Last Week Before Vacation
Man, I've been busy at work with a random data analysis project and random safety/volunteer things. Like yesterday, my calendar was booked from 9 AM to 4 PM with meetings and two meetings for 2 to 3! When did my life get so corporate, especially since I've been working here for years? But at least one of those was a last minute pizza lunch (I went from having salad, yogurt, and tea to pizza and soda).
Anyway, we took Friday off. We were kind of behind in our schedule, so instead of going out for brunch, we just had something at home before heading out to Fort Lee for Angie's hair thing. Fort Lee is a very Korean city that's right outside of NYC. And since Angie wanted to get some sort of Japanese perm, she decided that its better to get it done in Japanese or Korean salon. So the trip there wasn't bad. And when Angie started to get her hair done, I had Howie pick me up. He actually lives in walking distance from the salon.
So the two of us went to a random Japanese shopping center. It's mainly a supermarket, but there's little stores around it. I looked around an auto store, a "houseware" (general) store, and a book store. Then we went to Howie's apartment where we had coffee while playing some Magic: the Gathering. Howie was trying to push Elder Dragon Highlander decks/format, but overall, I'm not a huge fan.
Anyway, after Angie was done (which was more like 1.5 to 2 hr versus 3), she met up with us at Howie's. Basically, she wasn't able to get the digital (?) perm since her hair was fairly damaged by bleaching. So they recommended cutting off the damaged portions and getting a "regular" perm. Then getting the digital one when her hair grows out again. Complicated, but overall, I think her hair looks good. It's shorter and curlier than she normally has it, but its good to try different things.
Anyway, the three of us went to get ramen since I don't think Howie is a huge fan of Korean food, even though he's married to a Korean (maybe that's why he's not a huge fan). We went to Batten Ramen, which is a place that I went with Howie, Harold, Kitkat, and Hugh after gaming at Howie's before. It's a nice small place with a fun atmosphere and good ramen. I kind of think Rai Rai Ramen around us is a bit better, but it was good.
Batten Ramen
The exterior: that thing in the middle of the picture reminds me of Deadpool. (https://goo.gl/photos/BzDMGv2LhJdnLQjJA)
Angie's spicy Batten (?) ramen. It was surprisingly more seafood-y than I'd think Angie would order. (https://goo.gl/photos/MvyCE5bjAXFJgBeBA)
My spicy miso ramen. I thought it was good. (https://goo.gl/photos/jvPYwVJWPQqanQHXA)
Howie got the special which was a smaller (but still large) ramen and rice and curry. Maybe that's the Batten ramen and Angie got something else? (https://goo.gl/photos/moRk6oXfSfUwHgxAA)
And since we're incredibly fat, we went to get this Korean ice that Howie and Judy raves about afterwards. We were hoping that it was similar to the Taiwanese ice. It was good, but I think it tries a little too much. Anyway, Howie recommended sharing one, but we decided to get two since our ability to eat ice desserts is great.
more food pictures
The mango one is "mine" and chocolate Oreo one is "Angie's". We all ate both, but I did prefer the mango one. (https://goo.gl/photos/j4jAUB8mGn7T2YuP8)
Compared to this superior mango one in Taiwan:
(https://goo.gl/photos/7rkB1YaE6aLmcjiv9)
Movies
We also watched Stardust at some point. I think the plot is fairly similar to the book until the end. I think the big difference is mainly the tone and mood. In general, I'd say the movie is more light-hearted. I also think Tristan is better in the movie and less offensive at times. I kind of think the book/movie comparison is similar to Kick-Ass, which the source material is more of a parody/deconstruction/etc while the movie is more of a genre film. I also didn't realize it was directed by Matthew Vaughn.
On Sunday, we watched Fate of the Furious, the eight Fast and Furious movie. It was okay. I'd say I enjoyed the previous three to this one. I'm not sure if they just ran out of things to do, but I just felt that the action/race sequences and overall adventure/scenes weren't as good. I also have a suspicion that they relied much more on CGI this movie, but I'm not sure. So it was okay, just not as good as previous installments.
Blood-letting
After the movie, we went to donate blood. We used to be really good with donating blood regularly, but feel off the last several years. I think it was due to traveling to Mexico (Cancun), which prevents you from donating for six months or a year. So we were deferred because of that once, then we had to go again because of Howie's wedding. And I think once you stop going (for a year or more), they stop sending you e-mails which informs you when the drives are. Anyway, we both were able to give blood this time (we often have issues with our iron/RBC counts). I actually had to make the person test my RBC twice since the first time, I failed by like 1 unit out of 30-something (say you need a 39 and I got a 38). The second time, it just passed. I think I need to stop drinking coffee beforehand, according to the reading materials.
I then able to get home (I oddly pride myself in how fast I can fill up that bag) in time to mow the lawn (against their "recommendations") before watching stupid NBA playoffs. I think I have a love/hate relationship with the NBA where I kind of hate most of the players and teams, but I watch the playoffs at times. I mainly am rooting for OKC, but that's such a lost cause. I seriously think the NBA has by far the worst salary structure which then leads their players to being super weak and always teaming up. And the game itself is way too based on fouls and such. But whatever, I guess after OKC loses, I'll just have to continually root against teams that I dislike more every round, ugh.
Anyway, we took Friday off. We were kind of behind in our schedule, so instead of going out for brunch, we just had something at home before heading out to Fort Lee for Angie's hair thing. Fort Lee is a very Korean city that's right outside of NYC. And since Angie wanted to get some sort of Japanese perm, she decided that its better to get it done in Japanese or Korean salon. So the trip there wasn't bad. And when Angie started to get her hair done, I had Howie pick me up. He actually lives in walking distance from the salon.
So the two of us went to a random Japanese shopping center. It's mainly a supermarket, but there's little stores around it. I looked around an auto store, a "houseware" (general) store, and a book store. Then we went to Howie's apartment where we had coffee while playing some Magic: the Gathering. Howie was trying to push Elder Dragon Highlander decks/format, but overall, I'm not a huge fan.
Anyway, after Angie was done (which was more like 1.5 to 2 hr versus 3), she met up with us at Howie's. Basically, she wasn't able to get the digital (?) perm since her hair was fairly damaged by bleaching. So they recommended cutting off the damaged portions and getting a "regular" perm. Then getting the digital one when her hair grows out again. Complicated, but overall, I think her hair looks good. It's shorter and curlier than she normally has it, but its good to try different things.
Anyway, the three of us went to get ramen since I don't think Howie is a huge fan of Korean food, even though he's married to a Korean (maybe that's why he's not a huge fan). We went to Batten Ramen, which is a place that I went with Howie, Harold, Kitkat, and Hugh after gaming at Howie's before. It's a nice small place with a fun atmosphere and good ramen. I kind of think Rai Rai Ramen around us is a bit better, but it was good.
Batten Ramen
The exterior: that thing in the middle of the picture reminds me of Deadpool. (https://goo.gl/photos/BzDMGv2LhJdnLQjJA)
Angie's spicy Batten (?) ramen. It was surprisingly more seafood-y than I'd think Angie would order. (https://goo.gl/photos/MvyCE5bjAXFJgBeBA)
My spicy miso ramen. I thought it was good. (https://goo.gl/photos/jvPYwVJWPQqanQHXA)
Howie got the special which was a smaller (but still large) ramen and rice and curry. Maybe that's the Batten ramen and Angie got something else? (https://goo.gl/photos/moRk6oXfSfUwHgxAA)
And since we're incredibly fat, we went to get this Korean ice that Howie and Judy raves about afterwards. We were hoping that it was similar to the Taiwanese ice. It was good, but I think it tries a little too much. Anyway, Howie recommended sharing one, but we decided to get two since our ability to eat ice desserts is great.
more food pictures
The mango one is "mine" and chocolate Oreo one is "Angie's". We all ate both, but I did prefer the mango one. (https://goo.gl/photos/j4jAUB8mGn7T2YuP8)
Compared to this superior mango one in Taiwan:
(https://goo.gl/photos/7rkB1YaE6aLmcjiv9)
Movies
We also watched Stardust at some point. I think the plot is fairly similar to the book until the end. I think the big difference is mainly the tone and mood. In general, I'd say the movie is more light-hearted. I also think Tristan is better in the movie and less offensive at times. I kind of think the book/movie comparison is similar to Kick-Ass, which the source material is more of a parody/deconstruction/etc while the movie is more of a genre film. I also didn't realize it was directed by Matthew Vaughn.
On Sunday, we watched Fate of the Furious, the eight Fast and Furious movie. It was okay. I'd say I enjoyed the previous three to this one. I'm not sure if they just ran out of things to do, but I just felt that the action/race sequences and overall adventure/scenes weren't as good. I also have a suspicion that they relied much more on CGI this movie, but I'm not sure. So it was okay, just not as good as previous installments.
Blood-letting
After the movie, we went to donate blood. We used to be really good with donating blood regularly, but feel off the last several years. I think it was due to traveling to Mexico (Cancun), which prevents you from donating for six months or a year. So we were deferred because of that once, then we had to go again because of Howie's wedding. And I think once you stop going (for a year or more), they stop sending you e-mails which informs you when the drives are. Anyway, we both were able to give blood this time (we often have issues with our iron/RBC counts). I actually had to make the person test my RBC twice since the first time, I failed by like 1 unit out of 30-something (say you need a 39 and I got a 38). The second time, it just passed. I think I need to stop drinking coffee beforehand, according to the reading materials.
I then able to get home (I oddly pride myself in how fast I can fill up that bag) in time to mow the lawn (against their "recommendations") before watching stupid NBA playoffs. I think I have a love/hate relationship with the NBA where I kind of hate most of the players and teams, but I watch the playoffs at times. I mainly am rooting for OKC, but that's such a lost cause. I seriously think the NBA has by far the worst salary structure which then leads their players to being super weak and always teaming up. And the game itself is way too based on fouls and such. But whatever, I guess after OKC loses, I'll just have to continually root against teams that I dislike more every round, ugh.