COMMENTARY, Feb. 18 -- A bowl of ramen can impart more than an explosion of flavours upon our taste buds. Perhaps, if we are open to it, ramen tell us more about how we live.

It begins with patience. As you join the queue to enter the ramen shop, you could be fidgeting about the agonising wait. Like a child on a road trip with no end in sight, you call out "Are we there yet?" if only to yourself.

Or you could observe how the others in the line behave. Most are happily engaged with some form of active distraction: chatting with friends, eyes stuck to their phones or indulging in a bit of people watching, i.e. fellow diners and passers-by.

One or two are simply looking ahead, their full attention concentrating on the meal ahead once they...