#what is a cupnoodle museum and where do i find one

[bsd-brainrot-haver]

0 drip whatsoever but its fine they still ate (ice cream and at the cupnoodle museum)

[internetexplorersclub]

if I only I could send this via carrier pigeon from Catalina

At LACMA, a conservator named Kamila Korbela is dedicated to restoring Day-Glo paintings from the 1960s that have begun to fade. I did not fully realize that the reason Day-Glo looks like it does is because it’s shifting on the electron level, which creates that shimmer effect and makes it difficult to look at—which is of course, why it was used in certain paintings. The difficulty in restoring it comes from the fact that it’s fading, but not traditionally:

The first problem is that Saturn Yellow is a mix of both conventional color and fluorescent dye. Both types of pigment lose their brightness, but in different ways. While color fades, fluorescence is more correctly said to “extinguish” — its ability to transform invisible energy to visible light exhausted through prolonged exposure.

Day-Glo also refuses to give out the formula (!) to conservators, but modern fluorescent paint ages differently, so Korbela is finding ways to artificially age the pigment to match. 

 A friend of mine visited Catalina, and sent back snapshots from a museum there that talked about the history of carrier pigeons on the island. Apparently it was earlier to train a pigeon to fly to Los Angeles from Catalina than it was to run underground telegraph cable or whatnot, and the LA Times had a section of news from Catalina, specifically delivered by pigeon. 

 The New York Times wrote about white barn owls hunting voles, and how they fare better hunting in moonlight, which is fascinating, but the real MVP is this tweet: 

Three pieces about myths, folklore and legend. The first, about Max Rockatansky (the eponymous Mad Max) as folkloric and mythic hero, appearing in “times of crisis” à la King Arthur. The second, about the myth of the iceman as lothario, seducing women in their homes when he came to deliver ice, which inspired multiple songs in the 1890s - aughts. 

I just learned about THE CANADIAN POTATO MUSEUM on Prince Edward Island and I cannot wait to visit (it has been added to the list along with the CUPNOODLES museum which I realized I have not discussed On Here, but contains a place where you can make your own custom ramen, and the CUPNOODLES Drama Theatre, shaped like a CUPNOODLES where you can watch films about the company’s history)

Wondered why the Soviets sent dogs to space while American sent chimps? Me too, honestly, but wonder no more. (Obligatory note that this does talk about which animals didn’t make it, which is more than a little heartbreaking!)

Soviet space dog names are also my favorites, Laika literally means “Barker”:

 Bobik (Бобик) ran away just days before his flight in September 1951. A replacement named ZIB (a Russian acronym for "Substitute for Missing Bobik”…an untrained street dog found running around the barracks, was quickly located and made a successful flight

I love these billboards that are photographs of the mountains behind them: 

Finally, a dive into Ursula K. Le Guin’s storytelling, which thanks to my friend Door (who has a great newsletter), introduced me to her “carrier bag theory”— the idea that the first human tool wasn’t a spear, but likely something to carry other things.

If it is a human thing to do to put something you want, because it’s useful, edible, or beautiful, into a bag, or a basket, or a bit of rolled bark or leaf, or a net woven of your own hair, or what have you, and then take it home with you, home being another, larger kind of pouch or bag, a container for people, and then later on you take it out and eat it or share it or store it up for winter in a solider container or put it in the medicine bundle or the shrine or the museum, the holy place, the area that contains what is sacred, and then next day you probably do much the same again—if to do that is human, if that's what it takes, then I am a human being after all. Fully, freely, gladly, for the first time

She then takes it a step further talking about how this works in science fiction:

If, however, one…redefines technology and science as primarily cultural carrier bag rather than weapon of domination, one pleasant side effect is that science fiction can be seen as a far less rigid, narrow field, not necessarily Promethean or apocalyptic at all, and in fact less a mythological genre than a realistic one.

A good note to end on, methinks.

etcetera: The NYT looks into if a supposed cell phone ringing during a production of Sea Wall/A Life was actually staged—despite the production denying it (!). In Corning, N.Y., a steam whistle still blows marking time for factory workers to start work, stop for lunch, and more (though they have modern clocks in the facility now). Want to play a video game where you’re a goose terrorizing a village? Untitled Goose Game is for you

[saphscribes]

Hi! I would like to know the reaction of chocobro, when they find out, that their fem!s/o teacher at school. Please!

Oh, absolutely! As someone who works in education, this is definitely gonna hit close to home~ So, here goes!

Tagging: @vashiane @cupnoodle-queen @ultimoogle @wolfgoddess77 @noxfreyas @paopuicecream @ffxvhoe @taconinja7 @blindbae @kidolegend

Noctis takes the new information in stride, as he does with most things, but he’s always available to lend an ear if you need to vent about something, like one of the databases going a little screwy when grades are about to close or a student giving you some lip. He definitely respects your position and all the effort you put into your work, especially as someone who graduated at the top of his class; he knows what dedication looks like, and he knows what all the effort to be the best at what you do feels like. Expect Noctis to offer on more than one occasion to stay up late with you while you grade papers or tests. He’ll leave all the correcting to you, because he knows that no one can do your job better than you, but he’ll sit close by, tapping away at King’s Knight and stealing glances at you. And don’t be surprised if he drapes a blanket over your lap or, more often than not, fall asleep against you while you work.

Prompto instantly wants to know the ins and outs of what you do. Do you work with high schoolers or elementary kids? What subject do you teach, or do you tackle all of them? Is the teacher’s lounge as swanky as kids always made it out to be growing up? (It’s not, but he’s not necessarily disappointed.) Whatever it is, he listens with rapt attention, and he’s always the person you go to when you have silly anecdotes to share over dinner, like the time you found out you share a similar interest with one of your students halfway through the school year, or the Student/Faculty basketball game you’ve been practicing for. (Which he goes to. Brought a foam finger with your name scrawled in Sharpie and everything.) It’s because of all those little stories that Prompto can see how dedicated you are to your job, and especially to making sure your students are well-educated in a safe environment where they can feel respected.

Ignis is likely more concerned with the logistics of everything. Rather than focusing on the grades or silly stories, at the end of the day he’s infinitely more interested in the subject matter. He’ll frequently look over your lesson plans—not because he wants to critique them, though he can give constructive criticism if you ask for it—but because he genuinely wants to learn more about the places where you exercise your expertise. He loves your affinity for certain topics, and encourages you through the dullness of others, reminding you (perhaps in more ways than one) that passion is contagious. Ignis also understands that teaching can be a job that leaves you feeling overworked and underappreciated, and he’s more than acquainted with stress of his own. Expect him to bring you tea and gently clear away your work without further argument, because you don’t deserve to work perpetually the way he has to—and, perhaps, to offer to help chaperone some of your field trips, especially if it’s to a museum.

Gladio is, to absolutely no one’s surprise, the guy who makes the teacher kink jokes. If you ask him to do something for you—or to not do something at all—expect him to give you that grin you love so much and say something like, “Or what? You’ll give me detention?” (He’ll do it regardless. It’s just worth seeing the little blush that flares up every time he says it.) Teasing aside, though, he really admires what you do, especially if you work with high schoolers. It’s something he can relate to himself, given the ways he tries to connect with Iris and helped her with schoolwork in the past. He actually confesses to you, one night as you’re lying in bed together, that he’d want to be a literature professor if he weren't—if he didn’t have to be the King’s Shield. That maybe, when all of this blows over and the world is right again, he can do that with his life. He has to pull you away from little daydreams of “Professor Amicitia,” and adds with a wink that he could always use a Teaching Assistant—a job you would readily take.

[tottblog]

    I hope your Friday was good and your Sunday miraculous. I had the privilege of hosting my sister here in Japan last week. Having her here allowed me to appreciate my growth in knowledge of the Japanese language and culture compared to her blank slate. This is no mockery of her entertaining attempts to live and speak as the Japanese do but a celebration of my improvement; I mean, this is my blog!

Some of our attempts:

Ramen

For her first meal, we headed to Honmokuya- a tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen shop- for her first real bowl of ramen. Known by sailors as Black Door Ramen. A well seasoned man stands behind the counter waiting for your order from the ticket machine that guards the entrance. You select from the machine the size, toppings, and whichever of the few drinks he offers and hand him the tickets. And then with three words, you customize your order:

light/thick (broth)

more/less (oil)

al’dente/soft (noodles)

And in a few minutes, he hands you your warm, hearty, and heart warming bowl of ramen. Nothing fancy but you don’t come here looking for fancy.

I told her to practice eating with chopsticks! When all else fails, scoop and slurp!

Kamakura

Sakura season in Kamakura

Komachi Dori

We walked down the street, glistening under rainfallen and the nightlights, lined on either side by shops- food vendors and souvenirs.

We peeked in a few shops, some longer than others and we picked out some things- she more than I- for her to take back to the family. I had been here only once and was nearly as entertained as she was. I was glad she got to see some of what we imagine when we in the West think of Japan- Yukatas (the summer variant of the kimono), Torii gates, and shrines.

“Sushi-Go-Round”

I don’t think you can call a trip to Japan complete, at least not your first trip, without having a taste of sushi, even if it is from the convenience store. (Don’t tell anybody, I told you that.) But one of the things that seems to be increasingly popular among visitors and Japanese alike is the “Sushi-Go-Round”.

I don’t know if that’s the official name for it but it’s certainly been the most popular (preferred to kaiten or conveyor belt sushi). As the name suggests, the person preparing the sushi- prepares a number of sushi dishes for 100 yen, more or less, usually two pieces per plate, and loads them on to the belt, floating along until they catch the eyes of a diner!

But if you don’t see what you want or your concerned that its been on the belt too long – especially during slower periods of business- you can order it up fresh! You keep the plates on the table until the server comes and tallies your plates for the grand total. I wanted to try the chawanmushi, especially because I heard everybody else ordering it. But by the time I got the words out of my mouth, they were sold out.

Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine

Yokohama

Kushiage

Japan loves food on sticks! Yakitori, dango, chocolate covered bananas and anything penetrable by a skewer or suspended between chopsticks! But this one! Scattered through the streets with some friends, we were looking for somewhere we could eat without delay- and together. After a few shut downs, we stumbled across this place, stuffed in a walkway hanging off one this in obscure  street. We gazed the menu for a moment but it was simple. Endless tea, all-you-can-eat salad, miso, and rice with your choice of an 8-12 “course” kushiage. The kushiage consist of a variety of foods pierced by a skewer, coated and fried.

Kushi connotes the stick and age, fried. The difference between Kushiage and the probably better known tempura is that tempura doesn’t involve sticks and it is batter dipped in a more airy batter resulting in a crisp snack. Kushiage is prepared through more similarly to the standard breading procedure- flour, egg, bread crumbs.

I had the 12 course.

Onion

Mushroom

Broccoli

Chicken and leek

Tofu

Lotus root

Sweet potato

Quail eggs

Shrimp

Asparagus

It’s not that I can’t count. I just can’t recall the other two.

Available on the table for dipping was, believe it or not, ketchup and mustard, grey salt, ponzu and some teriyaki based sauce. I shall return.

CupNoodle Museum

Museums are another ubiquity of Japan. I’ve visited the Ramen Museum in Shin Yokohama, but wasn’t too impressed. If you know what to expect, you might have a better experience. After you’ve paid the small admission fee, maybe 300 yen, you are granted access to two exhibits, one, the history of ramen presented in black and white, and detailed in the Japanese syllabaries and the other ramen throughout the world, with little more information than the general “foodie” would know. Theirs also a souvenir shop and a slot car track. On the lower floors, there are a number of ramen shops that you must stand in line and pay at the ticket machine for your “samples”. How much ramen can you eat?

But I figured I’d try out the CupNoodle Museum. I personally believe it was more of a museum. I don’t know what more I would expect of it but within a museum devoted to such a specified topic, I guess they do an okay job. We began our tour with a video presentation that speaks of the times and thoughts that inspired Momofuku to invent CupNoodle and how he became the chairperson for the industry.

The rest of the museum elaborated on the contents of the video with photos and text blocks along the wall with a vague art forms and philosophical quandaries on the topic of noodles in a cup and the inspiration that it potentially births. I enjoyed it for what  it was but wished I got there earlier before the “Make your own Cup Noodle” tickets were sold out.

Shibuya Crossing

We continued on to Shibuya, not just to be tourists-  drawn to the busy intersection featured in movies, tossed to and fro by the excited crowds and the snooty horns of impatient drivers. But I thought it would be a good launching point into our exploration of Tokyo. Honestly, once we arrived, I didn’t really know where to go from there.

We did visit a Krispy Kreme (’cause you just don’t find those in the states.)

(Actually, you probably would never find one as bound in the details and with flavor offerings like this one.) and we wandered into an izakaya for some cheese sticks (not mozzarella), wings, and yakitori- that is if yakitori includes pork

Harajuku

Named Tokyo’s fashion capital, Harajuku was worth a visit. Lots to look at. One of those kinds of places that you can go without a plan and not be disappointed, if you go on a weekend or before things close at 10 during the week. After work, there wasn’t much I could do. I was tired, and a bit bothered to learn that we had begun this journey with the desired end at a 4 floor 100 yen store, comparable to a dollar store. But hey, she’s just visiting.

Nabe

Perhaps our best experience was motsunabe- or offal hot pot. I never told her what offal was. Granted what we were eating wasn’t so bad: it included chicken knees cartilage. I don’t know if this would’ve sounded any better if I just stopped at chicken knees. But it wasn’t really the food that made the time. We sat down with a Japanese friend who isn’t fluent in English but speaks more English than I do Japanese. We ordered a round of sake and were treated to what I guess we could call soup. It was some rough chops carrots and potatoes with chunks of chicken in small bowls of the broth they were probably used to make.

Motsunabe mound

Then came our personal burner, our nabe pot and a mound of cabbage, garlic, chiles, and chicken knees. Flame on! And as it boils, the cabbage is flattened in the heat, lowering the mound to its demise. We laughed and joke as we tried to master the language and read the menu, teaching each other of the differences in our cultures. John, the guy who runs the shop, even joined in for some of the fun.

Her child like fascination and the incessant appearance of her phone, capturing and sharing every detail of the slightest contrast to the world she’s known, reminds me again to enjoy all of Japan, or any new experience I find my self in- even in the slightest. Things that I would smile at one day and take for granted the next. To cherish these things is easier when you have somebody to share them with.

  Slurping Noodles, Sipping Sake, and Seeing the Sights I hope your Friday was good and your Sunday miraculous. I had the privilege of hosting my sister here in Japan last week.