Certain products elicit a similar physiological kick, tripping the noodle's reward circuitry.

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Such regional proposals, if given serious backing, would do much to cut through the tangle of Asia's noodle bowl of deals.

ECONOMIST: Free-trade agreements

As for Asia's noodle bowl of proliferating FTAs, a recent survey found only 22% of firms taking advantage of trading preferences offered by such agreements.

ECONOMIST: Regional economic integration has a long, long way to go

The ship's 27 dining options also include ethnic restaurants like a Brazilian churrascaria and Shanghai's Noodle Bar, along with the Manhattan Room, styled like a private supper club with dance floor.

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"We have one instant noodle, one package of instant noodle per day, that's all our meal, " she says.

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Fortunately four to five meals per day of char kwey tiaw (fried noodles in soy sauce with egg and various additions), asam laksa (Penang's famous, indescribably good curry noodle soup), rojak (fruit and veggie salad in a sweet dark shrimp paste) and much, much more, goes down a lot easier than heavier Western foods.

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"Gold seems inexpensive at the moment considering all the economic problems in other countries, " said Kanchana Panyaphoo, a noodle vendor who was inspecting gold prices at a jewelry store in Bangkok's crowded Chinatown one recent morning and says she bought some three years ago.

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At Whole Foods a noodle isn't just wheat and water in a plain package--it is the life's work of an Italian "authentic food artisan" named Gino Girolomoni.

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