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.
Two pictures I wanted to share from the 2017 Iolani Fair. While walking by the swing ride at night, I spontaneously took a picture of it illuminating the area. After looking at the picture more carefully, I noticed the dude standing cross armed aligned with the center of the ride. He almost looks purposefully posed for the pic.
Here’s a shot at the wiffle ball booth where one tossed ball in a colored ringed hole wins a prize. While not running the school, Mr. Cottrell is just another wiffle ball player who succumbed to the deceptive difficulty of this game of luck.
I think I was wrong. The “B” in B. Patisserie may not stand for “box” but rather “bucks” as in we spend big bucks whenever we pay a visit.
Apparently, banana snacks are a thing in Japan. I was introduced to the Tokyo Banana but then was told that the Osaka Banana was better. After wrapping my head around the concept of these banana-based concoctions, I was fortunate enough to sample both. They weren’t the freshest samples but well within the alloted expiration date.
Many flavors are available, each with its own visual design. The Tokyo Banana feels more playful with its designs and multitude of variations.
The inside is more like a banana cream filling with a Twinkie outside.
The Osaka counterpart, on the other hand, comes from a refined point of view. It’s packaging is more sophisticated, void of the playful Tokyo patterns.
The confection itself is partitioned in indivdual containers that keep the Osaka Banana in its sliced form. The banana is sandwiched in between soft sponge cake.
Personally, I gotta give the nod to the Tokyo Banana. I like the overall execution of this treat. I’m not a fan of bananas to begin with, and both Osaka and Tokyo Bananas didn’t really get the banana flavor quite right. The Osaka Banana flavor was more realistic but not real enough. Because the authenticity of a banana was lost at this point, the cream filling of the Tokyo Banana appealed to me more since it was like eating a banana cream pie. And for me, I didn’t mind that the design pattern was actually emblazoned on the cake.
I guess after a one-year learning session with these self checkout counters at Target Kailua, the time to expand was right. Now the self checkout counters have about doubled with the installation of another row.
Amazingly, the traditional checkout counters manned by employees still have long queues. I guess business must be good?
Can anyone recommend a good trip itinerary planning service or app? Ideally, I’d want both – a web site that has a mobile app to access its services on the go. This service would keep track of a trip itinerary, showing what’s planned for each day. Gotta be able to add places, attractions, events, lodging, etc by name but also show these locations on a map. Need to share this itinerary with others going on the trip. These other travelers should be able to add other locations they’re interested in seeing. They can also leave comments on locations. Sounds basic right? Sadly, I haven’t found anything that works completely.
I started with TripAdvisor that covers most of my needs. The reviews and data behind TripAdvisor make it a great place to start. But I’m running into problems adding small attractions to a TripAdvisor saved trip. It’s easy to add the mainstream attractions, but say you wanted to visit a specific 7-Eleven in Kyoto (for whatever reason), you’d probably have a hard time in TripAdvisor since this mundane location won’t have an entry. So how do you add that spot to your saved trip itinerary?
TripAdvisor uses Google Maps to visually depict my trip locations, but it doesn’t fully integrate with Google Maps. I can’t pull up my TA-saved locations using the Google Maps app. I manually re-enter them into Google Maps.
So a search for “trip planning itinerary” reminded me of Google’s recent Trips mobile app. It’s mobile only and kinda useful if you have no real itinerary set while on your trip since the app will give you suggestions. Too basic for what I need, but it does integrate with my saved locations in Google Maps.
Google Maps is just that, maps. This is useful in and of itself, but you can’t build an itinerary solely off of a map. It does help plan your trip since you can easily see locations in a region and get approximate travel times. I tried adding multiple layers in the My Maps area where one layer corresponded to one day. But there’s a (small) limit to how many layers your map can have, so that was a no go.
Um, no.
Sadly, Google Docs seems like the eventual winner for my predicament although I don’t like it. Sure, it can sorta do the job but isn’t the most elegant match for what I ideally want. I can add links to all the places that we’re going to or plan to go to. I can share and collaborate on Docs, and I can add the link to my shared Google Maps. But it’s so not what I want.
There has to be something! Sound off below.
I’m guessing that the NMD line for Adidas is a shortform of “nomadic.” Because after getting this pair of NMD_R1, they’re already on the move, headed back to Adidas.
That glitch colorway is fun but subtle. It’s that PrimeKnit upper that is of issue. Because it’s a single piece construction without a separate shoe tongue, there’s just not a whole lot you can do to adjust fit. The laces essentially just cinch up the unstructured woven “sack” that is the shoe upper.
The NMD looks distinctive and is popular, but its fit is definitely not for everyone.
(Not) so easy come, but easy goes goes this Easy Mint colorway of the Adidas Ultraboost. Adidas’ inconsistent sizing strikes again where this women’s size 7 was bigger than a women’s size 7.
Oh well. I still love the color, but if it don’t fit right, there’s not much choice…
Now this is a Starbucks Frappuccino that I actually wouldn’t mind trying. Unfortunately, the American Cherry Pie Frappuccino is available only in Japan from April 13 to May 16.
The next fashion crush at Target will happen this Sunday on April 9, 2017. My only source of this information is this poster announcing the launch of Victoria Beckham’s clothing line collaboration with Target.
If this is like other collaborations in Target’s past, the store will be stormed and inventory wiped out essentially that day.
Too much Jordan. Has to be, but in any case, North Carolina barely outlasted Gonzaga in the Finals of 2017 Men’s NCAA basketball season. It was tight until the end before that 9-2 burst by the Tarheels did in the Bulldogs.
Of course, I was rooting for the underdog since the Gonzaga basketball program has yet to win a National Championship, but how can you fault the “opposing” team for wearing the Cool Gray colorway of the Air Jordan 11?
Going back to 1999, the kicks title looks like this:
That’s 16 championships for Nike in the past 19 years, upping the Swoosh’s winning percentage to 84%. Congratulations to the Tar Heels and Nike.
It’s over… from a kicks point of view anyways. Nike has another championship locked down with North Carolina and Gonzaga playing in the finals. Starting out, Nike had a 59% chance for one of its teams to win it all. Under Armour and Adidas were close to each other at 19% and 22% respectively.
For the Sweet Sixteen, Nike’s odds increased to 75%, and Adidas and UA were at 12.5% each.
In the Elite 8, Nike maintained its 75% mark meaning Adidas and Under Armour again had 12.5%.
The Final Four featured three Nike teams, again 75% of the teams, with only Under Armour remaining.
Now with the Bulldogs battling the Tar Heels, Nike has a 100% chance of winning.
On Monday, it’s Jordans versus LeBrons, Kobes, Kyries, and KDs.