seems as though ive fallen into a ramen noodle kick again... this time its the cup format... especially this particular variety; "lime chili with shrimp". ive heard from several people how this sounds terrible, but ive got to say.... its quite tasty. much more so than the "hot and spicy" ramen... which wasnt... the plain chili ramen isnt bad... but this does have a bit of lime flavor. its spice-full... not spicey as in hot... its just got several flavors. all in all... it tastes like it ought to cost more than 18 cents for this thing.... it has to... doesnt it? some fucking china based company cant really be making these things and selling them for 18 cents a cup at a PROFIT, can they? with import fees, taxation and shipping costs... how can this be 18 cents and still profitable... and retain the qualities of deliciousness..... i dont see how. i just dont. i mean, i can walk down the street, barter with some corn growing local man; whose field i can seen from my windows.... and couldnt get him to give me a cup full of corn for 18 cents, no way! and thats just raw corn. one commodity, no processing, just throw corn in a cup. how can this ramen thing get made in japan or wherethehellever, packaged, shipped, importated, warehoused, distributed, marked up at retail price, and sold.... for 18 cents.. 18 cents! its maddness. fruit costs about a buck a pound.... maybe a bit less.... but to do that, it goes through hell... tomatoes have to ripen in trucks on the way to the supermarkets.... they get grown in such volume, soaking up chemical fertilizer to grow quickly enough that they become worth more than the water they have to invest in growing them, and rush them to market to sell at a buck a pound or less. and during 99.9% of the year, they sell at like 3 dollars per pound because of the growing season. ramen cant have a growing season. so how? how is ramen always cheap, always in season, and always changing? its got to be a miracle. it has to be the answer to the hunger shortage of the world.... why are we giving starving africans sacks of flour and wheat... give them crates of ramen! imagine if the volumed consumed worldwide would triple, over night... what if the price of ramen went through the floor! 3 cents... 7 cents... its rediculous to think that if they can make it this cheap, why not 3 cents or 7 cents... and how could that be any more expensive than a sack of corn... that we give away.... if all these starving people just ate ramen... they wouldnt starve!!! and they could afford housing... medicine... sewer systems... and shit like that. why??? what could be wrong with this????