Slurp ‘n smile at Singapore’s new ramen marketing playground (Photos)

Noodle cutouts hanging from the ceilings at the experiential playground at Tekka Centre. Photo: Carolyn Teo/Coconuts

By Carolyn Teo

Sep 23, 2021 | 1:25pm Singapore time

Ran out of ways to profess your love for noodles? There’s now a playground filled with photo opportunities which might feed the obsession.

Find giant cup noodle installations, slides and a wall glorifying different instant noodle flavors filling two stories Saturday through January right next to newly opened food hall Eatbox at Tekka Centre. There’s enough ramen-related entertainment to fill 13 interactive zones. But while it’s billed as a playground, it’s really a series of product-themed sets for your Instagram feed – and invaluable marketing for its noodle-making sponsor, Nissin.

Giant noodle cutouts hanging from the ceiling greet visitors entering the 6,000-plus sqft (560sqm) space. From there, a narrow hallway leads into different themed rooms-slash-photo spots, such as one set atop a canned ham labeled “Instaham” with a neon sign that airily says “Nice to meat you.” In fact, expect a lot of puns of about that caliber seizing every opportunity to remind you of common instant noodle flavors such as crab and shrimp.

Walk further in and spot more photo setups like a circular sofa shaped as a boiling pot, a 1.7-meter cup noodle installation and slides with instant noodle brand Nissin slapped on it.

On the second floor, over 100 different types of instant noodles are plastered on a wall featuring some exclusive ones from Japan (that are unfortunately not for sale). More photo spots followed before ending at their merchandise store that sells their earrings and pins shaped in cup noodle toppings, noodle phone cases, noodle towels, egg carpets and a giant cup noodle tote.

Just in case you didn’t get the promotional aspect here, the only interactive elements include polls on how visitors like their eggs in noodles and favorite ingredients. Throughout the experience, questionable and distracting retro game music is played and the absence of savory smelling noodles is apparent.

The playground’s noodle lab and the wall of instant noodles. Photo: Carolyn Teo/Coconuts

While there are, sadly, no noodle food stops in the installation itself, it all builds up to a slurping, marketing crescendo by directing people to the Soul Good Noodle Bar in Eatbox, where they can unleash all their pent up consumer demand with a bowl of noodles customized with different toppings and base flavors.

But that’s not all the cross-brand marketing synergy here! Receive claw machine tokens to try to win Lazada vouchers, noodle merchandise and instant noodle packets if you still hadn’t had enough of noodles. And advertising.

So head down if you’re running out of photos to post online. Tickets are on sale now for S$21. Children 3 and under get in free.

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