More Pad Thai

Lunch today -> Pad Thai
Steve, Ed, and I checked out Thai Flame Restaurant today.  The atmosphere of the place is really bright and feels open compared to Baan Thai.
We started with a good spicy soup.

Spicy Soup.

Ed got the chicken red curry with rice combo.  He said it wasn't spicy enough, but he only asked for medium spiciness.

Chicken Red Curry Combo.

Steve and I got the Pad Thai combo.  He got pork and I got chicken.  Mine had a good amount of large chicken chunks.

Chicken Pad Thai.

The pad thai dish was pretty tasty, but from Ben's description of the dish, I was expecting a larger plate of food.  I can't see how he can only eat 60% of this and take the rest home for dinner?!?  Steve and I ate the whole thing and we were just barely satisfied. 
Verdict: Good atmosphere, fast service, tasty food.  KNH has larger portions for about the same price, but the waitress at Thai Flame is really cute.  Guess it depends on what you prefer :) (Could also be why Steve left such a large tip...)

Very Little Chicken

Lunch today -> Sukhothai
Went to Sukhothai Restaurant today with Ed and Steve for lunch.  We heard this place was good.  We all got the lunch version Pad Thai with chicken.  It was good and tasty, but there was very little chicken in it.  I prefer KNH's version with lots of chicken chunks and larger portion over this one.  Steve left still hungry.

Pad Thai... not so big.

We are planning on trying Thai Flame Restaurant soon.  Ben and Susanna says it's very good with big portions.

Useless Hockey Pool News:
Congratulations to Robot Hockey 2012-2013 Champion: "Chuck Norris".  He handly beat "Ottawa Timbits" 8-1 in the finals. 

Weekend Report: Lots of Cake

Food this weekend ->
Relatives were visiting this weekend.  On Saturday, we had some big Rideau Restaurant takeout for lunch.  Susanna made rice paper shrimp wraps and I made mabu tofu.

Lunch.

For dessert we had fruit and cakes, including a Nutella Crepe Cake from Les Delices Lafrenaie in Montreal.

Desserts.

See the layers of crepes and nutella cream!  This is the only cake to come close to as a challenger for the Black Forest Cake for my #1 favorite cake.  It's that good.

Nutella Crepe Cake Layers.

For dinner we went to my cousin's house for BBQ.  The BBQ included 4 different meats: beef, pork, lamb, and chicken.

4 Meat BBQ Dinner.

Dessert was more cake from Les Delices Lafrenaie.  This time the Lemoncello Frutti Di Bosco.

Lemoncello Cake.

I also made ice cream cookies by squishing vanilla ice cream between 2 chewy chips ahoy cookies.

Ice Cream Cookies.

Useless Idol News:
This past Sunday was the 3.25hr live stream of the AKB48 group concert on YouTube.  The concert was good, but I was hoping they would perform Sugar Rush (They did it on Sat's concert instead.).
BTW, Kasai Tomomi didn't perform on Sunday!  She didn't perform because they held her graduation ceremony on Saturday night's concert.  On Saturday, Kasai got to perform her solo singles and performed with fellow 2nd generation members one last time.

Kasai Tomomi.

Kasai Graduation pics here.  Her graduation dress looks very similar to Maeda's grad dress.  Messages 2nd generation members gave Kasai here.
(Credit to sweettomo.com)

Kasai's Graduation from AKB48.

At the end of Sunday's concert, there were abunch of surprise announcements: Member promotions, concurrent member transfer cancellations, new concurrent member transfer assignments, and a 5 city dome concert this summer (I'm guessing Itano will graduate on the last day at Tokyo Dome).

HAPPY PRETZEL DAY!!!

HAPPY PRETZEL DAY!!!

Apparently April 26 is National Pretzel Day!

The company across the street from CMC had graffiti sprayed on the walls.  Today some people came to remove it.  This pic is what it looked like after they removed the graffiti.  Can you still see where the graffiti used to be?  LOL what a horrible job!

Removed Graffiti???

Dinner today -> T&T Discount Foods
Picked up a pile of discount foods from T&T today.  Too bad Ed and Jim won't be at work on Friday.  I got some stuff they like, BBQ pork pastries and sausage rolls.

Discount T&T Food.

Useless Idol News:
Got a couple photos I won on eBay today: mother-daughter combo Yukirin and Mayuyu.  Also, the seller is an AKB48 fan from Guelph!  Cool.

Yukirin and Mayuyu photos.

Reminder this Sunday 4:30am EST - AKB48 live concert streamed on Youtube.  This what the concert stage will look like (SKE48 performed today).

Concert Stage.

Alarm Clock

Good luck to Ed, who might be reading this while sitting on his "throne" on Thursday.  He is going through an internal flushing and fasting for a medical "rear-entry inspection" on Friday.

Dinner today -> Steak with Chinese Greens.

Steak and Greens.

Useless Idol Info:
Got a new alarm clock yesterday.  It's an AKB48 Janken Alarm Clock.  When the alarm goes off, one of the 5 AKB members yells to wake up and play a game of jankenpon.  You have to win to turn off the alarm.  Its neat.

Janken Alarm Clock.

Also, I ordered myself another 3D mousepad.  This time it's Oshima Yuko.  Granted it's a knock-off but it's so cheap for the medical support.  This one is hilarious.

Snaky Prime

Useless Transformers News:
Picked up 2 new Bot Shot launchers at Toys R Us Kanata today: Prime and Bumblebee.

Bot Shot Launchers.

Also picked up Year of the Snake Optimus Prime.  Not sure if I want to keep this yet.  It was expensive.  The only reason I may want this, is because I was born in the year of the snake.

Year of the Snake Prime.

Useless Idol News:
Kasai Tomomi scandal less than 2 weeks before she graduates.  The article is really had to believe and alot of it is BS.  Read it with a grain of salt, as it's translated from a gossip newspaper try to sell papers.  Kicking a girl when she is down... very pitiful.
(credit to aramatheydidnt!)

Flavoured Lip Balm

Susanna picked up some fun flavoured lip balms and I kept some :)  She got MTN Dew, Hamburger, French Fries, and Bacon.

Flavoured Lip Balms.

The MTN Dew really tasted like Mountain Dew.
Hamburger didn't taste or smell like a burger to me.
The French Fries really smelled like french fries, but iffy about the taste.
The Bacon smelled like artificial bacon, but it had the cool box with googly eyes and a fuzzy mustache.

Dinner today -> Roast Beef with Veggies.
Cooked a roast beef at my parent's house for dinner.  I cooked it to an internal temperature of 140F and it came out medium. which was too much for our family.  It needed to be more rare.  I guess I'll need to get a better quality meat thermometer.  Mine was a cheap $6 one from Walmart.

Medium Roast Beef.

Useless Toy News:
Picked up some glow-in-the-dark finger zombies at Ms.TiggyWinkles.  Grrr Arrgg!

Glow-in-the-Dark Finger Zombies.

Useless Transformers News:
Found some new Bot Shots at Kanata Walmart:  Beast Hunter Optimus Prime, Megatron, Scourge, and Superbot Cliffjumper.

New Bot Shots.

Useless Idol Info:
More stuff from eBay today.  Got some AKB48 Puccho file folders of Sasshi, Mayu, Mariko, and Yukirin.  Also got Yuko and Kojiharu Noodle Cups.  Now I have the set with the Takamina version that Emi got for me. 

AKB Folders and Noodle Cups.

Only 6 players showed up

Food this weekend ->
Made a steak with noodle knots and Chinese greens.  Might pick up a couple more steaks from Sobey's this week while the sale is on. 

Boneless Rib Steak with Noodle Knots and Greens.

Also made a big batch of spaghetti with mussels.  Couldn't finish it.  Made too much spaghetti.  With 1/4 left, I just ate the mussels.

Spaghetti with Mussels.

On Sunday after softball practice, I picked some Rideau Restaurant food.  I got Beef Chow Mein, 2 Treasure Sauce Fried Rice, and Fish Maw Soup with Crab Meat. 
The fish maw soup was excellent.  I didn't expect it to have real crab meat in it.  Too bad I didn't have any Red Vinegar left to splash in it.  It would have made it perfect.

Rideau Food.

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters were suppose to have a big practice on Sunday afternoon, but only 6 of us showed up.  We still hit and threw abit, and then played a friendly mini game against another team that was there.  In the end we practiced for almost 4 hours.  My feet are really going to fell it on tomorrow.

New Guy: Brannon at the Plate.

Useless Idol News:
Saturday was Kasai Tomomi's last handshake event as an AKB48 member.  I believe her last concert will be next Sunday Apr 28 17:30JST (live steamed on YouTube as part of Music Week), and her graduation at the AKB Theatre is Friday May 3.

Kasai Tomomi :)

1st BBQ of 2013

Lunch today -> Chicken Red Curry.
Went to Baan Thai today for lunch with Darrell, Mark, Ed, and Marc.  I got the red curry with chicken.  It was good the 1st time I was here, but today it wasn't as good as I remembered it.  It lacked the sweetness and then the hot kick right after.  Maybe it's because I think my chicken red curry is better :)

So-so Chicken Red Curry.

Dinner today -> BBQ Rib Steak.
Sobey's sale this week is "Buy 1, Get 1 Free" for Boneless Sterling Silver Rib Steaks.  I picked up 6 steaks and went to my parents house for BBQ dinner with the family.  The 1st BBQ of the year!  Mmmm... steak.

Free Rib Steaks.

Useless Idol Info:
Got a package from eBay.  I picked up some AKB48 Noodle Cup Timers.  I got Yuko and Yukirin versions for myself.  I got a Mayuyu timer for Gavin. 
HEY GAVIN, this was your Birthday Gift!  I also got you another cool retro thing, but it's not here yet.

Mayuyu, Yuko, and Yukirin Timers.

Learn Math

Went to Kobold’s Corner (formerly Wizard's Tower) at lunchtime.  There was a new kid at the cash.  Seemed like he should be in school (important later).  I only bought a Previews magazine.  The total came up to $5.09.  I gave the kid $10.10.  For some reason he starts pulling out the coins and starts counting outloud at $4.  He would pull out a quarter “$4.25”, then another “$4.50”.  I tried to tell him the correct change was $5.01, but he kept saying “hold on, give me a minute.”  When he finally stopped to listened to my answer of  $5.01.  He went “oh”, put back all the change and pulled out a $5.  This is why he is working at a comic store.  

Go back to school and re-learn basic math, dude!

 

Dinner today -> 1 Pot Dinner.
My 1 pot dinner.  Cream of Wild Mushroom soup with 1 can of milk, a dozen quartered White mushrooms, and 1 pack of instant Chicken flavoured Wild Rice.  Brought to a boil and finished with 2 big hand fulls of frozen mussels.

Lotsa Mussels!

Itsy-Bitsy Spider in My Car!

I had to go get a blood test today.  As I was driving into the clinic parking lot, I noticed a spider was starting to descend down right beside my head and onto my left arm!!!  As I quickly parked the car, I lost sight of it and now I have no idea where it is.  It might still be in the car or it might be in my jacket!!!  The spider was small, but it looked this big when it was right beside my face! (This spider was the one living at CMC a couple summers ago.)

Sample Spider in My Car.

Useless Transformers and Idol News:
Got some packages with some stuff today.  Some really cool stuff.
First I got Masterpiece Frenzy and Buzzsaw from HLJ, and AKB0048 Maeda Atsuko the 13th micro-fiber towel from AmiAmi.

MP Frenzy & Buzzsaw and Maeda 13th.

The other package was from Gavin with fresh stuff from Osaka. 
He got Ben a mystery gift.  It rattles alot when I shake it (white package on left).
Gavin got me Black Unicron from TF:Prime and a bunch of AKB48 stuff: Mini-Mayu pillow, AKB Pen, and AKB shop cookies...

Mystery Gift, Unicron, and AKB Stuff.

Some mini-posters: Kojiharu, Takamina, Kasai, Itano,...

Mini-Posters.

Mayuyu, Yuko, Yukirin,...

More Mini-Posters.

And the best one: a big Kasai Pillow Case.  It's way bigger than I thought.  It's almost life size... :)

Kasai Pillow Case.

Regulated Down to C-

Dinner today - Roast Beef.
Cooked my 2nd and "free" roast beef I got from Sobey's today.

Roast Beef with Veggies.

I'm getting better at the timing, but I'm still over cooking the roast abit.  It's not coming out bloody enough.  I doubled all the vegetables and used a pack of potato fingers instead of mini-red potatoes this time.

Medium Roast Beef.

Useless Softball News:
Found out today that our softball league decided to re-adjust the teams in our division.  CMC Strike Fighters was regulated down to the "C-" division, because of our "sub-par" record.  We might fair better against the lowest division teams.

Weekend Report: Happy Birthday Gordon!!!

Happy Belated Birthday Gordon!!!

Gordon's birthday was last Sunday.  I thought it was this Sunday.  Oops.

Food this weekend ->
I made my beef roast.  I cooked it to medium, but would have preferred it a bit more bloody.  The veggies were good, but especially the smashed garlic cloves.  They really caramelized.

Beef Roast surrounded by Roasted Veggies.

Also boiled some Grill'em sausages and some noodle knots.  Finished the noodle knots in a flash pan fry with some olive oil infused with rosemary leaves, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper powder.

Sausages with Noodle Knots.

Useless Gaming News:
Some 6 player gaming at Brian's this weekend.  We played an aquarium building card game (can't remember name) that I really like.  It's a fast game too.
We then played Moto GrandPrix.  It was fun using basic rules.

Beginner Track.

It was not as fun with the advance rules.  It got too complex fast.  Formula De is a better racing game.

Detailed Bike Pieces.

We also played Tsuro and Ca$h & Gun$ with Yakuza expansion.

Yakuza Expansion Pieces.

We started A Touch of Evil at midnight, but it was taking too (our turns take forever) and we stopped just after 1am.  I think it would have been a good game because of all the chaos that was happening :)  Still, I would have preferred to have played a non-coop version of this game.  We always play coop and the game is getting "meh" to me.

Aborted Touch of Evil.

To Snow or Not To Snow?

Still can't believe a snow storm is coming, but we will all see tonight if the weather reports are true.  If it is true, at least I took Friday off and not have to worry about leaving the house :)

Dinner today -> Salmon Sashimi and Spicy Salmon.
I was going to cook a beef roast tonight, but got lazy and just sliced up some salmon for sashimi and diced some for spicy salmon.

Salmon Sashimi and Spicy Salmon.

BTW: The Sterling Silver beef roasts at Sobey's are "buy 1 get 1 free" this week.  I picked up 2 $15 roasts for slaughter this weekend.

Useless Idol News:
Takahashi Minami's "Jane Doe" music video: