ラーメン博物館

so i went to japan for a few days and things went well. too well. i gained at least 5 pounds and i'm not even joking. i've learnt that money spent is directly proportional to the money spent. one of the highlights of the trip was definitely going to the momofuku ando instant ramen museum.

we didn't plan this. i dropped the guide on the ground and it opened on this page. talk about destiny and all that jazz, but it did happen. my brother decided he wanted some souvenirs for some friends, and so we went. going there really wasn't that big of a deal, but making our own cup noodles was just bomb. 

each of the noodle cup is 300 yen (about 24 HKD or 3 USD). not exactly expensive for a souvenir, but extremely expensive for a cup noodle. well as the big spenders that we are, our family got 18. we were also given big markers to draw on them and so we did. i'm just gonna say i'm a child at heart. the one that i've kept for myself looks like this.

front of my artwork

and the back of it.

i must say my design is rather dashing

18 of these. it was a pain to bring back home i must say.

after we've drawn on them, the processing begins. first, we were given the noodles. i mean if you aren't given the noodles, it defeats the point of just going there. however they first put the noodles in upside down, and the machine turns it over, so the noodles would be in the cup in the right way without sticking out. clever right? one of the good things about working in these corporates is that they do think of all the details. like pixar. if you don't know about my love for pixar, click ME to see it.

it's like a small cup-noodled ferris wheel

then it comes to packaging it. they use a plastic bag to seal everything, food and all. in order to make sure the bag is sealed and tight-fitted, they use a heating mechanism to make the plastic stick onto the cup. do i know the science behind? no i don't, but it sure looks good.

after it's all done, we get to put them in plastic bags that can be filled up with air and used as air sacs. another really clever invention by a japanese company. i approve, momofuku ando. kudos to you.

and there's me with all of the finished products

you might think: "sam, you've travelled half way across osaka to go to a museum and make instant noodles?"

well the answer to that is, yes i have. was i thrilled to have gone? well sort of, but not really. on the other hand, it was great, because my brother had so much fun. my brother is a very very sweet boy, who doesn't really mind going with us to anywhere as long as we are happy. this time round though, he was the one who told us he wanted to go and all, and i'm glad we did. to see the smile on my brother's face when the final product came out was priceless. too bad i didn't snap it down with my camera, but it was definitely worth every single penny.