You know what really sucks? Eating something you don’t enjoy eating, alone. And that’s what I did tonight. I don’t think I hate ramen but it definitely wouldn’t be something I’d pick for a meal if I had the choice. Ramen, bahn mi (also most other cold cut sandwiches), and traditional Chinese food are all at the very bottom of my list for choice of meal. But I was with a couple and I let them have the pick. I never like to choose the restaurant when I’m among friends. I usually feel a lot of pressure to pick something that people are happy with and think I have an easier time adapting to others than the other way around. So ramen it was.
It started off like a typical night but my friends were clearly stressed with some work-related issues that went on today. We were at Ramen Koika, downtown Vancouver. Though I don’t really enjoy eating ramen, I do my best to pick something that will soften the blow. I ordered the Asari Miso Ramen. The picture looked pretty good. It had a shit-ton of clams and had an option to made spicy so it was an easy choice for me. The couple was with, both ordered black garlic ramen.
Noodles came. One of the reasons I don’t enjoy eating ramen is because I have a lot of trouble handling hot (temperature) foods and I usually have to wait a long time for it to cool down before I can start eating it. So I started to eat all the clams first and it took me a while to realized that they fucked up my ramen. They forgot to make it spicy. They had no issue replacing it but they were going to take some time to make me a new one.
“But I ate all the clams already”
“That’s okay.”
I felt a little small victory that I would be able to eat another full serving of clams. By the time the new bowl came, my friends had pretty much finished theirs. One of them continued talking to me but it appeared that there was a bit of tension between the two of them. A bit more time in, they began to argue. It was very awkward for me. I didn’t do much but look down at my full bowl and poke my noodles around. At some time, I broke one of the awkward moments of silence and encouraged my friends to go home and sleep things off because they were clearly stressed. They were going to drop me home initially but I thought it better that they didn’t have to wait around for me and they could sort things out amongst themselves sooner rather than later. They agreed and went home.
So there I was. Me, and a bowl of ramen. After my friends had left, every bite I took just got more and more unenjoyable. It’s not like I haven’t had ramen before. I’ve had ramen with friends plenty of times. When they suggest it, I don’t even bat an eye. I guess I’m okay eating something I don’t enjoy as long as the company I’m with is enjoying it. This, however, was the very first time I was alone, stuck with food that I ordered, that I really didn’t enjoy eating. I don’t even know why I continued eating as much as I did. I got to about to the half-way point and then I asked for the rest to be packed up. I don’t even know what I’m going to do with the leftovers tomorrow morning. I think what made eating my ramen even more depressing was that One More Light by Linkin Park was playing. That, and it costed me $18 after tax and tip. Bleh. Get me some French food or something.
Tonight kind of made me open my eyes to how much I’ve kind of been spoiling myself lately when it comes to eating when I’m solo. Generally, I very much enjoy everything I choose to eat and never choose something simply out of maintenance. And I intend to keep it that way. I should never settle for less but I’m such a pushover when I’m with company.
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People always get really shocked and appalled when I say I don’t like ramen. They just don’t get it. So let me make a case for myself and tell you my reasons:
- As mentioned, I have trouble eating hot foods so I tend to avoid meals with things like hot soup.
- Ramen is really heavy and I don’t like the bloated feeling after eating it.
- It’s high-calorie.
- I generally don’t prefer wet or moist foods. That includes things that are steamed. I rather have something with a drier texture like something that’s fried or raw veggies or something.
- It’s messy and being a clumsy eater, I always end up staining my shirt.
- I rather eat pasta and pasta’s not really high on my list either.
- I generally don’t like carbs (that’s another can of worms, ain’t it?)
- And I rather eat more meat and veggies than noodles.