Baskin Robbins: May Flavors (1)

These are the Baskin Robbins flavors for May. There are 3 new flavors and 8 flavors from April. Unfortunately, none of the flavors this month are available in the US.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that the flavors of the month generally don’t include traditional Japanese flavors in the mix. You can get green tea ice cream any time, but I’d love to see some experimentation with that. This is in part fueled by a delicious chocolate chip green tea cookie I’ve become addicted to, which would make a great ice cream.

The Flavor of the Month is Caramel Chocolate Crunch. Various sizes of crunchy bitter chocolate cookies and sweet caramel ribbons in vanilla ice cream make an excellent match. This delicious taste will become a bad habit!

• Baseball Park: Each time you eat this, your feeling is excitement, as if at a baseball park! The fun snack texture of popcorn, pretzels, and peanuts is set into caramel popcorn ice cream deliciously! (NOTE: I have no idea what’s actually in this ice cream but from appearance alone, it’s different from Baseball Nut, which can be bought in the US.)
• Burgundy Cherry: Crisp, cut Bing cherries in cherry scented ice cream. It is filled with delicious cherries flavor.

• Double Chocolate Cheesecake: A blend of cheesecake and chocolate flavored ice creams, with 2 types of chocolate cheese cake pieces and smooth chocolate ribbons.
• Hazelnut Dreams: Crispy hazelnuts and ribbons of milk chocolate are in rich, flavorful hazelnut chocolate ice cream. It’s a hazelnut and chocolate dream paring.

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The Infamous Natto (6)

This entry was originally published on October 10, 2007. It has been reformatted and updated with expanded information.

Update - April 29, 2008

I am now a huge fan of natto. I don’t eat it every day for breakfast but I do eat it frequently, about twice a week. It’s cheap, a good source of protein, and actually a lot of fun. I’ve become a fan of slimy foods.

Original & Impressions

Well, I did it. I caved. I broke down one more assimilation barrier. It’s been a long time since I was first introduced to natto and I’ve avoided to eat it every single time. Or, people have just assumed that because I’m foreign, I’m unable to eat natto, and never offer it to me.

Except today, during school lunch, I figured, “What the hell?” and impressed my co-workers by eating a whole package of what is essentially, moldy beans. I even managed to deal with the sticky strings, which involve rapid chopstick turning and a fair amount of luck.

To be fair, it wasn’t as bad as the horror stories made it out to be. My first impression was that I was eating a slightly turned Swiss cheese (and yes, I’ve accidentally eaten that before). There’s definitely a sharp, pungent cheese quality about it, but only in aroma, which may explain why some people compare it to blue cheese in Europe. This aroma is only enhanced by adding the soy sauce and spicy mustard packets that accompanied the natto. The actual taste is mild and, once you get past the strings, just like the taste of a regular soybean. In terms of texture, the only thing I can think of it being similar to is baked beans with about 3 pounds of melted cheese per can.

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Nabari no Ou - Episode 1 (4)

After Naruto came to the US like kudzuu came to the south, I have a hard time seeing ninjas without having the word “hokage” flash through my mind. And I only made it through 26 episodes before the tsunami of Narutards destroyed the series for me. But after the weekly disappointment that is Special A, I decided to try something new.

Just like me, entering a new series with trepidation

Leon @ Kita ze Inbou wrote that Nabari no Ou is a more mature version of a ninja show and I have to agree. Sure, the whole guardian of the ninja’s secrets, keeper of a powerful monster, indifferent high school student, and ambiguously friendly teacher are staples of anime, but the first episode manages to avoid drowning in the cliches and turn into something humorously entertaining. While it is still far too early to tell whether this will be a great ninja show or become overrun with fans is another question. However, the characters seem simpatico, even the aloof high school kid so I have a good feeling about this show.

Mute at this point and put on some jazz

One other thing to mention: the fight scenes were pretty good; however, I don’t think I was as blown away as blissmo @ Yukan Blog! or Riex @ THAT Animeblog. Part of this is due to the fact that there weren’t many fight scenes to examine and also that I am from the biased camp of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, the fight scenes of those shows having blown me away. But my main problem is that I didn’t really like was the music. I normally don’t care about music because I’m too busy paying attention to the action but in this episode, there’s some kind of moderately paced violin thing going on. To me, it just didn’t fit what was going on.

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