Ichiran cup noodle

 

Ichiran ramen that we all are familiar with.

Ichiran Ramen chain in Japan has announced that they will introduce their first time ever cup noodle which they made a bold statement to rival their shop's tonkotsu ramen.

In Japan, we have so many ramen shops and Ichiran is one of the famous place that many of us go to.

In their promotional video, it is said that custom made non fried noodles are used to recreate the texture and taste of Ichiran's raw noodles. For the broth, there are two sachets: one in powder form and the other in liquid form to give the rich flavor and aroma that we love so much.

They also include of their secret red sauce that is specially formulated to suit the cup noodle and harmonizes the noodle and broth.

And this cup noodle does not come with any toppings as Ichiran explains that this is because people should enjoy the original flavor of their ramen.

Priced at 490 yen, approximately $5 USD and will be available in Japan on Feb.15.

Let's hope it will be available in US also.

If this cup noodle is legit, we will no longer need to make a long line at their ramen shops.

Indoor dining that restaurants has been waiting for

 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that indoor dining will now return at 25 percent capacity on February 12, two days before it was originally set to return on February 14.

Many in the restaurant industry had called for an earlier return to indoor dining, arguing that they would lose business from the Valentine’s Day weekend if they could only begin opening on February 14, already typically one of the busiest days of the year for the restaurant industry. The NYC Hospitality Alliance, which represents thousands of restaurants in the city, commended the decision. “This will allow restaurants to generate much needed revenue from the Valentine’s Day weekend business, much of which they would have lost because the holiday falls on a Sunday this year,” said Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the Alliance, in a statement.

Cuomo indicated Friday that he would consider an earlier return if the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continued to decline in New York. As of Monday, the positivity rate in New York based on a seven-day average was 5.10 percent, according to state data. While the positivity rate is continuing on a downward trend, NYC is continuing to see thousands of new cases every day, and health experts across the country, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have sounded the alarm on the rapidly spreading variant of the virus first found in Britain. The CDC still lists indoor dining among the highest risk activities in regards to the threat of the spread of the virus.

Still, Cuomo said he feels the present data and the downward trend of cases has enabled his administration to bring back indoor dining, which was first banned in March last year before being allowed again for a few months during the fall. He hasn’t ruled out new restrictions should cases spike again in New York. During Monday’s press conference, he expressed particular concern for the Bronx, where the positivity rate on a seven-day average is now at 7.03 percent, higher than it was last week.

The Cuomo administration, though, is feeling emboldened by the vaccination push even though distribution issues remained a problem in the city even last month. On Sunday, the Cuomo administration announced that more than 2.1 million doses of the vaccine had been administered — including first and second doses. Cuomo stressed Monday that is vital that the federal government increase its supply and distribution efforts to allow New York to vaccinate more people.

In NYC, some restaurant workers reported last week they had either received the first dose of the vaccine or signed up for appointments. More are expected to do so this week ahead of the return of indoor dining on February 12. Still a majority of hospitality industry staffers and New Yorkers still remain unvaccinated, and it could be several months before a large proportion of the population is vaccinated.

text by 

Hopes for Tokyo’s Summer Olympics Darken

 

Plans for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games are growing more uncertain by the day.

As coronavirus cases rise throughout Japan and in several large countries in Europe and the Americas, officials both in Tokyo and with the International Olympic Committee have begun to acknowledge that holding a safe Games might not be possible, endangering dreams that the Olympics could serve as a global celebration of the end of the pandemic.

Instead, the I.O.C. may be forced to cancel the Olympics for the first time since World War II. That would be a huge financial blow to both the Olympic organization and Japan, which has spent more than $12 billion building stadiums and improving its infrastructure to prepare for the Games, and billions more to delay the event by a year.

For weeks, Japanese and Olympic officials have insisted that the Games will go forward, and that a further delay is not possible. Organizers have been trying to come up with plans to hold the Games in a manner acceptable to the Japanese public, announcing an array of safety measures.

But polls show an increasing wariness. In a survey conducted this month, the Japanese broadcaster NHK found that nearly 80 percent of respondents believed the Games should be postponed again or canceled entirely. In October, less than half of respondents said that. The figure rose to 71 percent in December.

By Matthew Futterman  The New York Times

Trump leaves the White House for the last time

Trump has left the building

He chose not to attend the inauguration of his successor.

No comments, no more views on Trump.

It is past and let's focus on President Biden.

Trump makes history once again

 Trump impeached for 'inciting' US Capitol riots

IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES

The US House of Representatives has impeached President Donald Trump for "incitement of insurrection" at last week's Capitol riot.

He is the first president in US history to be twice impeached - to be charged with crimes by Congress.

Mr Trump, a Republican, will now face a trial in the Senate, where if convicted he could face being barred from ever holding office again.

The impeachment measure passed largely along party lines, by 232-197.

Mr Trump is due to leave office on 20 January, following his election defeat last November to Democrat Joe Biden.

After several hours of impassioned debate on Wednesday, the Democratic-controlled House voted.

Ten Republicans sided with Democrats to impeach the president.

• Live updates on Trump impeachment
• Did Trump's words at rally incite the riot?
• Can Trump be removed or banned from politics?

But it is unlikely Mr Trump will have to leave the White House before his term in office ends in one week, as the Senate is not expected to convene in time.

What was Trump charged with?

Impeachment charges are political, not criminal. The president was accused by Congress of inciting the storming of the Capitol with his 6 January speech to a rally outside the White House.

Following Mr Trump's remarks, his supporters broke into the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to suspend certification of election results and take shelter. The building was placed on lockdown and five people died.

• Did Trump's words at rally incite the riot?
• A visual guide to the Congress riots

The article of impeachment stated that Mr Trump "repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the presidential election results were fraudulent and should not be accepted".

It says he then repeated these claims and "willfully made statements to the crowd that encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol", leading to the violence and loss of life.

"President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government, threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of government."

Last week, 139 Republicans voted against accepting the result of the 2020 election and Mr Trump's defeat.

What did lawmakers say during the debate?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said on the House floor: "The president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country.

"He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love."

Most Republicans did not seek to defend Mr Trump's rhetoric, instead arguing that the impeachment had bypassed the customary hearings and calling on Democrats to drop it for the sake of national unity.

"Impeaching the president in such a short time frame would be a mistake," said Kevin McCarthy, the House's top Republican.

"That doesn't mean the president's free from fault. The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters."

Trump makes history once again

Donald Trump has made history once again, this time as the first president to be impeached twice.

A year ago, the move was opposed in lockstep by the Republican Party. This time, a handful of conservatives backed the move. It is a reflection not only of the gravity of the moment, but also the president's declining influence in the final days of his administration.

Impeachment sets up a Senate trial for Mr Trump that now appears destined to stretch into the early days of Joe Biden's presidency, creating yet another challenge for the incoming president. It also will stoke an ongoing debate among Republicans over the direction their party takes in the days ahead.

The party is on a path that splits in two very different directions.

On one side is continued allegiance to the president's brand of politics - one that created a new coalition of voters that delivered the White House and Congress in 2016, but lost both in 2020.

On the other is an uncertain future - but one free from the president's unique style of heat and rhetoric - unfiltered invective that even many Republicans now believe contributed to last week's Capitol riot.

What happens next?

The impeachment article will head to the Senate, which will hold a trial to determine the president's guilt.

A two-thirds majority is needed to convict Mr Trump, meaning at least 17 Republicans would have to vote with Democrats in the evenly split, 100-seat upper chamber.

As many as 20 Senate Republicans are open to convicting the president, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

If Mr Trump is convicted by the Senate, lawmakers could hold another vote to block him from running for elected office again - which he has indicated he planned to do in 2024.

But the trial will not come immediately. The Senate may not reconvene until 19 January, according to a spokesman for Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell.

Mr McConnell also said on Wednesday that he has not made a final decision on how he will vote. "I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate."

Impeachment: The basics

• What is impeachment? Impeachment is when a sitting president is charged with crimes. In this case, President Trump is accused of inciting insurrection by encouraging his supporters to storm the Capitol
• Could Trump be removed from office? A simple majority of the House of Representatives is enough to impeach him - but to remove him from office, he then needs to be convicted of those charges by the Senate, where a two-thirds majority required for conviction is not guaranteed
• So what does it mean? This is the second time Mr Trump will have been impeached, and even though a trial could begin after his term ends, a conviction could mean he is barred from holding public office again

News provided by BBC NEWS

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Challenging to change our perspective

Let's have prosperous and healthy year of 2021!!

 

Merry Christmas

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

TO

EVERYONE!!

PLEASE STAY WELL!!

                                                                                                                 absolute te-ma & co