Noodle Review: "sukiyaki"

As a token Asian growing up in the heart of French Canada, I've been subject to plenty of import convenience foods over the years. The old stand-by has always been "Doll" brand instant ramen - so ubiquitous is the brand that it's become a noun all its own to describe instant noodles. However, in more recent years, another brand produced by the famous Nissin company has taken the market by storm and my family has developed a taste for both their "regular flavour" and the "beef" flavour (both of which are actually powered by a tiny packet of who-knows-what chemical compound).

Feeling adventurous, I decided to sample some of their other flavours. Up tonight is the sukiyaki udon flavour. For those of you who don't know, sukiyaki is sort of like a Japanese equivalent to stew ...if stew were served in a soup noodle. Click this link for specifics.


...well, the packaging looks appetizing enough.

But when the hell will I learn that all instant noodle packs contain the same damn thing?

Okay, granted, this was actually a little surprising to me because this isn't ramen at all. Instead of the stringy vermicelli-like thin noodle, this is Nissin's version of "udon," a thicker noodle you're more likely to see in authentic Japanese cooking.

And this is what it looks like after the usual prep (ie: boiled for 5 minutes then mixing with the included flavour packets):


All told it was actually pretty good. Having grown up on ramen, udon is satisfyingly heavy by comparisson. The taste is... well, I couldn't really taste the soup-base. Instead, the package came with a "seasoning sauce" that totally overpowered whatever the soup was supposed to taste like. On the other hand, having read the article on sukiyaki, I realize that although I haven't ever had authentic sukiyaki, given the discription of the preperation, it did taste a bit like what I would imagine a mixture of soy-sauce, sugar, and cooking-wine might taste like. It had a bit of a tinny seafood-quality flavour as almost all Japanese foods do... I can't really describe it otherwise. I wouldn't eat this every night, but I'll probably buy a few more packages when I get the chance.

Tune in next time when I review the "miso" flavour instant noodle.

Fireworks over Casino

It's that time of year again (and the last time before I move out at the end of the year): it's the summer fireworks exhibition over the Lac Leamy Casino in Gatinueau - and I have a perfect view (except for the trees that obscure anything that's too low). This year babou brought his daughter over and we watched from my balcony... this is more or less what it looked like:

D.O.M. 7 ...and a news article

Mako-chan is one of those members who looks remarkably unchanged throughout the 5 years she's been with the Morning Musume crew. In fact that last time anybody noticed a "new look" on her was when she cut her hair short and dyed it within 6 months of her debut (before which it was unremarkably black).

That said, I've chosen a photo to represent with from the MoMusu promotional photo-shoot for the "Sexy ...Impatience" single featured some urban-style looks for the gals. They tweaked her look a bit then... sexy indeed.

...And now a bit of sad news...

Ikimashoi News reports on the event that I mentioned about a month ago in DOM6 - yes Konno officially graduates this week and they snuck in Ogawa's grad ceremony as well. *sigh* I'll miss them both so much...

Off-topic Simpsons Quote #1

Can you tell I'm a little bored today? This popped into my head:

Scene: Homer sits at home contemplating heart surgery options when a commerical on his television comes on featuring Dr. Nick Riviera who spouts this line...

"One-eight-hundred, 'doctorb' ...the 'b' is for 'bargain!'"

No Patlabor2 @ $65

Why yes, I AM that picky... First, some inside information - the Patlabor 2 LE box I was talking about a few posts ago has a MSRP of about $100CAD... And here's some insider information for you: the supplier to HMV (who can special order it for you) sells it to the retail giant for about $60CAD. Which means depending on the manager's mood, he can either make anywhere from 5 to 40 in profit.

Well, as it stands, I stumbled on somebody else's special order who didn't pick it up and the box was tagged at $66... I was needless to say, stunned and almost bought it on the spot. The one thing that stopped me was a gaping hole in the plastic sleeve it came in. Not to be mistaken for shrink-wrap, the Patlabor movies come with Japanese-style resealable sleeves over the cases (a feature most so-called "collector's editions" in North America are dreadfully missing). I tried to explain this to the manager but he understandably did not want to lower the price any further (which is fair enough). I'll gladly pay an extra $5 at Amazon to get a pristine version.

It's a just a crying shame that these things can happen - that a product gets damaged as such either during shipping or even at the hands of a careless employee in the back with an Xacto knife. Hopefully somebody out there can find it in their heart to give this copy the love that I can't. *sigh*

Reaction: Propel "fitness water"

So I found this stuff for 99cents per 700ml bottle at the supermarket... "From the makers of Gatorade" it said on the bottle. What's there to lose? I mean, I like Gatorade - it does what it's marketted to do ("The Thirst Quencher" they say) when I'm working out and sweating heavily.

Well, I grabbed an "orange" flavour and tried it - a little before the run and the rest after the half-hour run. I won't talk about the actual content because you can look that stuff on up anywhere, but I will say what it was like from a thoroughly uninformed point of view: it was kinda disgusting.

It tasted a bit like when I have a glass of orange juice, then forget to wash out the glass, and fill it with water a little while later and have a gulp. That's what "flavoured water" tastes like. It's not flavourful like juice would be, nor is it anything like the watered-down taste of Gatorade. But that said, it's actually kinda realistic, then... I mean it really tasted like there was a trace of real OJ in the bottle.

Did it feel particularly good? Well, there was a slight burning sensation in my throat. At first I was a little worried - the bottle label mentions all sorts of CYA "consult a physician" business. But "burning throat" was not one of the symptoms listed so I figure it's probably just me being sensitive to the acidity in it... after all, almost all the vitamin content advertised is in the form of some acid.

Will I buy this stuff again? Probably not. Will I try other similar products? Maybe - I hear Coca Cola LTD just released some sort of "fitness water" under their PowerADE brand called "Option" and I'm told it's not as acid so if the price is right, I'll give that a go.

snatched from some other blog

1. The book nearest me - "La Bible la Coran et la science" (my Muslim friend left it for me; it's been sitting on my desk for months)

2. Stretch out left arm what do you touch? a notepad with some debugging analysis I wrote down a moment ago

3. Last thing watched on television? - "watched" is a subjective word - more like "saw"...I saw part of a morning news show before leaving for work; didn't have time to actually pay attention though.

4. Without looking what time is it? - 10am?

5. What actual time is it? - 9:46 according to my computer's desktop

6. With the exception of the computer what can you hear? my cubicle neighbours talking

7. When did you last step outside? got out of my car in the parking lot this morning.

8. Before this survey what did you look at? those debugging notes I mentioned above (I really ought be to getting back to that

9. What are you wearing? a Nike dri-fit golf-shirt, shorts and sneakers (it's a dress-down day)

10. Did you dream last night? not last night; but recently I had a weird dream about LadyDeath who I hadn't seen in weeks. Dreamt we decided to start dating ...then we actually ran into each other the next day (I decided to keep the dream to myself).

11. When did you last laugh? last night while watching some video I downloaded off the 'net.

12. What is on the walls in the room? a calendar, some emails I printed out, some charts... it's a cubicle, what did you expect?

13. Seen anything weird lately? I almost ran over a couple of pigeons this morning; you don't see birds just walking around very often...

14. What do you think of this quiz? it feels like I'm talking to myself

15. What is the last film you saw? Superman Returns

16. Tell me something we don't know - despite all the running I've been doing lately, I'm still severely disappointed with the apparent lack of progress I'm making... it's depressing.

17. If you could change one thing about the world, what would you do? - I would tweak the gravity on this planet just a little bit - make it a little bit heavier.

18. Do you like to dance? - only with myself

19. George Bush? he's got big ears ...and a thick accent.

20. Imagine your first child is a girl - then I'd freak out because I'd know nothing about raising a girl

21. Imagine your first child is a boy - I'd still freak out.

22. Would you consider living abroad? - not really; I frequently find I go places and then saying to myself "I'm loving it, but I wouldn't want to live here."

23. What would God say to you when you reach the pearly gates? "who are you and how'd you get here?"

Where's my Patlabor?

I was debating whether to call this entry "it won't sell," because that's the sad truth of limited editions like this.

Today marks the release date of the sequel on DVD simply titled "Patlabor 2." Which for the hardcore among you will recall that this was actually a retooling of a story presented back in the day when Patlabor existed only as a 7-part OVA series. But it doesn't change the fact that it's a highly cerebral film - I love it.

Unfortunately if what happened to the first film is any indication, I don't know if I'll be able to find this movie anywhere short of mail-ordering it on-line. See, the first one is still listed at Best Buy at its regular price of some $80 or so. But if you walk into their brick'n'mortar counterpart, you just might be lucky enough to find it marked down to just under $50 (yes yes, I'm peeved).

It's a funny thing, this industry. Fans like myself have been clamoring for the special treatment for import movies for an eternity. And a few indy companies have done just that - but you have to ask at what price? Bandai did right by me when they released the "Ghost in the Shell Official Log" (of which I'm still waiting to see if the second volume actually comes out or not). And considering the relative cult-status of movies like Patlabor, one must wonder if there's any profit to be made on these suckers (especially when some mainstream retailer is selling them off now in stores for nearly half what the MSRP was).

Reaction: Superman Returns

So I finally went to see the newest Superman film last night (went with babou - plans with Starfish had fallen through). Instead of reviewing the actual film and discussing the multitude of trivia (yes, yes, Brando is apparently back from the dead, Jimmy is now a bartender, and the original Lois signs over her worldly possessions to a bad man, etc)... you can read all that over at Wikipedia. No, I'd rather talk about how I felt: and it was a great feeling.

I think it's because Singer couldn't seem to decide if he wanted this to be a sequel or a remake - the plot is surprisingly familiar. But oh how visceral it becomes! In fact, it's been a while since I've watched a fantasy-based film and not had to say, "err, that CG was horribly out of place." Yes, I did like the "bullet-time" FX seen in the promo trailer. In fact, the only time I found anything a little "off-centre" was during a hand-to-hand when some wire-fu was involved (some people - I won't say who - get thrown awfully far).

Anyway, I never realized how emotionally attached I am to the Man of Steel. The main title nearly brought a tear to my eye. And I think of all the thumbs pointing up and down on this film, this is all that really matters: context. It's a fun movie.

And speaking of fun...

Comics: Supergirl #7

Why do I keep self-inflicting this crap onto myself? I guess in the end, I sort of like the idea of a Supergirl - a wannabe version of Superman but just can't be. But the latest Supergirl issue is enough to drive me bananas...

First of all, despite complaints against Ian Churchill's grasp of the female body, I don't mind so much - this is the comics world after all and there's always room for stylizing the human shape a little. But never mind the weak confusing script that's been dragged on over two issues so far (I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say, of all the "One Year Later" leaps, this title does it the worst with absolutely no connection between anything that happened in issue 5 before the "Crisis" story-lines kicked in)... Seems Supergirl and Powergirl are both trapped in the Kandor "bottled city" and are moonlighting as new versions of Kandor's heroes "Nightwing" and "Flamebird.").

On the bright side, as a setting for the requisite moral-dilemma scene, the script has called for a shower-scene...

..I have no problems with Supergirl and Powergirl taking a shower. However, I do have a problem with Churchill's idea of what constitutes good sequential art several pages later...

After triggering an ambush, against the Superman imposter (who's identity is STILL not revealed many months into publication of this arc) ...just look in the last two panels and tell me something is not weird - I dare you. That looks like Flamebird all beat up ...and in the very panel right next to that? Yes, that's Flamebird and Nightwing zooming into action... I had to read this 3 or 4 times before I figured out what was going on!! Seems that's one of the resistance fighters wearing Flame-bird styled armour, and "Kal" goes and removes her helmet in the bottom right panel (distracted from the real heroines behind him).
However NOWHERE prior to this did we ever see anybody else dressed as such - it's absolutely jarring (not to mention confusing) that there's more than person dressed as Flamebird on the page without any explanation. ARGH!

eBay: lost another one

Just thought I'd follow-up from my previous post - but the AthlonXP CPU I was bidding on went for sale nearly 30 Brit pounds more than my final bid (which was an additional 10GBP to what I original set 2 days ago).

I regret not pushing my bid a little more since this was a new boxed part - unlike most of these suckers that turn up on auction sites. Quite frankly, AMD doesn't make these any more so they're all vintage.

On the other hand, the final bid was about 80GPB - which works out to just over $160CAD... that is, it wasn't such a great deal (I've seen plenty of other chips go for as much).

My want-list is making fun of me

Those of you who've read my blog long enough know I keep a running tally of things on my want-list - you know, for hobbies and stuff to buy "just because."

Well, there's about 2 days left on an auction for an Athlon XP processor that I want and I'm winning with my max bid... and if you know anything, in 2 days the winning bid will probably sky-rocket meaning there's plenty of time for me to lose it.

On the other hand, Toy-wave reports that for some strange reason, they have an MP-1 Convoy available for a ridiculous $80USD... this is such a tease. Then again, I'll gladly wait for the repackaged MP-4 version with the trailer. Either way, for once I'm thinking I should not be prioritize this sort of thing on my want list at all.

So the processor it is... maybe I'll boost my bid considering it doesn't appear to be used goods. I will seriously consider upping it for a fresh CPU that's no longer in production.