Random Thoughts from a Random Taru

Disneyland Birthday!

It’s pretty normal to want to go to Disneyland on your birthday, especially if you grew up in Southern California. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but never did…. Until now.

Laura had to go with me, along with Ume. Laura’s friend, Jeannette, came along, too.

Did I tell you I was a bit sick as well? Yeah, that was a bit of a whoops. At least I can now say that I’ve gone to Disneyland on my birthday.

And Toy Story Midway Mania is totally fun. I’m not sure if it’s worthy of the 50 minute wait, but still pretty fun.

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Comp Time 2011 Edition

My comp time was actually broken up into 2. I took the first week back in October. The remaining 3 weeks fell into December. The studio being closed for 1 week at the end of the year. I also took my floating holiday and 3 vacation days. I’m not going to be going back to work for a while.

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Persimmon Smoothie

Another recipe translation blog update! It’s been a while. I haven’t tried this one, but it looks good. I need to get on this before persimmons are out of season.

Persimmon Smoothie

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 230g persimmons
• 100g of fresh pineapple
• 6 fresh mint leaves
• 100g ice

Directions

1. Peel the persimmons and remove the seeds. Cut about 200g of the persimmon into large bite size pieces and the remaining into 5 mm cubes. Cut the pineapple into large bite size pieces.
2. In a blender, add the large bites size pieces of the persimmon and pineapple, mint, and ice. Blend until smooth.
3. Serve into small bowls. Garnish with the 5 mm cubes and some chopped mint (get more mint than just 6 leaves as these are like leaves 7 and 8).

From Kyou no Ryouri November 2011.

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Thanksgiving 2011

For this Thanksgiving, I thought of being a little bit more into the cooking and less into the eating. Made 2 things for the Wasserman Thanksgiving party, Japanese-style green beans and Beets and Greens. I also made a tofurky that I didn’t take with me to the party. I didn’t think there were any vegetarians over there, or someone who would appreciate a tofu based food item.

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On Call! 2011 Edition

I’m finally on call, woohoo!

Goals for the week:

1. Clean room.
2. Clean bathroom.
3. Clean hallway
4. Clean bunny room.
5. Clean fish tank.

Ok, it’s basically clean this and clean that.

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Almost Done

Just working. Almost done.

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Nothing Exciting

Nothing exciting happening recently. I’m still alive. Ate dim sum last Sunday to celebrate a friend’s birthday, although, it was supposed to be the previous Sunday, but S*t was confused by the calendar. It turned out well for me because I had to babysit that day anyways. :D

Work tomorrow.

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Ernest & Jenny’s Wedding

After over a decade of being together, my high school friend finally married his girlfriend this past weekend. It was quite a huge affair and I was told there were 300 people invited.

The wedding ceremony took place at a church in Palos Verdes overlooking the ocean. It was almost like a high school reunion. Mike was there. We were all like whoa. He lost weight and the glasses so he looked different from our memories. Franklin had to tell me it was Mike, and I had to tell Laura it was Mike. Franklin was the usher. Jotaro took a quick break from work to attend. Lisa and Takuju brought their baby with them, so Ume-chan got to play with someone close to her age (play being just staring at each other until they lost interest).

The reception was held at the Lincoln Plaza Hotel right smack in the middle of Monterey Park. I got to eat a traditional 8 course meal. I probably had my last serving of shark fin soup in California, too. There was also a cheesy photo booth.

Overall, it was a fun day.

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Baby-Sitting and Obon

This weekend was Gardena Buddhist Church obon festival. I forgot about it until my sister told me that there’s an obon festival in Gardena. I was slightly confused when she told me that, because I thought to myself, ‘Is that Gardena Buddhist Church’s obon? Isn’t it supposed to be in August?” … Then I realized that it already is August.

After Laura took off, leaving Ume behind to be baby-sat, I looked online to see what time the obon started. I think we were talking about doing something the entire day, but going to the obon won out. Gotta be cultural.

We took off at around 4:30, but I was interested in watching the bon odori at 6 PM than anything else, so it worked out for me. I wish I could participate in the dancing, but I don’t know the moves. Maybe the internet will tell me how to dance so I could be ready for next year. Maybe Ume can learn the moves and teach me.

My mom, Ume, and I watched the dancing for about 40 minutes and then we went home.

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Comic-Con 2011

This year I got to go to Comic-Con for more than 1 day. This year, I got to go for 2 days! Of course, most of it was spent shopping. I bought items from my favorite stores, Mysterious Galaxy bookstore and Holbein. I’ve sorta made it my tradition to buy something from those two vendors. I also bought a Mameshiba plushie and talking keychain from Toynami, an orchestral soundtrack from Square-Enix, and R2-D2 ice cube tray and towel from Kotobukiya.

I also ended up spending most of Saturday babysitting with Adam. My sister was sick, so she asked me to take Ume to Comic-Con. Everyone thought she was cute. Rora even made a costume for her, but unfortunately, she was getting pretty fussy towards the end of the day so I didn’t get to walk around with her in the costume.

Dinner on Saturday night was at Joe’s Crab Shack with Adam, Steve and Pearl. There were supposed to be more people, but they were no-shows.

I also realized that sleeping with a baby in the room means I don’t get much sleep. Got woken up at around 5:30 in the morning to a crying baby. Too cheap to get another hotel.

Sunday was more of the same, except without the baby sitting.

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