I love my Omron Pedometer. I am constantly checking it throughout the day just to make sure that I am on track to meet my fitness goals.
With pedometer secured, I am totally focused on “step currency.” That’s a term for my personal game where I earn steps (or points) throughout the day for completing certain activities. So, I am now figuring out how many steps I will be rewarded with each activity. Huge stores are priceless. I picked up 1,000+ steps at Costco a few days ago. That really helped boost my step count. The pedometer also totally reverses my normal strategy. Ordinarily, parking karma means securing a prime spot right by your destination. However, if you are trying to boost your step count, parking a little further away is now a positive, not a negative. Imagine, fighting for that spot in the parking lot that is the furthest away. A total change in thinking for the better.
Previously, I had purchased Little Sheep Hot Pot Soup Base from 99 Ranch for $4.99 per package. Not an unreasonably price. It worked better the second time with shabu shabu meat from a Japanese supermarket than my first attempt with 99 Ranch’s frozen stuff.
On a return visit to 99 Ranch for more soup base, Little Sheep was no more. The store had sold out. Fortunately, I had noticed that the Little Sheep Soup Base package listed myAsianStore.com as the distributor. So, with nothing to lose, I gave them a try. I ended up picking 10 packages of Little Sheep Hot Pot Soup Base for $3.99 per package. Shipping set me back another $5.92, for a total of $45.82. However, that’s still about 8% cheaper than buying for $4.99 per package at 99 Ranch. Good deal.
I recent purchased an Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer
. Amazon also sells the Omron HJ-113 Digital Pocket Pedometer
, but only through a third-party. Besides the obvious color difference, the HJ-112 has a front reset button to zero out your stats, and the HJ-113 does not.
First, I am a reluctant adopter of a pedometer. I thought it would end up being another pointless gadget to lug around throughout the day. However, after just two days of use, I am really glad I purchased it. The Omron HJ-112 pedometer is a rather basic model. No stored stats with accompanying maps or color charts like the RunKeeper iPhone App. However, the trade off is that the Omron HJ-112 pedometer boasts a tremendous battery life measured in months, unlike the iPhone 3GS while running RunKeeper.
Anyways, the pedometer has really proven to be a good motivational tool because it made me realize how little exercise I was getting during the work day. On my first day, I only mustered around 500 steps at work. Hard to hit that 10,000 daily step goal when the prime hours of the day are wasted in sedentary work while plopped right in front of a desk. I thought I would be generating a few thousand steps at work, but that was not the case. Anyways, I soon realized that I had to take full advantage of every opportunity to walk, such as walking (instead of driving) the kids to school or eating at a cafe down the street instead of at a restaurant in the same work complex.
Another lesson I learned is that stealing a 1-2,000 steps throughout the day is a far more manageable practice than trying to meet the entire 10,000 step goal all at once. From parking down the street at work to taking the long way to lunch, you can add to your tally without ending up completely drained for the day.
Goodnight Moon
Why are there so many books about going to sleep at night? Because kids do not like going to bed at night. That’s where the timeless classic Goodnight Moon
comes in. Goodnight Moon is a quaintly illustrated book about bedtime for a bunny. It offers an introduction to items found around the house, though hopefully you won’t have a young mouse scurrying around in your child’s room. It also sets a routine for your sleep defying child where you can say goodnight to everything in his or her own room and hope the child goes to sleep just like the bunny.
Brown Bear & Friends
The Brown Bear & Friends Board Book Gift Set
offers children a menagerie of animals to follow around. These books teach children not only about animals, but also about colors and the sounds that animals make. I really like book sets because if your child likes one of the books, they’ll probably like them all. Then, you end up with a couple books to rotate amongst during story time.
Curious George
The Complete Adventures of Curious George
features all the classic Curious George stories that many parents may have read when they were children, if they grew up in the United States. I really enjoy sharing the Curious George stories that I had once read a long time ago. You should be aware that there are more modern Curious George stories out there that are illustrated in the style of H..A. Rey. These stories are shorter and lack the plot development of the classic ones. The kids will probably not notice, only you as you long for the good old days. Again, book sets are fantastic provided that your child loves Curious George. After you are finished reading the first Curious George story, there’s another one right after that. You don’t have to search for a new book that the kid likes. Just give them more and more Curious George.
Thomas the Tank Engine
The Thomas the Tank Engine Story Collection (The Railway Series)
features the classic Thomas the Tank Engine a/k/a Thomas the Train stories. If you dare to purchase this book, you will be reading Thomas the Tank Engine stories for weeks on end. For the novice parent, this book offers a semi-complete introduction to all the great engines that call the island of Sodor home. However, this collection is really male-centric, so you won’t see any female engines, like Emily, shunting trucks and hauling freight. The illustrations also come from the classic Thomas books, so the cheeky little engine will not look completely like his modern counterpart. Again, just a thing that only the adults will probably notice.
Llama Llama Red Pajama
Llama Llama Red Pajama
is yet another book about going to bed. I really enjoy finding new books that are wonderfully illustrated and present an interesting and creative story line. I’ve also read Llama Llama Mad at Mama
, which details an epic meltdown while shopping, something all parents eventually go through. That book also introduces children to the concept of a treat, which is essentially a bribe for good behavior.
Last night, I used my remaining package of Little Sheep Hot Pot Soup Base. However, instead of using the pre-cut beef and lamb from 99 Ranch, I tried the shabu shabu meats from Mitsuwa Marketplace. From their shabu shabu selection, I picked up one package of each cut of beef:
- Angus Chuck Roll @ $8.99/lb
- Washugyu Chuck Roll @ $22.99/lb
- Australia Beef Chuck @ $15.99/lb
- Prime Rib Eye @ $21.99/lb.
Mitsuwa also offered a plate of imported Japanese wagyu beef for about $75 a pound. I skipped that one, but did pick up a tray of shabu shabu pork.
The Angus chuck roll was tender, but a bit thick. I liked the thinner cut prime rib eye and the washugyu chuck roll better. However, for some reason, the meats were not absorbing the flavor of the broth the same way they do at the restaurant. Maybe, one package of soup mix is not enough for a dinner and I should have refilled the hot pot with additional broth instead of diluting it with water. Next time, I will have to prepare two packages of Little Sheep Hot Pot Soup Base.
On the day that Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat went to the Republicans, the White House launched its new The White House iPhone app. However, parents beware. The White House is not safe for children because it may display “infrequent/mild realistic violence” and “infrequent/mild alcohol, tobacco or drug use or references.”
I have been using Transmit for a long, long time. For some reason, I just discovered today that Transmit has a search box. Odd. I use the application every day, but had not noticed it until just a few minutes ago. At some point, I must have developed some form of user blindness where I only focus on the familiar elements and ignore the rest, apparently to my detriment. After all, the search box is right there in the upper right-hand corner. Type in a few characters from the name of the file you are searching for and Transmit quickly displays a list of matching files. A true time saver if you have hundreds or thousands of files sitting in one folder.
The lesson is that if you cannot see something, all that means is that you cannot see it. It does not mean that the object does not exist.
Little Sheep is too popular. I knew that we were in for trouble tonight when we were a block away and I could hear the receptionist calling out ticket numbers over the loudspeaker. If you are coming with a large party (i.e., at least 6 adults), reservations should be mandatory. Otherwise, you risk not being seated.
Usually, we opt for the House Original Soup Base 祕製原味; however, some guests preferred the House Spicy 秘製麻辣, so we opted for the Half and Half Soup Base 秘製鴛鴦 which is served in a divided bowl. All soup bases are $3.75 per person, 12 and older.
As usual, we ordered several dishes of Supreme Lamb Shoulder Slice 極品羊肩肉 for $5.95 per plate and Hand Sliced Supreme Fatty Beef 手切極品肥肉 for $8.95 per dish. The meat from both dishes were sliced thinly and absolutely delicious. I know that we should explore the rest of the meat dishes, but those two are so good that we have not tried other variations of lamb and beef available. If you’ve already tasted perfection, is there any need to try anything else?
We also tried the Luncheon Pork 午餐肉 for $4.95, which tastes a lot like spam. Not sure that I will order that one again. We also ordered Sugar Pea Sprouts 大豆苗 for $5.95 and Tong Ho 茼蒿 for $3.95. Both of these are hot pot favorites. I wasn’t sold on the Sliced Potato 馬鈴薯片 for $2.95 or the Winter Melon 冬瓜片 for $.3.95. We also ordered the Frozen Tofu 凍豆腐 for $2.95, but I don’t think it had the same texture and flavor as when I had previously tried it at home. The U-Don Noodle 烏冬麵 for $3.95 and the House Special Wide Noodle 寬粉 for $4.95 were both delicious and a wonderful way to absorb the broth and finish off a meal.
If you bring some young children that have not developed an appreciation for hot pot, try the Egg Noodle 香港蛋麵 for $5.95, the Mongolian Pot Stickers 蒙古鍋貼 for $4.50, or the Mongolian Beef Meat Pie 蒙古牛肉餅 for $6.95. The Egg Noodle is just stir-fried egg noodle. Nothing too exotic, but has universal appeal. The Mongolian Pot Stickers are savory and delicious with a heavenly thick skin. But, you can find egg noodles and pot stickers pretty much anywhere. The Mongolian Beef Meat Pie is truly exceptional. But, it’s a flat “pie” that is filled with meat and crispy on both sides. It’s also a really large pie, so make sure you save enough room.
Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot is one of my favorite restaurants. Today, I was shopping at 99 Ranch when I spotted a package of Little Sheep Hot Pot Soup Base – Plain selling for $4.99 per package. Of course, I had to try it. However, I carefully scrutinized the package to make sure that the lamb wasn’t pointing in the wrong direction. With the soup base taken care of, I proceeded to collect the rest of my ingredients.
Being naturally inquisitive, I carefully read the list of ingredients.
The ingredients came in separate packages: 1 package of sunflower oil, 1 package of goji berry, 1 package of fermented soy beans, and 1 package of powder.
There’s a lot of dry powder, and I can’t believe that it’s all salt, MSG, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate. In the restaurant version, I always see something that looks like a small root. Maybe I should have tasted the powder. Oh well.
In addition to the package ingredients, I also had to add the holy trinity of Chinese cooking: green onions, garlic, and ginger. A lot of garlic. 20 gloves of garlic. Yum.
I also had to purchase a hot pot for use on the dinner table. Although a stand-alone gas burner would probably have been sufficient, I opted for the Tatung TICT-1500W induction cooktop. So, what worked well?
The Little Sheep Hot Pot Soup Base tasted pretty much like the soup at the restaurant. I don’t know if it was identical, but it was close enough. The firm tofu that I stuck in the freezer for about 30 minutes was outstanding. I loved both the texture and the taste, though next time I will drain the tofu before putting it in the freezer so that it will not emerge encrusted in ice. The tong ho 茼蒿and large pea sprouts 大豆苗 also came out well, and I will use these again in the future. I also added enoki mushroom and fresh udon noodles. Really loved the udon noodles as well. So, basically the soup and all the side dishes came out well. That leaves the meat. I had purchased the pre-sliced beef and lamb from 99 Ranch. The thickness of the meats were uneven. The beef was not paper thin like the one at Little Sheep. While the lamb was cut more uniformly, the texture of both meats left much to be desired. At Little Sheep, the lamb and beef slices just melt in your mouth. The 99 Ranch meats were way too chewy. Like chew, chew, chew and then spit it out. So, the lesson learned is that while hot pot seems simple in theory, executing it to perfection is quite a bit more complex. So, I either have to find a different vendor for hot pot meat or buy a slicer and attempt to slice my own. Still, overall a good first attempt.
My PowerBook G4 is on an unlucky streak. A few months ago, it developed a bulging battery problem. Since I always leave the PowerBook plugged in, I did not immediately notice the defective battery. What caught my attention was my sudden inability to close the PowerBook lid. After a bit of head scratching, I flipped the PowerBook over and discovered that the battery was bulging outwards such that it was pushing the keyboard upwards. Fortunately, a kind genius provided me with a complimentary battery. Since the PowerBook is the back-up computer, I left it in the computer bag after I returned home.
So, a few weeks ago, I needed to retrieve a file on the PowerBook. Unfortunately, whatever residual charge that existed on the new battery had vanished into the ether. I grabbed the power adapter and plugged it in. And, nothing happened. No glorious amber halo around the DC connector. Nada. Well, I was not expecting that.
No problem. I search around at work but discover that everyone has already upgraded to the new MacBook Pros with the MagSafe Power Adapter. That doesn’t help. So, the PowerBook sits in the computer bag some more until a friend shows up at my front door with the old style power adapter. Insert prongs into the wall. Insert DC connector into the PowerBook. The amber halo emerges telling me that the PowerBook still works, but the power adapter does not.
With that question answered, I look for a replacement power adapter. I am not thrilled by the $79.00 price at the Apple Store, nor its average 2-star rating. How does a power adapter go bad? There aren’t a lot of moving parts.
For no apparent reason, I switch the removable prongs between the good power adapter and bad power adapter and discover that my power adapter now works. Double mystery!! How does a prong go bad?
After some searching, I find a replacement prong lying around. I switch out the prong and the power adapter is fully functional again. Miracle! Fixed it all with existing extra parts on hand. I still do not understand how the removable prongs could go bad. I just stumbled on the solution through sheer dumb luck.
