easy to find.

Inside

It recreates the taste of tantanmen perfectly. If you told me it came from a restaurant I’d believe you. The one shame, for Korean palates, is that the heat is a little tame and the sesame nuttiness comes through more strongly. That’s typical of Japanese tantanmen, and Tantanmyeon Gongbang back in Korea sells a version adjusted to Korean tastes. In other words, you might be better off eating tantanmen in Korea than hunting it down in Japan.

Tom yum kung ramen from Thailand

As you’d expect from the real thing, the sourness was strong. I enjoyed it.

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