Surprise Fish Tank Soup

When I got home from work today, I discovered all my Glass Catfish had died :(  The heater element broke and kept on heating the water past the stopping point.  The water was so warm, it cooked my fishies!  I think my plants were cooked too.  They looked bright green, like when you boil green veggies in a pot.  I had a big tank full of fish soup.

Dinner today -> 2 Lobsters
Small canning lobsters were on sale at Sobey's.  I picked up a couple female ones.  I don't mind they were small because I can get more lobster bodies to get more of the green stuff and eggs :)

2 Canning Lobsters.

Useless Japan News:
Does anyone think this personal cooler actually works?  I kind of want to get one... along with some iPhone pantsu.  I didn't know my iPhone was going commando this whole time!  :) LOL

Useless Anime News:
I got a package from Japan with a box of AKB0048 Phone Straps.  I got the whole set including the secret Maeda figure.

AKB0048 Straps.

4 Packages Today.

Useless Softball News:
We lost 29-11 to Mayhem today.  The diamond was in Barrhaven and had no homerun fence, so everything that went out in the field was in play.  That didn't work too well for us.  Also we were short 2 players (1 guy and 1 girl), so we had an auto-out whenever the 2nd girl was required to bat.
I hit 2-for-3: 1 Walk, 2 Singles, and ground out.
MVP: Alex.  It was 2 out, no one on base.  Alex (an older big guy) was up and after him was an automatic out because we were missing a 2nd girl.  He had to make it home or whatever he hits is wasted.
- Alex hit a blooper to right field.  He rounds 1st and chugs to 2nd.
- They over threw the throw to 2nd.
- Alex rounds 2nd and keeps chugging to 3rd.
- They under threw the throw to 3rd and the ball dribbles to the fence.
- Alex rounds 3rd and full steams it home.
- They mis-throw to homeplate and Alex gets his 1st Homerun!
- Then we score the auto-out to end the inning.

Useless Transformers Info:
Package in the mail today from the UK.  I got my Sentinel Prime card autographed by Leonard Nimoy!  It's a good autograph, but I still can't read it.

TF Optimum: Nimoy Autograph.

This Transformers book is really neat, especially the case!  Watch the little video.

Useless Idol Info:
I also got 3 more packages today from Japan.
1st package, I got my AKB48 2012 Team K in Okinawa DVD.  Negotiated a good price for it on eBay.

Team K in Okinawa DVD.

The other 2 packages were a bunch of AKB48 photos.  Mostly Kasai and Rie pics, but a few Itano, Yuko, Kashiwagi, and Maeda pics too.

AKB Pics.

Happy Birthday Charin!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARIN!!!

Power Shutdown Lunch Trip

Lunch today -> #15 Large
We had a power shutdown during lunch so that the repairmen can attempt to fix the air-conditioner.  So Steve, Ed, and I headed off to the Kanata Noodle House. 
They both got the vermicelli (forgot to take pics) and I got the #15 Large Pho.  By the time I was finished the bowl, I was sweating all over, but the pho was worth the discomfort.

Sweat Inducing #15 Large.

Dinner today -> Pad Thai with Steak
Threw this together fairly quickly when I got home.  Using chicken works better if I don't want to chew too much while eating, but I prefer the steak in the Pad Thai.  It's got a more meaty and satisfying flavour.

Steak Pad Thai.

Buy the Coupon Online Before Going

Susanna and I went to Ikea today, because I made her help me carry a dresser :)  We drove there during the big lightning storm and heavy rain.  By the time we left, everything had stopped. I thought it was supposed to rain all week?

Lunch today -> Leftover Camp31 Ribs
Leftover half-rack of ribs from Camp31 and a can of Mountain Dew Voltage.  Yummy lunch :)

Good Leftovers.

Useless Gaming News:
Linda sent me this deal for Funhaven.  Good only this week.  Get $40 of fun money for $20.  You MUST buy it online and then print the coupon.  I went there after Ikea and tried to buy it straight from Funhaven, but they told me that only accept the deal online.

Weekend Report: Ottawa Ribfest 2013

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!!

BTW: Your Sunday birthday is the same as my oshi, Kitahara Rie!

AKB48's Kitahara Rie.

Food this weekend ->
Ben, Susanna, and I went to Ribfest Saturday morning right at 11am to beat the crowds.  We picked up ribs from 5 different places, chicken from 2 places. and pulled pork from 1 place.

Lots-of-Ribs.

Top Left Column going down: Camp31, Gator BBQ, Texas Outlaws.

Top Right Column going down: Boss Hogs, Sticky Fingers, Crabby's BBQ.

My personal ribs rankings: 
#1 Camp31.  Our favourite form last year is still my favourite.  Excellent flavour, just enough sauce, and the meat was well cooked and juicy.

Fongpay's #1 Ribs.

#2 Texas Outlaws.  We got ribs from this place by accident.  We were supposed to get ribs from Texas Rangers.  Good mistake.  Their BBQ sauce is fantastic.

Fongpay's #2 Ribs.

BTW: Gator BBQ had very good meat, but it had a familiar flavour.  Tasted like T&T.  But their potatoes were amazing.  They tasted like they were cooked in butter.

I was tired of ribs on Sunday.  I picked up a cod filet and made sashimi.

Cod Sashimi.

I made it differently this time.  I shredded some lettuce, placed the sashimi on it, and poured some soy sauce over it.  Then I heated some olive oil with some sliced garlic.  Spooned the garlic enhanced olive oil over the fish and lettuce and then pour some more soy sauce over it.  It tasted really good.  Got to do it with salmon next time add some finely chopped green onion.  (This works with cold cooked shrimp too.)

Useless Toy News:
I got a birthday gift from Gordon on Saturday.  He got me the Limited Game of Thrones beer (it's actually corked), the chase Larry Robinson figure, and the Smurfs set that includes the Purple Smurf!  Thanks Gordon.  I've been looking for the purple smurf for the longest time.

Birthday Gift from Gordon.

First Taste of Ribs

Lunch today -> Ribs
Reza, Ed, and I made a little trip to Ribfest downtown.  We tried out "Blazing Big Rig".  They're located right outside the Transport Canada office building (lucky people to have ribs right outside their doorstep).

I got a full rack of beef ribs.  This isn't for me.  I found the sauce too salty and abit too smokey in flavour.  I think I wanted it to be abit more sweet/savoury.  The meat was also overcooked and dry (and kind of small).  Could have been just my rack, because Ed's was more juicy (but also small).  From my ribs, I can't recommend it.

OK Ribs.

Hopefully Saturday's Ribfest excursion with Ben and Susanna will produce better rib results.

I also picked up a Ribfest Collector's Mug.  When you get one, you can fill it with beer, pop, root beer, or BUTTER BEER?!?  I wonder if butter beer taste like your drinking butter? 
This mug holds alot too.  I poured 1 can of Pepsi at my desk and it only filled it 1/3 of the way.
The girl selling it said every year the logo on the mug is different.  She also said next year it will say Ottawa on it.

Ribfest Mug.

Missed out on the Name

Dinner today -> Chicken Pad Thai
I finally found some pad thai noodles and sprouts.  I was looking for some on Monday but it was sold out.  Got the noodles at Sobey's and they were on sale too!
I scrambled 3 eggs, pan fried 4 chicken thighs then sliced, boiled the noodles for the recommended 2 minutes and threw it all together in a non-stick pan with fish sauce, 1 lime, 1 jar of pad thai sauce, sesame oil, chili oil, and a whole bag of sprouts (forgot to get some crushed peanuts).  I only boiled half the bag of noodles and it filled up the whole pan!

Chicken Pad Thai.

This is only half of the pan in this large bowl too!

Only Half of the Pan!

Useless Hockey News:
I missed out.  I didn’t know the Ottawa Senator’s rink’s name was up for sale.  On July 1, it'll be changed from the "Scotiabank Place" to the "Canadian Tire Centre".  It could have been called the "Fongpay Centre".  Drats... next time :)

2010 Noodle Cup Refill

Lunch today -> Noodle Cup
I found a Japanese re-fill pack of Noodle Cup that Emi's mom sent me years ago (from when she sent me the hand-autographed Kasai Tomomi noodle cup).  It expired in 2010, but I still ate it for lunch.  I put the pack inside my AKB48 Takahashi Minami Noodle Cup and added the hot water.  It still tasted fine.  I didn't barf and nothing exploded out the other end.

Expired Noodle Cup Refill.

Useless Softball News:
CMC Strike Fighters played GDC today.  We lost 11-7.  We lost mainly because of 1 inning where we gave up the max 10 runs.  After that inning we only gave up 1 run, while scoring runs in every inning ourselves.
Jeno is getting old.  I sent him running home as 3rd base coach, thinking he was faster than the throw, but he got picked off at home plate.  Jeno's lost some of his speed.  Stop making babies and work on your running!  :)
I hit 3 for 3 tonight with 3 singles and 1 RBI.
MVP: Tyler.  Even-though he got rocked for 10 runs as our starting 3rd string pitcher (Gary and Mark couldn't make it) in 1 inning, he held it together after that.

Useless Food News:
Starting this Wednesday, it is the Ottawa Ribfest!!!  It goes until Sunday.  I plan to feast on ribs this week and the weekend.  Too bad it's all the way downtown.

Shipping Commercial

Useless TV News:
This is the funniest commercial ever!  Too bad there are no Kmarts in Ottawa or we would get this commercial on TV.

Useless Transformers/Idol Info:
Got these Transformers Sketch cards in the mail along with some AKB48 Coasters of Kasai and Rie (I believe from the AKB48 Cafe).  Does anyone know if there are hard toploads that will fit coasters?

AKB Coasters and TF Sketch Cards.

Weekend Report: Birthday BBQ

Took Friday off, but I ended up going to work on both Saturday and Sunday!  I think I just wasted 1 vacation day.

Food this weekend ->
Friday we had Rideau takeout as my Birthday Dinner/Father's Day Dinner.

Rideau Takeout.

My mom also backed some really good Tempura Shrimp.

Tempura Shrimp.

Dessert was Black Forest Cake (my favorite).

Black Forest Cake.

Had a Birthday BBQ at Linda & Jeff's place.  It was lots of fun.

Birthday Banner.

Lots of food...

BBQ Dinner.

... and drinks.  (I tasted the Hobgoblin beer and it was disgusting.  I don't know how Jeff drank these.)

Hobgoblin and Big Rig Beer.

Tumbled the kids in a giant inflatable ball (which took up a long time to manually inflate).

Giant Inflatable Ball.

Rolled the Kids Around.

Thanks Linda, Jeff, and kids for hosting my Birthday BBQ.  Also thanks for the Lego Stormtrooper Clock.

Lego Stormtrooper Clock.

Thanks Theresa, Anthony, and kids for the dragonfly toy, zombie finger pen, and scissor/tape combo item.

I can't wait to lend the pen... :)

HUGE thanks to Margaret for making this unbelievably awesome cake!!!  I was uber surprised by the cake.  So much detail in the decorations!  The chocolate cake inside was good too.  Thank you very much.  You should have stayed for the BBQ and some gaming.

Awesome...

... Birthday...

... Cake.

Sparklers.

Useless Gaming News:
Played "Walk the Plank" (Print and Play version).  We played this game with 3-players and 4-players.  This game is really good and fun.  Described as a fast mini-Robo Rally, but it's not that fast.  After a few games, playing defense the whole time was easier than attacking, but we found out that we were playing "Pull to Ship" wrong (can't use the card ability unless you CAN pull someone with you towards the ship).

Walk the Plank.

2nd game was "Keep Running".  It failed Kickstarter.  I thought it was because they gave the "print and play" version away for free before it succeeded in kickstarting it, but actually it was because the actual game isn't that good.  I upgraded it with AKB characters, but it didn't help.
3rd game we played was "Spaced Out".  It's a modified "Crazy Eight" type card game.  Once we got the hang of playing it and the timing of playing cards, it got really good and fun.  Ben kept getting screwed with all the attacks, but in the end it was Jeff who screwed me with 1 Asteroid attack and cost me the game.

Spaced Out.

Happy Birthday Fongpay!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME!!!

Pre-Birthday Eating All Day

Day 4 of Fongpay's Birthday Bash Week!

Food today ->
I didn't stop eating all day today.
It started with me finding a box of birthday donuts at my desk when I got in.  It was from Marcellus and the Systems team.  Mmmm... Boston Cream.

Missing 1 Boston Cream and Apple Fritter.

Later, a bunch of us went to Panda Garden for lunch.  I had 4 plates of food.  Mostly mussels, wings, sushi, and dim sum stuff.  The creampuff I had for dessert wasn't fresh.  The shell was stale but cream was still good.  I stuffed myself and James picked up my bill.  Thanks James.

1st Plate.

After getting back to work and after a couple of meetings, Ed and Becky surprised me with a Cookies and Cream Cake.  The cake was super good.  So fresh.  The cake was super moist and the cream was really fresh and tasty.  I would have eaten more if I wasn't so full. 
BTW: The cake was from Sobey's.

Super Moist Cake.

Useless Toy Info:
Becky gave me a Darth Vader piggy bank.  It's pretty cool.  You put money in and Vader lights up and talks.  Becky said she put some change in to cover lunch today.  I thought she was joking and was just some change she found, but there really was money for lunch today!  Thanks Becky.

Vader Bank.

FYI: Most of CMC knows it's my birthday on Friday and that I took it off for vacation, but incase you don't, this is why you won't see me at my desk.

AYCE Korean BBQ

Day 3 of week long festivities for Fongpay's Birthday Bash!

Dinner today -> All-You-Can-Eat Korean BBQ and Sushi
Family went to Bai Du today for my family Birthday dinner.  We went today because we thought it was cheaper during the week than on the weekend, but it turned out it was the same price.
I was previously worried about this place because of some reviews, but Susanna tried it out recently and said it was good, and it was good.  A little slow on the food delivery, but the food was tasty.  The ventilation was very good too.  The smoke didn't stick to us at all (a-la Little Sheep).  I would go back again. BTW: The lighting at the place is very very poor.  I think they were trying to make the place cozy and intimate, but you can't see when your food is cooked.  It is that dark.
We ordered both sushi and Korean BBQ food.

Hot Greased-up Grill.

Beef ribs, squid, and pineapple.

1st Batch of Food.

Some salmon rose and salmon sushi

Sushi While Waiting.

Chicken and squid.  Chicken was big and took awhile to cook.

Next Batch

Straw-mushrooms wrapped in steak.  These were huge!  Almost hotdog sized.

Mushrooms Wrapped in Steak.

Beef and Kimchi wrapped in lettuce.

Useless Idol News:
I forgot to order Itano Tomomi's new single "1%".  I only remembered when she tweeted a couple pics of her CD.

Itano Tomomi.

Itano and Yui.

Pink Mess

Day 2 of week long festivities for Fongpay's Birthday Bash!
Came home, ate sushi, got a text that softball game is cancelled, searched eBay until 6:30, and decided to take a quick nap before going to Bayshore.  I fell asleep until 11:30pm!  D'oh!  Uneventful Day 2.

Useless Tree News:
My tree outside is really blooming.  I took this pic on the weekend.

Blooming Tree.

Today, with all the rain, it's totally making a mess on my front steps and neighbours driveway!  I'll need to sweep this pink mess when it's dry and trim down the tree branches.

Mess on the Ground.

Useless TV News:
EXIT! game show starts Wednesday night at 9pm on Space channel (ch50).  I hope it's good.

Useless Transformers and Idol Info:
Got a few envelopes in the mail today.  I got my Ironhide sketch from the UK.
Also got a whole bunch of AKB stuff: Sae and Kashiwagi talking keychains, AKB48 Series 1 Mariko and Itano box toppers (only missing 2 box topper cards now for the whole set.),  HKT48 Suki!Suki!Skip! card set, and a bunch of photos (mostly Kasai, Yuko, and Rie.)

Ironhide and AKB Stuff.