Friday, March 15, 2013

Places that Really (and Thankfully) Exist: The CupNoodles Museum

For those who don't already know, I re-signed my contract and will be staying in Korea until the end of February 2014. That means another year of fun filled blog posts for you!

Between contracts I was able to take a two week vacation in the US and an amazing trip to Japan with my friend Deanne. To be honest we spent most of the week in Tokyo gorging on ramen and sushi, but I thought it was time very well spent. In between eating sessions (needless to say the food in Japan is amazing) we managed to fit in some shopping and visits to the main tourist attractions. Though the Shinto shrines and shopping were incredible we agreed that our greatest discovery by and far was the CupNoodles Museum in Yokohama (located in the outskirts of Tokyo).


That's right. There is an entire museum dedicated to the sodium filled joy that is Cup Noodles. Though some might be quick to write it off as an over the top marketing ploy, it actually has some cool art installations, and you can make your own custom Cup Noodles! You can even learn how to make the noodles from scratch and learn the hot oil drying process used to harden them. Unfortunately we didn't get to the museum early enough to make our own noodles, but it certainly looked like fun.

The custom Cup Noodles making experience begins with decorating your own personal cup. Then once you finish and the noodles are put in place, you can chose your powder flavor and four little dried vegetables and/or meat additions. Then you watch as they shrink wrap the container and voila! Your own custom Cup Noodles is complete. Perhaps I am easily entertained, or perhaps it was actually really awesome.



You can see my sad attempt to draw a bowl of ramen above the "S"...I blame the lack the fine tipped markers.
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Here you can see the machine they use to press the noodles in the container, and they allow you to...wait for it...crank the machine yourself.


The awesome custom noodle factory people.


The gentleman working at the counter was kind enough to pose my custom noodles for the camera.

Afterwards you could wander through the exhibits, including a massive display of Cup Noodles throughout the years, starting from its inception in 1958. According to the historical information provided it took Ando Momofuku, the inventor of Cup Noodles, an entire year of sleepless nights and weekend-less work weeks to perfect the hot oil drying process that preserved the noodles for future consumption. The additional exhibits were about creativity and pursuing your passions (in case your custom Cup Noodles wasn't inspiring enough already).




The great man himself.

I thought the most amusing part (aside from the above statue) was the ramen bazaar, a labyrinth of mock cheap noodle stands modeled after their counterparts in various countries. It serves as the museum's restaurant where you can buy and eat noodles as they are made in different cuisines, from Chinese to American to Vietnamese.


I like how they purposely made the stand on the right look particularly dingy, though it didn't do much to wet my appetite. Not that it mattered much since I was able to enjoy this ramen the day before (if you are bored, at work, and very hungry, I suggest you skip the next photo):

 This is some out of this world authentic Japanese ramen we ate at Kyushu Jangara Ramen in Harajuku. The restaurant right near the Harajuku subway station and I highly highly recommend eating there if you are in Tokyo!

Overall, I'd say it was a very very positive day:








Monday, March 4, 2013

The Wedding Dress Story


I am the cupcake bunny, hear me roar.
Contrary to what this photo might lead you to believe, I'm not one of those girls with a Pinterest account dedicated to my dream wedding. So how did this happen?

Well, in addition to the seemingly inescapable "Gangnam Style", Seoul is also becoming known for its abundance of cute and over the top themed cafes. Back in October I wrote about my experience at one of Seoul's many Cat Cafes, where you can mingle with cats and coffee. Last weekend I finally took a long awaited trip to the Princess Diary Cafe, where one can spend the afternoon reliving their childhood days playing dress up in their mother's closet.


So how does the Princess Diary Cafe work? Here's a breakdown:

Step 1: Enter the cafe, attempt to speak with the hostess in broken Korean.
Step 2: Order coffee and/or food.
Step 3: Put on your make-up, do your hair, and use the restroom if necessary.
Step 4: Pick a wedding dress to wear. Dresses range from 10,000 to 30,000 won to put on.
Step 5: Get pinned into said wedding dress by an assistant. Watch out for the dress needles! No safety pins here. Then add accessories, like a tiara or animal ears.
Step 6: Be surprised and thrilled at how fun it is to have your own personal, fake wedding photo shoot with your friends.
Step 7: Try not to be bewildered and/or giggle at the couple that just walked in. Yes, that guy is going to take fake wedding photos with his girlfriend and genuinely enjoy it. In fact, it might even have been his idea to come here.
Step 8: Take off wedding dress.
Step 9: Enjoy delicious coffee and food.

Me and my friend Nadia saying yes to the dress.
They had a corner with special lighting to make your skin look flawless.
Some might find it absurd to pay $30 to try on a wedding dress for an hour, but culturally it make sense. As young adults Korean don't have opportunities like prom or formal school functions to play dress up. And for their weddings, dresses are usually custom made, so there is no "Say Yes to the Dress" style dress selection sessions for women. In general it's difficult to find many stores where you can just go in and try on fancy dresses like you might at a department store in the States.

Considering how much people spend on things like prom and other one night events, $30 to wear a fancy dress for an hour actually doesn't seem so bad. The most surprising thing for me is how common it is for couples to come to the cafe. When I imagine asking a boyfriend in the States to join me for a fake wedding photo shoot and coffee, I imagine the back of his head becoming a spec of dust on the horizon as he runs for the hills. I'm sure there are Korean guys who go just to please their girlfriends and don't genuinely enjoy the experience, but believe it or not I think there also are many that do enjoy it.

While most would jump to the go-to-conclusion that Korean men tend to be more effeminate, I think their willingness to play dress up is actually due more to cultural differences in dating and relationships. First it's true, in Korean dating culture, men are definitely expected to go the extra mile for their girlfriends. Chivalry is without a doubt alive and kicking (if I had a dollar for every time I saw a guy holding their girlfriend's purse...).

Therefore doing something like taking fake wedding photos with your girlfriend doesn't seem as extreme here as it might in the States. You can see this high expectation for romance played out in Korean films and TV dramas (something that has no doubt attributed to their popularity in the US and abroad). I think as a culture, romance in Korea is something desired equally by men and women, it's not a "girl thing."

Second, I think this can be further attributed to the fact that the general attitude toward marriage is different. At least in some social circles, marriage among young couples in America is treated as a far off distant prospect, something that is difficult to imagine yourself doing. People get into relationships to "see where it goes" or relationships that "aren't serious."

My experience dating in Korea is limited but I get the sense that relationships aren't usually treated so flippantly, or at least the prospect of marriage isn't something to be feared. Korea has very community oriented society, the idea of being married to someone for life doesn't signify giving up a part of one's self the way I think it does in the States.

When it comes to marriage for American men, I think the idea of getting married and having a family signifies giving up valued personal freedom and in no small part, some of one's manhood. On the other hand, for Korean men, it seems that having a wife and children makes you a man. When asking my male high school students what they want to be when they grow up, several have replied "a good father".  Most foreign girls who've dated Korean men will tell you that they aren't shy about dropping "L" word or discussing marriage. This isn't to say all Korean men want to be married and all American men don't, but the general attitude and dating culture feel pretty different.

It can be seen even in my own writing of the subject that Americans tend to treat love and marriage as taboo subjects within a relationship until the proverbial question has been popped. While I'm sure saying "I love you" is still a big deal in Korea, I don't think you'll hear any Korean girls harping on the difference between "love" and being "in love." For Koreans, these things are just part of the relationship deal. You can talk about love without "dropping the L bomb" and take jokey wedding photos because that's what couples do, they get married. At least some of them do eventually. And if you don't, your fake wedding photos will just be another thing to burn, along with his old t-shirt and that teddy bear he gave you.



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