The Auditors (Movie Trailer)

ok as some of my blog readers would know, I have already eaten at another of the Ramen Champion stalls (Gantetsu Ramen from Sapporo) and the review is in progress! There's still a picture that I want to add in which is not in the computer I'm blogging from.

Anyway here are quick links here to the previous blogposts in the Ultimate Ramen Champion! series!

Ultimate Ramen Champion! Prologue: important info including address, opening hours, voting etc.

Ultimate Ramen Champion! Episode 1: Bario Ramen!

So yesterday, some of us G2s went for a walk from Raffles to Esplanade and somehow collected some random footage to make a short film. Enjoy!

restaurant dinner!

android

retro camera

xolaroid 2000

The 7th Stage of Evolution on Earth?

The next ramen review will be up soon! In the meantime, you can read the first two episodes here

Ultimate Ramen Champion! Prologue

Ultimate Ramen Champion! Episode 1: Bario Ramen

Just read an interesting article on The Daily Galaxy (link here) about whether the human race is entering a "7th stage of evolution.

As quoted from the website: "Milan Ćirković of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade, and one of the world's leading authorities on astrobiology and the evolution of galaxies and baryonic dark matter, has outlined along with philosopher Robert Bradbury the six great mega-trajectories of the biological evolution on Earth:

1.  From the origin of life to the ”Last Common Ancestor"
2.  Prokaryote diversification
3.  Unicellular eukaryote diversification
4.  Multicellularity
5.  Invasion of the land
6.  Appearance of intelligence and technology."

The article states that the next stage of evolution will be triggered by the "emergence of artificial intelligence". There are some who believe that technology and culture has slowed human evolution, possibly due to a reduced need for physical changes. However the article states that a new study estimates that the rate of evolution in the past 5000 years is more rapid than other periods of evolution, pointing to population size as a main factor.

Ok thats great, but the question is how will the emergence of artificial intelligence affect human evolution? Will population size still remain a factor in deciding rate of evolution? share your opinions in the comment section below!

Ultimate Ramen Champion! Episode 1: Bario Ramen

Episode 1: Bario Ramen

Noodles: 8/10 really unique noodles and very filling

Meat and Egg and Sprouts: 8/10 meat is good, using sprouts is innovative

Soup: 12/10 EPIC!!!!!1

Service: 8.5/10 would have a higher score but waiting time is long

Overall: 9.5/10 

The storefront proudly proclaims Bario as three time consecutive winner of the no.1 ramen in Tokyo! We shall find out why soon. The boss of Bario is so friendly and enthusiastic in his work and when talking to customers I feel that this deserves some kind of prize as well.

While waiting in the super long queue (ramen are prepared in batches), you can observe how the ramen are prepared. It is a complicated process. First, a small layer of some kind of dark sauce is added. Then some kind of soft meat or dunno what is grinded out with a sieve and distributed among the bowls. Then a layer of soup. Noodles. More soft meat which might be different from the first round. Another layer of soup (which I really believe is another type of soup). Finally finishing move with LOTS OF SPROUTS and the pork and egg. I might have described this process wrongly so correct me if it is.

This complicated soup preparation is really impressive and makes you go "CANT WAIT FOR DA SOUPZ!!"

BARIO RAMEN!
one of the "50 best things to eat in the world" mentioned by Guardian UK

Outside the storefront, theres a signage that says "1 scoop garlic = nice guy, 2 scoops = something but i forgot and will check it out soon, 3 scoops = SUPER BARIO" Therefore I put three scoops in.

Please don't be so crazy to add 3 spoonfuls of garlic! I took some out afterwards!

This is actually a huge bowl of ramen. the noodles are thick and chewy and can almost fill up the whole bowl. Extra generous servings of crunchy sprouts nearly double the height of the dish. The pork comes juicy and in three thick slices. The egg is standard ramen-style hard-boiled with soft yolk done correctly.

But the main crazy stuff is the soup! omg its hard to describe. the soup looks like clear transparent soup but you can see meat bits suspended in the soup. Instead of tasting like light clear soup there is some element of heaviness which i think is due to the meat bits and the dark sauce. The taste is so unique and awesome every drop of soup is PURE GOLD.

Excellent and enthusiastic service from the chef himself! He readily posed for the camera lol

Around two-thirds through eating this I start to feel quite full (due to the thick noodles) but the soup remains as appetizing as ever. Advice to those who cant eat much is to order the half-bowl of ramen. I think this is the only stall in Ramen Champion that offers half-bowl (obviously the chef knows about the huge volume of his dish lol)

Combine the noodle, soup, meat, egg, sprouts, waiting in line and watching the preparation and the excellent service, the sum of it all is greater than its parts. Overall, the whole ramen experience can be aptly described as EPIC.

However, eating this stall first had set a very high benchmark for the other five stalls to compare against.

Check back this blog for more updates and reviews on Ramen Champion!

Ultimate Ramen Champion! Prologue

Ramen Champion! 6 famous restaurants from Japan battle it out for your votes!

ok as promised in the previous post, here is the report on the Ultimate Ramen Champion! That picture in the previous post was taken on Saturday, but actually I went to Iluma two days in a row for Ramen Champion (and ate from two different stalls)! Ramen Champion is actually a Marche-styled restaurant (yeah with the card ordering system too) with six stalls selling purely ramen.

"What? That's boring" you might say. But I tell you these are not just any six ramen stalls. These ramen chefs come from different parts of Japan, and are here to battle it out among themselves.

The thing that makes this restaurant stand out is that diners vote for their favourite restaurant after eating. This makes you feel like you are participating in a cooking gameshow/competition of sorts. You also stand to win prizes from voting, although i don't really care about this. The concept of the restaurant is what interests me.

These ramen (at such a high level of standard and fame) are also quite value for money, pricing being around $10 to $15 per bowl. This REALLY puts some ramen restaurants here to shame. (Ajisen ramen...and especially Ippudo which seriously looks overpriced now with their miserable serving size)

6 famous Ramen stalls from Japan!

The six stalls are (you might have heard of them before if you have been in Japan):

1. IROHA from Toyama serving Toyama Black Ramen - Champion Ramen chain in Toyama
2. BARIO from Tokyo serving Bario Ramen - Listed 50 best things to eat in the world by The Guardian UK
3. GANTETSU from Sapporo serving Special Miso Ramen - A strong contender hailing from Japan’s city of Ramen
4. TETSU from Tokyo serving Paitan Tsukeman Ramen - Listed as best Tsukeman Ramen by Tokyo Times
5. IKKOUSHA from Hakata serving Hakata Ajitama Ramen - One of the most celebrated Ramen restaurants of Fukuoka
6. TAISHOKEN from Tokyo serving Mori Soba - One of the most famous Ramen shops in the world

(stall listing and description from mynewsdesk)

Ramen Champion is located in Iluma at Bugis. Yes there's KOI there which would make for some nice dessert to follow the ramen.

OPERATING HOURS:

DAILY 11:30 am to 10:30 pm

ADDRESS

201 Victoria Street

Bugis Iluma #04 - 08/09/10

Singapore 188607

(Near BUGIS MRT Station)

Six top ramen chefs from Japan! Battling it out right here at Iluma. For more information, visit their official website at http://www.ramenchampion.com.sg/.

I intend to try out all the stalls before the competition ends! Keep checking this blog for reviews!

android!

hi!

blogging on android!

have to get used to this keypad

theres this talent comp going on at Iluma just now

after Idol it seems that every talent competition would have 3 judges giving their comments (idol-style)

i feel that people enjoy watching contestants being praised, as much as they enjoy watching the judges dish out criticisms

anyway, was at Iluma not for this comp, but for Ramen Champion again! more details in the next blogpost!