American Diner at Hamura Station

I don't know the official name, but on the door it said "American Diner".  It is right outside Hamura Station.  I always said there's no bad food in Japan, only mediocre food.  I might be making an exception for this one.

The restaurant opened in July.  Today (October) we walked in, the floor was already sticky.  A good sign of an American diner.  The decor was also good.  Checkered floor tiles, Elvis photos on the wall, and high sitting chairs.

Math Teacher disagreed.  This American Diner did not have a jukebox.  The decor was in the 60s but the music playing in the background was in the 80s; it was incongruent.

It all went downhills from there.

The server slurred and mumbled; I couldn't understand him at all.

The green salad came with bacon bits.  Cold, dumped out of a bag.

The chicken in the chicken burger was thin.  I couldn't tell it was chicken if it wasn't said so on the menu.

The fries were limp, cold, and not crispy.  It was dumped out of the bag and wasn't fried properly.  The portion was ridiculous.  I ordered large fries.  If that was large, then what was small, five fries?

The vanilla milk shake came with huge blocks of the ice cubes in the glass.  Math Teacher said the whipped cream on top was congealed.

The only good thing was the grilled onions in the chicken burger.  It was sweet and juicy.

I wasn't sure if the restaurant was bad, or this was what Japanese thought American food was like.  I felt bad that local Japanese people were exposed to bad American diner-style food.

Americans may not know gourmet food, but Americans know how to make junk food right.

The meat inside the burger needs to be a large, juicy piece.  The fries must be greasy, salty, hot, and crispy.  The ice must be blended into the milkshake.  The whipped cream needs to be fluffy and melts in the mouth.

Before the restaurant opened, we had hoped it was operated by American ex-pats that knew what they were doing.  So disappointed.

Groceries, #3

It happened again.  I asked Math Teacher to buy 2 zucchinis.  I asked over and over if he knew what zucchinis looked like.  He said, "Yes.  The long green cylindrical things?"

He bought 3 cucumbers!  🤦

Towada Art Center

How do I describe Towada Art Center?  It's made up of artists' nightmares.

Don't be fooled by the beautiful flower horse at the entrance of the museum.

There is a house that eats people alive.

There is a two-story high witch looking down at me and following me around with her eyes.

There is an exhibit called "Memory of Water", but the water is made up of red threads.  So it's more of "Memory of Red Arteries".  What happened to this artist that the artist thought water was like blood?

There is a sacrificial goat.

There is a pond of alien pods popping up and down.

There is a large dark shadow looming on the roof between two buildings.  An archer was aiming an arrow at the shadow.  

There is a three-story high robotic ant.

There is a hallowed-out concrete structure that looks like the bones of an ear drum.

There is a three-story high ghost, but the ghost is quite cute.

There is a pumpkin by the famous Yayoi Kusama.  It's a cute pumpkin only if I don't think how Japan treated her like dirt.

Happy Mid-Autumn Day 2022 / 中秋節2022快樂

今年九月十日是中秋農曆八月十五

我今年準時當天買了月餅

可是隔天立馬出差

晚了一個禮拜才吃月餅

中秋節2022快樂

不能怪人家

出門在外

能記得買就不錯了

買了又沒空吃

今年買了新潮口味，芒果，乾乾的，不好吃。

芒果月餅

還是傳統蓮蓉蛋黃好👍

蓮蓉蛋黃月餅

Resident Evil (2002), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

The first one was a proper zombie movie, with some scary parts and some action parts.

The second one was confusing.  How did Alice know all the things Umbrella Corporation did when she was in a coma in a hospital?

The third one was ridiculous.  Alice had power to make things levitate when it was convenient to the plot.

From the first one to the third one, some characters didn't return, and there was no explanation for it.  This was back in the days when Hollywood knew how to build a universe.

Alice was a female superhero in the 2000's.  The action scenes were quick cut and couldn't focus, but at least she still kicked butts and posed for some beautiful shots.

I just learned there were total six Resident Evil movies!

Turning Red (2022)

The premise resonated with me.  A teenage girl tried to go to a boy band concert, but the mother said no.  So the girl lied.

This is not the best Pixar movie.  Because of the pandemic, I've missed quite a few Pixar movies, but it didn't seem like I missed out on the quality.  The story was ok; the songs were ok; the friendship was ok.  Nothing especially stood out.

Encanto (2021)

So glad that I watched this movie for free.  Nothing was impressive.  It was another teenage girl with (or without) magic power, but she was the one that could save the family!

They sang about "they don't talk about" this thing and that thing, but in the song they did talk about this thing and that thing.  They didn't quite get the concept of holding everything in, huh.  But if everyone kept everything inside tightly, the movie wouldn't move forward.

Pixar's Coco (2017) was better.  I cried so much at that movie.

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

It was confusing at the beginning, and the movie didn't explain the premise well.  However, I got the basic idea after keeping watching it.  It wasn't a multi-verse.  It was a mother's desperate attempt trying to hang onto reality.  It was all in her head.  More like What If... this happened instead of her current life?

Maybe more suited for watching the movie while high.

Salt (2010)

My favorite action romance movie.  A woman’s husband was killed. She went crazy and killed everyone responsible.  What’s not to like?

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

I forgot this movie had no ending.  It was a cliffhanger and must watch #3.

I was confused by the plot. Math Teacher explained there was no plot.  Disney had a bunch of funny scenes so they strung all of them together to make a movie.

I only liked #1 because Jake Sparrow was more a calculating captain but acting like a fool to throw everyone off.  Every step he took was carefully designed.  Starting #2, Jake Sparrow was more a fool than a captain.