My parents used to tell me as a child that if I ate too much instant noodles, my hair would drop. I never got to testing the veracity of that claim, since I got too scared of my hair falling off that as a young adult, I only indulged in instant noodles once in a blue moon. Things have changed quite a bit of course now that I’m well past that point of my life: cup noodles are regarded as snack foods at home, and we typically have a cupboard of a half-dozen cups of various flavors at any one point in time.
We don’t hear a lot about the origins about cup noodles of course, but one such museum in Yokohama purports to tell just that very story. In fact, I reckon that the two most well-known attractions in Yokohama would be its Chinatown, and the Cup Noodle Museum, which is a loving homage to the creator of instant noodles – Momofuku Ando, also the founder of Nissin Food. The museum is a short subway ride from Yokohama Station, and another 7 minute walk from that. We arrived at the museum quite early – 20 minutes before the 10AM opening hour – and were among the first in the queue and thus were able to get the first slot to make our own cup noodles. Going early turned out to be absolutely the right decision: we were the only table of visitors at 10AM – but by the time we were done decorating our four cups, the next group comprised a hundred visitors.
Pictures!
The building comprises five levels, four of which are generally open to the public.Fun cut-out for kids to pose! Looks a little creepy though haha.Barely anyone else at the 10AM opening hour cup noodle making slot.Cups are dispensed at ¥300, and you can decorate your cup as you like, using the ink markers on each table.Handiwork from the Foo family!You then bring your cup to several stations in sequence. After the dried noodles are machine-packed into the cup, you get to choose the powder flavor, e.g. curry, tomato, then from a range of condiments. The cup is then vacuum sealedAnd this is the crowd at 10:15AM – right when we were done. And there are still more waiting their turn.Instant Noodles History Cube showcase, exhibiting how instant noodles have changed from year to year.A full-height exhibit of instant noodles that spanned the width of the event hall.An accurate re-creation of Momofuku Ando’s work she, which – according to his life-history movie we saw in the museum theater, was where he perfected his noodle creation.The Creative Thinking Boxes hall, which purported to show Momofuku thinking methodology. We were particularly intrigued by this ceiling hung exhibit, which contains four words that you can only view from each corner.Truly global indeed!A small trick-eye room for a fun photo or two.Noodles Bazaar – World Noodles Road is a nifty dining hall on level four. It opens at 11AM, and visitors can buy from a range of noodles from around the world, including Italian pasta, Indonesian-styled mee goreng, South Korean cold noodles etc. Each item is priced at ¥300 – ¥500 if you include a drink. Portions are rather small though: they’re adequate for kids, but adults will want more.The Rube Goldberg-styled Marble Coaster machine: this was loads of fun for the kids! Not interactive, but H and P enjoyed tracing the path of the several hundreds marbles as each works their way through the machine. The exhibit is actually outside the museum – you just need to exit, then go round the side of the museum that’s facing the public road.
The museum was oodles of fun for our two kids. In fact, they were so proud of their handiwork that when they were done, both loudly claimed they would bring it back home in Singapore and wait for a grand occasion to actually savor their gastronomical creations. But by the time we were back in the hotel in the evening, they couldn’t wait to have it for supper! LOL. Another point to note: the customized cup noodles will get packed into a mid-sized air-bubble protected bag: which will be a little bulky!
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