So what is up with this ramen trend in NYC? Frankly it baffles and annoys me. I just saw a review of the latest ramen shop to open in the city in Time Out (incidentally it's the same issue that Arth got featured in. Yeh!). I firmly believe ramen should cost less than $10 at all times, if not at the most $7. It's just so strange to me that it got so trendy that it deserves fancy restaurant settings and has crowds of people waiting in line for it on Saturday nights. In Japan, it's a very basic dish, perhaps the equivalent of chicken noodle soup. You can grab a bowl at any corner (photo is outside of a train station in Tokyo) or as we all know, an instant package of it at the convenience store (I still love Cup Noodle). At the same time it is special, every region has its own soup base that they're quite proud of and often a person's preference is a direct response to where they grew up or where their family is from. I feel like this is being diluted (pun intended) with this whole cool, trendiness of ramen. But with any trend, I'm sure it will fade and then something like peanut butter & jelly sandwiches will be the "it" thing and cost $15.
One cool, Japanese trend that would be good to catch on is their environmental awareness (the photo is from my Aunt's neighborhood in Tokyo, it's a playhouse made entirely of recycled milk cartons. Brilliant!). Tokyo is a crazy, insanely crowded city and yet, the streets are impeccably clean. Japan also has these awesome, mini cars that use alternative gas and get around great. Super easy to park! NY1 is doing this series called Green Samurai (not so sure how I feel about the name) that reports on Japan's latest green efforts. I just checked it out today. Hopefully this makes up for the horrible, video game that was splashed on all the papers this week. Sigh...
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