地獄谷野猿公苑

Snow Monkey Park, the iconic pictures of Japanese macaques sitting relaxing in hot spring, was as good as it was advertised.  It was so cold.  Big snowflakes were hitting us from every direction.  It took more than 40 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the monkey park entrance.  The sign at the parking lot said 25 minutes; what a complete lie.  You've got to be flying to make it over the snow, ice, slush, and other tourists to make it to the park in under half an hour.

We couldn't touch or feed the monkeys, but the furs looked soooo fluffy.  The brown fur was great camouflage.  Among the snowy landscape, I thought they were rocks.  Until they moved, then I thought, did that rock just move?

The babies were so cute!  Mommies and babies hugging together were simply precious.

However, we saw an attempted murder.  One male monkey jumped over the hot spring and held down another male monkey into the hot spring.  The one inside the water struggled and finally got away.  The alleged murderer showed us his huge cajones.  I didn't know snow monkeys were capable of murder, and they knew pushing another monkey down into water would work.  😨😱

Park Entrance Group Tickets ¥680

Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

It's sad that winter Olympics didn't get as much love and attention from the public as the summer Olympics.

I thought the opening ceremony was for the host nation to showcase its culture and history.  I guess that was only for summer Olympics.  At this opening ceremony, I heard Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Beetles.  And the torch stand was disappointing.  One giant snowflake with a small torch with a tiny fire?  I thought the whole thing would blow up to create a spectacle.  What if a strong wind blew by and the fire died?

I couldn't find any winter Olympics souvenirs in Japan.  For 2021 summer Olympics, I didn't even need to search.  They were right in front of my eyes everywhere.  Support all the athletes equally!  They worked so hard to be at the Olympics.  Some of them had to wear helmets to the competition because they were too dangerous (moguls, snowboards, luge, skeleton, etc.).  Pay a little attention to their sacrifice!

Charcuterie Board Vegetarian

Building a vegetarian charcuterie board is somewhat difficult.  Without meat, there is no focus point to round things up.  So think lots of:

• Carbs (bread, crackers)
• Cheese (any hard cheese)
• Dips (hummus, olive oil & balsamic vinegar)
• Fruits (any fruits easy to pick up with fingers)
• Nuts (any roasted ones)

These are starting points.  Honey, pita bread, figs.  I love figs dipped in balsamic vinegar!  Non-vegetarians, wrap figs in prosciutto and dip them in balsamic vinegar.  Heaven!  😋

Version 1:  grapes, strawberries, sourdough bread, cucumbers, smoked gruyere.

Charcuterie Board, Vegetarian, ver. 1

Version 2:  grapes, radishes, jicama, sourdough bread, roasted garlic cheddar, tomatoes, smoked gruyere, roasted cashes, walnuts, pistachios.

Charcuterie Board, Vegetarian, ver. 2

Doutour

Doutour's food and drink were quality, but the size was despicable.  The one on the left was small; the one on the right was large.  Could you tell the difference?

Left:  small.  Right:  large.

The pyramid pistachio cake was good in theory, but in reality it was difficult to eat.  The pyramid walls were hard white chocolate; the bottom was the pistachio cake.  The inside was raspberry cream.  While I was trying to crack open the white chocolate walls, the foundation cake wasn't stable enough.  Then it was difficult to scoop up the raspberry cream.

The luxury matcha latte was great!  Paired with the cake, the bitterness of the matcha shined through and balanced the sweet.

Pyramid pistachio cake, luxury matcha latte

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• Overripe bananas 
• Oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned)
• Chocolate chips or chopped-up chocolate bars 

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Add the peeled bananas to a large mixing bowl, and mash thoroughly. 
3. Add the oatmeal and mix well.  Quantity varies because banana sizes vary.  As long as I feel enough oats cover the banana mush, it's good. 
4. Add the chocolate chips, and mix to combine.  Again, quantity varies because the mush varies.  I add enough when Math Teacher says enough.
5. Take a handful of the mush, and roll it into a ball. Then, squash it down into a cookie shape between hands, and place it onto the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mush. 
6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

These got a bouncy texture so they don't really feel like cookies.  It fills me up, though; a couple a day is enough.  Very healthy, nutritious, and most importantly, delicious!

I like them a little bit burnt.  So after 15 minutes, I would turn the heat up and add few more minutes.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

新年快樂！元宵快樂！！

新年快樂

紅包拿來

多少年沒領紅包了？

多少年沒回家了？

數學老師想家最起碼還可以買得到南瓜派

我想家可沒任何地方買得到發糕

不過今年誤打誤撞路過一家中國超市

買了花生湯圓吃得開心💗😍

元宵快樂

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 2022

Mister Donuts:  cafe au lait with strawberry heart-shaped pastry.  Not sweet at all!  Delicious.  Didn't even occur to me to share with Math Teacher.😜

Mister Donuts Aeon Mall Hinode

Nina's Paris:  a good afternoon tea shop.  Winter edition set ¥2,200/person.  The sandwiches were dry and the macarons were hard as rocks, but the cakes were great!

Nina's Paris Aeon Mall Musashimurayama

Hotel Chocolat:  Left was Dark 85 + one shot of espresso.  Right was Aztec + one shot of espresso + soy milk.  The two chocolates came with the drinks and must be enjoyed together.  ¥1,300 total.  The chocolate and the coffee were as if no sugar at all.  We tasted the real coffee and chocolate flavors.  The shop was clean, spacious, and very relaxing.  Definitely going back again.

Hotel Chocolat Harajuku Omotesando

A Knight's Tale (2001)

Very entertaining.  They infused modern elements into the medieval times.  They inserted rock music into tournaments.  And they basically made tournaments like current day sports games.

I didn't like the girl.  She looked strange to me.  I think it was the hair accessories.  She looked like bird feathers.

Oh, how I missed Heath Ledger! 😢

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

It was funny because it was true!  Every old culture acted this way.  From thinking they invented everything, to children living at home until they got married, to buying a house right next to the kids!

FROM THIS DAY FORWARD on KDP Select!

Tried using Draft2Digital for going wide for FROM THIS DAY FORWARD; didn't work.  Probably because I didn't advertise about it.  Also book 1 I TAKE THEE is not on Draft2Digital.  Why would anyone buy book 2 when they couldn't find book 1?  LoL NaNaKo, great marketing plan! 🤣😆😂

Starting today, I took FROM THIS DAY FORWARD off Draft2Digital and put it on Amazon KDP Select. That means anyone with Kindle Unlimited membership can borrow and read the book without buying it.  I TAKE THEE is already on KDP Select.  So now, at least both books are at the same place.

I'm still not doing advertisement about it, except here.  I'm a cheap ass.  Sigh.  😔

The Wedding Vow book 1

The Wedding Vow book 2

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

This was a great movie.  The second watch still held up.  The story flowed smoothly.  The acting was phenomenal.  Marisa Tomei was so beautiful.  She stole every scene she was in.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

I don't read sci-fi novels.  Too science-y.  For someone that's not educated much in science, I don't know if it's made-up science for the book or real science in real life.  So I tend not to read any sci-fi books.

Math Teacher summarized it for me.  It turned out to be a real cute story with a happy ending.  I imagine an anime for it, but I highly doubt it'll happen.

Just Visiting (2001)

Cute little movie.  Christina Applegate was beautiful.  I didn't like the toilet humor, but overall very enjoyable.

Noises Off... (1992)

The first thirty minutes were slow to start, but it was very important to sit through this.  All the jokes for the rest of the movie were based on the first thirty minutes.

Christopher Reeve was hilarious!  It was awesome to see him.  He was a great Superman and he was great as a bumbling handsome rich dude that was afraid of blood in this movie.

Timeline (2003)

I found it hard to believe that a bunch of scholarly archaeologists from 21st century that would not kill a man in the current timeline, but wouldn't hesitate to cut down soldiers in medieval times.  By doing that, they altered the history and the timeline.

Gerald Butler looked different from 300, history's "yelliest king".  I'm quoting from Honest Trailer.  One of the best honest trailers!  Also, Gerald Butler got his ear cut off, and he was so happy because that meant he could pork the Lady of the Castle.  He wasn't worried that in medieval times he could lose too much blood, get infection, and die.  Porking is more important!

Jicama Fries

Ingredients:

• Jicama 
• Olive oil 
• Salt & pepper 
• 1/4 tspn turmeric
• 1/4 tspn ginger powder 

Steps:

1. Cut jicama into french fry shape.
2. Preheat the oven to 210°C. 
3. Bake for at least 15 minutes.

Jicama Fries

Don't they look exactly like french fries?  Turmeric especially gave it that golden color.  I tried with paprika before; it gave that reddish color and it can fool a person to think it's spicy fries.

I love jicama.  It can be eaten raw as in salad or it can be in stir fry or it can be baked like french fries.  Its crunch texture is amazing.  I can never overcook it so I can never fail at this delicious ingredient.

Jicama should be more popular.  It is full of fiber and water.  It can fill me up but not feel stuffed afterwards.  The light crisp texture is so much better than the greasy fries.  I can eat a pound of this and not feel guilty at all.