Brewed Tea Kitkat

Thanks Sora who mailed it form Japan! (^_^) Part of the "deluxe" series. Smells like chocolate, but tastes like tea, amazing! However, after 2 or 3 bites, the tea weakens and the chocolate takes over. The tea is still there, though. (It's done with extracts and flavoring.) This is a nice combination, much nicer than the green tea and apple. I think the tea can be stronger. Oh! this reminds me of the discontinued Milk Tea Pocky, which was one of my favorite.

First sakura

OMG! It's sakura season again! Time flies... (T_T)

Earth Hour (2)

Ended up watching TV with lights off. But my parents wanted to read newspaper, so the half of the house did not participate. Ideally, it would be perfect for a candle light dinner or something if I had a boyfriend. Oh well.

Photo is again, homework from 2 weeks ago. Argh! Silicone! I need some silicone for a small repair! If only my boss is still in town... (T_T)

Earth Hour

Lights off 8-9 pm tomorrow night (Saturday March 29) if you're interested...
Will I do it myself? Hmm... it depends. The ideal would be going to the mall or something. But in my case, a bit unlikely...

http://www.wwf.ca/earthhour/
http://www11.earthhourus.org/

(Photo is homework from 2 weeks ago.)

Granville Island

Needed to pick up some beading supply on Granville Island. Haven't been there for months. Didn't know the cement factory set up a cute kinetic sculpture. There were 3 balls circulating in the sculpture while 6 were on the floor. The cement factory also decorated one of the trucks. I wonder if this truck is actually used to transport cement.

Then, a somewhat confusing no-parking sign. On closer look, it's graffiti! (One of the arrows is fake.) As I was taking this picture, it suddenly started raining... no, it was... hail! Yikes!!!

I had a Pinky in my bag, but it was too cold. Didn't feel like it. Oh well.

Windshield wipers

Finally installed the windshield wipers I bought last November. Not without my brother's help, of course. Couldn't figure it out myself. Yes, pretty stupid. I know. (T_T)

My dad was really eager to help, holding the flash light although there's overhead florescent lights. He was so eager, he didn't even put on his jacket. He was wearing a shirt with sleeves rolled up and a fleece vest. It was very cold outside! I'd say probably 5 degrees? What the heck was he thinking? Maybe he wasn't thinking at all. It's been increasingly like that, and his senselessness drives me crazy. (Because even though he's acting without common sense, he still insists he's right.) Grrr...

Then the reason for his eagerness was revealed. When we were all done, he would not let go of the old wipers. I asked for them to be placed in the trash, he refused! He wanted to keep them! For what? For the rubber part! No, I mean, for what? He said it's "gonna be" useful. This ping-pong ball questioning went back and forth many times. He couldn't give me any answer. Oh come on!!! That's it. I can't handle it anymore. At the end, I managed to begged him not to keep the old wipers (by saying I'll buy proper materials when he needs any), but... I know for a fact that he's been collecting garbage from our neighbours' trash since... pretty much since we moved into this house 18 years ago!!! (T_T) And, he's just keeping them without doing anything with them! That, I can no longer stand. I'm going crazy. I'm seriously going crazy. I need help. But I don't think anyone can help.

Is it true that getting old erases common sense? He wouldn't listen and always have to have his way. He's "always right" and no negotiation. He's been the biggest source of my stress ever since I was a kid. (And yes, he's done things to me that by todays standard, is child abuse. And it left deep emotional scars which effect still lasts today by preventing me from doing certain things.) Is it because of this bias, that I'm only seeing the ugly side? Little things build up and there's been a lot of those accumulated though the years. I think I've gone over my limit. Waaaay over. Fine, he values junk over his family, so it leaves me no choice but to value him accordingly. Everyday every minute, I can't stop thinking, if getting old is this ugly, I would rather kill myself.

Beetle grub chocolate

Remember the beetle grub chocolate from January? Mr. Rimu from Kisyokunoyakata wrote a detailed review. Oh I looooove that site. Rimu has a taste for unusual food, and goes out of the way to try them. His reports are funny and informative. Well, not that I'll have any chance to visit those places, though. However! My Japanese blog friend Sora mailed me a box of squid chocolate, one of the famous items reviewed on Kisyokunoyakata! Thanks Sora~! (^_^) Once I try them, I'll write a report here. (Modified March 27. Thanks Sora for the kanji pronunciation correction!) (^_^)

Almond Wafer Roll

Taiwanese product, got it as a gift during Chinese new year. (Yup, this was written a little while ago.)

It doesn't look too special or expensive, but actually surprisingly good! A box contains 8 individually packaged roll. "Wafer" may not be the best description, as the shell is closer to egg roll with prominent egg flavour. Non greasy, very light, crunchy, and flaky. The chocolate filling with bits of almonds... is chocolate-flavoured alright, but doesn't feel like real chocolate. Because it's a gift, I have no idea how much it is. Estimated... no more than $4? If it's around $3 I'll buy another box.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Eat lots of chocolate! (^_^)

Pool/ shower etiquette

This is whining, so I'll be sounding mean. Sorry about that.


Could not believe my eyes tonight.

Went to the Y. When I was soaking in the hot tub, there was a middle aged lady, who's mid & low section resembles the Venus of Willendorf, wearing a black t-shirt and black shorts, was also soaking in there. It's not uncommon to see people wearing stuff on top of their swimsuit. I understand not everyone wants to show too much of their body, but I do question the cleanliness of that shirt, though. Do those people wear that when exercising in the gym, and then come into the hot tub to "rinse" their sweat-soaked clothes? Or am I just feeling uncomfortable because I'm showing my body while they hide theirs?

However! Tonight I was totally grossed out by this lady.

In the shower room there are 4 stalls with shower curtains (i.e. "covered") and 5 without (i.e. "in the open"). I usually use the "open" ones because they have railings for putting swimsuit. This lady, in the beginning, used an "open" one. I didn't pay attention at first. But at a certain point, out of the corner of my eyes, something caught my attention. It was her beige lace bra!!!! There was no swimsuit under that t-shirt!!! Aaaargh!!! She wore underwear instead of swimsuit!!! I wish it wasn't her panties under the shorts! Of course I can never find out because I didn't see that part. Yuck!! I was soaking in the hot tub with her underwear!!! (T_T)

Then, for whatever reason, she switched to one of the "covered" stalls, which happened to be the one directly across from me. The ones on either side were empty. Why did she have to choose that one? It wasn't a problem if she didn't use the handicap chair to put her stuff on, and positioned it right in the middle of the room! When I washed my hair, I had to take one step back to get the most water. That chair got in my way. She moved it slightly to the side without a word. Not towards her, but to the side. OK I wouldn't bump into it, but it's still in the middle of the room. Oh, and all this time, she wasn't inside the stall, but standing just outside. Curtains weren't used of course. (Then why use that stall???) Together with the chair, no one could get through. Luckily people were coming in through the other door. I would absolute hate having to dodge around with my eyes closed.

Well, did that lady think she's saving money by not buying a swimsuit? Has she considered how much bleach is in the hot tub? Does she know bleach eats elastics? Does she know bras and panties are mostly elastics? Bras aren't cheap. Let's say, mine are more expensive than my swimsuit.

Sigh... sorry, whining too much lately. But I can't help it. Currently under stressful situation. Actually, it's only gonna get worse. (T_T)

Good Friday

March 21st... isn't it a bit too early? I'm used to Easter being in April. Actually this year is especially early. I think in 2012 (or is it 2010?) Easter will be on April 24th.

Finally got a chance to get some cream puff at... what's their name? Something Papa... Every time I go to Aberdeen Center, there's a line up at this Japanese style bakery. The employees seem to be Japanese too. Their main product is cream puff and it's not uncommon to sold out before the lineup disappear. The cream puffs? Awesome! I can see why there's always a lineup.

So, my brother and his gang went to the States for this long weekend. According to the radio, line up was up to 4 hours.

Spring equinox

Apparently it's spring equinox today somewhere between 10 pm and 11 pm. So spring is here. But the weather hasn't been spring-like. The fluctuation's been putting me in agony. It's bad enough to have a deadline during this time. To make things worse, my chiropractor takes spring break off. A a a w w w w w... (T_T) I've been inside the "shower curtain" again, grumpy and can't think.

St. Patrick's Day

Don't have enough energy left to write what I wanted to write. Sigh... Maybe tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's a life size Haruhi Suzumiya doll. 380,000 yen... that's about $3,800. Looks more like a manikin, though.

Bakery Flat Style Melon Pretz

Another one from Sora, thanks! (^_^) This is bazaar! Who would thought of a melon-flavoured pretzel? (To be precise, it's "melon bun flavour".) It does smell like melon, and tastes like melon, yet doesn't loose the feeling of Pretz. Yes, this would fall into the "sweet Pretz" category (as to salty). Since it's "flat style", the cracker stick is twice as wide. More crunchy and lower density than regular Pretz, this is probably fried, not baked. Without knowing the price, I'd say it's pretty good judging purely on quality. The only down side is, I'd like Pretz to be salty. It's just me, though.

Notice the "melon buns" on the top left hand corner. It's a pastry unique to Japan and the inspiration of this Pretz.

Cappuccino Maltesers

Maltesers is one of the most dangerous candies that sends my self-control to outer space. That's why I have been staying away from it forever. Until! I saw this cappuccino flavor. I was able to stop myself from the dark chocolate one, but not this one.

When I opened the box, I was shocked to see that there's no inner bag. The chocolate balls are in direct contact with the box. I could hear them rattle, but refused to believe. The box itself was sealed in cellophane, but once you break the seal, you gotta finish the box ASAP, or else the malt center goes stale very quickly! This looks like an evil strategy to increase consumption.

The candy itself is good. And it's coffee alright. (Sorry I'm not a coffee drinker, so I can't tell the difference between the varieties of coffee.) The flavor is in the malt part. The chocolate is regular milk chocolate. Actually, it's all done artificially. There's no coffee in the ingredients list, only flavouring.

Since there's Chinese on the box, I thought it's from Hong Kong. But a closer look reveals that it's from Taiwan. Made in Australia, though. Hmm...

Cell phone

Forgot to turn my cell phone on today! Bad!!!! I hope the hospital hasn't phoned. My dad needs surgery and already had the pre-admission appointment yesterday. The doctor's gonna tell us the surgery date by phone. Last time it was less than 24-hour notice. It usually is.

Guests from Toronto

My cousin from Toronto is in town with her 2 kids until Saturday. So, naturally we ate out. Looks like special occasion = eating out in my family.

Toronto's weather is really bad lately. We who live in Vancouver are so lucky.

But still, with the recent weather fluctuations, my body isn't doing too well. Plus, my chiropractor takes spring break off. I'll have to survive without an appointment for 2 weeks. Next week happens to be deadline at work. Will I be able to handle it?

Cake & card

Finally! Someone else's turn to buy me cake today. (Usually I'm the one who buys cake.) Hmm... we used to do the big round birthday cake thing in my family. Since when did it stop? Not that I mind, though. I actually prefer smaller ones which give more variety. I dreamed of eating a whole birthday cake when I was a kid. Never happened, of course. (Thank God, haha...) And then there was the "eating the whole tub of ice-cream" wish, which actually came true when I had braces and couldn't eat solid food. It...... wasn't that great. (^_^;)
My nieces drew me a birthday card! Judging from the height, I must be the character on the far right. Looks more like their birthday than mine. Haha...

Tired

Need more sleep...
Just realized, if I do "homework" on a work day, I'll be working for over 11 hours that day. Really don't think I should do that for my back's sake. So why did I do it again???

Daylight saving time

My computer didn't switch over. Hmmmmm... but it's set to Pacific Canada... oops, it's also US! Aaaaaargh!!!

Made a little bad judgment last Tuesday and carried "heavy object". It was a bottle of Tide and to most people it's not heavy at all. I didn't think it should be, until a day later, it showed up as sharp pain in the ribs. Couldn't move my body much. The pain went dull but I still can't move freely, even after a chiropractor's appointment. It's been a week and it's still here. Then it must be the weather. This weekend was quite bad. Today was so bad I even felt shortness of breath. Ended up staying home. I can definitely tell my boss isn't happy, though. (T_T)

Green Tea Mousse Pocky

Have I tried it before? If I did, it must be a different package design. This one is more like, putting milk in green tea. The falvour of milk is quite strong, a lot sweeter, and too dense. Very far from the green tea I really like before. That one was more bitter. There seem to be a dozen different green tea flavour. They got it right before, but keep messing around with it. Sigh...

Marble Green Tea Pocky

Again, it's a type of moose Pocky that has a thicker layer of chocolate. Since I like green tea, this falls completely within expectation. It's good as well as safe (meaning no screw-ups.). The chocolate strips aren't really doing anything to the taste and probably are for decoration only. The box contains 3 bags and each bag has 4 sticks. A total of just 12 sticks at $2.39, I don't think it's good enough for a second box.

Marble Chocolate Pocky

Also part of the moose lineup. Subtitled "Mild and Bitter". Isn't this an oxymoron? I was curious about how sensitive my taste buds are. Looks like the lighter part is regular milk chocolate while the darker strips are dark chocolate. Hmm... to me, it's just chocolate. As expected, I can't really tell there's anything special. There's no point in mixing the two.

Ruby chocolate bar

Another chocolate bar from Syria. Thanks Utaneko and Sora. (^_^) Pretty standard chocolate coated wafer. Ya know those assorted chocolate covered cookies in a can? There's always one like this. It's a lot lighter and nicer than Taco. By north American standard, this would even be too light. (Don't take me wrong, I'm not complaining.) However, the chocolate is still kinda waxy. Perhaps Syrian chocolate bars are all like that. And... why is this called Ruby???

Crunch time

Deadline in less than 2 weeks. My back is definitely feeling the weather. Today was relatively OK (yeah the sun came out). Yesterday was quite bad. Tomorrow... will probably be bad unless it's sunny, thanks to a lot of bad posture today.

Ate too much

Hmm... ate too much last night. Stomach not feeling well.

Some of these hat boxes are in a museum display in the States. Last photo in stock.

Eat eat eat

Third round for dad's birthday. What was my mom thinking by ordering an 8-people set for 10 people, while 2 are kids? Of course lots of food was left and had to be taken home.

Sun

I think I have serious sunlight deficiency. Today was a great day. Got more energy. Finally opened the rotary tool kit I bought over 6 months ago. Worked on the Pinkys a little. It's definitely faster than doing it by hand. Kind of additive too. Unfortunately I've got computer cables running along the back of my desk and can't clamp the tool stand at it's most logical location. Ended up clamping it at where my right elbow is. Will have to take it down after each use. Extremely inconvenient.
Gardening season started. Took my mom to get some supply. Rona is more expensive than Canadian Tire in general. Home Depot beats Canadian Tire on some stuff.