Random Japan

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Japanese ramen restaurant offering customers virtual dates with idol singers

Casey Baseel

Does real ramen taste better when it comes with a side of simulated companionship?

Back in my younger days, when I was less experienced and enlightened regarding dating, I used to silently scoff when I saw a guy eating in a ramen restaurant with his girlfriend. “Really, buddy? That’s the best you can do for date night?” I’d think to myself.

Flash forward to today, and I can totally see the upside to a ramen date. There’s an undeniable intimacy that comes from enjoying time with a romantic partner in such casual surroundings, and the fact that most ramen joints have counters where you can sit side-by-side makes it easy to sprinkle little bits of physical affection into the meal. Plus there’s just the simple fact that ramen tastes really, really good.

Pokemon Go spurs lifestyle changes, business boom as it rolls out in Asia

JAKARTA —

Asian fans of smartphone game Pokemon Go are hunting out the best telecom providers and network gear to overcome the hurdle posed by patchy network signals in their race to capture virtual cartoon characters.

From Indonesia to Hong Kong and Cambodia, the wild popularity of Nintendo’s augmented reality app is also driving lifestyle changes for many gamers, who must trudge through real-life locations in their quest.

The game launched in many Southeast Asian countries on Aug 5, a month after the United States, New Zealand and Australia, but enthusiasts are finding they must first vanquish shaky transmission signals.

In Indonesia, Muchamad Syaifudin, a 29-year-old bank employee, said he switched to a mobile carrier offering better data packages, while his friends snapped up modems, at a cost of $20 each, to lock on to the signals.