Christmas 2024 in Japan

I had a great time in Japan, but I'm so bad at taking pictures. All I took were food and cute animals.

Karuizawa is a popular ski resort two hours outside of Tokyo. Due to global warming, it was very little snow this year. It was actually quite warm if not for the wind from the mountains. Since we didn't get to play in the snow, it was quite disappointing. So I wouldn't recommend going to Karuizawa for skiing.

Ueno Park had great museums.  Unfortunately they were closed for the new year.  Ueno Zoo was still open.  We waited more than an hour in line to see the two giant pandas for two minutes.  Not worth it.

Daimaru Tokyo was so busy with tourists and locals trying to buy fancy gifts for the new year.  Every restaurant and every cafe were full with long waiting lines.

カフェ 英國屋 大丸東京店 1

カフェ 英國屋 大丸東京店 2

カフェ 英國屋 大丸東京店 3

This tiny rice ball shop inside Ueno JR Station was so good! And for $15 total!  I love rice balls in Japan!

Fancy cars in Ginza were probably for publicity stunt because we didn't see drivers with the cars.

Hotel Chocolat does not sell coffee and chocolate drinks in Tokyo metropolitan shops anymore. Outside Tokyo, such as Yokohama and Kichijoji locations, still sell coffee and chocolate drinks. Delicious! So flavorful. I'll miss it terribly.

Hotel Chocolat MARK IS みなとみらい店

By the way, this department store called "Mark Is" really bothers Math Teacher.  He literally couldn't even with the grammar.  Funny thing is, one of his favorite stores in Japan is called "Niko And..." 🤣🤣

Afternoon Tea TEAROOM MARK IS みなとみらい店 1

Afternoon Tea TEAROOM MARK IS みなとみらい店 2

Yokohama is a great city. Huge, open space. Great malls. Chinatown. Good food. Beautiful harbor with so many museums and attractions. Easy access into Tokyo. One week is not enough to explore Yokohama.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2024!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

ANA Crowne Plaza Narita 1

ANA Crowne Plaza Narita 2

Mark Is Minato Mirai

Queens Square Yokohama

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)

We were in the library deciding what movie to get.  I saw this and said out loud, "Let's get this movie just because of Henry Cavill's muscles."

This was based on a real story but fictionalized.  It was so ridiculous that I loved it.  The British planned everything meticulously.  The Nazis could not plan out of their asses.  Everyone on the British team was a dead shot. All Nazis could not aim.  I've been told that's a trope now.  😂

Yup, lots of muscles to look at, but not Henry Cavill's.  I'm surprised he was so different in this movie.  Overall, an enjoyable movie for a quiet Thanksgiving night.

True Lies (1994)

My gosh, after 30 years, True Lies was still a fun movie!  The characters had small gestures and winks that played off each other.  Even the sleaze ball and the villains had funny parts.

The dance Jamie Lee Curtis did in the hotel was so hot that made me and Arnold blush.  Arnold's line delivery was a bit rigid, but that's just Arnold.

The ending where Arnold shot a missile carrying the big bad villain through a hollow skyscraper into another villain's helicopter was simply ridiculous.  That about summed up the whole movie.  Don't take it seriously.

Red One (2024)

This was a cute movie.  It piled on every Christmas sayings.  Santa Clause was probably CGI'ed because he looked too ripped.

This was more for Math Teacher than me.  He really liked the movie, an afternoon easygoing, no-brainer movie.

For me, the movie went on for too long.  The scene with Krampus could be cut at least five minutes.  The scenes with Jack's family were also too long.  Actually, all the good parts were already shown in the trailers.

I was surprised Jack was only a normal human.  From the trailer I thought he'd be Jack Frost.  So that was kind of a let down for me.

⭐⭐⭐

Venom: The Last Dance (2024)

I really liked Venom 1 and 2.  I was really looking forward to the end of the threequel.  However, I was disappointed.

Tom Hardy looked like he was phoning in to finish his contract.  I think he even gained weight.

The scientists were annoying.  The hippie family added nothing to the story.

In fact, there was barely any plot.  The studio had a bunch of great ideas, and they strung them up with nonsense.  For example, why did they need to go to New York?  They probably wanted a road trip movie like Logan (2017).  Then they wanted Venom and Eddie to have a sense of family, like Logan and Professor X did in Logan.  But then the studio had no guts to kill off the family, like Logan.  So the hippie family just hung around, being annoying, too.

And then Mrs. Chen was popular in the two previous movies, so the studio brought her back.  She suddenly appeared in Las Vegas just to have "the last dance" with Venom.  I mean, it was cute, but added nothing to the plot, either.

I LOVE the tag line:  'Til Death Do They Part.  That's the title of my book 4 of The Wedding Vow series.  I guess that was why I was so hyped for the movie.  Venom and Eddie were perfect bromance partners.  Then I was let down.

Rice Paper Croissant

I finally made the viral TikTok recipe, the rice paper croissant.  Yes, I'm always late to the trend.  I decided to make the rice paper croissant because SortedFood and Delish Kitchen made them.  I follow these two religiously.  SortedFood said the rice paper croissant was delicious but it was not croissant.  So, I used the recipe from Delish Kitchen.

Rice Paper Croissant

I asked Math Teacher to guess what it was.  Then I realized, oh, no, do I want to hear his answer?

Math Teacher thought about it, and said, "Burnt croissant?"

I asked, "Yes!  How did you guess?"

Math Teacher said, "Well, the big one looks like a croissant shape."

I said, "I was worried you'd say 'giant brown turd.'"

Math Teacher said, "The thought crossed my mind, but survival instincts took over."

😂😂😂

We both agreed with SortedFood.  The rice paper croissant was delicious, but it was not croissant.  After they cooled down, the rice paper was very chewy, not crunchy like a croissant.

Verdict:  Not making this again.

Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

Tom Hardy is such a great actor.  I can't believe he was Bane, Venom, and Mad Max (Fury Road:  2015).  Those were three completely different characters.  In Venom, he played such a great loser.  He mumbled and stumbled.  Totally unbelievable acting depth!

The plot was very simple, but really, I was only watching it for Tom Hardy.

Then I watched Venom 2 for Woody Harrelson.  He was such a great actor, too.  He was one of those actors that could play a good guy or a bad guy.  I really liked symbiote strengths and weaknesses were fleshed out, so there was a logical flow to the story.  For example, Symbiote couldn't take loud noise, but Carnage's girlfriend was a Shriek mutant.  So that relationship was never going to work out.

Can't wait for Venom:  The Last Dance (2024)!

Work Life, #3

Someone stole my multi-vitamins at work! I keep the bottle in the desk drawer in the vacant cubicle next to me. I was teleworking for two weeks. I came back today to find the bottle missing! WTF! I've heard of office lunch thief. I've never heard of vitamin thief!

誰偷我的維他命？！

誰偷別人的維他命？！

隔壁辦公桌沒人用，所以我的維他命放那抽屜裡

有人特地開了抽屜，拿走我的維他命！

真噁心！🤮

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Don't be fooled by the poster.  The movie was in black-and-white.  It was amusing, but not funny.  I thought it was too long.

It was not the movie's problem.  It was me.  I'm a different generation, the MTV generation.  Old humor was not my cup of tea anymore.