Mystery Oreos

Lunch today -> Costco Pho.
Tried out the instant Pho bowl I got from Costco yesterday. 

Costco Pho.

It's so-so.  It really needs additional ingredients like sprouts and meat.  The noodles tasted fine, but the broth was lacking.

Added Hot Water.

Snack today -> Mystery Oreos.
Got these Mystery Oreos from the US a little while ago. 

Tastes Fruity.

I think the filling tastes like Fruity Pebbles or Fruit Loops cereal.  Pretty good.  A good change from the standard Oreo.

Costco Pho

Useless Food News:
Went out tonight with Julie for abit of shopping at Costco and Pet Smart on Merivale.  I got 9 new guppies for my fish tank.  They each have twin platinum blue tails.  I'll take a pic of them later.  They keep hovering at the top of the tank, so I can't get a good shot of them swimming around.
At Costco, I picked up a box of Instant Pho.  It looked pretty good and it was only $13 for a box of 12 bowls.  Going to keep some at work to eat for days when I don't bring a lunch.

Instant Pho.

Weekend Report -> 2 More Charterstone Games Done.

Food this weekend ->
I made a big one-pot-meal of BBQ pork and rice in my rice cooker to eat most of the weekend.  Simple preparation: wash the rice, then top with sliced BBQ pork, and press START.  Mix it together when done.  It came out really delicious.

BBQ Pork Rice.

Tried out the Chalet Sauce Lay's chips.  They are pretty good.  I think I want more.  I haven't been to Swiss Chalet in a long time, but I think I recall it does taste like it's chicken gravy aka "chalet sauce".

Chalet Sauce Lay's Chips.

Useless Gaming News:
Went over to Gen's place Saturday night to play 5-player Charterstone (would have been 6-player but Julie didn't want to play).  Really good worker placement, victory point scoring, legacy-type game, where you're in competition with the other players, but it's not cut-throat.  Depending on what each player builds, what development trees are opened, if the king is good or evil, and who wins each game; everyone's campaign will evolve differently and differen't player pieces come out (and I don't think you can open everything).  We are 3 games in and everything we unlock changes the game in unique and fun ways.

On Sunday, I decided to get Monster Hunter World on PS4.  Never played Monster Hunter before, but I know all about it from the Japanese toys.

Monster Hunter World.

It's pretty good so far.  Took me an hour to create how my character looks, and promptly dumped a helmet on his head, covering up everything I did.  But I later found an option to make my helmet hidden.  Only finished the first 2 quests and did a bit of exploring to get more materials to upgrade equipment so far.

Fun at Work Day Pinata

Dinner today -> Steak and Eggs.
Made a small steak, some baby king oyster mushrooms, a couple eggs and a couple toasted bagels for dinner today.

Dinner.

I should have toasted bread instead of the bagels.  The bagels are too dense to soak up the egg yolk well.  The mushrooms were very good as they were cooked in the steak drippings.

Useless News:
Friday is "Fun at Work Day".  We setup a Pinata filled with candy and chocolates.  We were surprised with the pretty large selection of pinatas at Bulk Barn.  We picked the traditional one that everyone recognizes and because we thought the legs were hollow to fill more stuff, but the legs aren't hollow.  They legs are tacked on outside of the body.

Pinata

It should be fun.  I'm hoping it doesn't break in 1 shot. 
FYI: the strings under the belly aren't just for decoration.  According to the instructions, one of those strings, when pulled, opens the secret trap door to let the treats out of the pinata.  It's an alternate version for little kids to play.

New Masterpieces

Useless Transformers News:
Got a package from HLJ today.  It was my new Transformers Masterpieces.  I got MP-39 Sunstreaker, MP-12+ Sideswipe (cartoon accurate version), and MP-10B Nemesis Prime. 

Still planning on re-organizing my TF Masterpieces shelf, so I won't be opening these yet.  Plus the only new fig is Sunstreaker.

Happy Birthday Natalie!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE!!!

Kettle Korean Barbeque Chips.

Snack today -> Korean BBQ Kettle Chips.
Found Korean Barbeque Kettle Chips at SuperStore last week in the Natural Foods section(?).  Anyways, tried them out today. 

They don't taste like Korean BBQ.  Taste just like regular BBQ.  It needed to be more sweet and have a more savoury taste.  Probably won't get it again.

Weekend Report -> Lights, Gravel, and Plants

Useless Aquarium News:
Took Friday off.  When out shopping with Julie including a stop at Big Al's Aquarium Services.  Couldn't get any new tops for my aquarium, so I got a new light that fits it instead.  It's got built-in day mode, lunar mode, RBG colour selections, and a timer.  All of this is controlled by a remote control too.

New Light and Gravel.

Picked up a few bags of gravel too.  I went with a yellow-ish gravel this time.  It matches well with my warp pipes.
I went to Pet Smart on Sunday to get some plants, but there were only 2 good and healthy plants.  I want more, but I have to wait.  I've bought this type of plant before and it grows pretty fast.  Will need to get a backdrop to hide the tubes too (or maybe I can find a cool poster instead).

Added Plants.

I was planning on getting some fish as they were Buy 2 Get 1 Free at Pet Smart, but most of the ones on sale were gone.

Food this weekend ->
Julie and I went to The Fry in Barrhaven after shopping for a very late lunch.  We got a ton of food and the portions were huge: rice cakes with seafood and cheese, Korean garlic fries, half chicken with sauce, and half chicken with garlic & soy.  We also got free sides of sweet corn, pickled daikon, kimchi, and pasta salad.

The Fry Feast.

The tteok-bokki (rice cake) was very good.  Lots of everything in it and the cheese topping was so stringy :).  The garlic fries were sweet.  We were caught off-guard by the sweetness than the savoury.  They kind of smelled like playdoh, but tasted pretty good.  Huge portion too.

Rice Cakes and Garlic Fries.

The chicken was very good too.  Last time I was here with Ben, I got mostly boneless pieces, but this time every piece I ate had bone in it.

Half-and-Half Chicken Special.

We ate our fill, but I still took over half of the order home.  I ate it slowly over the whole weekend :)

I made some beef with gai lan in sauce on Saturday.  Haven't made this it in awhile.

Beef with Gai Lan.

Ate it over instant mushroom rice.  (I ate the leftovers over fresh white rice on Sunday.)

Beef with Gai Lan on Rice.

Popcorn Day

Snack today -> Popcorn.
Today at work was Popcorn Day!  I got 6 large bags from Kernels: Super Kid, Cheesey Dill, Thai Sweet Chili, Jalapeno Jack, Dilled Out, and Chicago Style.

Popcorn.

More Popcorn.

Thai Sweet Chili has a nice kick to it and it was good.  It got wiped out fast.  Jalapeno Jack also disappeared fast.  Super Kid didn't move very fast.  I guess most people preferred the savoury over the really sweet popcorn.

Useless Aquarium News:
Ordered the Amiibo "End Level" Display.  I'm leaning towards using it in my 2nd fish tank with some warp pipes.  Not 100% decided on it yet.  BUT I can't install these until I get some gravel.

Amiibo Display.

Useless Gaming News:
Got my Kickstarter game "Tao Long" in the mail today.

Tao Long.

Re-Useable Can Lids

Lunch today -> Ox Head 2.
Steve, Ed, and I went to Ox Head 2 for lunch.  The prices have gone up!
We shared a plate of slice pork and shrimp rice wraps.  They were OK.  I'm pretty sure KNH's rice wraps are better.  They also don't have chili sauce to mix into the peanut sauce.  We settled for Sriracha, but it wasn't the same.

Rice Wraps.

We each ordered the Ox Head Special vermicelli.  This was really good.  Definitely still way better than KNH.  The grilled meat has a superior taste.  Very flavourful.

Ox Head Vermicelli.

BTW: 1st time ever Steve didn't finish his bowl of vermicelli.

Useless News:
I was at Pet Smart last week with Julie and she showed me these plastic lids that are used to re-seal cans with uneaten food in them.

Re-Usable Can Lids.

I had no clue these things existed.  I bought a set (I think it was $4).  They fit 3 different size of cans.  I'm going to use these when I eat half a can of beans or only use half a can of red curry mix.  No more need to transfer the food to containers.

Pixel Pals

Lunch today -> Pizza.
Got a Hot 'n' Ready pepperoni pizza for lunch today.  Pretty good.  Lots of pepperoni on it.

Useless Aquarium News:
Cleaned my 2nd aquarium on Sunday and started my water cycling to prepare the water in the tank.  Using an old filter to help accelerate the process.

Preparing 2nd Aquarium.

I haven't 100% decided how I will theme this tank yet.  I'm leaning towards a Super Mario theme.  I don't have a top either.  Might need to go to Big Al's and order one.  Aqueon's site is useless.

Useless Toy News:
Sheridan told me about the clearance sale of the Pixel Pals at Shoppers Drugmart.  The one near my house had clearanced them down to $5 each from $20.  I bought them out.  I got White Link, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.

Pixel Pals with Batman Lit Up.

I checked 5 other Shoppers in Kanata, but they either had none or the clearance price was $10.  They don't do anything but light up, so I don't think they are worth $10.

Death By Chocolate Ice Cream

Snack today -> Death By Chocolate Ice Cream.
Tried out the Death By Chocolate ice cream at work.  It's pretty good.  It's chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks and ripples of dark chocolate.  I usually prefer vanilla, but this is one is really good.  Will get it again.

Death By Chocolate Ice Cream.

Useless Shopping News:
I was at Sobey's getting some groceries and some guy came up to me and tried to get me to sign up the Sobey's BMO Mastercard.  I told him "No Thanks".  Then he asked a follow up question and asked why I liked to shop at Sobey's.  I told him I actually preferred Loblaws because they have 50% off bakery, meat, and prepared foods in the evenings, but it is random hit or miss each night.  I mentioned the South Keys location was a good one to get good cooked stuff.  He was surprised with my answer and he told me he lives near South Keys and will check it out.  He never knew about the 50% discount.  I think I just converted him from Sobey's to Loblaws.

Sub Terra

Dinner today -> Steak.
Got some steaks that were on sale at Farmboy.  Pan fried them and then cooked some sugar snaps in the drippings.  Added some microwave mushroom flavoured rice and a few grape tomatoes to finish off the plate.

Steak Dinner.

The steak was good, but the sugar snaps were old and stringy.

Useless Gaming News:
Got my "Sub Terra" Kickstarter game in the mail.  I also got all 3 expansions with the Kickstarter.

Sub Terra Game with Expansions.

This game is a cooperative survival game about exploring and escaping a cave.  There are hazards and horrors that hinder you.  It should be fun.

Chinese New Year Coca-Cola 2018 - Nothing Special and Do NOT Need to Buy

Useless Food News:
I bought a new case of Coke because it was decorated with Chinese New Year decoration.  I assumed Coke made special cans to celebrate CNY (like I've seen online before), but I was completely wrong.

Only the box was decorated for Chinese New Year, but there was nothing special with the can.  The box wasn't even decorated correctly as this year is the year of the dog, but they put a dragon on the box. 
I'm very disappointed Coke!  I would have bought a few cases of Chinese New Year Coke if the cans were special, but now I'll just wait for it to go on clearance or sale to buy this, IF I buy this.

2017 Christmas Gifts

Finally got all my Christmas gifts gathered together.  This year I got 2 ugly Christmas sweaters: Spiderman from Jeff's family, and Optimus Prime from Julie.  Will need to wait til next year to wear these.

New Ugly Christmas Sweaters.

This is the pile of stuff I got: deep fryer, quilt, baby sunflower kit, GOT Grey Worm autograph card, Doctor Who heat change mug, Merge Cube VR cube, Cookies, The Flash cards, Mario key chain, DC Bombshells figs, Lego kits, and (of course) red-envelope money.

Christmas Goodies.

Julie also got me 2 ornaments, which I've hung on my takoyaki flag: Batman ornament ball:

Batman Ornament.

and Skelator ornament ball: 

Skelator Ornament.

They look really cool.  I'm leaving them out all year round.

Weekend Report -> The Fry

Food this weekend ->
Friday breakfast was a double discounted 6-pack of cranberry lemon muffins.  6 muffins for $2!  They were good and moist too.

Cranberry Lemon Muffins.

I also snacked on some discount mini-cookies.  They were chewy chocolate chip.

Mini Chewy Chcolate Chip Cookies.

Ben and I went to The Fry before gaming at Brian's on Friday night.  We got a free starter of some hot corn kernels.

Corn.

We ordered the special half & half chicken.  We got one with regular sauce and the other soy garlic.  It was very good and the pieces were big.  We also got free sides of pickled diakon and pasta salad.

Special Half & Half Chicken.

We also ordered a bowl of spicy rice cake with cheese.  This bowl was huge!  Lots of cheese, fish cake, kimchi and rice cake in it.  Definitely getting this dish again.  It had a good spice to it too.

Topokki with Cheese.

Ben and I finished about half it and took the rest home.  It seems like the portion size is bigger when you eat there, than getting take out.

Went to T&T with Susanna on Sunday at lunch time.  We were hungry so we got a 4-item family meal.  We got mushroom bean curd, salt & pepper pork chop, fried shrimp with head-on, and fried fish.  We also got fish maw soup and white rice with the meal.  I don't like the new process of getting your own soup.  The shrimp was very good today.  Fried and cooked perfectly and had good flavour.  Not overly salty like other times.

T&T 4-Item Family Meal.

Useless Gaming News:
We played Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 at Brian's on Friday night.  We played 2 months of the game.  It plays abit different from regular Pandemic and has some new random elements.  It was an OK game.  It seemed to play like a 1-player game instead of a co-op game because everything is laid out in the open.  Brian also took control and didn't really listen to anyone else.

Pandemic Legacy: Season 2.

Tokyo Tower and Akihabara Maps

Been a rough couple of mornings this week.  I'm used to staying up til 4am and getting up at noon during the break, but now I have to get back to getting up early so I can go to work.

Snack today -> BLT Lays Chips.
Tried the limited BLT Lays Chips.  They are OK.  Becky, Ed, and I think they taste like hickory sticks.  Katie and Zach say it tastes like bacon and tomato.  Katie says she can taste some mayo too!

Dinner today -> Spaghetti with Meat Sauce.
Made some meat sauce with Dino's leftover chorizo pate from Christmas.  I heated up the chorizo pate in a pot and added tomato sauce, chopped onions, and garlic.  Dino's pate makes a great meat sauce for spaghetti.

Useless Japan News:
Got my Kickstarter from Japan yesterday.  I backed a 100 piece 3D printed magnetic map of Tokyo.  It came in very nice packaging.

I ordered 2 map regions: Tokyo Tower and Akihabara.  They look really nice and have lots of details.

They also have magnets on the bottom, so I could stick them to the fridge, but I'm going to display them on a table.  I should have also got Odaiba (J7), where Gavin, Ben, and I stayed and played in Japan :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

1 week off for Christmas and New Years and it feels like it's not enough.  I also can't believe how many Friends episodes I watched on TV, and the marathon is still no over til Jan 7.

Christmas started at Anthony's place on Dec 22.  I got there late as I had work and then made fresh monkey bread.  The food spread was already out.

Party Food.

More Party Food.

The tree looked nice.  It looked even better with some cool glasses that turned any light into reindeer, Santa, or snowmen.  I forgot where it was from.

Anthony's Christmas Tree.

After the kids left, we played some Telestrations, Code Names, and Between Two Cities.

Code Names.

I saw Gavin, Emi, Yuto, Noah, and Lena on Dec 2.  They brought a cheese cake from Uncle Tetsu's.  It was good, but I think mine is better.

Uncle Tetsu's Cheese Cake.

They also brought cheese tarts from Pablo's in Toronto.  Emi says it is a chain from Osaka, Japan.  The regular version (white) is really good.  It's like a mix between a Chinese egg tart and creme brule.  The chocolate version is not as good.  Very chocolate mousse like.

Pablo's Cheese Tarts.

Christmas this year was at Joe's house.  I made sushi for the party.  It took me awhile to prepare and make 14 rolls of sushi.

Sushi Preparation.

Big tree with lots of gifts around it.

Joe's Christmas Tree.

The appetizers: wontons, sweet potato chips, sushi, nachos, chorizo pate, popcorn, and Chinese pasties.

Appetizers.

The main course: roast beef, oysters, chicken, garlic shrimp, meatballs with mushrooms, veggie dishes.

Main Courses.

Dessert: Frutti Di Bosco cake, Nutella cream puff wreath, rice krispie squares, coconut puffs, cookies, and mix fruit.

Desserts.

We played a new game this year: Unwrap the Gift.  Susanna and I prepared the gift by wrapping in multiple layers and boxes, to make difficult to open.  The object is to roll dice and when you roll doubles, you put on the lobster claw oven mitts and try to open the gift while everyone else continues to roll the dice.  When doubles is rolled again the opener stops and is replaced by the double roller.  It took about 10 mins for the gift to get opened all the way.  Ben won the $25 McDonalds card in the middle.

Unwrap The Gift.

Family Christmas was the next day.  Susanna and I made 2 roasts with our own dry rub recipes.  Susanna's on the left and mine on the right.

2 Roasts.

Susanna's came out nice and rare.

Susanna's Roast.

Mine came out nice and rare too but I forgot to take a pic, but it is the meat on the closer plate.  Family Christmas dinner also had leftover sushi, salmon sashimi, baby bok choi, and meatballs.

Family Christmas Dinner.

The roasts tasted about the same.  Susanna's was abit more spicy than mine, but I can say which was better.  The potatoes and carrots on the other hand were abit salty.

I took the roast beef bones, end pieces, and the salty vegetables home.  I boiled and cooled the meat for about a day, and then added the salty veggies to make a stew.  They stew was really good the water nullified the saltiness.  I added a couple eggs to thicken it.  Most of the gelatin from the bones boiled out too.  Gave the dish a nice healthy stickiness.

Stew.

Made fresh rice to pour the stew over it.  The stew was very meaty as most the meat shredded apart.

Stew on Rice.