November 18, 2013: Tokyo Day #13! The Fine Art of Ramen! H.H. Giger prepares my meal at Chikuyotei! I finally pay the price!

Nobody appreciates the fine arts like I do and it should come as no surprise that there's nothing I enjoy more than hitting the local museums whenever I visit a foreign city.  Such was the case yesterday when Akemi and I woke up early so that we could catch the bullet train to Yokohama and…

November 8, 2012: The Osaka wrap-up! Back in Tokyo! Family dinner! Honkogetsu! Killer ramen!

On our final night in Osaka, I was invited to join Akemi's family for a grand kaiseki dinner at Honkogetsu.  It was a magnificent meal, due in large part to the food and company, but also in some small part because I made it through the meal without fumbling anything with my chopsticks or unwittingly…