Dessert from 7-11 Japan

Sooo goooood~. It was cake bottom and creamy, fruity center.  Love 😋💖

HAPPY MID-AUTUMN'S DAY 2023

中秋節快樂！我比較喜歡有蛋黃的月餅，鹹鹹的蛋黃平衡了太甜的餡，好吃～😋

月餅佐巧克力

農歷八月十四

It was lunar calendar 14 August when I took the photo.  The moon wasn't completely round yet.  On 15 August it was cloudy so I didn't get a picture.  By the way, the green dot was the camera lens doing something weird.  It wasn't another moon!

North by Northwest (1959)

I tend not to watch old movies.  To me, they were stuffy and too artsy.  I always worry that I wouldn't understand them.

This was my first time watching Alfred Hitchcock's movie.  It was surprisingly good.  In the first five minutes, there were mistaken identity and kidnapping.  Things kept happening for the rest of the movie.  There was no time to rest.  It was engaging and intriguing.  And there were some funny dialogues.

At the train station, the main guy was trying to buy a train ticket, but the station staff kept asking a lot of questions.  Finally the staff asked why the main guy was wearing sunglasses.  The main guy answered, "I'm sensitive to too many questions."  😂

Or the main guy said, "I've got a job, a mother, two ex-wives, and several bartenders that depend on me."  😂😂

もう用は済んだ？

I was really confused by this poster in Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan.  It says, "Are you finished?  People are waiting.  Please cooperate and let other people use it."

First of all, I was in a stall in the woman's bathroom, but the poster featured two men.

Second, eating bento in the bathroom stall?  Has Japanese society become so unbearable that people cannot feel comfortable eating outside the bathroom?

Lastly, this must have happened so often that station staff put up a poster for it.  Again, what has happened to the Japanese society?

大同電鍋清潔法

大概十年的電鍋了吧，從來沒清過，用完擦擦而已。長年累月，變得這麼髒。這次搬家，反正傢具未到，閒著無聊，就想說洗一下吧。

問老木怎麼洗大同電鍋，她看這麼髒，隔空跟我翻白眼，教訓：切幾片檸檬，放進鍋裡，加水淹沒，開鍋保溫（不是煮），放幾個小時，關，放涼，擦擦即可。

我問：放幾個小時，是幾個小時？

老木：隨便，想到就關。

我懷疑這麼隨便，洗得乾淨嗎？家裡只剩半顆已擠過的檸檬，就丟進鍋裡，加水，才發現檸檬會漂浮！這到底要加多少水？我加了大概兩三公分吧，開保溫，放了也大概兩三個小時，睡前關。

隔天水倒掉，擦，嚇！不但污垢擦掉些，連鍋底都有點亮亮。真的假的！檸檬這麼厲害！

再隔兩三天積了些用過的檸檬（因為數學老師愛喝檸檬紅茶），切片，抹在污垢上，又擠出些剩沒多少的檸檬汁，檸檬全放進鍋裡，加了兩三公分的滾水，開鍋保溫兩三個小時，睡前關。

隔天水倒掉，擦，嚇！！污垢全部擦掉，連鍋底都閃閃發光！！！

無言以對，十年的污垢，幾顆用過的檸檬竟然洗得乾乾淨淨！

老木的智慧要乖乖聽。

數學老師愛喝檸檬紅茶，好高興，說他的肚子也可以洗得這麼乾淨。我說洗成這樣，不知道會不會刮傷胃。

🕷Spiders🕷

A lot of people are afraid of spiders.  I am one of them, but I am gradually learning to accept them, especially the small ones at home.

Math Teacher likes spiders.  He took me to museums to show me spiders are afraid of humans, too.  They run away, hide, and generally don't want to be bothered by humans.  Additionally, spiders eat the bugs that humans don't like, such as gnats.  I still have my doubts.

After the move, we currently live in a decrepit apartment complex.  There are cracks on the walls, and door and windows don't seal well.  Everyday my skin was itchy and scratchy.  We figured it was because the place was filthy.  Who knows what is inside the walls?  Who knows how much dust is in this place?  For the first two months, every week we swept, mopped, wiped, and vacuumed the entire place.  I bought smelling-good things for the apartment.  Gradually my skin itches less, and the place smells better.

Then a spider moved in.  It's hanging from the ceiling in a corner, at an angle difficult to reach.  Of course Math Teacher wants to keep the spider.  I was willing to give it a try as long as the web doesn't get on me.  One day a gnat was flying around; the next day the gnat disappeared.  One day a fly was going around; the next day the fly disappeared.  There were many days that something was flying around, but the next day we didn't see it anymore.  Math Teacher said the spider hangs around because it is well-fed.  Who knows what tiny, microscopic mites are in this place?  The spider might be eating a lot more things than we can see.

My skin has stopped itching; I maybe scratch once a day.

We have a killer in the apartment.

I am convinced, at least with this current spider.  So we're keeping the spider.  We named it Galadriel.

09 November 2023 Update:  There were always at least 2 ~ 5 gnats flying outside of the front door at any given point in time.  A new spider built a web on top of the front door.  We saw the web growing bigger and bigger.  We had to tilt our heads going in and out so as not to break the web.  Amazingly, no more gnats flying outside of the front door.  We saw some gnats flying about five meters away, as if they were keeping their distance.  We named the new spider Elrond.

Contact (1997)

The acting was so good that, at times I thought I was watching a documentary, not a movie.

So we didn't get to see any aliens.  She went to space and saw an alien disguised as her father.  Because the alien could read her mind???

Think of this not as a sci-fi movie and it'll be more logical.  It's actually a movie about "faith".  Faith in religion?  Faith in science?  Both want us to believe them without questioning the evidence.

Gladiator (2000), Napoleon (2023) trailer, Joaquin Phoenix face review

I don't know much about Joaquin Phoenix and his movies, except Gladiator.  Joaquin Phoenix was so good that my mother was creeped out by him during the movie.

That was year 2000.  Fast forward 23 years.

Math Teacher showed me a trailer of Napoleon (2023).  He was intrigued and wanted to see the movie.  I was more of "Who's that guy?  He looks familiar."

Then they put a crown on him.  I shouted, "That was him!  The emperor from Gladiator!"

Math Teacher replied, "Joaquin Phoenix."

I said, "Yes, he has that 'emperor' face."

Math Teacher said, "He has that 'I murdered hundreds and thousands of people to be your emperor' face."

All Hail Emperor Joaquin Phoenix.