![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariI have just enjoyed some really tasty ramen.
This, normally, wouldn't be a big deal. But for me it is. Why? Because it is the ramen of the gods. IT is the ramen that all ramens should look up to. It is the egg noodle of life.
It is....
(trumpet fanfare plays)
There is a certain culture to going into oriental markets. Especially if you're a gaijin (round-eye) like myself. I hadn't dealt with ORiental Store Etiquette for a VERY long time, so I was a bit shocked to get it again after all these years...
Oriental Store Etiquette? Why, read on, gentle viewer. :)
I've been going to oriental stores since I was about 15...there I'd get the "special candies" like Pocky, chocolate flavored now-and-laters, coffee flavored gum, and (as of late) Koala Yummies. Sure, I was a bit shallow at the time, just buying strange and exotic candies (Fruit Drop Hard Candies are THE BEST hard candy in the world), and the people who ran it knew it.
At the time, I never really cared, I was there, and I got stuff. :) Who cares about the rest. Eventually, I became known around Tim's Oriental Meat Market and the Century Video store next door (I was watching Jackie Chan movies a decade before they ever came out here)...the staff knew who I was, and they always smiled at me when I came in. Mind you, it was a few years before I noticed that smile - I simply wasn't looking past the Pocky aisle.
When I moved to Pennsylvania, I turned Dean onto Oriental Store Shopping. In town were two oriental stores...One selling mostly Korean products, and another selling more Japanese/Chinese fare. The first one I hit was the Korean one. This is when I first noticed The Shopkeeper stare.
I walked in and said hi to the counter woman, who waved back...but had no smile. I looked around for a bit (this place sold some high class china and expensive stuff in the corner, with food on the other side of the store. I figured she was just keeping a watchful eye ion the expensive stuff. SO I crossed over and smiled at her again...I got a quick smile, but The Stare continued. I got some Pocky, another thingy of fruit gum, and some Pokemon gum sticks. She cashed me out. I felt a bit creeped out by The Stare, but it didn't stop me. I went back in several times, again for candy, and always got The Stare.
A few months later I walked in with Dean, and we hit the candy aisle. We got The Stare again. But this time, I picked up a bowl of ramen. When Dean asked me what it said, I read it out loud the best I could (Silly Jenn Fact: Jenn can "read" the two Japanese "alphabets"...sorta...I can't translate it. It's like reading the word "FRIEND", knowing it was pronounced "FREND" but not being able to tell you that it meant "people whom you care about."). I managed to read "Spaici Bol" off the label...which meant Spicy Bowl. The store woman in the corner was giving me The Stare...but it was a more friendly Stare. I put the bowl in my basket and went to checkout.
This time, the woman was a LOT more friendly than usual, offered us both some ginger gum and even gave my instructions in how to make the ramen bowl ("it's a paste, not a soup"). I was really surprised by this, because it was so...different.
INTERMISSION
If you have an Oriental Store near you, and you dig ramen...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE visit your store and grab some of the ramen. American Ramen PALES in comparison to Oriental Ramen. American Ramen usually comes in one flavor: "Salt." Sometime it has a bit of chikeny taste, or shrimpy taste. Not Oriental Ramen. Let me tell you, the American Ramen Cartels don't want you to know about one of the most tasty substances in the Universe.
When you go, you'll be assaulted by at least ten different types of noodles, and each of those noodles have ten different flavors. They come with dried veggies. REAL dried veggies. That actually taste like veggies. And exotically flavored oils, like Chinese Onion, or Sesame Oil, or Curry Oil. They have four to five packets of different things to add. It's so tasty, you'll never go back. Really. It's a bit more expensive, yeah, but we're talkin'' about 35 cent ramen instead of the 7 cent ramen you get at your grocery store.
And don't worry, even if you don't know Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai or even Indian (yes, Indian ramen ROCKS), it's hard to go wrong with the noodles of bliss.
Just remember, you WILL get The Stare if you're not oriental...so be warned.
We now return you to Oriental Store Ramen, already in progress.
I went back a few weeks later. So enthralled were we at the lovely ramen that we came back to raid the ramen shelves. This time when we walked in, we got a smile and a wave. I grabbed a bunch of different ramens and candies and went to checkout. Turns out the sales woman was a real sweetie, asked me if I like the ramen bowl ("Was it too spicy?"). Still I couldn't figure out what it was that suddenly turned her around so quickly.
It was about this time that we began going to Far Corners Oriental store, mainly because I found out that it was a LOT closer to home, and offered a lot more in the way of Japanese/Chinese and Indian (the other specialized in Korean). I walked in, and again, I got The Stare. But this time, I noticed it from the customers as well (The Korean Store was always (strangely) empty, and I never paid attention at Tim's). I figured I got it because IW as a big Mexican among smaller Asians. Those aisles were TIGHT squeezes. The Stare only happened a few times there because...well...one time, instead of a candy and ramen run, I went grocery shopping.
I grabbed a larger grocery cart (Which was STILL Tiny, because we were maneuvering through tight aisles) and went down the aisles. I was specifically looking for soy milk, but had decided that tI'd pick up anything else that caught my fancy. Of course, The Stare was in full effect...until...I picked up a can of soup-like substance (This was before the Nutrition Stickers they demanded be put on all food, so you didn't know WHAT you were getting at the time). I stared pretty hard at it while my brain pulled up the information for several Chinese characters (SIlly Jenn Fact #2: Jenn can read about 100 characters of Chinese (Taiwanese) thanks to an abortive attempt to learn the language in high school. I managed to piece enough info together to realize I was picking up a jar of some kind of cooking oil. I put it back. I continued up the aisles and pulled out various noodles, candies and the soy milk. But when I got to the third aisle, I came across something I had wanted: Hot and Sour Soup Base. The picture on the package told me it LOOKED like Hot and Sour soup, but I read the Chinese packaging anyways to make sure I was getting Hot and Sour soup. I managed to make out Hot, Egg, and Flower. I figured that's what I needed and took it. The counter person was really giving me The Stare, but again, it had just changed, slightly.
I found another thing I had wanted: I managed to get a "bar" of curry. I had been wanting to learn how to make Indian food, so I picked it up. It was reading the syllables out of the Japanese that got attention. Mainly of the woman next to me. "You can read that?" she had asked me.
"Barely...does that say Indian curry? I'm not sure." (The picture on the package looked a lot like pouring caramel on meat...and I wasn't sure that wasn't what it was) she beamed at me.
"You read Japanese?"
"Not very well at all, really. I try though."
"It's good to try."
So I was feeling a little better about being there. I finished my shopping by examining the Wall of Ramen. IF there ever was a shrine to the noodley goodness of life, it was the Far Corners Ramen Wall. It sang out to me. It called to me. It SANG to me. "I am Indian Onion! Eat me!" "I am the spicy joy of sesame chicken! Please enjoy me!" "I am Chow Mein! MASTICATE MY CARBOHYDRATES!"
I got to the checkout and paid for my stuff when the cashier asked me if I could read Chinese. I said I could read a few words, but not many. I also said that I could read a little Japanese, but not well. He just kinda smiled at me and checked me out. I never got The Stare again at that store.
It seems that when you go to an oriental store, you are seen as an invader, or someone who doesn't belong there. But if you try, even just a little, to understand something of the oriental culture...they take to you like ducks to water. And they don't forget. Anytime I went to Far Corners or the Korean Market, I always got a wave and a smile. I figure that something like that happened at Tim's, I just never bothered to notice. Even Dean never got The Stare once they knew he was with me.
So today, I went to Tim's for the first time since 1996. They've grown HUGE, and moved Century Video over to the other side of the strip mall. I'd never seen these cashiers at Tim's. And yes, I got The Stare. But you know what? I don't care...I know what I'm buying, and they'll eventually know that I know what I'm buying. And then they'll smile and wave after a few visits. :)
Had Chinese food today, too. Clickorama is updated with 200 new links. No, really. Closetspace is an official go for launch. Heaven help me. :)
I have just enjoyed some really tasty ramen.
Mmmmmm.....
This, normally, wouldn't be a big deal. But for me it is. Why? Because it is the ramen of the gods. IT is the ramen that all ramens should look up to. It is the egg noodle of life.
It is....
ORIENTAL STORE RAMEN
(trumpet fanfare plays)
There is a certain culture to going into oriental markets. Especially if you're a gaijin (round-eye) like myself. I hadn't dealt with ORiental Store Etiquette for a VERY long time, so I was a bit shocked to get it again after all these years...
Oriental Store Etiquette? Why, read on, gentle viewer. :)
I've been going to oriental stores since I was about 15...there I'd get the "special candies" like Pocky, chocolate flavored now-and-laters, coffee flavored gum, and (as of late) Koala Yummies. Sure, I was a bit shallow at the time, just buying strange and exotic candies (Fruit Drop Hard Candies are THE BEST hard candy in the world), and the people who ran it knew it.
At the time, I never really cared, I was there, and I got stuff. :) Who cares about the rest. Eventually, I became known around Tim's Oriental Meat Market and the Century Video store next door (I was watching Jackie Chan movies a decade before they ever came out here)...the staff knew who I was, and they always smiled at me when I came in. Mind you, it was a few years before I noticed that smile - I simply wasn't looking past the Pocky aisle.
When I moved to Pennsylvania, I turned Dean onto Oriental Store Shopping. In town were two oriental stores...One selling mostly Korean products, and another selling more Japanese/Chinese fare. The first one I hit was the Korean one. This is when I first noticed The Shopkeeper stare.
I walked in and said hi to the counter woman, who waved back...but had no smile. I looked around for a bit (this place sold some high class china and expensive stuff in the corner, with food on the other side of the store. I figured she was just keeping a watchful eye ion the expensive stuff. SO I crossed over and smiled at her again...I got a quick smile, but The Stare continued. I got some Pocky, another thingy of fruit gum, and some Pokemon gum sticks. She cashed me out. I felt a bit creeped out by The Stare, but it didn't stop me. I went back in several times, again for candy, and always got The Stare.
A few months later I walked in with Dean, and we hit the candy aisle. We got The Stare again. But this time, I picked up a bowl of ramen. When Dean asked me what it said, I read it out loud the best I could (Silly Jenn Fact: Jenn can "read" the two Japanese "alphabets"...sorta...I can't translate it. It's like reading the word "FRIEND", knowing it was pronounced "FREND" but not being able to tell you that it meant "people whom you care about."). I managed to read "Spaici Bol" off the label...which meant Spicy Bowl. The store woman in the corner was giving me The Stare...but it was a more friendly Stare. I put the bowl in my basket and went to checkout.
This time, the woman was a LOT more friendly than usual, offered us both some ginger gum and even gave my instructions in how to make the ramen bowl ("it's a paste, not a soup"). I was really surprised by this, because it was so...different.
If you have an Oriental Store near you, and you dig ramen...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE visit your store and grab some of the ramen. American Ramen PALES in comparison to Oriental Ramen. American Ramen usually comes in one flavor: "Salt." Sometime it has a bit of chikeny taste, or shrimpy taste. Not Oriental Ramen. Let me tell you, the American Ramen Cartels don't want you to know about one of the most tasty substances in the Universe.
When you go, you'll be assaulted by at least ten different types of noodles, and each of those noodles have ten different flavors. They come with dried veggies. REAL dried veggies. That actually taste like veggies. And exotically flavored oils, like Chinese Onion, or Sesame Oil, or Curry Oil. They have four to five packets of different things to add. It's so tasty, you'll never go back. Really. It's a bit more expensive, yeah, but we're talkin'' about 35 cent ramen instead of the 7 cent ramen you get at your grocery store.
And don't worry, even if you don't know Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai or even Indian (yes, Indian ramen ROCKS), it's hard to go wrong with the noodles of bliss.
Just remember, you WILL get The Stare if you're not oriental...so be warned.
I went back a few weeks later. So enthralled were we at the lovely ramen that we came back to raid the ramen shelves. This time when we walked in, we got a smile and a wave. I grabbed a bunch of different ramens and candies and went to checkout. Turns out the sales woman was a real sweetie, asked me if I like the ramen bowl ("Was it too spicy?"). Still I couldn't figure out what it was that suddenly turned her around so quickly.
It was about this time that we began going to Far Corners Oriental store, mainly because I found out that it was a LOT closer to home, and offered a lot more in the way of Japanese/Chinese and Indian (the other specialized in Korean). I walked in, and again, I got The Stare. But this time, I noticed it from the customers as well (The Korean Store was always (strangely) empty, and I never paid attention at Tim's). I figured I got it because IW as a big Mexican among smaller Asians. Those aisles were TIGHT squeezes. The Stare only happened a few times there because...well...one time, instead of a candy and ramen run, I went grocery shopping.
I grabbed a larger grocery cart (Which was STILL Tiny, because we were maneuvering through tight aisles) and went down the aisles. I was specifically looking for soy milk, but had decided that tI'd pick up anything else that caught my fancy. Of course, The Stare was in full effect...until...I picked up a can of soup-like substance (This was before the Nutrition Stickers they demanded be put on all food, so you didn't know WHAT you were getting at the time). I stared pretty hard at it while my brain pulled up the information for several Chinese characters (SIlly Jenn Fact #2: Jenn can read about 100 characters of Chinese (Taiwanese) thanks to an abortive attempt to learn the language in high school. I managed to piece enough info together to realize I was picking up a jar of some kind of cooking oil. I put it back. I continued up the aisles and pulled out various noodles, candies and the soy milk. But when I got to the third aisle, I came across something I had wanted: Hot and Sour Soup Base. The picture on the package told me it LOOKED like Hot and Sour soup, but I read the Chinese packaging anyways to make sure I was getting Hot and Sour soup. I managed to make out Hot, Egg, and Flower. I figured that's what I needed and took it. The counter person was really giving me The Stare, but again, it had just changed, slightly.
I found another thing I had wanted: I managed to get a "bar" of curry. I had been wanting to learn how to make Indian food, so I picked it up. It was reading the syllables out of the Japanese that got attention. Mainly of the woman next to me. "You can read that?" she had asked me.
"Barely...does that say Indian curry? I'm not sure." (The picture on the package looked a lot like pouring caramel on meat...and I wasn't sure that wasn't what it was) she beamed at me.
"You read Japanese?"
"Not very well at all, really. I try though."
"It's good to try."
So I was feeling a little better about being there. I finished my shopping by examining the Wall of Ramen. IF there ever was a shrine to the noodley goodness of life, it was the Far Corners Ramen Wall. It sang out to me. It called to me. It SANG to me. "I am Indian Onion! Eat me!" "I am the spicy joy of sesame chicken! Please enjoy me!" "I am Chow Mein! MASTICATE MY CARBOHYDRATES!"
I got to the checkout and paid for my stuff when the cashier asked me if I could read Chinese. I said I could read a few words, but not many. I also said that I could read a little Japanese, but not well. He just kinda smiled at me and checked me out. I never got The Stare again at that store.
It seems that when you go to an oriental store, you are seen as an invader, or someone who doesn't belong there. But if you try, even just a little, to understand something of the oriental culture...they take to you like ducks to water. And they don't forget. Anytime I went to Far Corners or the Korean Market, I always got a wave and a smile. I figure that something like that happened at Tim's, I just never bothered to notice. Even Dean never got The Stare once they knew he was with me.
So today, I went to Tim's for the first time since 1996. They've grown HUGE, and moved Century Video over to the other side of the strip mall. I'd never seen these cashiers at Tim's. And yes, I got The Stare. But you know what? I don't care...I know what I'm buying, and they'll eventually know that I know what I'm buying. And then they'll smile and wave after a few visits. :)
Had Chinese food today, too. Clickorama is updated with 200 new links. No, really. Closetspace is an official go for launch. Heaven help me. :)
I have just enjoyed some really tasty ramen.
Mmmmmm.....
no subject
Date: 2002-04-05 04:12 am (UTC)Nathan