Anime fans...

A bunch of photos on anime fans' desks and rooms. (Oops, sorry, that was from 2007 Jan 28, a little old. The "popular character" has since changed.) My desk at work used to look like that but absolutely not at home.

One year later (2008 Jan 29), a 2008 Chinese Olympic pamphlet cover features a fake Haruhi Suzumiya and Ichi Kinda. Here is the original Chinese Amazon page selling the pamphlet, completed with a user comment that points out the fact. Here's the original this picture was copied from. Can't believe they didn't only copy a Japanese character to sell such an important international event, this design totally sucks. How could this be approved in the first place? Don't they have any pride for their country?

Yikes! Tomorrow is February! (Panic!) I must be getting old, as time feels like it's going too fast.

Exercise chair?

More like... weight lost by motion sickness... ("Hawaii Chair"??? Wouldn't "Hula Chair" make more sense?)

Computer art (non CG)

Interesting way to recycle old computers with art (literally).

And here's something to celebrate Lego's belated birthday (yesterday).
10 Neatest LEGO Facts and Links

Lego Google?

What's with today's Lego Google logo? Usually clicking on it goes to Wiki or some explanations, but it's unclickable. Is it Lego's birthday or something?

Green Tea Kitkat

I think the "normal size" one I had a few years ago was green. This one's normal chocolate on the outside (and elongated.) The green tea is supposed to be inside but I can't really taste it. It's like the apple Kitkat, a bit artificial. And they're both under the same "deluxe" category. Adding a layer of flavoured filling inside the wafers is "deluxe"? I'll have to disagree. This might as well be the worst green tea flavour I've ever had.

Apple Kitkat

What the heck? It's disgusting! Doesn't smell or taste anywhere near apple! It's got that volatile cherry cough syrup feel. (Yes, cherry, not apple.) Too sweet, and has the "signature" dark chocolate bitterness. It's supposed to have a touch of cinnamon but I can't detect any. At least this one contains apple juice power unlike the 100% artificial chestnut. Aaaaw, and this is supposed to be "deluxe". Quite disappointed.

Typewriter... I mean, Dancewriter

← Type letters with the on-screen keyboard, and the man "performs" the letters. Too bad it's one letter at a time.

Sleepy

Energy level fluctuated greatly within the day. Managed to go to the Y after almost 2 months. Ended up sore all over. Have to wait another week before my next chiropractor's appointment... (T_T)

And to the East Indian? or Latino? dark hair pony tail female driver who so rudely and aggressively forced me out of my parking space: Just because you didn't see me, doesn't mean that I wasn't waiting for the space. C'mon, you gotta be fair, my good lady! I was circling the lot for over 5 minutes before you showed up. I was there in position waiting and signaling before you even enter the lot! The idle vehicle behind me must have hidden my right signal from your view. However!!! By the time you moved in front of me, there was no way you couldn't see my signal. Yet you took on a hostile and confrontational attitude, moved your car to "face" me, honk and honk and honk, yell land yell and yell, refused to listen to me, until I finally had to move out and give you the spot. I let you have it because I don't think a parking spot is worth wasting my time auguring over. Plus, I didn't want you to scratch my car or let the air out the tires or something like that. (Yes, I'm afraid you did look like that kind of people.) Yet I did get a stomach ache afterwards, meaning, I'm not as generous as I hope to be. Have you heard of karma, my good lady? Some day you'll get your share. Sigh... can't believe people are so unbelievably rude these days, especially the youth. They each think they own the world. Courtesy and common sense no longer exist. If those are the people who will run the world when I get old, I'm really, really scared. (Note: "run" ≠ "own".)

Bitter Moose Pocky

Yesterday there was still a mystery chill between 5 and 7 pm that rendered me completely unmovable (i.e. must nap). Today it was almost gone. Can I say the cold is over? Or is it too soon?

Nevertheless, found this box of Bitty Moose Pocky in my junk food pile. It expires in a week! Yikes! M u s t ! E a t ! (Works out fine for my chocolate craving.)

Maybe it's a little too close to expiry? There's the white powdery stuff on the outside. (I think it's from fat separating.) It doesn't taste as good as I hope. Is it a matter of freshness? Or is my sense of taste still muted by the cold? Either way, it's not that different from the regular Men's Pocky (oops, sorry, now it's just "dark chocolate Pocky") Except for a thicker layer of chocolate and thicker cracker stick. At $2.39 for 12 sticks, this would be the last box I'd buy.

Some flavours seem to last well beyond expiry date. Like the discontinued Berry Pocky and Winter Cocoa Pocky (it's already powdery). And... aaaww I can't remember the rest! (T_T) Fujiya sells their expired Pocky at up to 60% off. I'm glad I don't live near one. Or else I'll be eating expired Pocky all the time. There's a branch near my auto mechanic so I only do that when I take my car in.

Chocolate mania

(Jan 24: more links added.)
Awooo just when I thought the cold is leaving, I started coughing more today... (T_T) Well at least my nose stopped running. Craving chocolate. So...

The Gagazine staff had a review on Meiji's 100% Chocolate Cafe's full 56-flavour set. Part 1 is only the online purchasing process. Part 2 & part 3 are the actual taste test. 12200 yen... that's about $122? So each piece is just under $2.18. They didn't show the size. A similar product 365 Day's of Chocolate is 5x5 cm and looks quite thin. The taste test was done in one day with a 2 hour break. Looks like fun, but I can't imagine eating that much chocolate in one day. (They also didn't say how many people participated in the taste test.)
I thought being fond of the grotesque is a western thing. After all you can only buy scorpion lollipop and chocolate covered crickets in local specialty candy store. Didn't know the Japanese have their own version. But this is all chocolate, no real insect. (I'm sure more eatable too. )

Rooster vs Cock

The cold is finally on it's way out. There's still some runny nose and sore throat. At least I don't need to wrap a fleece blanket outside 2 pairs of pants anymore. My mom's cough is almost gone but my dad is still quite miserable. (Yeah... due to his age probably.) Seems like the cold got them in their lungs and got me in the nose and throat. Now I just need to nurse the canker sore until it heals.

Anyway, it's Chinese new year soon (Feb 7). Such flyers are flooding in. This one is from Superstore. Some are "cock" while others are "rooster". Well, it's very, very rare to see the word "cock" used in packaging, thanks to it's alternative meaning. Ah, that reminds me of...
Q: What's a female peacock called?
A: Peahen.

F#&@%!!!!!

There are days that seem like God hates me, and today is sure one of those days. Or is it that when you're low in health, you're also low in luck and everything else?

The cold gets neither better nor worse. Regardless, I still need my chiropractor's appointment. Afterwards I went to the closest London Drugs to get dental floss and badly needed canker sore treatment. The canker sore alone is more painful than all the misery from the cold. (T_T) There was a parking spot nearby. Since I'm below normal condition, I parked there instead of in the basement parkade. Got a feeling that walking through the urine-smelling stair case is gonna make me sicker. I had no idea that I was about to step on a series of mines.

First mine, my favorite London Drug brand dental floss has changed packaging and the price went from $1.99 to $3.99. OK, switch brand, then. Somehow I couldn't think and it took me a long time before I found an unwaxed non-flavoured brand. (Try it next time and see for yourself how difficult this can be, though. Virtually everything is waxed and flavoured. Or is it just the selection at London Drugs?) This alone took over 5 minutes.

Second mine, now I'm stuck with this only choice, I need a coupon. So I went off hunting for one. That probably took 2 or 3 minutes.

Then I got my canker sore gel, took a quick look around the store and lined up at the cashier. That took another 6 or 7 minutes maybe? I only bought 10 minutes of parking, thinking I could just pick up the stuff and go, wrong. That, was the third mine.

Forth mine. You guessed it. Parking ticket. It was written 3 minutes after expiry. Do they have spys or something going around each meter every 3 minutes or so? Yes, I'm upset. Extremely upset.

A friend once said, he thinks the world hates him. I'd say, no, the world doesn't hate you. It hates me. No I didn't actually say it. But, I know very well that it's not a one-way street. I wish he understand it too. There are as many bad days as good ones, and I still have a few truly sincere friends who remind me that God hasn't completely given up on me yet. So I still try not to hate the world even on bad days, because "the world" includes whoever is or will be your friend. Which, applies to those listening to your whining at the moment, and can end up feeling quite offended.

You think your life sucks? Wait till you hear about mine. There was once a girl friend who managed to convince me to unload my true whining to her. It was very noble of her, and I did it because I trust her. But turn out she couldn't take it, and I never hear from her again. I don't blame her for deserting me. It's only human nature to stays away from unpleasant things. So, I make sure the monster's tightly sealed, ever.

Still going on...

About the same as yesterday. Slightly more cough, less chill but I still feel quite cold. My nose's been dripping out of control. (T_T) It feels like there's no air in my lungs and I can't really cough. Luckily the irritations are bearable. If a canker sore shows up during a cold, is that a "cold sore" instead??? Either way it's still sore. (T_T) This is getting annoying. I'm not well, but not sick enough to go see the doctor...

The cold continues

Other syndromes are starting to show. Sore throat, running nose, cough. Still having chills and can't think straight. Slept for 12 hours 2 days in a roll. Doesn't seem to stop the cold, though. And my back ended up really stiff and sore. (T_T)

Cold.

Yeah...... unfortunately it is a cold. I don't cough as much as my parents yet, but the sore throat is here. Feels like someone's squeezing my neck. Plus a little light-headed. Which could mean a fever too. Can't really think straight either... (T_T)

Cold?

Haven't been feeling too well over the weekend. Very tired and a dry and swollen throat. Not quite a sore throat, though. Might be getting a cold from my dad. He's been sick for a week. But all of us got flu shots. This means, if he manage to catch something, both my mom and I will also get it, eventually. (Talking about the devil... I can hear my mom coughing in her room right now.)

The photo is from last summer. A museum exhibit my boss was working on. Too bad I didn't get to see the finished product before it was shipped.

Chestnut Kitkat

Limited edition Japanese Chestnut Kitkat.

It smells and tastes like chestnut alright, especially those in chestnut cakes from Chinese bakery that uses canned chestnut paste. Ya know, the canned syrupy taste. But there's no chestnut in the ingredient list. It's all flavoring. I'll have to say they've done an excellent job on faking this one. The chocolate is white, though, playing tricks on my mind, making me think it's got heavy milk taste, but actually it doesn't. Oh, this one doesn't taste bitter. Hey wait a minute! The back of the box says carefully selected Japanese chestnuts have been used. So... real chestnut or flavoring???

Weird dream

I can't remember dreams as often as 10 years ago. Is it just age? Or the missing brain? Dreams were so vivid, it was like participating in a movie. There was a distinctive decrease of dreams remembered after the accident, to almost none for years. It eventually came back, but not quite the same. Anyway, I seem to have extremely stressful dreams lately. Twice within this week already. I didn't document the last one, but it was about...

...having killed someone together with a crime partner (that killing part didn't exist, though) and he was trying to hide the head of the victim in the woods while threatening to kill me at the same time. I tried to run away. The police were after me too. It ended with my home being surrounded by reporters.

Last night's was... dying during a defibrillator demo? There was a bunch of people, probably in a class or something. I was playing around with the machine, and put the sensors on myself to see my heartbeat on the monitor. Then it showed my heart stopped. Things started to move in slow motion. I felt exhausted. (This was too real!) I begged for the defibrillator to be used. Somehow it didn't work. I was dying. Fear, panic, but couldn't stop the distortion on all my senses and everything fading slowly away.

I'd say... what the heck was that?!?!?!

The experience of death in a dream... was way too real. There was one (years ago) on being executed, and that was also way beyond comfort. Why did I have to have such a dream? Those who know me, know that I don't watch movies. If dreams are refiling of memories, I haven't been dead yet and shouldn't have such memories.

I wonder how often people dream about their own death.

10 years old

My older niece turn 10. So we ate out, got a birthday cake, the whole 9 yard etc etc...

Time flies.

Germs plush

This is herpes you're looking at. They have all sorts of wacky ones from bad breath to HIV. But... I don't think they work too well as gifts. No one wants to get "herpes", right?

The Japanese got cuter designs on microbes.

Coupons

Finally got the remaining 2 fleece caps for my Japanese friend. Sakura probably called me earlier but I didn't turn my cell phone on. Oh well. As long as I manage to dodge the snow, I'm happy.

The strange thing is, they don't have those fleece caps on display. According to the sales clerk, those were specially brought in from the Richmond branch. What? They have more? I'm pretty sure I swiped out everything last time. Turns out there was a shipment on December 24th. (At least that's what I was told. But I don't think I can trust them completely after what happened in December.) 24th... isn't that a bit late for Christmas? As for me, it was out of the question because the parcel was sent on the 17th.

I whined about missing Christmas, and having to make a trip to their Richmond branch to get more caps last time, otherwise I could have gotten another $2 coupon. Then guess what? She gave me a $4 coupon instead of the regular $2! Wow thanks! But then I was there quite a bit earlier, looking around before approaching the counter for pick-up. Just when I was making my way over there, a mom showed up with a defective figurine, and held up one of the sales clerks for a loooong time. The other started eating a sandwich which must have been her dinner. So~ I got tired of waiting and went carton hunting. (Need a box for mailing parcel.) I'm sure she recognized me when I showed up again. Hence giving me the $4 coupon for the wait.

It's snowing like crazy. Fore casted 10 cm by tomorrow morning. I'm glad I picked up the caps tonight. But I probably won't be able to mail them soon...

Yuubari Melon Kitkat

Is it me? Or is it Kitkat? It's again much sweeter than I thought. It smells like melon alright. Not too artificial, but it's not completely melon. (Of course there's chocolate too, but mix them together, the melon wins out.) The taste is... as I said, sweeter than expected. And like the blood orange Kitkat, there's a slight bitterness. Don't think it's dark chocolate, though. Can't really identify this non-chocolate bitterness. The chocolate has a marble pattern, and Yuubari melon juice power is used.

It doesn't say limited edition. Only "support Yuubari city. For every bar purchased, 10 yen is donated to the city." Hmm... why, has there been a disaster? This one ranks slightly below the blood orange Kitkat. So, one bar is enough.

Eva voodoo dolls

Kind of unusual for anime product. Not my cup of tea, though.

Day timer

I was looking around during yesterday's shopping trip, but no luck. Can't procrastinate any longer on buying a day timer although my old one lasts until the end of January... for the fear of selling out, of course. But this is something that should really have been taken care of before the year ends.

Office Depot didn't have any that I like. They're all too thick and too expensive. I need to minimize the weight of my bag, so it has to be the thinnest monthly type, no extra crap, with plastic cover into which I can store coupons is best.

Staples didn't seem promising either. Just like Office Depot, there weren't many left. Only 4 days into the new year and it's all sold out? Ya gotta be kidding me. I was dreading about the possibility of having to switch brand. Nothing else I've ever seen is as perfect as this one, so I really want to stick with this brand.

Then I saw an indecisive guy holding a blue one that looks like my brand! Right in front of him on the shelf, there was one single green one left. I snatched it as fast as I could. Luckily he didn't seem upset or even noticed me. Yup, it was the right brand! And I got the last one! Wow that was too close! Normally I would get a red one, but this time, no choice. I'm lucky to even get one.
Think I should remove the label? Naa... I left the one on last year's anyway. Huh? The name "Hilroy" has disappeared? Actually I never knew it was a "Hilroy".

Spray paint

My brother and his wife went cross-border shopping again and I hitched a ride again. They were buying Christmas nicknacks for next year. Especially small gifts. This way they can save at least half. With 2 girls, they need a lot of gifts. (For teachers, classmates, parents etc.) Too bad they can't buy edible stuff. Those are really cheap now.

I expected to see more but there weren't many. According to my sister-in-law, this year's post-Christmas stuff are unusually few. Oh well we seemed to be too late.

I couldn't find anything good so I ended up getting a bunch of spray paint. Almost half the price here and the selection is much bigger. Oh, and Cetaphil from Costco. But the price went up. It was 2 bottles plus a smaller sample for under $13 before Christmas. Now it's $15 without the sample. Oh well... Still cheaper than anywhere else.

Sleep record?

Been in bed for 13 hours but couldn't sleep for the first 7. My heart was pounding and every time I almost dosed off, I jumped right back into consciousness as if I was about to suffocate. Maybe it was the painkiller, but that was just ordinary headache pills.

Probably didn't get a good sleep during the last 6 hours either, because of a few phone-calls (none was mine), a parcel delivery (OK that was mine), and my mom's friend was visiting. She's one of those weird and annoying characters. Moments after she left, she rang the door bell again just because she "forgot to say bye to my dad". And of course I was still in bed the whole time, trying to sleep.

My brother and his gang came back yesterday. We ate out to make up for the missed Christmas dinner. Since my younger niece showed some talent on fashion design, I let the girls play with a bunch of my Pinkys after dinner. There were a total of 18. Thought they would share, but instead they divided the dolls up and each played with their own 9. At the end I regretted it, because a lot of parts became loose. Especially the heads. Sigh... (T_T)

Happy new year!

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2008.

Actually not feeling too well. Finally get to go to bed early(er) tonight... (T_T)