REAL HEADLINE - Noodles: Friend or foe? S. Koreans defend

I DO NOT believe what I am reading. Is someone really suggesting that I, NOODLES the pug, am potentially a FOE? And. . . what does a FOE mean anyhow?

Lemme just take a sec to GOOGLE this . . .

Hmmmm. I honestly DON'T know what to make of this. I really believe I am everyPUGGYs FURiend. And what does S. Korea have to do with me any HOOOO?

Maybe I just better read the story before I JUMP to conclusions (like I JUMP to anything, heehee)

I highlighted all references to ME - or I THINK they refer to me -

By FOSTER KLUG and JUNG-YOON CHOI, Associated Press Updated 8:54 am, Thursday, August 21, 2014

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Kim Min-koo has an easy reply to new American research that hits South Korea where it hurts — in the noodles. Drunk and hungry just after dawn, he rips the lid off a bowl of his beloved fast food, wobbling on his feet but still defiant over a report that links instant noodles to health hazards.

"There's no way any study is going to stop me from eating this," says Kim, his red face beaded with sweat as he adds hot water to his noodles in a Seoul convenience store. His mouth waters, wooden chopsticks poised above the softening strands, his glasses fogged by steam. At last, he spears a slippery heap, lets forth a mighty, noodle-cooling blast of air and starts slurping.

"This is the best moment — the first bite," Kim, a freelance film editor who indulges about five times a week, says between gulps. "The taste, the smell, the chewiness — it's just perfect."

In South Korea, it's all about speed, cost and flavor.

Thousands of convenience stores have corners devoted to noodles: Tear off the top, add hot water from a dispenser, wait a couple minutes and it's ready to eat, often at a nearby counter.

Some even skip the water, pounding on the package to break up the dry noodles, adding the seasoning, then shaking everything up.

"It's toasty, chewy, much better than most other snacks out there," Byon Sarah, 28, who owns a consulting company, says of a technique she discovered in middle school. "And the seasoning is so addictive — sweet, salty and spicy."

Cheap electric pots that boil water for instant noodles in one minute are popular with single people. Making an "instant" meal even faster, however, isn't always appreciated.

At the comic book store she runs in Seoul, Lim Eun-jung, 42, says she noticed a lot more belly fat about six months after she installed a fast-cooking instant noodle machine for customers.

"It's obvious that it's not good for my body," Lim says. "But I'm lazy, and ramyeon is the perfect fast food for lazy people."

Oh, I see. It isn't talking about me but about the EATABLE Noodles. Whew. I am quite relieved.

I guess it had NOTHING to do with me AT ALL!