I Made My Own Noodles and You Can Too

I look like a troll doll!

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you Shut The Fucup Noodles With Beef, my very own brand of instant noodles. More than just a cheap pre-existing brand of noodles with modified packaging, Shut The Fucup contains its own original flavor, haphazardly chosen by myself, Sean Nakagawa, whose likeness figures on the package.
 You, too, can make your very own cup noodles at the Cup Noodle Museum at Minatomirai, a place I didn't think would be as interesting as it turned out to be. Located near the Red Brick Warehouse I had mentioned in the previous post about the Minatomirai bay-side area, the museum has several floors of trivia about cup noodles and its creator, as well as some extra-fun floors with interactive noodle-making and tasting areas. It's a fun place to spend a few hours, and, interestingly enough, a good place to take a date, as was made apparent by the number of couples on site.
But enough of that. I bet you want to know how I made my Shut The Fucup noodles.

You want to make Shut The Fucup noodles? Well you can't. Only I can. But I can tell you how you can make your own damn noodles. Once you design your package as masterfully as I have, bring it to the counter. A designated noodle slave fills your cup and then you get to select a number of toppings and one of four flavors. Shut The Fucup Noodles With Beef doesn't actually contain beef, because, unfortunately, beef wasn't among the choices available. I wish I had known that before I wrote that on the package. Your toppings inserted, your cup noodles are then sealed and pressed and plastic-wrapped on spot, so that you can take them home and show your friends and enjoy your own flavor noodles.

The Magna Carta of Noodles

Speaking of original flavor noodles, the Cup Noodle Museum also contains a floor dedicated to a "Cup Noodle Bazaar" where different types of noodles from different countries are showcased, including but not limited to the obligatory Italian pasta, Thailand's tom yun, Vietnam's pho and Indonesian mie goreng.
The bazaar simulates the locations where these noodle stands are typically found, and offers small cups of each kind for 300¥ (4$) so that one can sample each different type. International soda drinks are even available here.

Of course, the museum also showcases actual factual education as well, with exhibits containing information on how cup noodles have evolved throughout time, with particular emphasis on how it all started in Japan with a certain individual named Momofuku Ando, who lived to the ripe old age of 97, and created Cup Noodles as we know them. To give you an idea of the range of influence the man had, Momofuku Ando Day is now an actual thing occurring every January 19th in Dallas Texas, celebrating the accessibility of affordable food for the poor.

Minatomirai

Let's hop out of Tokyo for a brief trip.
 Truth be told, in the 15-some months since my arrival in Japan, I've neglected, maybe forgotten, the fact that the second largest city in the whole country (the first, of course, being the gigantomegalopolis that is Tokyo, where I reside,) is actually in walking proximity to the capital (by my standards). That city in question is Yokohama - the satellite port city that is so close to its neighbor that the national census counts it as being part of the Greater Tokyo Area.
 Only once have I actually taken somewhat of a look at Yokohama, despite working there twice a month or so, and that was during my brief and incomplete visit of Chinatown with Lisa (who's doing great by the way. She was in Africa last I checked.)
  Today, let's take a look at the port Yokohama is based around, and the area that came to be known today as Minatomirai - Port Future.

 Minatomirai is a rapidly booming economic and touristic area that is held as one of Yokohama's most important areas in terms of modernization and expansion. Its picture perfect skyline features indiscriminately in all of the city's guidebooks, at the center of which is Landmark Tower, Japan's tallest skyscraper, containing 48 floors of shops, restaurants and offices, and 21 floors of hotel. Floating nearby are the three towers that border the Queen's Square shopping complex, which also contains one of the branches of my workplace. (How three buildings can make a square is another miracle of Minatomirai I have yet to solve.) Adding to the skyline is the signature Ferris wheel that is Cosmo 21 (once the world's largest.) That aside, its almost eery how flawlessly well-kept Minatomirai is. No trace of refuse or litter or even of fallen leaves can be found littering the ground.

The Red Brick Warehouse and Ken

 Besides the port and the enormous shopping centers, Minatomirai is distinguished by its proximity to the aforementioned Chinatown, the streamlined Yamashita park and the interesting Red Brick Warehouses, two former seaside warehouses that have been restructured into a show-hall/museum and shopping arcade respectively. Their antiquated look dates from very early 20th century, and each has survived earthquakes and World War II bombings alike.

So if you're ever in the area, check out Minatomirai. It's genuinely nice and hard to dislike.

Yokohama's Chinatown

I bet some of you bastards thought Tokyo
looked like this everywhere.

I think it's actually quite worthy of its name. That is, town. Admittedly, the one back home is more like Chinastreet or Chinablock. Yokohama's Chinatown, is, like, pretty big, from what I've seen, courtesy of Lisa taking me out to show me.
It's everything you'd expect, really. Huge, colorful gates and murals left and right line the streets in a combination of modern light-show and traditional (stereotypical?) Chinese architecture. Come to think of it, I don't know if Chinese towns actually look anything like this, but it sure puts you in the setting.

A quick tour of one of the more traditional organic medicine shops yielded quite a few interesting things too. Dried lizards and snakes and placentas (packaged in a box!) They got me wondering if I'd eat 'em if they would cure, like, a flu if I got one.
 And plus, you guys know what's coming. I always half-joked about finding dried seahorse in Chinatown back home. Well I motherfuckin' found it. Dried seahorse. When I get my own place, maybe I'll buy like ten of these and stick 'em on the walls or something. I'd be like the king of the god damn ocean.

When I eat spicy, I look like a tomato.
 Lisa can hold her shit just fine.

Fantasies aside, we also had a chance to enjoy some Chinese-influenced Japanese food, and that was quite nice. Unfortunately, the Japanese don't tend to enjoy intense spicy flavors so much, so it's quite hard to find something that fits the bill. I promptly picked one of the spicier things on the menu. My noodles looked like they were swimming in magma, but they turned out quite flavorful!
Chinatown, yay!

PS: The Wizard themed restaurant won the poll. I'll be going there as soon as I get my pay.