You know, while so many people seem to be fussing themselves over Anna-whatever’s death, I just realised that some deaths that are insignificant are all over the news yet some the death of some key individuals never got the recoginition they truly deserve.

One such person is Goh Pek Hok, also known as Ando Momofuku. Don’t know who he is? If you know that Thomas Edison was the inventor of the lightbulb, and that Alexander Bell was the inventor of the telephone, I will have you know that Ando Momofuku is the Father of Instant Noodles.

Yeah, all you Malaysian university graduates who survived those gruelling pok-kai years on just instant noodles and plain water should at least remember this name. For if it wasn’t Ando-sama, you’d never taste the cheap pleasure that are the instant noodles.

I was hoping Maggi Malaysia, the biggest instant noodle maker here, to at least give him a small tribute. A poster ad in his honour or something. After all, your success was built upon Ando-sama’s inventions. Yet, only international bodies recognised him like Wikipedia, and UserFriendly.org.

I’m so disappointed. You wanna know why Ando-sama is awesome? Because like the many great inventors before his time, all he was aiming for was to aid to his people in times of need.

With Japan still suffering from a shortage of food in the post-war era, the Ministry of Health tried to encourage people to eat bread made from wheat flour that was supplied by the United States. Ando wondered why bread was recommended instead of noodles, which were more familiar to Japanese people. The Ministry’s response was that noodle companies were too small and unstable to satisfy supply needs, so Ando decided to develop the production of noodles by himself.

At the age of 48, and after months of trial and error experimentation, Ando finally perfected his flash-frying method and invented the precooked instant noodle. Called Chikin Ramen, after the original chicken flavour, it was originally considered a luxury item with a price of ¥35, around six times that of traditional udon and soba noodles at the time.

Ando began sales of the Cup noodles on September 18, 1971. As prices dropped, ramen soon became a booming business. An estimated 70 billion servings were sold in 2004. As of 2007, Chikin Ramen is still sold in Japan and now retails for around ¥60, or approximately one third the price of the cheapest bowl of noodles in a Japanese restaurant.

So, instead of making a big fuss over a [former?] pr0nstar’s death, the next time you open up that pack of instant noodles, be sure to say something nice to Momofuku Ando.

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Small Talk:
I was mentally writing out this blog entry before I realised that I was holding out a 50 sen coin to a Touch n Go panel.

In other news, Lowyat Plaza was almost like a pasar today. A few guys from the east coast, each from different shops were shouting lots of stuff, as if they’re in a fucking fish market or some shit.

“Nokbuk! Nokbuk! Eh-Eng-Di ado, Inteh pun ado.”

“Nok apo, Eh-Eng-Di sik-for bit, tigo empak kosong kosong? tigo lapang kosong kosong? empak duo kosong kosong?”

“Sini ado lagi banyok, Inteh duo kor, kor duo. Nok apo, cakak jo. Kor tigo, kor empak, kor limo pung ado!”

“Mung sok dok tipu oghang!”

Yes, it’s only funny if you understand Malay :D Man, that place gets funnier everytime I visit it. I wonder if it’s because Microsoft is coming?

[Don't get it? Here's some hints, Nokbuk = Notebook; Eh-Eng-Di = AMD]

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