Tutorials

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115 online beading tutorial videos. Almost finish watching. My eyeballs are falling out. (>_<;) I think my brain will loose half of that by the time I'm done. (T_T)

Nail stickers

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Had been pulling my hair over some nail stickers. Pretty pathetic, isn't it? Going crazy over something as insignificant as nail stickers. But it has big influence on a project I'm doing. Search and search and search, but couldn't find the ones I've been looking for. The frustration is more than I can handle.

I bet a certain someone is hording all of them. I know it as a fact that this person will do such a thing and I had seen hints of evidence. Yes, I regret introducing nail stickers to this person. And it ties to all the regrets in my life.

Couldn't find the ones I want, but there are some lesser one that hopefully will do the job. Thanks Andrew for rescuing my day. I really appreciate it.

Traffic

Loot of the day. Needed some shopping therapy. All I could afford was dollar store. (OK I went to Michael's too.)
Ran right into that incident which closed down the Lions Gate bridge. On-coming traffic was still normal just before I entered the bridge. All of a sudden there was no cars. Wondered what happened. Then I saw the stopped cars with people outside exchanging info. When I was done in the mall and ready to go home, the Lions Gate bridge was completely closed. No choice but to use the Second Narrow.

Zongzi / Skytrain

My brother's mother-in-law doesn't have a US visa so they couldn't take her cross-border shopping. Well, actually she does have one, but it's a long story. (She has a permanent one without expiry day. But her passport only has x months left, so she got a new passport so it won't expire in Canada. Of course the visa doesn't transfer over.) So, she was dropped off at our place before the shopping trip.

To kill a day, she bought along supplies to make Zongzi, ingredients and pans and everything. And OMG, she made 32! Each one weights approximately a pound. Yup, she's a good cook.

Happened to be at Oakridge after my chiropractor's appointment. The skytrain station has an open house! It might be the free juice, or the taco salad I ate for lunch didn't agree with my stomach. Had to leave early. Sorry Andrew. However, couldn't escape eating out for dinner. Mom and my brother's mother-in-law were tired from Zongzi making. Didn't eat anything but veggies. (OK I did eat some fresh Zongzi later afternoon. There were too good to resist.)

Cars

Yup, went to Michael's again. Well, it's on my way home after work. And I have a 50% off coupon. The classic cars were there again. I've never been able to take a good picture. (These are cropped.)

Pringles Stix: Pizza

My, my, my! Yet another Pretz imitator? 116g for about $2.5 is slightly more expensive than Pretz, though. It smells like cheese and a bit too salty. But I kind of expected it. The cracker sticks are slightly thicker than Pretz. The crunch and flavour are good. I imagined it would be like their chips made into stick form, but this is really cracker sticks. Wouldn't mind trying other flavours too.

Dinner

My brother's mother-in-law is here already! I thought she won't be here until later. Hmm... missed the chance of asking her bring some supply.

Hello Panda

Is that some kind of Hello Kitty rip off from Meiji? Probably not. Didn't expect it to be good, but I was surprised. It's actually quite yummy! For $1.09, you get plenty too. (Some stores may sell for more.) It's the same idea as Koala March, but the cookie shell is thicker. The texture is light and right. The proportion of chocolate to cookie is perfect. It even feels healthy and dangerously additive! There are other flavours, but I think this is the plain one.

Calbee eel chips

Calbee grilled eel flavoured potato chips

Hmm... it's potato chips alright. As usual, all these "whatever" flavour are only using the sauce, not the "whatever". I'd say, this grilled eel is a bit weak and lacks the delicate layers of the real thing. Let's say, it's chips and sauce only, no eel. Still pretty good as chips, though. Especially it's 3 for $3.89 instead of 2 bucks each like the cheese fondue one. (But it used to be 3 for $3.59. They raised the price.) (T_T)

Father's Day

Happens to be summer solstices too. Longest day of the year. It's still kind of bright outside at 10 PM.

There was some kind of event at Aberdeen. Singing and dancing. "Dragon Idol". Hmm... rip off of you-know-what.

The usual father's day dinner. Oops, may not be usual because we rarely celebrate on the exact day. We did it today because my brother had church event yesterday.

Summer Solstice tomorrow

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Yikes... half the year is gone! I haven't even finished filling the blanks from the trip on this blog!

OK... this photo was taken yesterday in front of the North Van Michael's. Apparently those classic car fans (?) gather in that area every Friday evening rain or shine. (Yup, it was raining.)

Osidori Milk Cake

Awww... was it from Kazuyo? Or Sora? Or Totsu? Or someone else? I'm so sorry I can't remember. Please tell me... (T_T)

Milk "Cake"... Hmm... I don't think so. It's not even soft! From its looks, you expect it to be soft like chewing gum. Wrong!! It's rock hard! Kind of like those Horlicks candy. Tastes very milky, yet doesn't have the unpleasant things of milk. Actually very satisfying. If you feel hungry, two pieces will do. Does this mean high calories? Perfect to keep in the glove box.

Mini Pretz: Zunda

Japanese north-eastern region limited edition. Brought back from my Japanese trip around new year, thanks Sora! (^_^) (Oh yes, this is a stocked up review.) Smells like peanut. Tastes like... not really sure what it is, but definitely contains beans. The texture is unlike normal pretzels and quite powdery. Feels like there's a high percentage of something else (beans?) besides regular dough. Can't pin point it, though. Overall, interesting!

Allergy?

Comes and goes... (T_T) Thought it's over and it came back. (T_T)

Kickbutt: Coffee

Kickbutt Amped Energy Ballz: Coffee

While the cherry flavoured one was quite good, this one is disgusting. I just don't know what this is except for extreme cough syrup. Can't believe they screwed up a simple coffee flavour. However, once you're prepared for it, the second ball is much more easier to stomach. To be precise, after you get through the outer shell that contains the repulsiveness, the inside is the same as the cherry flavoured one. In theory, you can wash the coating away with water, but at over a buck a ball, that's a waste even if it tastes bad.

Kickbutt: Cherry

Kickbutt Amped Energy Ballz: Cherry.

What a name! Ever since the day I heard its radio ad, I wanted one. Finally found it after a few attempts. Somehow I thought it would look like those protein/energy bars, wrong! It's packaged in a tube! And it's located near the pharmacy. I might have missed it because I was searching in the candy isle.

Each tube contains 4 balls, on sale at $2.99, after tax it's $3.14. Normally it's about $4. Quite expensive! There are 2 flavours: cappuccino and cherry. I got cherry. The ball is like a medium size gum ball and the shell is kind of hard. A little too big for one bite but I couldn't bite it in half. After sucking on it for a minute or two, the sugary burgundy coat melts away and reveals a white shell. Only then could I bite into it. Inside the shell is a softer, gummier, brown center kind of like toffee. The whole thing tasted like chocolate milk shake with a tint of cherry flavour. Quite nice actually. I wouldn't mind eating more, but too expensive. Oh, and the coloured outer shell didn't turn my tongue red.

There's no ingredient list, only an "each ball contains..." list. The first thing on there is, caffeine 40mg! No wonder why it gives you a kick. Seems like it's also got some good stuff, like many kinds of vitamins and ginseng roots. So, eating this is supposed to make you...

Kick butt!
(Like how they say it in the radio ad.)

Anime Evolution

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My mistake. This year's event is held at the convention center instead of SFU. Kind of want to see the different, but can't afford it. (T_T) 60 bucks is way too much. Especially when I'm spending more at Michael's on supplies these days.

There was some kind of no car day in a few places in town. If you're in a car and hit one, bad luck. I happened to hit the one on Main between 12th and 16th.

Spinach salad

The Spinach at Cactus Club designed by Rob Feenie was quite a... hmm... how should I put it? Zap on your senses? You get the opposite ends of the spectrum on all the tastes and textures. OK, spinach is spinach. The dressing is slightly too strong (sour). The walnut is crunchy and hard. The cheese is mushy and soft. The ham is extremely salty. The fig is fruity and super concentrated.

So you get very salty, very sweet, very hard, and very soft. Oh, the dressing is very sour too. There you go. He covered all the extremes. I'm sure he did it on purpose.

Paper punch

There was a certain paper punch that I was interested in at the North Van Michael's. It's part of the Martha Stewart Craft line, has zig-zag edge with diamonds holes and embossed lines. There were 3 on Tuesday. Wednesday, there was only one left. The packaging was damaged and clearly been opened and used. (There was a piece of paper stucked in one of the holes.) So, naturally I asked for a new one. The girl was very helpful and went to dig into the storage boxes on top of the asle. But there was none even though the scan said there sould be 3! she was puzzled. She tried to phone up the Park Royal branch with a nearby phone but it didn't connect (later I found out those phones are internal). Then she went to the phone at the casheir and found out there were 4 on the floor over there. I thanked her and paid for my purchase. She was afraid to ring it in. Yup, she was very new.

So I dorve over to West Van, only to find none. Went through the whole deal of finding help again. This time the lady stopped at checking with the "gun", then she threw me to the manager. It took a while to get hold of whoever answered the phone call. Turn out, the new girl gave them the wrong code and it was a different style. Sigh... But she scanned the bar code on the box! How could this go wrong??? Before the lady passed me over to the manager, she also gave me a piece of alarming info. That paticular punch was seasonal and discontinued.

There was still the Richmond branch. After what happened in these 2 stores, I wouldn't even border calling. So I went there yesterday. None of course. Which means the abused one at North Van was the only one left (T_T) in town. (The Burnaby branch is too far away.) No choice but to get that one. I fear if they put it on sale because of its condition, I can't use the 50% off coupon. Then all my running around would be for nothing.

Luckily (?) it was still there as if nothing had happened. Got it, whined a little to the cashier, and finally, it's mine. Got home, check it again, and made a disdurbing discovery. The packaging has been switched! This style should be "diamond something somthing" from the rack, but the box says "embossed petals"! Aaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!! This solves why I was given wrong info at the North Van store. The new girl didn't make any mistake. Apearently someone took the punch out, perhaps multiple punches, tested them out with paper from the scrap book papaer rack right across the Martha Stewart rack, then stuff the punches back randomly. Somewhere out there, someone has the box to my punch. It might contain information about whether this is a seasonal item. I'll never find out. Grrrr.... Neither do I know the correct full name of this punch.

Was it bad luck? Why me? I really really really really hate those with no respect for others. If you're the one who did this, Karma will get you some day.

The sad thing is, after all these trouble, the punch is no good. Sob sob sob sob sob.... (T_T) Found out the real name BTW. "Edger Embossed Diamonds". Way too much headache. (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) (T_T)

Apple Chips

Fresco Veggie Chips part 3.

After the amazing mushroom chips, I had high hopes for this apple chips. However, there is no surprise. It's apple chips alright, but nothing more. At least it isn't greasy. Don't think it's fried. (Freeze dry like the others?) It's not too sweet either. There are only 3 items on the ingredients list. Apple, glucose, non hydrogenated oil. Looks like they did add glucose, but it still feels very healthy.

Now, one more item to complete the set: beans chips. Not sure when I'll have a chance to try it, though.

Mushroom chips

Fresco Veggie Chips part 2. They also have apple chips and bean chips. I'd try them when they go on sale.

This mushroom chips... are not sliced. They are small whole mushrooms! And look exactly like those on the packaging. Smells like mushroom, tastes like mushroom but improved. Oh boy, this is the real thing! No wonder why this was the last bag on the shelf!

It's crunchy if you chew right away. If you leave it soaking in your mouth, it regains its softness and becomes like fresh mushroom. Interesting! (More reason why I think it's freeze-dried.) Highly additive. At least it's all natural like that pumpkin chips. It's gonna be my new favorite!

Found a Siamese twins mushroom.

Pumpkin chips

"Fresco Veggie Chips"... Isn't "fresco" wall paintings? Or do they mean "fresh"? Anyway, this was on sale for $1.59 so why not for a little adventure? (Thanks Andrew!) It's 100% natural, no trans fats, no hydrogenated oil, and no preservative. Looks like a winner. But why was there so many left?

Smells... like tea leaves. Taste... like tea leaves...? Hmm, not sure. I've never eaten tea leaves. All I know is, this is completely different from all the cooked pumpkins I've ever had. It was very bland and almost flavourless. There was a light sweetness, though. But if you blindfolded me, I would never have guessed this is pumpkin.

Not sure how they made them. Doesn't look like fried because non hydrogenated palm oil is last on the 4-item list. (Pumpkin > glucose > slat > non hydrogenated palm oil.) Could this be freeze-dried? The shape and colour are preserved perfectly.

Hated the texture. The orange part that is closer to the center is OK. Light and crunchy. But the green skin is way too hard and tough for me. It's barely edible. BTW, one bag only contains 6 chips. Way too expensive.

Ultrasound

Finally got an appointment...

Jaga Iro

"Potato colour". Thanks Momiji! These are made from Hokkaido colour potatoes. The difference between them is the cut. Dice vs stick. Both equally yummy. But I'll have to say, the dice does feel slightly more greasy. Yes, they're fried. I was expecting more salt, but they are surprisingly mild. My salt-craving was not satisfied. The taste is light. You can feel the starch from the potatoes. Smells like potatoes too although not as strong as Calbee or Lays. The only down side is, I totally forgot about the expiry date. They came back from Japan with me, so I've been saving them like a souvenir. The dice was almost 2 months over due, and the stick was almost 3 weeks. I guess the sticks did taste better.

3 out of 5

5 things were on the agenda today.

1. Went to Purolator to pick up a package, only to find out they're now closed for the weekend.
2. Went to a CG school's open house to see an old friend but he was teaching a class.
3. Went to West Van Michael's but they sold out on the item I want. Got something else nevertheless.
   
4. The stuff I want at Summit Tools doesn't go on sale until next weekend so it's OK.
5. Didn't go to Granville Island to pick up Mylar sheets.

Oh well.

Sakura Media sucks

Why? Because they charge $11.99 for my $11.50 book. Plus tax! Looks like they constantly charge 50 cents more than the printed price on manga.

June 4th

Today is the 20th anniversary of Tienanmen Square massacre. Can't believe they still deny that it ever happened.

Hot

Temperature record was broken in many places in the province. Reports said we're having an early summer. This is the first week of June and it's like August already. Hey didn't we had a crazy snow storm in early March? This is screwed up! What's going on with the world?

It's either too cold or too hot. Isn't there anything in between?

Maybe

There just might be a chance for a new job and new start... Thanks S.

Legs

Not quite swollen but heavy with accumulated fluid. Might have something to do with new shoes. (T_T) No energy.