Lego Minifigs Series 17
My random pull from a box of Lego Minifigs Series 17 resulted in these winners.
Love the corn guy and the rocket man.
Passion
Missing the Matcha
Looking at my pictures from Japan is making me miss the matcha-infused drinks and snacks. Of course, my surprising highlight was the Chocolate Cake Frappuccino with Matcha Shot. While I’m not a fan of the Frap, I ordered two of these while touring Japan.
Other matcha items I should have tried…
Ah heck, I wish I tried these non-matcha goodies as well…
Missing the different items available in Starbucks Japan…
Vestiges of Kailua Past
Over the weekend, I saw vestiges of Kailua’s past. The last existence of Quiznos was being erased as the former sub sandwich shop’s sign was painted over.
As the renovation of Macy’s is still underway, part of the renovation uncovered its older past when Macy’s was Liberty House.
Dew Crazy
On my last day in Japan, I saw a vending machine that sold Mountain Dew. This was the first appearance of Dew that I came across after two weeks traveling the cities of Nippon. This was surely a sign of what was to come.
Back in Hawaii while stopping by a Walmart, I went a little Mountain Dew crazy after discovering five new flavors! I think the Dew-S-A flavor that combines Code Red, White Out, and Voltage has been out for a bit, but I only found a bottle today. Sweet as expected, but I think I like the original better.
I had seen and tried the Black Label before, but I hadn’t seen the Green or White Label Dews.
These Spiked drinks are totally new to me. The red can features raspberry lemonade spiked with prickly pear cactus juice. The yellow can is lemonade with prickly pear cactus juice, and both are non-alcoholic beverages.
I’m definitely doing the Dew!!
Shutterfly Unlimited Pages Offer?!
Say what?! For the first time ever, Shutterfly offered unlimited pages for a photobook at no additional charge. The typical 8×11 photobook does have a limit of 110 pages, but if free, might as well load up the book! And that’s what I did for all the ohayo2017 adventures.
Oh and an one-day promo for a free reusable shopping bag and a free deck of cards? Yes, please. Oh wait, don’t forget that free shipping code if the order is over $49. So the total comes to…
DisplayPort 1.2, MacBook Pro 2016, Dell Ultrasharp U2515H, MST
So it looks like my “new” MacBook Pro 2016 with TouchBar and Radeon Pro 460 with 4 MB does not support DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport (MST). MST allows the daisy chaining of supported monitors.
I got a USB-C to DisplayPort cable from Amazon and connected it to my first Dell UltraSharp U2515H.
The display finally mirrored my MBP, but I had to move USB-C ports seemingly to “wake up” the monitor or MBP. Then I activated the DP1.2 mode on the U2515H since by default DP1.1a is the factory setting.
Then I connnected the video out of the first UltraSharp to the video in of the second UltraSharp. For this, I used the Dell-provided DisplayPort to mini-Display Port cable. I then activated DP1.2 on the mDP port on the second monitor (not sure if I had to do this but thought it made sense).
The second UltraSharp came to life and displayed a mirror of the first UltraSharp. My laptop screen showed one desktop while both UltraSharps displayed a second (mirrored) desktop. The MBP recognized one external monitor, not both.
I also tried using a DP-to-DP cable to interconnect the two DP1.2-compatible monitors together, but that didn’t change the results (yes, I activated DP1.2 for the monitor’s DisplayPort). My MBP is running macOS Sierra 10.12.5.
Now the Dell manual states that only a single external display with resolution of 2560×1440/60Hz is supported by MST, and that’s the native resolution of the Delll UltraSharp U2515H. So there’s that. I tried reducing the resolution of the Ultrasharps seeing if that had any effect, but nope.
So either MST isn’t supported/implemented in the Mac OS X software or Mac hardware or I need to try this again using monitors with lower resolutions. Or most likely, I need to forget MST and go the old fashion route of using two video connections to two monitors.
A Varied Shopping List
- Yonex Voltric 5FX racket
- SanDisk 32GB SD Card
- DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable to daisy chain two MST displays
- USB-C to DisplayPort dongle
Hope this covers it.
Gotta Love Carp Pride
Upon arrival to Hiroshima, I didn’t immediately comprehend the sea of red I saw. All around the train station, people were wearing red for the hometown baseball team, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.
In the midst of the season in first place of the Central League, the fans were in full force wearing jerseys, hats, shirts – all in red. Stores and restaurants advertised specials for the Carp fans.
Here’s just some of the team’s merchandise I saw.
I didn’t get a good picture of the fans all in red, but when trying to get a spot for dinner after a Carp game, this is what we saw at all the food joints.
And you know the saying – when in Hiroshima…
My Japan Education: Nike ACG 07 KMTR
Just look at this new Nike creation, born from Nike Labs under the All Conditions Gear (ACG) label. The NikeLab ACG 07 KMTR is built for the urban commuter.
Featuring no laces but instead a draw string to tighten the upper and a forefoot strap secured by magnets, the KMTR is meant to be easily removed and worn. This setup sounds perfect for an experience in Japan where shoe removal is all too common.
Of course, I’m wondering about the overall support and stability of this shoe since there are no traditional shoe laces for lockdown. Granted, I really can’t see wearers working out in these, but they have to stay put.
Update: Looks like the KMTR is just about sold out.
My Japan Education: Samurai Gourmet
To get a sense of the Japanese cuisine, its preparation, its underlying meaning, and its flavor, you must watch the Netflix series, Samurai Gourmet. While some of the storylines are hokey, you can’t deny the attention to detail and focus placed on the featured food dishes. The closeups and the sounds of cooking fill the screen but sadly do not fill your appetite.
At little over 20 minutes per episode, watching Kasumi lead his retired life while having interludes with a feudal samurai is delicious entertainment.
My Japan Education: Travel Books
So many travel books and so many online resources. So much to get educated on!
So far, my favorite travel guides are Lonely Planet Japan and Fodor’s Tokyo. Mainly, I like the layout of the information contained within these books.