Six cups of Nissin Cup Noodles went for the price of $8.80 over at Don Don Donki a couple of months ago.
Now, anyone this part of the world would balk at the (horrendous) price of ~$9 for (only) six(!) cups of instant noodles, but there was something else Nissin had included in the bag.
A tote.
A merchandise tote with the Nissin Cup Noodles packaging design on it.
What I really wanted was the tote.
It's not often that you get interesting, functional, affordable merchandise from the Corporation themselves.
There's a food I can eat, there's a bag I can use.
What's not to like?
Of course, some might wonder what the big deal is about the tote.
Like, why bother spending (so much) money for all these cups of noodles just for the sake of one bag?
But that's where the strength of the brand lies.
Nissin is not an unknown brand in the world of consumerism, and, for that matter, instant noodles.
Neither is it a brand of no reputation.
If you eat instant noodles (from wherever you are), or if you've hung out in a grocery store long enough (it doesn't need to be Asian), chances are you would have seen the Nissin brand.
They've plonked their foot down here and there all over the world.
It doesn't matter whether you know from which country the brand comes from.
It doesn't matter whether you know that the founder of Nissin was also the inventor of the technology.
Or where he'd originally conducted his research from.
Perhaps you're the sort who gets put off by the seasonings (like MSG is a great sin) or by the fact that it's a processed food.
Perhaps you're the sort that considers this an absolute, carcinogenic junk of a food.
Or that (OMGGGG) it's for poor, cheapskate people.
Whatever you believe, it cannot be denied that in the world of today, instant noodles, or ramen- as they're sometimes known- are reckoned as a lifestyle in the college category, is often consumed by some of the coolest esports players in the world, and that they're as much a staple in any grocery store as, say, sugar, salt, eggs, biscuits and milk.
The charm of this package lay not just in the value of the tote bag, which, by the way can go for SGD$15 elsewhere, but in the flavors made available.
As common as they might seem- chicken, seafood and tom yam seafood (they didn't have the white kyushu?)- these flavors were in fact very malleable.
I gave one flavor of each to The Parent.
Later I found out that the chicken had been consumed with pork patty, egg tofu and chili kangkong bought from the chap cai png stall (no need rice!), the seafood had been consumed with one egg, one fish ball and one cuttlefish ball plus some chili oil, and the tom yam seafood had been eaten with three fish balls, two quail eggs and some cherry tomatoes.
That certainly was some creativity going on there.
I, on the other hand, was less elaborate with my own cup of seafood noodles.
One hard boiled egg, two cuttlefish balls, one leaf of lettuce, two cherry tomatoes- that was it.
I didn't even get to take a picture. :D
It's a good thing I still have one remaining cup of tom yam seafood left.
I think I'll be more garang with this one and go get fish slices or whatever ingredients the Thais place in their stove-cooked versions of tom yum seafood soups.
Maybe I'll even go get the bigger size bowl of miso ramen and have it with skinless steamed chicken, fried onions and steamed gyozas. :)