Jumped on the Shinkansen in Osaka just before the doors closed. I wasn't paying attention to the type of train, just that it was a Shinkansen going to Tokyo. I started thinking that maybe I got on the more expensive train that isn't covered by my Rail Pass. So I'm listening and watching the sign in Nagoya to figure out if indeed I got on the premium train so I could bail out instead of paying. The doors close and then they finally say it's the Nozomi after it closes, which is the train that doesn't honor the pass, oops. It occurred to me that while the Nozomi is definitely faster maybe some of the extra cost means riders don't have to put up with poor foreign tourists like me. So I was hoping every minute from then on that no one would come by and check my ticket because I just had a regular Rail Pass.
About an hour later I decide to bail out in Shin Yokohama. There's only 11 more minutes to Tokyo where I was headed but I figure why push my luck. Getting off I realize Shin Yokohama is not near the main Yokohama station and is only connected directly to Tokyo by taking another Shinkansen or a seemingly long and complicated series of train transfers. That's okay because my Rail Pass is good for any slower Shinkansen. So I'm ready to hop on the next one when I remebered I wanted to visit the Ramen Museum located somewhere near Shin Yokohama station. It's the only place I've heard of that seemed interesting and I knew to be in the Shin Yokohama Station neighborhood. All the maps I can find around the station were in Japanese so, while I could just ask someone in English "where is the Ramen Museum?" I figured to be resourceful I really need to find a poster or something promoting the museum, maybe there would be a useful map but I could definitely see how it's spelled in Japanese so then I can go back and locate it on the big Japanese map by the station. That strategy actually worked though in hindsight I should have just asked at the information desk.