Happy New Year 2019!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Watch Japan's Kouhaku (NHK's Red and White Year-end Song Festival) at 5:15am this morning.  I only went to bed at 3:30am, so I was half-asleep watching it. 
AKB48's performance wasn't that great.  They sang "Koisuru Fortune Cookie". 
TWICE's performance was good.  They sang "I want you back" (which I thought was a weird song choice), and I think "Yes or Yes", "Cheer Up", or "TT" would have been better.

Cat Ears for Cats

Dinner today -> Dumpling? Dumpling!
Ran some errands with Julie tonight and then we went to Dumpling? Dumpling! for dinner.  We used a meal for two Groupon and this time we got pan fried beef & curry onion dumplings (got steamed last time) and steamed chicken & chinese mushroom dumplings.

Mmmm... Dumplings.

The meal included 2 soups, 2 spring rolls, and 2 bubble teas.  The pan fried beef and curry onion dumplings were awesome.  There was alot of soup/juices in them and they popped the liquid out when bit.  We had to be careful as they were hot.  They taste better dipped with the black vinegar.  The chicken and chinese mushroom dumplings were disappointing.  They lacked flavour.  I think these would be better served boiled in a soup.

Useless Food News:
Picked up a couple packs of frozen soup buns from Sobey's.  One each for Ed and myself.

Frozen Soup Buns.

I went looking for these after reading this article about how to correctly eat soup dumplings.  They look like regular dim sum packs but the front of the packaging says "Soup Filled".

Useless Garden News:
I caught the chipmunk that is eating my cherry tomatoes red-handed on Wednesday.  I went home for lunch and saw him sitting casually on my patio chair, chomping away at a fresh red cherry tomato.  He dropped the evidence when I whipped out my phone to take the picture.  Then he hid in the tomato plant.

Chipmunk Caught Red-Handed.

A few minutes after going inside, I checked and he was back on the chair finishing his interrupted meal.  I think he notice I was watching and dropped the tomato again when I tried to take the picture!  He is pretty cute.

Chipmunk Finishing His Meal.

Useless Pet News:
I got a box of Cat Ears from Japan for cats that want to cosplay as cats :)  Julie put them on her pets.
Lux didn't like it at all and wouldn't stop squirming to take a picture.  Maybe pink ears doesn't suit him.

Lux the Cat, Cosplaying as a Cat.

His brother Cass didn't care and just layed there.

Cass the Cat, Cosplaying as a Cat.

Sherlock the dog, tolerated the cat ears and looked good with purple ears.

Sherlock the Dog, Cosplaying as a Cat.

Japanese Animal Cookies

Snack today -> Japanese Animal Cookies.
T&T has a Japan & Korean week sale happening this week.  I picked up a box of double chocolate pocky and Japanese Animal Cookies.  Opened the animal cookies today.  They are coconut flavoured and very good. 

Japanese Snacks.

The cool part is all the animal names are spelled out on them AND there were about 36 different animals in the box!  I was hopping to get a rhinoceros just to see if it actually fit on the cracker.  Most of the shapes were pretty accurate too, but I agree with Katie that the rabbit didn't really look like a rabbit.  Will probably get more of these and I recommend them.


Dinner today -> Steak, Broccoli and Rice.
Went to Loblaws tonight and got a discount top sirloin steak for dinner.  Cooked that up with some leftover broccoli and instant rice.

Steak Dinner.

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 :)

Eclipse

The big eclipse was today.  A bunch of us went outside at 2:30pm to see it.  We had 1 pair of official glasses and a couple welding masks.  We also had some impromptu pinhole cameras.  I took a photo with my phone through the glasses.  Can't really see it in the photo.

Eclipse.

Dinner today -> Ribs.
Went to Big Bone BBQ and got the Monday Mania: 1 rack + 1lb of firery honey garlic wings + large fries for $25 + tax.  It was good, but the sauce tasted sweeter than I remembered.

Mmmm... Ribs.

Useless Lego News:
I went to Walmart tonight and I found some "brick tape".  The 6.5ft roll was $13 and the 3.2ft roll was $8.  I got the bigger roll.  It comes in alot of different colours, but I chose black.  The brick tape can be cut to size and stuck anywhere.  Not sure where I will use it yet.

Brick Tape.

Useless Gaming News:
Tried out my Roll Player game using the solo variant.  It's pretty good.  Lots of decisions of where to place dice and how best to utilize them.  Need to try it multiplayer.

Solo Roll Player.

Useless Idol News:
My current favorite 48-group member: Kitahara Rie, announced her graduation from NGT48 today!  I'm shocked!  Didn't expect her to graduate yet.  Her grad will be in the spring of 2018.

Metal Transformer Clips

Lunch today -> Poutine
Kanata Community Hub Wednesday Lunch Parties started today.  Today's Trucks were Big D's and Dash.  I got the Coney Island Poutine from Big D's.  It was good, but Ed and I think the portion size has decreased from last year with the cost staying the same ($9).

Coney Island Poutine.

Dinner today -> Sushi.
Went to Comic Book Shoppe tonight and Julie tagged along.  We went to TEN Sushi afterwards for dinner.  The service still sucks, but the sushi was good.

Sushi Dinner.

We ordered too many rolls.  We did try the deep fried milk.  It's actually pretty good.  It taste like a little grape-sized ball of condensed milk that was battered and deep fried.  A good slightly sweet dessert item, but not listed under Desserts.
I went to the bathroom before leaving and I notice they have a really cool Japanese looking sink.  The faucet looks like a bamboo branch. 

Bamboo-looking Faucet.

Useless Transformers News:
Picked up these metal Autobot and Decepticon clips at Walmart tonight.  They look really cool, but I have no idea what I'll use them for.  They were only $5.95 each and by the express cashier line at Merivale Walmart.

Metal Transformer Clips.

Mario Pocket Watch

Useless Toy News:
My co-worker Julie gave this metal Super Mario "?" block box from Japan.

"?" Block.

Inside was a really cool Super Mario pocket watch.

Super Mario Pocket Watch.

I need to get the battery replaced before I start using it.

Weekend Report -> Calf Liver

Food this weekend ->
Ed's gave me this Calf Liver dish made by the student chefs at Algonquin College.  It was unbelievably good!  The liver was perfectly cooked and very tasty.  I need more!

Calf Liver Dish.

Picked up some Mushroom Bean Curds and Five Spice Ribs from T&T on Friday.  The girl scooping just kept piling on the food so it was overflowing when she squashed the lid done.  :)

Mushroom Bean Curds and Ribs.

I also found these Japanese drinks at T&T: Double Cream Boss Coffee, Bear Cola from Hokkaido, and Pepsi Refresh Shot.  Finally T&T carries Boss Coffee.  This is the good stuff from Japan.  I'll try the Bear cola and Pepsi another time.

Drinks from Japan.

In the freezer section at T&T, I got some frozen meals of Gyudon and Bibimbap.  This is the Bibimbap.  Very good, but abit small for a meal.  It's on sale for $4 from $7 this week.  Might go get some more.

Bibimbap.

Useless Gaming News:
5-Player gaming at Brian's on Friday.  We played Saboteur 2, Rummy Alcatraz, Biblios Dice, and Pairs.  Brian was only interested in playing new games, so he was complaining during Saboteur 2 and didn't play Rummy Alcatraz.  Biblios Dice is a great game.  Lots of player interaction and dice randomness mixed with luck.  My copy won't be here for a few more months :(

Biblios Dice.

I also got KickStarted Viceroy in on Friday.  I didn't get my playmat or gem add-ons.  I'll have find out if they are coming separately or need to send a request for them.

KickStarter Viceroy.

Robot Marriage

Useless Toy News:
Picked up some figs from the new wave of Marvel Legends at Toys R Us.  I got Giant Man, Ant-man, and Wasp.  Didn't see any of the other figures on the shelf, but I only wanted these 3 Avengers first.  The extra parts make Ultron. 

Newest Avenger Figures.

I think I should pick up Hawkeye from the previous wave.  Missing him to complete the Avengers team.

Useless Japan News:
The Kashiwagi Yuki look-a-like robot "Yukirin" got married to another robot.  Article here.

Science Guy

Useless Gaming News:
Played some fun rounds of Saboteur 2 at lunchtime today.  7 players.  The final round, everyone was suspecting some players were saboteurs by their suspicious actions, and started breaking each others equipment.  In the end no one was a saboteur.  LOL

Useless TV News:
Lori gave me all 5 seasons of Bill Nye, the Science Guy :)  This show is great!

Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

Useless Movie News:
"Attack on Titan" live action Japanese trailer is out.  I didn't like the anime very much (way too much talking during a battle), but the movie looks interesting.  It's released soon, and part 2 will follow shortly in theatres too.

Weekend Report: Happy Birthday Ben!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Also this weekend was the Ottawa Comic Con.  After see-sawing about going or not, I decided not to go.  I wanted to find had a few things I wanted to buy and meet Richard Dean Anderson.  To meet Richard Dean Anderson it would cost me $80!  I figured $80 + $30 admission ticket + at least spending $100 on stuff; wasn't worth it.  I ordered another box of AKB48 Treasure Cards instead :)

Food this weekend ->
Ben's Birthday dinner/ Mother's Day dinner was lots of Rideau Restaurant dishes, chicken pad thai from KNH, and a bucket of KFC.

Big Dinner.

Dessert was a cake from La Provence.

Birthday Cake.

Made hash browns for breakfast Sunday.  I was thinking of making eggs and toast too, but got lazy and just ate hash browns.

Hash Browns.

Threw together some hotpot ingredients for Sunday dinner: fish cake, various seafood balls, noodle knots, and devil tongue

Mini-Hotpot.

Useless Gaming News:
4-Player gaming at Brian's Friday night.  We played Shadows over the Empire.  It's an OK game.  It might be better with the more advance cards in the box.  We only played the basic game.  Ben got a surprise win at the end of round 4.

Shadows over the Empire.

Then we played Lap Dance.  It's an OK game.  The game mechanics is basically rolling dice to meet conditions to get as much money as possible.  You have to keep pace or you're out.  Brian fell behind early, then Paul.  It came down to me and Ben, but I was able to buy 1 extra $3 tip than Ben, and won.

Lap Dance.

Useless Japan News:
FYI: Sunday was Japan Day in New York.  As part of the festivities, AKB48 had a free concert at Central Park.

Japan Day in Central Park.

AKB Performance.

Honey Butter Chips

Lunch today -> Farmboy Salad.
Got more salad from Farmboy today.  Caesar salad, grape tomatoes, cucumber, roasted garlic, broccoli, steak, salmon, and a chorizo pogo.

Useless Japan Info:
Got a package from Japan today.  Got some Super Mario canned coffee, a tamago frying pan, sakura cookies, jewel candies, cheese cake kitkat, an inflatable pork chop hat costume, and honey butter chips.

I heard about the honey butter chips through AKB48, so I had to try it.  I wasn't disappointed.  These chips are awesome!  It tastes like eating crunchy, super buttery potatoes, with slight hint of sweetness.  I want to order more...

Captain Rie

Useless Food News:
Picked up a 1 litre carton of Maple Milk at Walmart for $2.  Never seen this milk before.  It tastes good.  A subtle sweetness.  When I was drinking it, I was thinking, "It tastes very Canadian".  I think this will go really well with non-sweetened cereal or oatmeal.

Maple Milk.

Useless Idol News:
Today was the AKB48 members only concert.  3 announcements made:
1. AKB48 40th Single Senbatsu members announced.
2. Kawaeii Rina announced her intent to graduate from AKB.
3. AKB48 member shuffle.  Yuihan moved to Team A as Captain.  Kitahara Rie and Kashiwagi Yuki transfered to new to-be-formed sister group NGT48.  Rie will be Captain of Team N3.  Kashiwagi will be concurrent between Team N3 and AKB48 Team B.  There were other moves, but I mainly cared about these 3 moves.

Reaction Queen Kashiwagi.

Useless Gaming News:
I finally got my KickStarter copy of Japanese: The Game.  I was one of the last 3 people to get it delivered in Canada.  I thought I was going to get the KickStarter expansion delivered before the core game was.

Finally Here.

Useless Transformers News:
Found some Transformers: Combiner Wars Wave 2 at Centrum Walmart today.  Got Aerial Bot AirRaid, and Stunticons Breakdown, Dead End, and Offroad.  Walmart didn't have MotorMaster on the shelf, so no forming Menasor tonight.  Maybe I'll find him at the Geek Market Friday night.

Darn.  No MotorMaster.

More Useless Gaming News:
Geek Market is this weekend at the Nepean Sportsplex.  It's like a mini-comiccon without guests. 
I'm going Friday night for the last hour.  I only want to see the Lego and vendors, so I'll just pay the $2 admission for the last hour.  (The $2 admission applies to the last hour for each of the 3 days.)
Looks like this years event is way bigger than last year.  Last year it was only in Hall A & B.  This year, it's taking the curling rink and another rink to contain everything.

Whopper Perfume?

Useless Japan News:
So April 1st in Japan will be "Whopper Day".  To celebrate they are releasing a limited edition Whopper Perfume?  Not sure if it is a joke or not.

Useless Nature News:
Read a CBC article about "Vampire Crabs".  They look really cool with yellow eyes and purple armour.  I wonder how big they are and if they are good to eat?

Useless Toy News:
FYI: Amiibos are on sale Friday 3 for $30 at Toys R Us.  This coincides with the release of Mario Party 10 on Wii U.

MAR10 Day

Today was MAR10 Day (Mario Day)!  By coincidence March 11 is World Plumbing Day.  Was this done purposely?  Or really a convenient coincidence?

Dinner today -> Spaghetti with Meat Sauce.
Made a big batch of meat sauce to mix into spaghetti.  The sauce was really smooth and the 2 spoons of red pepper paste made it better.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce.

Useless Idol News:
Got a package today from CD Japan.  Green Flash CD, An An Magazines (Kojiharu and Yuko issues), and Yokoyama Yui Photobook.

AKB Stuff.

March 11 is also the anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake in Japan.  AKB48 video of their charity song "Tenohira ga Kataru Koto".

Sailor Moon Chips

Useless Japan Info:
I got a package from Japan today.  I had a bunch of little things I ordered before December last year, but the order got delayed because the Sailor Moon chips weren't released yet.  But it's finally here.

Stuff from Japan.

I got the full set of Sailor Moon chips, some Super Mario sound banks (put a coin in and it makes a mario game sound), an RPG chunk of meat phone strap (the bone pulls out too), and a mini coffee chocolate gashpon machine.  Susanna wants my Sailor Jupiter chips...

Mercedes-Benz Mario Kart

Yep, I'm sick.  I tried repressing my cough this morning with Cepacol and Halls cough drops, but after lunch has was having coughing fits with sneezing and a runny nose.  Surprisingly not too many "green wontons" were made.

Lunch today -> Samosa, Butter Chicken, and Curry Beef.
Picked up some lunch from the Indian Market.  Got 3 Samosas (Veggie, Beef, and Chicken).  The beef samosa is the one I like the most.  I also got some butter chicken, curry beef, and roasted potatoes.

Lunch.

Useless Japan News:
Newest Mercedes-Benz commercial featuring Mario Kart.  The character I use won :)

Thera Pearl Frog

Lunch today -> Pulled Pork.
Went back to Farmboy and got more pulled pork and discount buns.  Today's buns were egg and onion buns.  I also got some red onion, cheddar cheese, and broccoli.  Simple cheap lunch.

Pull Pork and Egg & Onion Buns.

Useless Medical News:
I bought this "Thera Pearl Pal" a while ago and kept in my desk drawer.  I used it today on my back (it felt better than yesterday but still ached).  I heated it up in the microwave for 15 seconds, and put it on my back.  This little thing is awesome!  The heat felt good.  I kept reheating it and used it all day.  I went and bought the bigger version after work.

Hot Frog.

Useless Japan News:
Hilarious video of a Japanese Cream Bazooka Prank.