Regrets, I've had a few

New rules - we'll eat meat while traveling if it is part of the cultural experience.

But, oh, the things we've already missed. We tasted no pho in Hanoi, no ham in Madrid, no jerk chicken in Jamaica, and no mole in Oaxaca. Here I am, the most food-obsessed person I know and I have missed out on all of these great things. And the worst regret of all? Japan.

You would think that a pescatarian would do alright in Japan. You'd be wrong. The Japanese like to sneak meat into even the most vegetarian-looking foods. So we probably should have known better before we set off looking for what the guidebook called the oldest-best-most revered ramen noodle shop in Tokyo.

Suffice it to say that Tokyo is not an easy city to navigate if you are a lost westerner with zero knowlege of Japanese and only a minimal guidebook map. We set off at noon, to have lunch at the famous ramen shop. After about 2 hours, we were starving and ordered some noodles from a street vendor to tide us over. A few more hours passed, and we were still wandering - lost - in the general neighborhood of the ramen shop. We're fighting. Our feet hurt. We're cold. But we are not giving up. We have spent so much time and we are so close, we have to find this place.

We find a bar instead. We drink beer and feel better. They offer us some little snacks. No, thank you. We are looking for ramen.

Off we go. It's now dark. Lunch has turned into dinner. We have been circling the same neighborhood for over FIVE hours now looking for the noodles. Finally a kind stranger takes pity on us and leads us by the hand to the shop which, I'm sorry Lonely Planet, NO ONE could possibly find with the crappy map you provided.

Ha. We're here. We've settled in. Food at last. What's that? Oh, it's all pork broth?

We left.

LEFT!!! What the hell was wrong with us?