!!! Cup Noodles Museum

Friday was a holiday and I had to make the most of a glorious random day off, so off I went to the Cup Noodles Museum!!!

Instant ramen and Cup Noodles were invented by Momofuku Ando, who is probably one of the greatest men to have ever lived. Ando was originally from Taiwan, and I find it kind of ironic that one of the things this fairly xenophobic nation is most famous for was created by an immigrant to the country. Most of the museum is in Japanese and doesn't really cater to the foreign crowd, but it's still very well done and reminds me of modern art museums.

The second floor is dedicated to telling the story of Ando and instant ramen, which thankfully I already knew since we studied it in Japanese 301 (for real, we did). In the days of postwar Japan, Ando wanted to create a food product for the masses that could be prepared easily and quickly, while still being able to satisfy the everyday working man. His first creation was the brick-shaped "Chikin Ramen," and some years later on a business trip to America he witnessed some brute white guy break up the ramen noodles into chunks, put them in a cup, and add hot water. I'm sure it was the most epic light bulb moment ever. The rest is history.

Most of the second floor kinda looks like this,
but has a better white balance IRL.

Amazing projection room exhibit

So artsy~

Serious question: WHY IS THERE NO SPAM RAMEN?
We can have BACON AND CORN, BUT NO SPAM.

WHY CAN'T I BUY THIS TODAY???

Eco-ramen: Porcelain cup with ramen package.

After you explore the museum and work up an appetite for noodles, you can head to the fourth floor Noodles Bazaar and eat little bowls of noodles from all over the world! All the bowls are 300yen each and the ones I sampled were delicious.

PHO!

I couldn't read the kanji but
it was spicy and beefy and WONDERFUL.

I did not get a chance to make my own Cup Noodles or Chikin Ramen, since it was a holiday and there were kids everywhere, but I'm definitely going back to get the full experience!

WHERE: !!! Cup Noodles Museum
STATIONS: 10 minute walk from Minatomirai Station, 20 minute walk from JR Sakuragicho
COST: 500yen admittance, additional fees for certain activities

Wipe Your Butt with Pikachu!

Way back when my vacation was still fresh and new and had potential, I found myself with Tracy wandering around Sakuragicho. Prior to our pit stop at Anna Miller's, she had mentioned the Landmark Tower had some sort of Pokemon event going on and they were giving out toilet paper.

Well now, that just meant we had to go get a few rolls of our own~

The Landmark Tower is home to one of the many Pokemon Centers in Japan. You can go there to buy all kinds of Pokemon merchandise and sometimes there are events where you can download special edition Pokemon to your DS, like Flying Pikachu or something. On this particular day, I think they were holding an event to help promote the new Pokemon movie.

Let's get roll paper!!!

There were five stations set up with different activities. You had to complete each activity, turn in your scorecard, and BAM free toilet paper. We knew we didn't really have to complete all the games to get the toilet paper, but we had time to kill. The games included a Rhythm Heaven type game, a matching card game, a search and match game on a touch screen, a singing game, and a listening game. 

Only worthy of a blue stamp :(

TRACY AND I ARE STILL VERY PROUD OF OURSELVES ON  SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING THE LISTENING GAME. You had to listen to a portion of the song below and somehow determine which Pokemon were named. I listened like 10 times but I got it OH YEAH.

Song lyrics and Pokemon to wipe your butt with!

Between the games and visiting the Pokemon center, it was a fun way to waste an hour.

Anna Miller's Yokohama?

Yeah, really. I found ANOTHER Hawaiian institution in this great city, and it's the Yokohama branch of Anna Miller's!

They even have a take-out pie counter!

On my humble island of Oahu, there is a modest family restaurant by the name of Anna Miller's. It's not really fancy but it's a nice place to eat if you're out by Pearlridge. They're known for their pies and baked goods back home, and I'm pretty sure even my family has an old pie tin that was borrowed but never returned to the restaurant.

Mmm pie~

Tracy gets credit for this find. She and a friend of hers were walking around the mall in Sakuragicho and she was shocked to see the big familiar 70's looking font. Seriously, of all the Hawaii restaurants that could've been transplanted in Japan, especially in a fairly high-end mall, Anna Miller's is not at the top of the list.

The original restaurant~

I was kind of disappointed to see the menu consisted of stereotypical American food and not true local kine grindz, if you know what I mean. We lucked out that the restaurant was having a Hawaii fair and serving loco mocos and things with my beloved luncheon meat Spam.

Tracy ordered a slice of banana cream pie and I got the fried saimin. Allow me to use some pidgin for a moment when I say HO BRAH BROKE DA MOUT' (I do declare, it was quite delicious. So delicious, in fact, my mouth is now broken).

Delicious!

FRIED SAIMIN OMG.

This was this past Sunday, so I've got the rest of my summer vacation to write about! I can't believe it's almost over... I need another month...