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18-Grain Rice

Jyuhachikoku Gohan is what this is called in Japanese. I bought this bag at Marukai for $8.29.  I've actually been trying to stay away from rice lately, but my sister Didi has been searching for a good grain-added rice lately, and now she's got me into it too.



The bag contains ten of these pouches.  


You add one pouch for every two cups of rice.


I love it, especially after adding a pinch of ume salt!


Here is the Marukai recipe I used. 

Wendell's Chinese Roast Pork

Wendell said that he looked at several recipes to figure out how to do this. I wanted to call it "Wendell's Lechon" because it looked and tasted more like lechon to me.  But he said, "No no no no no no.  It's CHINESE ROAST PORK!" When I started to argue he said, "You're not listening to me."  Okay, so it's Wendell's Chinese Roast Pork. 



Wendell's not sure of the exact measurements of the ingredients, but like you'll see in the YouTube video that I have at the end of this post, I don't think you need to be exact. He said that the first thing you gotta do is to poke 10,000 pukas into the fatty side of your pork belly.  Then he rubbed in salt, five spice and white pepper and refrigerated for about 1 hour.  He said that it should be refrigerated for longer, but that's all the time he had. For 3 pounds of belly he used around 2 tsp. salt, 2 tbs. five spice and sprinkle of white pepper. Before baking, he brushed on some vinegar with a little salt added to it.  I read that this is what gets the fat to crackling.  He baked it at 430 degrees for 1/2 hour, poked more holes into the fat, and then baked for another 1/2 hour. After it was pau baking, Wendell broiled it so that the top would look ono.


It was good . . . just like LECHON.




Here's the YouTube video that I found.  I don't think that Wendell put on the salt crust that's demonstrated 'cause he didn't mention it.

Bag O Butts

My coworker Runa actually likes the end pieces of bread loaves.  She got all excited when she saw this at BRUG Bakery in Shirokiya . . . all end pieces!!  It was $1.50.

Samurai Blue

I'm not a soccer fan.  But during World Cup time I cheer for the Samurai Blue.  Because they look so good in Dunhill suits.

Google Translate

I found this neat thing on Google Translate.  It's good for people like me who can read hiragana, but might not necessarily know what it means.  I was trying to figure out for my sister what the ingredients were in this bag of rice.  I didn't know what "toumorokoshi" was.



So I went to Google Translate.  I discovered a handwriting tool!



Update:  It works with kanji too!!

Richard Dunn: All By Himself

Ever since I did the video of me doing calligraphy, I've been kinda looking into video editing.  I'm even thinking of doing a music video with the people at work . . . but don't hold your breath for that one . . . could take me months . . . and only if I can get enough people to be in um. 

Anyway, I found this video that a guy did using his iPhone to kill time while he was stuck at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. I think it is amaaaaazing.

I got the below info from an article by TODAY.com writer Laura T. Coffey. 

He was all alone. He had several hours to kill in Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. And that’s when comedic inspiration hit.

While waiting overnight to board a 6 a.m. Delta flight, Richard Dunn realized that the vast, deserted airport could serve as an empty movie set. So he did what any bored/techie/funny guy might do: He made a sweeping, cinematic music video while lip-synching Celine Dion’s “All By Myself.”

Richard Dunn says:  “I had a person behind a ticket counter give me a roll of luggage tape before she left.” “I then used a wheel chair that had a tall pole on the back of it and taped my iPhone to that. Then I would put it on the moving walkway for a dolly shot. I also used the extended handle on my computer bag and taped the iPhone to my handle.”

Unclog a Toilet the Korean Way

WARNING!!!   WARNING!!!!  WARNING!!!

I debated and debated about putting this on my blog.  It's gross 'cause looks like got dodo water in the toilet.  But I think it must be fake dodo water . . . why would they use real kine, right?

Anyway, no watch if you gonna be grossed out, but the method is so ingenious I just had to share.




Thanks for sharing, Rand!!

Mr G and Jellybean

So cute story.



Thanks for sharing, Les!

Another Puzzle

Try to answer within 20 seconds.  Thanks for sharing, Kevin!