Tag: life

Sunday

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"Round" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 “Round” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today in Austin the temperatures hung around freezing all day, but we got a lot done. A few things we did:

  • Koa and I got haircuts
  • Bay and I went to the post office to buy postage to mail one of his paintings that he sold
  • Bay and I spent an hour practicing driving (he’s improving a lot!)
  • I worked on a friend’s website
  • Shopping for some Team USA Olympics gear
  • Tried Taco Bell’s new “nacho fries”

Then in the evening, it was time to relax with a wonderful dinner of “Taco Rice”, which is basically rice with seasoned ground beef, cheese, lettuce, jalapeños. Yum!

And of course we watched a bunch of Olympic events, most notably the Women’s slope-style and half-pipe events. After seeing those events, Koa really wants to learn how to snowboard. He was amazed when I told him I snowboarded a lot in Southern California. I think it was a combination of “there’s snow in Southern California?” and “my dad knows how to snowboard?” Hey, I used to be cool. 😆

Today’s photo is… well, it needs no explanation. 😺

I hope you had a nice Sunday!

またね～

2018 Winter Olympics Are Here!

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"2018 Olympics" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO640
 “2018 Olympics” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

The 2018 Winter Olympics have started! And they totally snuck up on me this time around, which is odd because I see news about it every morning on NHK while I am making breakfast for the kids. Plus I am usually pretty excited about the games. So I was wondering about my lack of interest and what changed within me. But that didn’t last long at all.

I watched the intro that NBC put together which featured Team USA, and after that, I was pumped and excited! I enjoyed the opening ceremonies, especially watching the North and South Korean athletes bring the Olympic flame up to the cauldron together. It was pretty powerful and I felt the tears welling up, even though I am not Korean. I also felt that way watching the Korean Women’s Hockey team take the ice for the first time. It was amazing! Sure, there are a lot of politics woven into the event, but maybe we get a glimpse of regular athletes existing outside of the political arena. One can hope…

In other Olympic news, Koa and I watched the 17-year-old American snowboarder Red Gerard kill it on the slopestyle to bring home the gold. That was amazing!

I thought I preferred the Summer games over the Winter, but there’s so much energy at these games in Pyeongchang, I may have to rethink that!

I hope you had a nice Saturday.

またね～

Reading List

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"Sailor Moon Manga" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/70 sec, ISO3200
 “Sailor Moon Manga” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。Today I started reading the Sailor Moon manga series on my tablet. Four chapters in, and it’s pretty fun and funny!

Speaking of reading, I’m currently reading a few books, on several devices. I have my Kindle Paperwhite that I keep by my bedside, Dell Venue 8 tablet for reading manga, Kindle Keyboard which is in my messenger bag, Kindle app on my phone, Kindle reader on my Chromebook, Kindle Fire tablet, and Kindle reader on my PC. And lastly, I have a real paper book sitting at the exercise bike for those multitasking moments. 😀

So many devices, but it ensures I can read at any time! Plus sometimes switching it up keeps me from falling asleep. For instance, bedtime reading on my Paperwhite is a sure-fire way of putting me out, but reading the same book on my desktop computer keeps me awake.

BTW, I am at Goodreads if you want to connect!

おやすみ！

Birthday Dinner

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"Steak Dinner" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Steak Dinner” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today is my wife’s birthday, and her dinner request was steak! She actually did all of the shopping: rib-eye steaks, potatoes, and salad.

On her recommendation, I “dry brined” the steaks for about 8 hours which means that I salted and peppered them, then left them uncovered in the fridge. I can honestly say that these were some of the most flavorful steaks I have ever had! I don’t know if it was the dry brining or not, but they were super delicious.

Bay helped to make the mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot, and Koa helped with consuming the food. 😄 We all ate so much, but it was a fun dinner. Birthday meals are the best.

またね～