Weekend Report: Pre-Christmas

FYI: Last regular entry until the new year.  Random entries to be done between now and then.

Food this weekend ->
Went to Tanger on Friday at lunchtime to pick up some chocolates.  On the way back to work, I stopped at the Asian grocery store in Kanata.  Picked up some rice noodle wraps and some sweet sesame balls for a meeting.

Friday Lunch and Meeting Snack.

Susanna and I went to Chinatown Saturday morning.  I got some fresh soy chicken and salt & pepper shrimp from Kowloon.  This the best chicken.  It's perfectly cooked and flavoured.  Super moist, even the white meat.  Only $10 too.  Ate this most of the weekend with some BBQ Pork buns I got in the bakery.

Kowloon Shrimp and Soy Chicken.

Useless Transformers News:
Gordon got me 3/4 of the Combaticon limbs: Vortex, Swindle, and Blastoff.  Missing Brawl.  No Onslaught or Shockwave out yet.

Useless Gaming News:
5-Player gaming on Friday night.  We started with Bomb Squad.  It's a cooperative game that is a mix of Robo Rally and Hanabi.  We failed both missions we played.  I kept forgetting which cards I had from the clues given too.  I think this should be played when everyone has a fresh mind, and not after a long day at work.  Brian kept complaining that we were giving the wrong people the clues.  It was so annoying as there is no right or wrong way to play this when we are playing this for the first time.

Bomb Squad.

Then we played The Captain is Dead: Episode 2.  It was a more advanced version of the original game with new alert cards and new rules for the players and enemies.  I like episode 2 way more than the original game, but it still all comes down to the engineer and repairing the core.  If you don't concentrate on that, you'll lose.

The Captain is Dead: Episode 2.

Christmas Breakfast

Breakfast today -> Christmas Breakfast.
All day breakfast today in the cafeteria.  It was the Christmas Breakfast for $6.  It included french toast, scrambled eggs, potatoes, 2 sausage, 2 bacon, a piece of fruit, and a small coffee.  A large portion of eggs today compared to last year, but the potatoes and french toast wasn't that good.  They were sitting in the warmer for awhile and tasted like it.

Christmas Breakfast.

Useless Idol News:
AKB48's Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer performance from FNS 2015.

Idol Crossover Medley

Lunch today -> Rideau Restaurant.
Team lunch today at Rideau Restaurant.  We ordered 9 dishes + soup.  We started with Hot & Sour soup.  Then the dishes arrived quickly: Sizzling black pepper steak, General Tao Chicken, beef chow mein, schezwan beef, lemon chicken, some kind of greens, fried green beans, salt & pepper pork chop, and 2 treasure sauce rice.

Rideau Feast.

Useless Gaming News:
Gaming after work today.  We played 3-player Red Dragon Inn 5.  James was learning the game and won the 1st game.  The 2nd game, I was eliminated before I got my 2nd turn because I lost all my gold gambling.  The 3rd game was much closer (we were all on the verge of passing out) and I barely won.

Useless Idol News:
FNS 2015 live today.  There was an epic idol-crossover medley for 15minutes!

Ice Truck

Dinner today -> Salmon and Rice.
Salmon is on sale at Super Store this week.  I got a couple nice pieces.  I sashimi-ed one of them to eat tomorrow and pan fried one tonight to eat with microwave rice.  Just put the salmon in a hot pan, topped with salt & pepper, then covered it until the top looked cooked.  It was still rare in the middle, just what I wanted.

Salmon and Rice.

Useless Toy News:
I was at Canadian Tire tonight and checked out the toy section.  They actually have an "Ice Truck" model from the Canadian Tire car battery commercials!  I'd get one for the novelty, but it's $40!

Expensive Ice Truck.

Useless Idol News:
I got a package today with AKB48 42nd single "Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby".  Got all types (A-D) with bonus photo.  I also got the AKB48 10th Anniversary Mook and January 2016 issue of SMART magazine.

AKB48 Stuff.

Giant Corn Nuts

Snack Today -> Giant Corn Nuts.
Susanna showed me these giant corn nuts at Super Store.  The butter flavour ones are amazing!  On the 1st bite you get an intense buttery taste and a big crunch.  I wonder where they get these giant corn kernels?  I would buy the giant corn.

Buttery Giant Corn Nuts.

Weekend Report: FunHaven Escape Room

Food this weekend ->
On Friday Ed and I went to Ox Head for lunch.  We both got the Ox Head Vermicelli bowl.  It was excellent as usual.

Ox Head Vermicelli.

Steve had to go home at lunch and missed out.  When we got back to work, we found out there was free apple pie too!  Steve missed that too.

I caught a cold sometime Thursday night or Friday.  So I got some healthy pho from KNH, mainly for the broth.  When I got it home, the food container was overflowing!

Overflowing Pho Ingredients.

I split the food in half and used 1 of the broth containers for lunch.  Ate the remainder for dinner.  The XL #15 Pho is perfect for 2 meals when I wasn't feeling too hungry.

Pho #15 XL.

Went to "Burgers & Shakes" Sunday for dinner after the FunHaven escape experience (more on that below).  Got the Char Burger and Shake combo.  The burger was OK.  Nothing special, but it was fresh.  I was more admiring Brian's steak burger.  It had a whole steak in it!  The shake was pretty good.  I got a strawberry, banana, and peanut butter shake (basically a PB&J shake).  Lots of peanutbutter flavour but not overpowering and a few big chunks of strawberries.

Char Burger and Shake Combo.

Useless Gaming News:
4-player gaming at Anthony's place Friday night.  We played a big game of Castles of Burgundy.  It was really close and we all scored over 200 points.  I won in the end :)  I had 29 points in end game bonuses.

Castles of Burgundy

We then played Biblios Dice.  I still think this is a fun game, but not as good as the original Biblios.

9 of us tried out the FunHaven escape room "Stewards of Time" on Sunday.  Except its not promoted as an "escape room", but an "escape experience".  The escape is facility wide with clues to solving the puzzles posted through out FunHaven.  The escape isn't finished, so we got to beta-test for free (normally $25 per player).  We teamed up in pairs and Ben went solo as he has the most experience.  Paul and I solve all our puzzles with only a little help from the host.  Julie and Gen had a harder time as their puzzles were either incomplete and created incorrect solutions.  Because we had to break into groups, there wasn't much a team experience.  Also the place was packed with kids running around everywhere.  They kept bumping into Julie and annoying her.

Useless Star Wars News:
Star Wars Episode 7 - First 2 minutes leaked here on YouTube.

Christmas Lunch 2015

Lunch today -> CMC Christmas Lunch.
Today was the annual CMC Christmas Lunch.  I found it really good this year.  Dark and white turkey meat (Ethan got a bone in his), stuffing (no raisins in it this year woohoo!), beans, mash potatoes (way too lumpy), spinich salad, fruit, and cakes and cookies.  Generous size portions this year, so I was full on 1 serving. 

Christmas Lunch.

Useless Movie News:
New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 trailer released today.  I like it.  Bebop and Rockstead will be in it!

Nutella and Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls

Lunch and Dinner today -> Pizza.
Picked up a Hot n Ready pepperoni pizza for lunch and finished it for dinner at CMC.  Stayed late for gaming night tonight.

Pepperoni Pizza.

Dessert today -> Cinnamon Buns and Nutella & Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls.
I bought a pack of Pillsbury Cinnamon Buns.  My plan was to unroll them and then re-roll them with a slice of maple bacon between the layers.  BUT the small cinnamon bun pack doesn't unroll!  I need to get the grand cinnamon bun pack.  D'oh!

Pastries.

I also made Pillsbury Crescent Rolls filled with nutella and peanut butter.  The insides don't look very good, but they taste awesome!

Nutella & Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls.

Useless Gaming News:
We played Ancient Terrible Things today after work.  It's suppose to be a 60min game, but it took us 2hrs.  It was our first go at it and a couple of us play slow cough*Peter*cough*and*cough*Evan*cough ahem hem.

Useless CMC News:
Reminder: Christmas Lunch is on Thursday!

AKB48 10th Anniversary

Dinner today -> T&T 4 Item Combo.
Went to T&T at 1pm and picked up this 4 item combo.  I got pork belly, garlic chives, general tao chicken, and marinated chicken (I thought it looked like pork ribs).  I upgraded to fish maw soup too.  I didn't eat this til 3pm when I got home and was the only meal I ate today.  So filling.

Filling 4-item Combo from T&T.

Useless Idol News:
Stayed up almost all night Monday night.  I was up til 2:30am watching Teletoon (new to me eps of Spiderman, Hulk, and Avengers) then got up at 3:30am to watch AKB48 Show.  Stayed up to watch the live stream of the AKB48 10th Anniversary Theatre stage.  It was suppose to start at 4am, but didn't start until 4:20am.  It was worth it, as the performance was epic!  2.5 hrs of fun and you can see it in the girls.  Great setlist with the right choice of members to perform the songs too.
Kasai was with Kojiharu and Kato Rena for "Heart Virus".

"Heart Virus" Unit.

Kasai's had problems with her tambourine.  It got stuck to the mic stand.

Kasai Troubles.

Yuko was awesome.

Yuko!

Takamina's "Bird".

"Bird" Unit.

Maeda was there too. 

Maeda.

She forgot her dance moves during the ending of Oogee Diamond.  The Live on Demand version edited most of that part out. 

Kami Members.

Anniversary Festival

The massage chair at work is great.  I used it for three 15 minute heated lower-back kneading massages.  I was so relaxed, I had to go to the toilet.

Useless Transformers News:
Got a box from HLJ.  I finally got MP-23 Exhaust.  I also got the Japanese version of Ultra Magnus.  The japanese version comes with the Alpha Trion mini-con.

MP-23 & Ultra Magnus.

Useless Idol News:
Sunday was the AKB48 10th Anniversary Festival.  Tickets were only available 10 years ago.  Dubbed "Legend" members returned and performed.

"Legend" Members Performing.

Including Maeda and Yuko.

Maeda Atsuko & Oshima Yuko.

I hope they release this on DVD.  I want to see this performance.  Tuesday at 4am EST is the 10th Anniversary performance at the AKB48 Theatre.  "Legend" members will be there too.

Heavy Rotation.

News coverage of Sunday's festival.

Weekend Report: Good Dinosaur, not so Good.

Julie and I went to see The Good Dinosaur this weekend.  I was really disappointed.  The movie was a mix of a Western and The Lion King, but with dinosaurs.  It had some funny moments but I can't recommend it.  The preview before the movie about a bunny cop was hilarious and might have been better than the movie.  It's call "Zootopia".  I really want to see this one.

Food this weekend ->
After the movie we got "After 9pm Snack" at Chinatown.  Chicken congee, fried bread, pork chop, curry quid, chinese brocolli, watercrest, and beef rolls (not shown).  Chicken congee was very flavourful, but they put way too much ginger in it.

After 9pm Snack Food.

Made Egg Rolls Friday night.  Got the big bag of 40 for $10 at Giant Tiger.  I cooked the whole bag and ate most of them over the weekend.  Added PC plum sauce on them.

Egg Rolls.

Also made a box of Louisiana wings from M&M.  Ate these with the egg rolls over the weekend.

Louisiana Wings.

Useless News:
Ben, Susanna, and I tried out some good massage chairs at Bed, Bath, and Beyond last week and the exact same models are on sale at Home Outfitters this week for 50% off!  This is the one I liked: Quad shiatsu massage with heated cushion.

Quad Shiatsu Massage Cushion.

It's the higher end model.  I like the next one lower too, as it has the "wax on, wax off" motion, but for 50% off I got the better one.  I installed it at my desk on Sunday :).  CMC people, come try it out.

Work Chair.

Nutella Fudge Brownie

Snack today -> Nutella Fudge Brownie.
I picked up a Nutella Fudge Brownie pan at Walmart the other day.  This sweet dessert is awesome.  It's very rich so you can't really eat alot, but I highly recommend it.  It was $6.

Nutella Fudge Brownie.

Dinner today -> Chuck Ribs.
Made chuck ribs in my pressure cooker in 10mins.  Just threw in the ribs and BBQ sauce.  When it was done, I added some toast and a hard boiled egg.

Chuck Rib Dinner.

Useless Idol News:
AKB48 performed at FNS 2015.  One performance included NHK drama theme song "365 Nichi no Kami Hikouki" and 42nd single "Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby".  Kashiwagi looked good (0:49, 2:27, 3:27), but no Rie shots!

Cornfusion Popcorn

Snack today -> Cornfusion Popcorn.
Tried the Cornfusion Popcorn today.  It's just like Chicago Mix but with the addition of butter popcorn. 

Cornfusion Popcorn.

Problem is, you can't really taste the butter popcorn.  It's over powered by the caramel and cheese popcorns.  It's OK, but there were alot of crumbled popcorn in the bag, unlike Chicago Mix from Costco where every popcorn is large and round.

Lots of Golden Popcorn.

Dinner today -> Stew.
Re-heated the leftover stew and stirred in a couple eggs to thicken it.  Also added red pepper paste and some pre-cooked wild rice.  It was a big serving and I took a nap after the meal.  I woke up after Arrow, which I really wanted to watch.

Leftover Stew.

Useless Idol News:
Got my AKB48 Albums today.  Got 3 disc Complete Singles box, the No.1 Singles box, and the Million Singles box.  I got the bonus Iiwake Maybe pencil board too.  The photobook in the Complete Singles box is really nice.

AKB48 Album.

Bad Subway Sandwich

Lunch today -> Subway.
I went to the Subway by the Super Walmart on Fernbank at lunchtime today.  It was the worst sub I've ever had.  I order my usual Coldcut Trio on Italian bread with all veggies but the olives.  I didn't notice at the time, but the girl gives me white bread instead of Italian bread.  When she was putting the veggies on she dumped a huge handful of olives onto my sub.  I had to tell her to take them off, but the damage was done.  The sub had the overpowering taste of olives.  I would normally accept these "accidents" but the back breaker was that the white bread was very dry and crumbling.  I think it was day old.  The sandwich sucked!  This is my 3rd time going there and the 2nd time this girl made my sandwich.  The other time she was very skimpy on the veggies.  I had to tell her to put more lettuce on once, and more onions on 2 times.  I'm not getting subs from that location any more. 

Dry Bread and Olive flavoured Subway Sub.

Useless Gaming News:
Got a couple KickStarter games in the mail.  Got Wizards of the Wild and the Ancient Terrible Things expansion.  I sleeved all the cards all up while watching Star Wars Rebels season 2 marathon on Disney XD.  The explained that when the clones betrayed the Jedi, it was because they had control chips in thier heads.  Captain Rex and a couple of other clones had their control chips removed and remained loyal to the Jedi (Rex was part of Ahsoka's/Anakin's/Obi Wan's clone squad.)

KickStarter Games.

Conehead Seekers

Snack today -> Creme Brulee Lindt Chocolate.
Got this goodie from the Lindt outlet at Tanger.  I mainly went in to ask if they sold the individual creme brulee chocolates from the big gift box, but they don't.  The girl gave me a free sample and showed me a creme brulee chocolate bar instead.  This is now my new favorite chocolate.  It's sweet, creamy, and has bits of crunchy caramelized sugar in it.  I highly recommend trying it.

Lindt Creme Brulee Bar.

Dinner today -> Stew.
Made stew in my pressure cooker.  I put in some stewing beef, some chuck ribs (they were on sale at Sobey's), red potatoes, red onions, garlic cloves, beef stock, and organic baby carrots.  It was cooked fast in the pressure cooker, but it was impossible to stir afterwards.  Had to transfer it to a pot and then stirred in an egg to thicken the broth.

Stew.

Useless Transformers News:
Picked up the G1 Seeker set from Walmart's Black Friday online sale for 50% off.  The set consistes of the 3 Coneheads: Dirge, Ramjet, and Thrust.  It got delivered faster than I thought.

Conehead Seekers Box

Thrust and Ramjet should be swapped, unless Hasbro didn't mean to pack them in the right order?

Thrust and Ramjst out of order.

Weekend Report -> Happy Birthday Susanna!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSANNA!!!

Food this weekend ->
Ed got a Junior Chicken and McDouble on Friday.

Junior Chicken and McDouble.

I took them apart and made one hamburger and one chicken cheese burger.

Disassembled.

Pretty good and cheap too.

Chicken Cheese Burger and Hamburger.

Made ramen on Saturday.  I upgraded it by adding red pepper paste, chinese greens, fish cakes, and egg, and green onions.  It was nice and spicy.

Upgraded Ramen.

For Susanna's birthday we went to the Merivale Buffet.  My first plate was a bit of everything good.  The squid and mussels were very good today.

Buffet Plate.

Made my congee bowl for my 2nd plate.

Congee Bowl.

Useless Black Friday News:
Susanna got me this stuff from the US during her Black Friday trip.  Got some Cornfusion Popcorn, Wasabi Pringles, Kickin Chicken Taco Pringles, Cookies & Cream Hazelnut spread, and Cherry Cola Tic Tacs. 

US Foods.

The Tic Tacs are awesome.  The outer layer is cherry and the inner layer is cola flavour.  Crunch it to get the cherry cola deliciousness.