FYE closed and my Wallet Empty

Well, FYE in Hagerstown, MD last day of operation was yesterday. The good news is Suncoast (part of FYE) is still open and I have someplace to get my anime stuff.

Here is the breakdown of what we all got from there over the days we went shopping over 5 trips:

17 CD's (1 for me and 16 for my wife)
17 DVD's (10 for me and 7 for my son) - some box sets
6 Blu-rays (all me, but for family times)
5 T-Shirts
1 Kingdom Hearts Bathrobe (son)
10- 4pks of Energizer Lithium batteries (for Wii and Camera)
5 packs of Anime Pin sets
1 Naruto necklace
1 Gurren Lagann Wristband
1 Gurren Lagan keychain
4 bottles of Ramune
2 Large Snickers
2 backs of Japanese Jelly Candies
2 boxes of Panda Candy (Japan)
6 Patches for my Sons jeans
8 pks of Pirate Cards (build pirate ships and game - son)
1 large pack of Yu-GiOh! cards

It was a family affair that took much of our wallet, but less than it really would of been. The last weekend was the biggest savings as stuff really dropped on the food and anime related stuff. If I really had the cash, it would of been ugly around here. I wanted all of it, but had to breakdown what I really wanted instead of the nice to have, but not really need stuff. Honestly for 75% it was hard not to grab it all.


I now own a couple hentai animes - F3 (Frantic, Frustrated & Female) and Xtra Credit - Debauchery 101. For a little ecchi, I went with Mouse v2 and Kekko Kamen. It was funny as my wife actually picked out Xtra Credit as she wanted to see it. I am such a dirty boy - lol

Here is the final cost of everything that we bought and saved:

Total Spent: $434.67 (includes tax)
Total Saved: $640.41

This could of been higher if I went for more CD's as well as DVD's and they had more anime related stuff as well.

Have you had any store close and you went all out on stuff?

Wasabi Popcorn at Wal-mart?

I have found Pocky and Wasabi Peas at Wal-mart before. It was nice having this convenience at such a large chain (stop hating wally world). But I had to do a double take when I saw these in a big center display. It had bags of Wasabi Popcorn - OMFG - popcorn with Wasabi, how did that make it to the main stream?

It was made by Popcorn, Indiana which I have honestly not heard of before. Not that I buy my popcorn in bags anyway, but still. It is part of their Reserve line and you can get more details at the website. We had to give it a go, well I did as my wife stays away from it and my son is in bed as I write this.

Cracked that Bag of Goodness

I didn't notice anything different with the smell - just plain popcorn. I guess I was expecting a strong wasabi or nori smell. The look of it is also not that impressive either. I was thinking maybe a green color would of been nice. You can see some parsley (Nori would of been too expensive to use?) and a bit of yellowish coloring.

With that aside, the taste does grab you right when you start eating it with the defined wasabi taste. I have to say I have a love.hate relationship with that immediate burning sensation. It was however not as hot as I expected either and does fizzle out quickly. It is a quick flash of taste and then it is gone as quickly as it happened :(

Bowl Full of Goodness

Rating: B

This is not that bad and a great snack when you have your next Anime Movie night. If I get over there again, I may be buying several bags to stock up for later. I gave it a "B" because you still get those damn kernels stuck in your teeth - ARG!!!

I ate Mr.Bill at McDonald's

Now that the title sure got your attention, here is an introduction video for those that do not remember Mr. Bill from the Saturday Night Live sketches.


To go into more details, we had stopped at McDonald's to get some lunch. We both ordered the new Angus Burgers and my son got his normal Happy Meal (6 chicken nuggets). After we got home, my burger seems a bit lopsided, so I took the top off to fix it.

I got the shock of my life to see Mr. Bill's face on my Bun. I had to take some shots for everyone to get a laugh. Mind you, this was not staged in anyway by me and is exactly like it was when I removed the bun.


It was kind of sad the way it looked anyway. Only two Pickles, a little Red Onion in the middle with a spit of Ketchup and Mustard. Then on the bottom, 2 strips of Bacon to the side. Instead of "Where's the Beef?", its "Where's the Condiments?".

Honestly, this does not even look remotely like the picture you see below



I guess when you mass produce something, you have to take away from the original design to save costs. That sure as hell looks more appetizing than the burger I got.

Figure Review: O-No Sushi (Red) - Part I

I have to give blog creds to LEon over at Open the Toy. He did a nice review of this and I could not contain my laughter or desire to have one of these. If not for him, none of this would have been possible.

It seems this toy was designed after a print that was created by Andrew Bell. What a true statement for sushi everywhere. He did another one with a fish that is just as hilarious as this one.


I did like the billions of other people, I hit Google to do a search on them. I was able to find O-No Food Company pretty fast and then located companies that sold it. Now I could of used eBay, but that was just crazy.

I was able to get my hands on a Red one over at Grumpy Bert. They shipped it fast and packed it with great care. I was glad to have found them so I could get this one at least. I would love to have some other colors, but need to be happy with the red one for now. If you like cool and wacky stuff, then you have to check them out for other stuff as well designed by artists you have come to love.

Now there are several other colors like Green, Purple, Blue, Gray as well as a DIY figure. I want to try to get all of them, but some were sold in very limited release which means I may not get them all. Each of these has another set of eyes and some do differ in the other colors.

I found a cool background for my computer of an inside of a sushi shop. I tried to make it look as though we were sitting in the restaurant eating. Now without further a-do, lets get on with the picture show.

Rotating 4 Views

Random Figure Shots

Real Sushi - What the Hell is this all about?

Check back later to see where this leads our buddy "Red".

Happy Easter!

It is Easter Sunday here in the US. We had fun on Friday night coloring eggs together. There were plenty of colors to use as you can see form the picture. We experimented with color creations and even mixed a couple up at the end to see what funky eggs we would get.

I have hidden the eggs for my son to find. We have 13 real eggs and 6 plastic ones for him to find. I will definitely counting the real eggs as I do not want to find one weeks or months later - ewwww O_o

Five out of the six plastic eggs will have Bakugan toys in them. I am sure he will be excited to find those. I hope that he does not stop hunting for the rest because he wants to combine them. I have also kept with the Easter theme and gotten him two "How to Train Your Dragon" eggs from Wal-mart. You just dissolve them in water to find a dragon inside. I hope that they are both different dragons as you can mix and match the parts together. I also got him another Bakugan, Peeps (marshmellow/sugar goodness), chocolate eggs and a Dragon.

Now I know that almost no one celebrates Easter in Japan. It is however a great time for the Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Festival. We do have some around my town, but Washington DC really has a grand setup.

What do I want to my easter basket ~ well this pic should give you a good idea. I am hunting wabbits -heeheehee.

Hope the Easter Bunny gives you treats and sweets.

Cola Shock - not for junior

This came out last year, but seems to be getting some new press. Cola Shock - not your kids drink. For those of you who are counting calories, then there is also a Zero version of the drink.


What we have here is a Mixed Alcoholic drink for those of us on the run. It has a mixture of coke with a splash of Vodka in it (about 5% alcohol). It seems to be running about 100 -150 yen per can which is not too expensive for a mixed drink. Kirin has created these drinks and is using Meisa Kuroki to promote this beverage. Hell, I would try it just because of her alone.

I can't taste test it here in the US, but I was able to find someone who did. Here is a direct quote from their testing:

"The taste was horrible to my tongue. It tasted like cola-flavored cough medicine. It seemed like someone mixed too strong cola syrup with some sort of alcohol and didn't carbonate it very much." Orchid64

I am sure they are using a generic coke flavor for the beverage which I have always hated the taste of myself. I am always amazed by the varity of drink and food mixtures that come out of Japan. One of my earlier blogs was about Kit Kats which still boggles my mind.

YouTube Ad for Zero


Source: Japan Probe | Japanese Snack Review | Kirin

Taste Testing

Decided to have some fun and do a taste testing here at home. I had picked up some Japanese food and drinks from Tates this weekend. So I figured might as well indulge myself and get some new stuff. Now the Aloe drink I have had and really love them, but the Maison de Kukkia wafer cookies are new.

I really have to say that I am quite fond of the Aloe drink. I would rather get the larger containers, but they only have the smaller ones. It is champagne in color and has a semi-sweet taste. As I have ate Aloe raw before, this has the same taste as that.


I love the fact that there is aloe chunks floating in the drink as well. I have always like pulp drinks. I know it may not look very appetizing, but it really tastes better than it looks.

Now on to the something new - Maison de Kukkia. Each box of comes with 14 cookies that are individually wrapped. There are 4 Sweet Chocolate, 3 Strawberry, 3 Green Tea and 4 Milk Chocolate.


As you can see in the photo, each cookie has a wafer with a cream filling in the center. The top wafer has a nice imprint on the front and has been pressed for a better presentation. The bottom wafer is not as "pretty", but more of a raw wafer which does add some nice texture to the experience.


To really enjoy these, you need to get the wafer moist and let it melt in your mouth until you get to the center. Some of the cookies have some crunchy chunks that also add the experience.

Sweet Chocolate - not really that sweet, but reminded me of a bitter dark chocolate taste

Strawberry - This has a milky strawberry taste and some strawberry bits inside.

Green Tea - Not really a big fan of Green Tea outside the cup, but these were note too bad. You definitely get that "Green Tea" taste with the extra chunks of "tea"..

Milk Chocolate - Now this was a much sweeter that the Sweet Chocolate and was a smoother taste.

Has anyone tried any of these?

What were your thoughts on the taste?

Nyotaimori aka Naked Sushi

I never knew the official name, but had seen this before - Nyotaimori aka Naked Sushi.

Now for all people who love sushi, this is a great way to be served. I remember seeing this in a movie once and was intrigued by it. I think it would be cool to have a naked woman to be able to eat off of. I just hope they have all taken a nice long shower or bath before doing this.

I know some of you were thinking, what about a guy. That could become an issue if the guy for some reason would get – umm – aroused. Now that would be an awkward predicament for them.

Sankaku Complex did a cool Anime Nyotaimori writeup as well with some cool artwork (I borrowed a couple for the site). It seems there is also a lot of drinking this way as well. Not really seen that before, but I could get into that as well - Anyone got a straw?

Now that is something I would Love to experience.

Has anyone had the pleasure of being able to dine like this?

Here are some shots that I found for your enjoyment – both anime and real – yummy !

Black Friday Weekend

How many of you got up early for the great Black Friday sales this weekend? Well, I did and was amazed by the other number of crazy people up at that time of morning.

I did not get what I was looking for at first, but did get my son some Bakugan sets for Yule. I was looking for a 1TB external hard drive to move some of my movies over to. I ended up ordering it off line at Tiger Direct. I actually got a 1.5TB drive for $99.99 and 100 DVD-R disks for $9.99.

But the real fun came later in the day when I got to Tate's Comics. I pretty much brought a lot of snacks that I am shipping up north to my family. It is one of the things we will miss when I finally leave to be with them in the beginning of the year. I picked up Shonen Jump and Otaku at Barnes & Noble, but everything else was from Tates.


So what was your haul during Black Friday weekend?

Play-Asia Holiday Coupons

I figured I pass this along to the wonderful Blog-o-Sphere. I got an email this weekend from Play-Asia with some coupon codes for the Christmas Holidays. They have a great selection of stuff that would fill anyone's Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas or Kwanzaa wishlist (I do not think I missed any?).

Get $8 USD off a purchase of $50 USD or more

Use Code: DL-WFB-XIB

Get $12 USD off a purchase of $100 USD or more
Use Code: UN-IKX-IJB

Rules from the email:

"Both coupon codes are only valid until the end of 2009 and can be redeemed just once. Feel free to pass either coupon to anyone else if you can't use it for yourself. Please be reminded that shipping costs do not account for the minimum purchase amount and only one coupon code can be used per order. Coupon codes are further not valid in combination with our weekly special promotion."

You can check there full line of items on their site - Play-Asia.com.

Quick Food Post - Sakura

I arrived safely and have been exhausted ever since. Got up at 3:30am to get to the airport, then we have Daylight Savings Time last night. Both of these have taken me out - I need so much sleep now.

Family is keeping me busy with seeing everyone and Halloween holidays. We are looking at getting an apartment here in Maryland. Taking a big chance on the current economy, but sometimes you have to take BIG steps.

We went out to dinner on Friday night at this place called Sakura. I was surprised my wife found a Sushi / Hibachi Restaurant in Western Maryland. I decided I wanted some sushi, and tried to find something out of the ordinary, but good. I went all crazy and got something called Mango Tuna Tartar. It is Chopped Orchid Tuna and fresh Mango, with Wasabi Sauce. It also had some black fish eggs on top and some white garnish that I could not figure out.

I was really shocked by what came out as it was a bit more than I anticipated. It definitely had a nice bite to it. The Mango gave it a nice sweet touch to the spicy tuna. Here are some iPhone shots of the plate as it arrived and "opened up".

It is crazy working on dail-up, but you have to work with what you have.

What does Windows 7 and Burger King have in common?

Answer: The number 7 (as in the number of burgers on a sandwich)

A friend of mine sent me this link and I thought it was interesting. It looks like BK is in line to soak up some of the Windows 7 hype this week. They  added a new burger to their menu - for one Week only.

Now this is a burger to send you the emergency room in a "heart beat". The first 30 customers get it a 777 yen ($8.55 USD), after that it is 1450 yen($17.10 USD) per person.

How in the hell is someone suppose to put that in their mouth!

Source: Engadget

Japanese Food Review

Decided to get some snacks from Tate's this week. I had some last weekend, but sent them up to my family. I decided to get some chips, Pocky and some other snacks.

First up are some fish snacks by Meito called Air in Choco. It is similar in shape to Taiyaki, but filled with airy fruit filling. The outside is a wafer shaped fish with an filling that tastes depend on your fish. I got one that was strawberry and one that was banana.


Here is a cutaway view of the inside. The outside wafer easily comes off on one side. It has the taste and consistency of a sugar wafer you would eat here in the US. The slight different is the airy center.

Each did taste like the fruit that was pictured and were not bad. I am sure my son enjoyed them as well.

Next up is Pocky chocolate Dessert > Tiramisu flavored. Now these are not the ordinary Pocky you would get, but a little more fancy. These boxes only have 4 packages of 3 Pocky each - so you do not get as many.


There is however more chocolate and the wafer stick is a little larger than normal. If you have a "fancy" party, these may be something cool for your friends to try.


These were okay - you can definitely taste the extra chocolate on the outside of the wafer stick. I have also tasted this brand in Orange and was blown away by the Orange taste. I think the Orange was better.

Last, but not least - my most anticipated part of the tasting. These are by Yanazaki-Nabisco and are potato chips with nori and wasabi flavoring.


Now for those of you that eat a whole bag of chips in one sitting - these are not for you. It is a small bag, but filled with a flavor wallop. You will get the glorious sting of wasabi on your poor little tongue (can you tell I like these). They look normal - but do not be taken back by their innocence - LOL. Too bad the nori is more for show than flavor.


If these catch your interest, then drop over at Tate's for some of your own stuff. They have plenty of other stuff as well if you want something different. If not in South Florida, then try your local comic / anime shop or J-List is another great place to pick some of these up.

Have you had the fun of eating some Japanese snacks?