Robot Claw – Page 210 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

Ramen 12: A New Year Of Chicken!

January 1, 2022

What better way to welcome the new year than with some more ramen reviews. Join me now for yet another taste of instant chicken noodles!

Gau Do Instant Pho (Artificial Chicken Flavor) (210 Calories, 2.5 g fat, 1980 mg sodium)

The last pho I tasted was quite terrible, but I approached this one with an open mind. But as soon as I opened the flavour packets I knew the worst had come true when the terrifying scent of southeast Asian spices overwhelmed me. Notably low fat content and innovative packaging aside, once prepared I found the off-puttingly gelatinous texture of the noodles to be secondary to the unpalatably petrichorian broth. And yet I can’t find it in myself to scathe this mercilessly, for with 30+ chicken ramen reviews behind me I dare say I have developed the wisdom to simply acknowledge this as one of those products made in another place for a person unlike myself: 4/10.

Trader Joe’s Instant Ramen (Chicken Flavor) (180 Calories, 4 g fat, 810 mg sodium)

I’ll cut to the chase: this store brand ramen is a trojan Dr Mcdougall’s! The flavor was borderline acceptable, but the not-really-ramen noodles never softened and in the end this is a regrettable (and inedible) misstep from Trader Joe’s. Avoid at all costs: 0/10!

Gefen Brown Rice Noodles (Artificial Chicken Flavor) (210 Calories, 1 g fat, 1649 mg sodium)

Gefen makes the best ramen on earth, so good in fact that I eat one almost every day. A month or so ago we happened upon this curiosity at Target, and it was the only one we could find. When I opened it I saw that the flavour packets were the same as in Gefen ramen, so I knew this would be remarkable. The noodles – after about 10 minutes of steeping in boiled water – were very much like eating al dente spaghetti, and coupled with the hearty and salty broth made for an exquisite ramen experience. Obviously this is an 10/10 ramen, and I hope I one day find more of these to enjoy!

Impossibly, while I have now completed thirty-three reviews I still have a few more products in the cupboard to go. Stay tuned…

City Christmas

December 19, 2021

After canceling Australia, we booked a (very!) last minute trip to NYC to ‘save Christmas’. In other words, get my mind off a disappointing event and buy some Xmas gifts at the same time.

We stayed in our usual hotel. The room wasn’t quite as fancy (or expensive) as last time but was still cozy and had a wonderful view, especially at night:

That’s the Bryant Park ice rink, which they set up for a few months every year. The whole park gets a makeover in fact, with lots of temporary shops and restaurants. Here’s a better view of the rink:

Mostly we shopped, and as usual we absolutely filled our days. But we also found time for eating, like delicious mochi donuts (made using rice flour):

Or this mozzarella potato corn dog:

We visited Madame Tussaud’s for the first time ever, which was crazy busy since it was raining and everyone else chose to go as well, but it was fun seeing the incredibly lifelike mannequins:

And to our surprise you could pose with almost all of them:

Of course we went to see the famous Rockefeller Center tree as well, which was dazzling at night:

And – to our surprise – Saks 5th Avenue had a 3.5 minute fully animated light/music show using 700,000 lights over the entire facade of the building:

Oh and the city was mobbed with people. In fact this was maybe the busiest we had ever seen NYC, and certainly the most people I’ve seen since the pandemic began. Of course the unfortunate side of this is that NYC is currently seeing pandemic-record covid numbers (due to the variant which affected my trip…) but it was great to see near-ubiquitous mask usage (even out on the sidewalk) and testing/vaccination tents on every block:

We had a whirlwind trip but a fun one. We packed a lot into 2.5 days and returned with an astonishing amount of goodies. This last photo shows most of what we bought (certain Xmas gifts are omitted). Can you guess which of these will soon inspire a blog post of its own?

Better Days

December 16, 2021

About six weeks ago I booked flights to Australia. At last the borders had opened, and I could once again go and see my mum and friends. The weeks after booking I became increasingly excited, and spent a lot of time preparing and planning. I also bought lots of things to bring with me, and my suitcases were stuffed like on no previous trip. I had little-to-no concern about covid, since Australia’s numbers were very low and I was triple vaccinated. It would be a happy trip in the sun.

Then… omicron.

Last night, less than 24 hours before my flight, I canceled. Ultimately it was more a ‘death of 1000 cuts’ rather than any single event that persuaded me, although a very real expectation that lockdowns are in the future probably weighed heaviest on my mind.

My hometown is thick with covid now, with cases rising alarmingly. Many other cities are in the same situation and I daresay everywhere else is short behind. Now is not the time to travel. Based on what I’ve read so far I expect omicron to flare briefly but very brightly, and I can only hope we all emerge stronger for it.

I couldn’t get a refund on the exorbitant price of my ticket, and instead have credit good for a year. I will use that to visit Australia as soon as possible. Let’s hope it’s not another year from now.