Tokyo #8 Cup of Noodles Museum

Did you know that the college kid staple 'Top Ramen' and the backpackers favorite "Cup of Noodles" were invented by the same Japanese man?  Momofuku Ando came up with the idea for Top Ramen in 1958 and Cup of Noodles in 1971.

In a little shed behind his home Momofuku started work on an invention for quickly making ramen at home by just adding hot water.  His problem was figuring out how to cook and then dry the noodles. He worked alone sleeping only 4 hours a night and without a day off for an entire year.  Finally while watching his wife deep fry something he decided to try deep fat frying the noodles after they were cooked and it worked. I didn't know that the noodles were first deep fat fried. That explains the fat content of Top Ramen.  The product was dubbed 'magic ramen' and became an instant sensation in Japan.

When he decided to break into the US market he realized that eating noodles in a bowl with chopsticks was not going to cut it!  During a fact finding tip to America Momofuku observed a supermarket manager breaking up Chicken Ramen noodles, putting them in a cup and pouring in hot water and then eating with a fork. He realized that moving past conceptions about how we eat was the key to making instant ramen a global food. And that is what they have become....a global phenomenon.

The Cup of Noodles factory in the museum was controlled chaos with lots of school children on field trips.  The noise level was pretty high....but I had so much fun!

First take a plain 'cup of noodles' cup

 Decorate

 Watch the dried noodles come down the conveyor belt and put the cup upside down on a bundle of dried noodles.

Voila!  

 Now choose your favorite soup mix and favorite little dried ingredients.  Luckily there were illustrations on each selection so you could decide if you wanted the fish or the pig or the chicken!

 Put on the shrink wrap

 Seal it in the machine and you have your own custom made 'Cup of Noodles'!

 Some of Momofuku's advice is worth noting - There is no such thing as 'too late' in life.  Failure does not provide us with the key to success.  The entrepreneurial spirit means creating something from nothing.  Be meticulous, yet bold.  Tenacity is the breeding ground for inspiration.  Think, think and think again.  Initiate the change instead of following the changing. There is always something beyond you to aim for.  Do what others will not.  Turn work into play.  Don't come up with excuses if you fail.  The origin of every activity of humankind is related to food.

Following his own advice, Mr. Momofuku kept inventing until he was 95 years old.  His last invention was Space Ramen, which can be eaten in a weightless environment.

Very fun and interesting morning and something I had never planned to do!  Often while traveling those unexpected experiences are the best!  

Tokyo #7 - Barça!

I did a double take the first time we went to the restaurant at our hotel in Yokohama! My boys, my team, FC Barcelona stayed in this hotel for the FIFA Club World Cup in  2011.  They had all their meals right in the restaurant where we were eating!   For a fan like me that was downright exciting!!!

And they won!   The final against Brazil's Santos was billed as the show down between the current king of football, Lionel Messi, and one of the pretenders to his throne Neymar. 

As it was, even Neymar himself was gracious enough to admit that, for now at least, Lionel Messi and Barça are simply in a class of their own.  "It's impossible to stop them, " reflected the teenager.  "Today, the best team in the world showed us how to play football."  Now Neymar and Messi play together for FC Barcelona!!!!

2011 was a great year for all of us Barça fans!  In the words of their coach, "In the first half, the players were like artists, whatever they envisioned in their minds, it appeared on the pitch."  This was FC Barcelona's 2nd Club World Cup in three years, with the highest number of overall goals and with a record winning margin in the final itself.

Tokyo #6 - Guide Dogs for the Blind Japan Style

Look what we happened to run into in Japan.  A Guide Dogs for the Blind fundraising activity!! All this was happening in the town square just outside the train station in a popular resort town,

This dog was showing off her obedience skills.  Isn't she a pretty girl?

I'm so happy that the trainer spoke English perfectly so we could talk.

These two dogs are considered PR dogs.  Their primary focus is public relations and fund raising.  Just like at our Guide Dogs here in Oregon, the breeds they train are Labs, Golden Retrievers, and Lab/Golden crosses.  It amused me that these dogs knew more Japanese than I did. "My Guide Dog is smarter than this tourist."

It appears that being a PR dog is exhausting work!

Yes we did put some money in the doggy bank that the volunteer is holding!  I love Guide Dogs for the Blind, even in Japan!

Tokyo #5 Toilets, yes toilets!

Japan definitely gets the award for the country with the best toilets.  This little beauty was in our hotel room.

You know it is a fancy toilet when it comes with a control panel!  You could have a bidet or a spray and could control the water pressure.  Best of all the seat is heated!   When you sat down a subtle amount of air freshener automatically sprayed.  These fancy toilets weren't just in hotels either.  They were also in public bathrooms in museums, malls and even in some parks and temples.

Many public restrooms provided disposable towels and antibacterial cleansers for the toilet seat.   A person from Japan visiting in the US is probably horrified at the state of many of our public toilets.

 I walked into one bathroom in a mall and was shocked to see a urinal .  I did a quick double take to be sure I hadn't made a big mistake.  The sign assured me that I was in the 'Ladies' but I couldn't figure out the urinal until I went in the stall. This bathroom is all about being convenient for mothers.  A urinal for little boys who aren't old enough to go in the Mens alone and a small toilet for a small child.  Pretty handy if you ask me.

This large bathroom is on the train!  It is probably 4 times larger than on an airplane and spotlessly clean!

But just so you know you are in another country - there are the occasional 'squatty potties'!  But they are very clean also!

And speaking of urinals (not something I often do), I was sitting on a bench at a park that was directly across from the toilets.  I couldn't figure out why men kept coming out zipping their pants.  Why didn't they take care of that INSIDE the bathrooms?  Then I happened to notice that the urinal was located right by the place where the door could have been, should have been; but wasn't. The men were in plain view the whole time!

Tokyo #4 Teisha Bridge

Just because it is so pretty.....

Tokyo #3 Jay Walking

In Japan NO ONE jaywalks.  Notice this intersection.  The streets are narrow and there was no traffic at all.  Yet everyone waited calmly for the walk light to turn green. 

 

Japanese people walk fast and are always in a hurry but they are natural rule followers and don't seem at all irritated by waiting patiently even when it would be perfectly safe to just walk across.  Sometimes it seems that you could crawl across in plenty of time to avoid an accident.

Thinking I was alone at one such intersection, I put one foot in the street while the walk light was red and just happened to notice a policeman on the other side of the street watching me intently.  I quickly repented, yanked my foot back and waited for a full cycle while not one car passed in any direction, avoiding jail I'm sure!!!

Tokyo #2 Fish Market

The second morning in Tokyo I got up at the crazy hour of 2:45 to try and get tickets to the Tsukiji Fish Market, specifically to see the tuna auction.   I was in a taxi by 3:00 a.m.  amazed at the amount of traffic in Tokyo at this ungodly hour!

 

When I arrived at the office  at 3:45 there was already a line but I was lucky to be in the first group to get tickets.  Only 120 people are admitted each morning.  The lucky few are divided into two groups wearing either stylish yellow or blue safety vests; one group is allowed in the auction area at 5:25 and the other at 5:50.  For two hours you sit on the floor and wait while listening over and over to all the safety rules.  I met some nice people from California and two couples from Barcelona!  I recognized their accents and knew they were Catalans. The fish market is not technically a tourist attraction but a working auction.  I have heard that if you break one of the rules you are escorted out.  I was careful to do just what they asked us to do.  Well, I did break one rule, I stopped to take pictures while walking to the auction.  What self respecting tourist could resist!  Not one of the 60 in my group that I could see!  

At exactly 5:25 a.m. we went into the actual auction area and were met with the sight of hundreds of huge frozen tuna laid out on pallets being carefully examined by the prospective purchasers.  

I would have no idea how to pick the best tuna but obviously these fellows do!  They are looking for fat content.  The prized bluefins have the highest fat content and that is why they fetch the highest prices.

I wonder what one sees up close and personal to a slice of raw tuna!  

 Each tuna is carefully painted with an auction number, seller information, weight and the location where it was caught.

Although I couldn't understand the prices being yelled I did get the idea when something was 'SOLD'.  Actually the bidders make their bids with hand gestures.  They cautioned us not to raise our hands while the auction was going on.  Don't want to accidentally buy a 500 pound frozen tuna! The average price is about $100 a kilogram or 2.2 pounds.  In January a rare bluefin tuna went for $1.76 million dollars or $3599 a pound!   Wow, that is some expensive sashimi!

At various times the market has been closed to tourists because it is just not safe.  Chief dangers come from these little electric carts that silently zip around at breakneck speeds.  I tried really hard not to be run over by one while taking a picture of another.  Also notice the mountain of styrofoam  boxes.  I can't imagine this makes environmentalist too happy.

More than 500,000 tons of seafood pass through each year, 20 swimming pools of water goes into the ice that vendors use each day, 42,000 people work at the Tsukiji market and the overall market is 32 football fields in size!  Impressive!

In memory of all those tuna I decided this was an appropriate lunch and it was a lot cheaper than $100 a kilo. Purchased at Target not Tsukiji!