Well, what a year it has been for all of us! With all this craze going on, I’ve come to understand the importance of spending time with the people you love before it’s too late. As a result, I don’t think it’s best at this time to continue my food adventures around the world. Many places in the world are shutting down and I feel like it’s best if I spend quality time with my family during these times. Of course, once this settles down I will pick my journey right back where it left off! Until then, I will see you guys later!

Hi everyone! I recently came across an article by Chelsea called “Missile Defense Radar Project in Hawaii Postponed.” When I think Hawaii, a couple things come to mind: the beaches, the unique culture, and the delicious food! So, when Chelsea mentioned how the construction of a missile defense radar would harm cultural and environmental sites, I had some very strong opinions on this. Hawaii boasts an extremely unique environment with many different types of species. If a missile defense radar were to be made, this would potentially disrupt a thriving ecosystem and put a stain on a beautiful state. It could even lead to other consequences such as a drop in tourism and human activity. However, it’s definitely still going to be a controversial topic. Chelsea talks about how the Missile Defense Agency recently pulled the plug on this proposition due to the public outrage over the situation. Still, there are some passionate supporters over this proposal because there are concerns about the threat of a missile from foreign countries. We live in a world today where nuclear weapons are strong enough to wipe out large masses of civilization. In fact, we have enough nuclear missiles to wipe out the entire world multiple times. Because of this, I can see why some Hawaiians would support the construction of this despite the destruction it may cause to the environment. It’s definitely a fine line that the Hawaiian Missile Defense must figure out in order to please both crowds of the situation. On one end, there is concerns about if there will be damage to the Hawaiian ecosystem and wildlife. On the other end, there is safety concerns about a potential missile striking Hawaii within the next years. In my opinion, I feel like they should at least do something in regards to safety since they shut down the proposal. For example, they could spend more money on the defense budget and find ways they can prevent missiles without building a radar. Another point that Chelsea makes in support of the radars is that they aren’t even made for profit. There is no money to be made off of these facilities, they are made purely for protection against missiles. They are supposedly made to protect from missiles from North Korea. This makes sense since Hawaii is the closest state to North Korea, making it a potential target. The risk of a missile is incredibly real in a world like this, so it’s critical to have some sort of defense at least. Actually, I remember hearing on the news a few years back about how Hawaii had a false-alarm alert for a missile that was going to strike. When this happened, it created extreme panic and chaos over the Hawaiians supposed “impending doom.” If there were a missile defense system instead, it would create a better peace of mind for Hawaiians. Still, this situation is very tricky and I don’t have a clear opinion on it myself. In the next few years, however, I expect nuclear missile defense to be a hot topic for us and it’ll be interesting to see how we handle situations like these in the future.

It’s no secret that Coronavirus, recently labeled COVID-19, is causing massive panic and precautions around the world. In the epicenter of it all, Wuhan is under a city-wide quarantine and has become eerily similar to a ghost town. Streets once bustling with vibrant life are now completely empty and virtually all businesses and restaurants are closed down. Since this is a food blog, I’ve always wondered how the people of Wuhan are getting their food since the start of the quarantine. If supermarkets are cleared out and restaurants are closed, is the 11.08 million people of Wuhan left to fend for themselves? Well, I recently came across a Chinese based company called Meituan and they are known to be one of the top food delivery services in the area. Think of it as similar to DoorDash, the popular U.S. based food delivery app. It works like this: a customer would order food on the app, then a delivery person would drop it off at a specified area such as your doorstep. This process is based on this idea of “contactless delivery” to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19. Still, this brings up questions on if this process is truly “contactless.” How do we know the people preparing the food aren’t potentially infected? If the delivery person has contact with the delivery bag/box, can’t they infect someone? Is it even safe for delivery persons to be out in the streets at a time like this? Well, Meituan has tried its very best to address these concerns. First, they have made sure that every person involved in preparing the food isn’t infected. This means that they check and record the temperature of every single person that has contact with the food. Next, they do constant temperature checks of the delivery person as well through a handheld temperature sensor. While some may still be concerned about the risk, I believe that services like Meituan are too important to not use. As of now, it seems that it’s the only reliable and consistent way to get food at a reasonable price without having to leave the safety of your home. It’s also good to see that prices for food are still somewhat reasonable. By now, I would’ve expected food prices to surge just because of the lack of consistent food sources. Still, the quarantine has no end in sight and I wonder if Meituan is able to keep up their services throughout the duration of the quarantine. I’m also questioning on why it requires services like Meituan for citizens to get food but the government isn’t there to provide food. It shouldn’t take a private companies efforts in order for 11 million people that are quarantined to receive basic necessities. If the government isn’t able to provide food at a suitable level, are they even providing other necessities like toiletries and cleaning supplies? It’s definitely a scary time to be in Wuhan right now and I hope that many companies like Meituan step up and provide services to those in need right now. Hopefully, we see an end to this virus soon.

I recently came across an article called “Self Driving Cars: Are they the future of commuting?” by Sammy the Slugbot. In this article, it talks about the future consequences of our advancements in artificial intelligence. More specifically, what will happen to entry level jobs such as truck drivers when self driving cars become the norm? It’s no secret that artificial intelligence is becoming a popular field that will drastically change our society in the future. Many corporations are competing to create the most sophisticated artificial intelligence model on the market and its led to huge advancements in technology. A consequence of this, however, is that entry level jobs will soon be easily replaced by technology. Sammy touches on this when they talk about how a cashiers job can be easily replaced by a computer. After all, it’s not difficult for a computer to take an order, calculate change, and receive customer requests. For self driving cars, it seems that Tesla is quickly advancing in creating a truck capable of self driving. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, it says that there are over 3.5 million truck drivers in the United States alone. If self truck driving capabilities reach its potential, there could be disaster for the truck driving industry. So, how do we stop this problem from happening? Sammy suggests that government needs to enforce regulations to stop automation from spiraling out of control. I agree with this viewpoint because I believe the rate of technology is growing uncontrollably fast and the government needs to keep an eye on it. However, I don’t believe that the government will take action in time. In my opinion, the government is especially slow in handling modern day problems related to technology and artificial intelligence. There just isn’t enough people in power that are educated enough to find solutions to these modern day problems. Still, I think that artificial intelligence is something that will be amazing for the world. A computer can perform computational tasks and process information at a rate that is impossible for humans. It opens up a world of potential for fields such as mathematics, science, and engineering. These amazing opportunities will only happen if we carefully monitor the advancement of artificial intelligence though. Unfortunately, a lot of politicians and lawmakers aren’t concerned enough about the threat of artificial intelligence. I feel like as if they live in the past and make laws accordingly so. The topic of artificial intelligence isn’t something brought up enough in debates and discussions. If we want to truly enjoy the benefits of an automated society, we must first educate our lawmakers on it first. They need to be the ones that understand the benefits of it and how it must be closely monitored and regulated. If not, technology can become something that will be too out of control. This would mean that technological corporations can become extremely powerful in our society. We are already seeing this in a way with companies such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

In the past few years, it’s quite obvious that there’s been a revolution towards plant-based diets and imitation meat. More and more people are dropping meat out of their daily diet, substituting it for vegetarian alternatives like tofu, mushrooms, lentils, and the reasons are becoming increasingly clear. For starters, a plant-based diet significantly lowers our chances of obesity, heart disease, and it lowers the impact the meat industry has on the environment! So what exactly is a “meat patch” and what are its benefits? A “meat patch” is similar to a caffeine or nicotine patch and it’s intended for meat eaters who want to eat less meat. It works by releasing the smell of meat when eating plant-based foods to trick our brains into thinking it’s actually meat. Since our smell and taste are closely linked, it makes sense that it’s an effective method to make us enjoy our veggies a bit more. To illustrate the effectiveness, imagine this scenario: we have a delicious vegetarian dish composed of lentils, veggies, and potatoes. While most will find this amazingly appetizing, our carnivorous friends might have a hard time stomaching this food. Fortunately, the meat patch releases the smell of bacon and it helps meat eaters find this dish a little bit more tempting. Meat can be a hard habit to kick ourselves out of if we want to eat less of it. Many people have ate meat all their lives and it’s unreasonable to expect that someone can just stop out of the blue. The meat patch can be a creative way to ease us off of meat slowly until we feel comfortable with a plant-based diet. While I don’t think the meat patch is groundbreaking enough to be commercially available everywhere, I do think it shows promise and potential towards the technological advancements to limit meat consumption. The meat patch is a great example of an invention that mixes different fields of study such as psychology and chemistry to create something new. If technology keeps on advancing like this, it’ll be interesting to keep an eye out for the alternative meat options in the next few years. Since the meat industry is one of the main causes for pollution and global warming, I believe that it’s critical that we find creative solutions to lower our meat consumption in the next decades. We can already see this with things like the “Impossible Burger,” a burger that substitutes the meat patty for a plant-based patty. Also, lab grown meat is becoming more sophisticated and it’s close to resembling actual meat. Hopefully these potential solutions will keep growing and advancing until they can become as feasible and reliable as meat itself. Admittedly, the meat industry will remain powerful for many years to come. But inventions like the “meat patch” are creative ways in which people will slowly be more and more encouraged to make the switch. If this technology can keep on advancing beyond its potential, we can find more healthier people and a healthier environment

Hi all! As you know from my last blog post, I recently traveled to China to celebrate Lunar New Years! Unfortunately, the recent outbreak of Coronavirus in China cut my trip a bit short. I read a blog post called “Coronavirus is Sickening” by Twig and it gave me some insight towards what the virus exactly is and the severity of it. While I was there, I could tell there is widespread fear and stress that is directly impacting daily life. Everyone is wearing face masks, staying inside, and being extra diligent in practicing good hygiene. Like Twig said in their blog, it also doesn’t help that it’s Lunar New Years which is a period of intense traveling and direct contact. It’s also evident that there is a lack of doctors and nurses for the amount of people who are potentially infected. I’ve seen this personally when I see huge crowds of people trying to get treated at hospitals. Twig brings up a good point that these doctors don’t have any time to eat or sleep due to the large influx of people infected. As a result, doctors may simply be just too tired to give quality treatment. Of course, I am not blaming these doctors at all and I applaud them for their determination to help as many people as possible. Instead, I am making an observation of the lack of resources for a situation this serious and I hope that there will be foreign assistance. Twig also points out that many people are turning on each other and blaming one another for the spread of the virus. For example, people are blaming the doctors and calling them incompetent while people online are being blatantly racist against Chinese people. It seems the increasing fear of a pandemic is causing people to act irrationally and talk without thinking. It’s understandable to be scared about this situation but we have to do our best to place trust in the experts! Also, I’ve noticed a lot of conflicting information about the severity of the virus. Is it something fatal on contact or just a glorified common cold? The deaths seem to be people who have weak immune systems, respiratory systems, or are older. If that’s the case, people should start practicing better hygiene! This means that we should wash our hands frequently, cover our mouths when we cough or sneeze, and limiting contact with others if we feel ill. Just taking good care of your own body will be a good start to easing fear regarding Coronavirus. I expect to see a higher frequency of news about confirmed cases in more and more countries within the next few weeks. It’s easy to get scared about this news but it’s important to keep a level head and trust healthcare officials! Modern technology and medicine is extremely sophisticated and advanced today that I believe this situation will settle down in a few months. Still, we should do our best to ensure that the virus doesn’t spread. The important lessons I learned is to limit contact if we feel sick and to seek help immediately if we feel symptoms!

As I was perusing through the internet, I came across an interesting article about how video games can save lives. The author, theguywhogames211, gives his thoughts and summary about a recent story where a friend saves her other friend because she heard sounds of a seizure happening on the other side of the mic. The thing that fascinates me so much is that Dia Lathora, the person who noticed the seizure, was able to call for help to Aiden Jackson, the person having the seizure, despite being thousands of miles away from each other. This speaks towards the unique interconnectivity that only things that video games can possess. I can’t lie; when I saw the title of this article I was immediately perplexed. As someone who has spent countless hours on video games growing up, my first thought was, “how can something that wastes so much time even save lives?” Luckily, I found the answer to my question after reading this blog post. The blog post illustrated to me that video games have become a large part in propelling and encouraging the internet to become a modern medium for widespread communication. According to Statista, it’s expected that there will be 2.7 billion “gamers” by 2021. If a large portion of those people communicate with each other online, imagine all the positive interactions that are taking place every day! It’s amazing to think about how many people are able to build lasting relationships with others that are all the way across the globe. Personally, I have encountered similar experiences whenever I play video games. To be able to connect with completely random strangers and work together to accomplish a goal is one of the beautiful things that video games allow us to do. Another positive I thought of after reading the blog is that video games allow one to temporarily escape from the stress and hardships we all experience. Being able to be immersed into a virtual world and tune out the real world is an effective way to take a break from the things that worry us. Not only that, but we also get opportunities to hear unique stories like the one between Aiden Jackson and Dia Lathora. The one gripe that I have is that video games can be a double-edged sword. While there are many positives to video games, they also can be something very addicting and time consuming. In my experience, there have been many times where I spent a majority of my day playing video games instead of doing something productive. It’s led me countless time to turning in unpolished work, missing deadlines, and doing things last minute. I believe that one must find a good balance to fully utilize the positives of video games while limiting the negatives. For example, someone could set a limit on how many hours per day that they play video games. Like many things in life, moderation is key towards finding a happy life. Still, there are many positives that we can take from video games and the story between Aiden and Dia is nothing short of amazing.

Chinese New Year is coming up and I have been blessed with the opportunity to experience it in China! We can expect grand fireworks, performances, decorations, and artwork to ring in 2020, the year of the Rat. While this can catch the attention of many, the foodie in me will be heading straight towards the amazing cuisine and street food that highlight the long-lasting culture of the Chinese. It’s expected that hundreds of thousands of people will travel to China to experience the annual festivities. So, here’s the ultimate food guide that will have your taste buds bursting with excitement!

An important part of Chinese culture is to have symbolic meaning for many objects we come across in our daily lives. This means that eating certain foods for the new year will carrying a specific meaning. Usually, these symbols are things like luck and prosperity. The first food that is important to eat during the new year are dumplings. Dumplings are a symbol of wealth and, if eaten, will grant the person a wealthy year depending on how many dumplings you eat! So, if you want to finally be rich, you better load up on dumplings! Even if you don’t believe in all this, dumplings are still a delicious dish you can find anywhere. The next food I recommend everyone to eat is fish, more specifically, a whole fish. Fish is an absolute staple in Chinese cuisine and I recommend it to be steamed and served in a lake of soy sauce. To the Chinese, eating a whole fish symbolizes fortune and having a lot of what you need. While some may not be accustomed to it, the Chinese have been cooking and eating whole fish for centuries. You can order a whole fish at virtually any Chinese restaurant and you can also customize the way you want it to be cooked! The last food I highly recommend is roast duck. Now, this is not your usual roast duck. Instead, it’s served with it’s whole head and feet still attached. What makes this dish special is that it is air-dried so that the skin is extremely crispy and is like paper.

Street food is an absolute must if you want to experience a true “bang for your buck” meal. One of my favorite street foods in China is deep fried scallion pancakes. This is not your conventional American pancake with butter and syrup. This is a thin flatbread that is deep fried and sprinkled with tons of scallion. Another food that I absolutely love are moon cakes. This is an extremely traditional treat that is enjoyed primarily during Chinese New Year. Because the Chinese New Year is based off of the lunar calendar, it makes sense why moon cakes go hand in hand with this holiday. Known for its sweet and thick filling, it’s a very sweet desert that is known as a delicacy worldwide.

Well, here are some of my favorite foods that I hope you will be sure to enjoy for Chinese New Years! Also know that you don’t have to make the adventure all the way to China to enjoy these foods. Many of these foods are available at a supermarket near you and can be made very easily! Until next time!

-Paul Osbourne

To us, the American fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is nothing more than a “once in a while” cheat meal. Boasting it’s $5 Fill Ups, $3 Famous Bowls, and 8 piece Bucket Meal, it’s become one of the leading fast food chains in the entire nation. We’ve become so accustomed to seeing Colonel Sander’s face as we drive past our local KFC to the point where we pay no mind. So, why in the world has Kentucky Fried Chicken and Christmas become synonymous together in Japan? I celebrated my Christmas in Tokyo this year and I decided to take a deep dive on this unusual cultural phenomenon. After doing some research and talking to locals, I discovered that this tradition arose from clever marketing from KFC. While we celebrate the holidays with a Christmas tree and gift giving, the Japanese never established a Christmas tradition that unified the country. That was until KFC capitalized with the “Kentucky for Christmas” campaign in the 1970s that featured large party buckets that were to be shared between family and friends. In Japanese culture, it’s important to share meals between those close with you as it’s a way to strengthen an everlasting bond. I interviewed Giyu Tomioka, a 19 year old Tokyo native who has been eating KFC every Christmas. He said, “I’ve been eating KFC every Christmas for as long as I can remember. To be able to share a delicious meal with my family upholds the values I cherish. Also, it gives me a little taste of what it’s like to be American!”

Personally, seeing American and Japanese culture fuse together in this unlikely way helps illustrate the respect each nation has for each other. While Japanese culture integrates into our country with things like ramen, sushi, and anime; America is able to integrate itself into Japan with things like KFC. Isn’t that marvelous? As I look deeper into seeing just how big this tradition is, I was shocked to read some of these statistics regarding KFC sales. According to Japanese news site SoraNews24, it’s estimated that from 12/23-12/25, all KFC locations in Japan created a revenue of over 6 billion yen ($53 million USD). To put that into perspective, that is about 24 million pieces of chicken sold to these hungry Japanese families. After finding about all of this, I knew I had to go to KFC in Shinjuku City to truly find out what the rave is all about. On Christmas Eve, I went around dinner time only to be met with a massive line out the door. After waiting about 25 minutes in line, I finally got my Party Barrel to share with my friends and family. At around 4,000 yen ($38 USD), I was overwhelmed with the sheer amount of food given to me. It featured a gigantic bucket of chicken, a salad, and even a Christmas cake. After eating my delicious meal, I finally understood why this tradition is able to last despite it’s original intent for marketing and selling a product. To the people of Japan, it’s being able to sit around a dinner table and share a feast among those you love. Overall, this was definitely one of my most unique Christmas experiences. I never thought I would replace my turkey and mashed potatoes with a bucket of KFC but here we are. Still, I loved this experience and I will be sure to do it again next year. Until next time!

-Paul Osbourne