The Flash + The Leafs = Tampa Bay

Today, the Tampa Bay Lightning unveiled their new logo and jersey that they will be using next year.


^ New Tampa Bay Lightning Logo and Jerseys.
(Credit to NHL.com)
I think I prefer the current one over the new one. The new one looks like what you get when The Flash and the Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey collide. LOL

Dinner today -> Leftover Osaka Beef Curry.
I think I made too much curry. I still have enough left for lunch and dinner tomorrow...


^ Leftover Osaka Beef Curry.

Useless Japan News:
Japan beat Australia in soccer to win the 2011 Asia Cup over the weekend. The winning goal was scored by Tadanari Lee.


^ Lee's Victory Pose.
(Credit to Japan Probe)
I'm not a soccer fan, but his pose reminded me of P.K. Subban's recent "Archery" pose, that he got some flack over.


^ P.K Subban's Pose.
I think PK did it better :)

Weekend Report - Hot Pot Moat.

I spent about 1/3 of the weekend at CMC, doing work for 2 different projects. I should have banked enough time to take this Friday off :). This Friday is also new Magic set "Mirrodin Besieged" release day :))

I need this:


^ Gas Hot Plate surrounded by a Hot Pot Moat.
There is a restaurant in Tokyo that serves this. It's like Yakiniku and Hot Pot at the same time! Also, the drippings from the meat fall into the broth of the hot pot moat! If anyone knows where to get one, let me know immediately!!!

Food this weekend ->
Went to Kowloon Market in Chinatown. I haven't been there in a very long time and they have remodel most of the store. The new seafood section has alot to choose from. I got a Skate Wing, and Ben bought a whole Monk Fish.


^ Steamed Skate Wing.
It turned out alright. I think it would have been better if I breaded and deep fried it, instead of steaming it.

Made some Osaka Beef Curry on Sunday. This was really good. I added 1/2 can of Coke to slightly sweeten and thicken the sauce.


^ Osaka Beef Curry on Rice.

Useless Idol Info:
I got another package on Friday. More AKB48 stuff from HMV Japan \(^o^)/
I got AKB48 sub-group: French Kiss's 2nd single "If" DVD Comic Version and Normal Version; Itano Tomomi's "Dear J" Type A and Type C.


^ French Kiss "If" and Itano Tomomi "Dear J" with 1st press photos.
I'm not a big fan of Itano, but her B-side song "Stay By My Side" is great. I think it is better than "Dear J".

Peanut Butter and Chopsticks

Dinner today -> Dill Pickle Pringles and Smooth Peanut Butter.
Totally got lazy today for dinner food. I started with the chips and moved on to the peanut butter. They don't really go well together, but I was hungry so it didn't matter.
I ate the peanut butter out of the jar with chopsticks :)


^ Dill Pickle Pringles and Smooth Peanut Butter.

Useless Idol Info:
Itano Tomomi's 1st single "Dear J" was released on Wednesday and I got my copy in the mail today... along with a pile of other AKB48 related items :)


^ Today's Mail: AKB48 Stuff.
I got BLT Magazine, AKB48 Piano Sheet Music, No Sleeves Album (Limited Takamina Version and Limited DVD Version), French Kiss "If" Single with bonus poster, Itano Tomomi "Dear J" Single with bonus photo, and "AKB49" Manga Vol 1.

The AKB49 manga included alternate sleeve covers that I did not know came with it.


^ AKB49 Manga and Alternate Sleeve Covers.
(Acchan, Takamina, Mayu, Itano, Yuko)

Hot Lab

Dinner today -> Leftovers.
I spent a long day in a hot lab today running tests, so I didn't feel like going to the store and getting groceries to make burgers or something.


^ Leftover Turkey Drumstick, Potatoes, and Sweet Potato.
Not much else going on today, as I fell asleep while watching TV right after eating dinner. Woke up around 8:30pm to watch The Real Ghostbusters on Teletoon Retro and to download this week's AKBingo! (OK episode, but next week is a 1hr special and it looks like they made Kasai cry!)

BUF vs OTT

I won a couple of CMC box seat tickets, with valet parking, to tonight's Senators game. Buffalo was visiting. Jeff and I went. He was cheering for Buffalo because he's got 3 BUF players in the hockey pool. It was a pretty good game, but the SENS lost in OT 3-2.


^ SABRES @ SENATORS in OT.
Valet parking was nice, but it took us 45mins to get the car and leave.

Lunch today -> Roast Beef Bun with Fries and Veggies.
Today's cafeteria special. It was actually really good and filling.


^ Roast Beef Bun with Fries and Veggies.

Useless Comic News:
Read this if you want to know who in the Fantastic Four dies in Wednesday's historic issue. Maybe I'll buy the black bagged copy to read how this member dies...

Freezing Boiling Water

I re-newed my mortgage today. I got a 5yr fixed mortgage rate of 3.690%. Pretty good rate :)

Dinner today -> Roast Turkey Legs with Potatoes.
Marinated some turkey legs in some hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. Did the same for the potatoes, but I also added rosemary leaves, salt, and black pepper. Turned out good and tasty


^ Roast Turkey Legs with Potatoes.

Useless News:
I saw some neat clips on the weather network today. Apparently it was cold enough in Ottawa yesterday (-34C) that boiling water will instantly evaporate and freeze. Pretty cool trick. I should try this out sometime.


^ Freezing Boiling Water Instantly.
(Ripped from Youtube)

Weekend Report: Boneless Bones

I bought some Soup Bones from Farmboy on the weekend. When I got home I noticed the sticker on the package...


^ "Boneless" Soup Bones. LOL

Food this weekend ->


^ Breakfast.


^ Chicken Rice.


^ Soup Medley.
Made with tofu, wild haddock, devil tongue, imitation crab, and veggies in a red miso and dashi base.
The Haddock doesn't really work with this. It has no taste and falls apart in the soup. I should have gotten some monkfish or added shrimp instead.

Useless Idol News:
AKB48's "Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2011 LIVE at SHIBUYA-AX" Concert finished on Sunday. I was following it on Twitter. The top 3 voted songs were:
3. Ponytail to ShuShu.
2. Beginner.
1. Heavy Rotation.

Other songs of note:
- Team B's "Team B Oshi" placed #5!!! A fun song, but really at #5?!?!


^ AKB48 Team B - "Team B Oshi". Chiyuu, chiyuu, chiyuu! :)

- Kasai's "Candy" placed #15. I voted for this :) Placed way higher than I thought it would.
- "RIVER" at #14. I expected this in the top 10.
- "Bird" finished at #29!!! #10 last year and I expected this one in the top 10 too!


^ Takahashi Minami snapshot during "Bird" at#29.

- New AKB sub-group announced: "Not Yet" consisting of...


^... Rie, Yuko, Yui, and Sasshi :)

But the biggest news is a 2nd season of Majisuka Gakuen to air in April. Not sure how they will work the plot, since Yuko and Takamina are dead.

Dinner today -> Beef Tendon, Chicken Thigh, Daikon, and King Mushroom Medley.
Took some stuff in the fridge and threw it together in a pot.


^ Beef Tendon, Chicken Thigh, Daikon, and King Mushroom Medley with Rice.

Useless Comic News:
A big Marvel secret will be revealed next Wednesday. In Fantastic Four Issue #587, a member of the superhero team will die. Who ever it is, it will have a rippling effect throughout the Marvel Universe. I think it will be Johnny Storm (Human Torch) or Reed Richards (Mr.Fantastic). This article makes good points about each member of the Fantastic Four and how it could be that member.

Useless Idol News:
AKB48's Request Hour Setlist Best 100 2011 concert started today at AX. It's a 4 day concert where fans vote for their top 100 songs. #100 through #76 was today.
Songs that I noted: Team A's "AKB Sanjou!" ranked in at #97 from #44 last year, #90 "Blue Rose" fell from #52, and at #83 "BINGO!" fell from #39.


^ AKB Sanjou! and BINGO! AX 2011.


^ "AKB Sanjou!" #44 at AX 2010.

MvC 3

Dinner today -> Sliced Lamb with Chinese Greens on Rice.


^ Sliced Lamb with Chinese Greens on Rice.

Useless Gaming News:
Marvel vs Capcom 3 will be out soon. I think the release date is either Feb 11 or Feb 14. I'm definately going to pick this game up for XBox 360. Tons of characters to play with.


^ MvC3 Trailer 1.


^ MvC3 Trailer 2.


^ MvC3 Trailer 3.

Kup

Dinner today -> T&T Butter Chicken with Sweet Potato.


^ T&T Butter Chicken with Sweet Potato.

I was browsing some pics on some AKB48 blogs, when I came across this Ramen pic from Kasai's blog.


^ Japanese Ramen.
I can probably recreate this, but it's the broth I can't figure out correctly. I looks like a white miso broth.

This New Year's Bento Box from Kitahara Rie's blog looks amazing.


^ New Year's Bento Box.

Useless Transformers News:
The Transformers United toyline is coming out really soon, and new pics are available for Blurr, Kup, Perceptor, and Wreck-gar. There are some detail/colour differences between the US version and the Japan versions, so it's a good thing I pre-order mine from Japan (See comments section of link for comparison pics).
The figure I'm most interested in, is Kup. Looks just like him.


^ TF:United Kup.
(credit to Seiberton.com)

Rookies Finished

I just finished watching all 11 episodes of Rookies and I'm totally in the mood to play softball now! :) Too bad it's still about 5 months away :(
Steve, Ben, you guys probably shouldn't watch this drama. You both would probably end up crying infront of your wife/gf :P

Dinner today -> T&T Butter Chicken.
My parents picked this up for me from T&T. It's actually pretty good and the chicken is very tender, but it tastes nothing like real butter chicken from Indian restaurants.


^ T&T Butter Chicken.

BTW: Steve and Kristina's babies will be a twin girl and boy. Congratulations!

Weekend Report

When I came home after work on Friday I was greeted by a couple of boxes from Japan :)


^ Greeted by HLJ Boxes.

I got a 1/8 scale Sigui Queen's Blade Statue. I got it when it was on sale for 80% off.


^ Queen's Blade Sigui.

And both Rookies White and Black Boxes. I got the full set, and the chase #8 figure.


^ Rookies Set.
I'm only missing the coach (Koichi Kawato) which is sold separately (don't know why?) and sold out.
Rookies is a Japanese Baseball TV Drama based off a manga. It is a really good show. I highly recommend it to everyone. If anyone wants it, I have a hard subbed copy of all the episodes or you can download it at d-addicts.
After opening all my figs, I started re-watching Rookies :)

Food this weekend ->


^ T&T Food: Chicken, Pork Belly, Sweet & Sour Pork, and Garlic Bread.


^ PC Fireside Shepherd's Pie.


^ Ramen with Pork Belly, Mushrooms, and Raw Egg.

Hand Towel Dispenser

Dinner today -> Spaghetti and Stuffed Meatballs.
Basically spaghetti with leftovers :P


^ Spaghetti and Stuffed Meatballs.


^ Grapefruit and Oranges for Dessert.

Jane made some peanutbutter oatmeal cookies. They are awesome. She also made some peanutbutter icing and glued some cookies together with it. Those were better than awesome :)


^ Jane's Peanutbutter Oatmeal Cookies.

Useless News:
I bought that new Kleenex Hand Towel Dispenser thinking it would be nice for my main floor bathroom.


^ Kleenex Hand Towel Dispenser.
… BUT when I went to put it on the towel rack like in the commercials, I realized I don't have a towel rack in the bathroom, but a towel ring!!! LOL! I completely forgot.


^ Towel Ring.

Instant Ramen Cup?

Not for Dinner today -> Instant Ramen Cup.
What looks like a delicious bowl of instant ramen with alot of tasty toppings...


^ Instant Ramen Cup???
... is actually a piggy bank! It's not as good as the fake food I've seen in Japan, but it's still pretty cool.


^ Instant Ramen Cup Bank.
(The pic is abit bright, but there is slot in the side of the cup to insert the coins, and a rubber stopper in the bottom to take out the money.)

Steve, if your reading this Thursday morning and didn't pick me up yet. Get your A$$ over to Mazda and pick me up!!! LOL

A Running Chicken with 2 Jelly Beans = Winter

Dinner today -> Steak, Zuccini, Mushrooms, and Rice.


^ Steak, Zuccini, Mushrooms, and Rice.

Useless Japan News:


^ "Winter" in Japanese (Kanji).
I learned today that "Winter" is spelt by combining the Japanese Kanji characters: Running Chicken, Jelly Bean, and Jelly Bean. Kind of weird.


^ Running Chicken + Jelly Bean + Jelly Bean.