Cavalock and The Oreo Variety Variance

After last post on all them crazy Oreos, look what I found today at Meidi-Ya! More packs of yummy Oreos from Japan! This looks like it's going to be my favorite, coffee caramel Oreo. These are soft cookies, I believe softer than your regular Oreos so don't think bout dipping them in milk just yet.

Another flavor that caught my eye was this lemony one. Not a big fan on all things lemony so ...er... there you go.

From where I come from, Teh-O or tea-O means tea with sugar only and no milk or cream. But in Japan, it looks like with Tea O On The Rock, you still get your (royal) milk tea with it or not.

Cavalock and The Oreo Odyssey

A day spent shopping for a cause. More on that another time when things are more 'concrete' (hint, hint). Well, I saw lotsa pretty cool and zany stuff but didn't buy anything of them. The last pix at the end of this post, well, that ought to explain why I have't got any money left for anything else. <^;^>

First up, would you pay S$50 for a pair of goggles that allegedly prevents you from weeping as you are slicing onions? Nah, I don't think I would. And if I wore them, I'll still be crying cos I just wasted 50 bucks.

The coolest Oreos in the world are from Japan?!? Apparently so, just like Japanese Kit Kat bars, there are all kinds of new and interesting flavors to choose from.  

Finally, guess which brand just blew a hole in my bank account? :P

Cavalock and The Le Creuset Carrier Goodie Bag

Now I don't usually pay much attention to those Japanese magazine bags, you know the ones that come with a free branded fashion accessory, usually a bag, (there's a proper name for them but I can't remember it right now) on sale at Kinokuniya but this one caught my eye.

It's from popular cookware Le Creuset! Looks like everyone's getting into the act. Anyway I think it makes a pretty neat gift to anyone who loves cooking. That little cast iron French oven doubles as a magnet too if you wanna stick it on your fridge!

Inside pages feature a nice catalog and yummy recipes, all in Japanese. Well, you can always enjoy the food porn if you don't read Japanese. Spotted more than a couple of Le Creuset that are already in my kitchen too. ;P

Been reading quite a bit on the Occupy Wall Street movement. After all the articles I have read, I can safely say I do know what's going on but I just still don't get beyond the 'why bother' bit, as in do they really think they can make a difference? I guess it's easy to hit on giant faceless institution like Wall Street when one is down on one's luck. For all the students protesting, I bet more than half of them wouldn't be in college if not for the money daddy made on Wall Street. And all of them sure as hell wouldn't be coordinating the event on their iPhones or BBs if Wall Street hadn't invested in those companies. You don't bite the hand that feeds you. Sure there are some bad apples on Wall Street, just like there are bad cops, bad teachers, bad doctors in just about every profession but you don't plan mass protests outside their workplaces. I can understand the problem but what is the point of protesting? The time, energy and money spent protesting could had been used for something much more constructive.

And finally Thought of The Day from this week's Big Bang Theory vanity card, "The reason you suffer is because you think your identity and worth as a human being are inextricably tied into your career. Don't think that."

Cavalock and The Steeples Sandwich Sanctity

Having said good-bye (for now) to a regular desk bound gig, I finally found the time to visit an old food haunt last week. Strolled into sandwich joint Steeples Deli at Tanglin Shopping Centre last week for lunch and well, some things were the same, some weren't.

Good news is that the food is still as good as I remembered. Had the corned beef sandwich and it was done just right, slightly toasted wheat bread and not too dry and tender beef strips. The Waldorf salad was alright, didn't really stuck in my mind.

There were also the vanilla milkshake and the classic club sandwich. Although I didn't have them, was told all were delicious. It's still the best and only place in Orchard to go to for a truly outstanding sandwich.

Now the bad news is the place was almost empty at lunchtime, on a weekday! I thought that was just sad. When I was first there over a decade ago, brought there by a couple of older reporters. I remembered how pack the joint was. It's just counter seats and some days you gotta wait outside the deli. And you got that toasted bread aroma whiffing through the joint.

Man, I gotta start hanging out there again before it's gone or something. But to be honest, I kinda prefer the less crowd and all. Really great deli food at a reasonable price.

Finally, check this little monster out! From our Japanese burger chain Freshness Burger here in our neighborhood. The 'Bo Lo Ti' one is pretty funny. <^;^>

Cavalock And The Gaming Gene

Life is short and you got to enjoy it while you can. That's something I learned this year with my late mom. Besides good food, I'll always have time for a good ol' boardgame session or two or three with friends. Trash-talking away as we try to outwit and outsmart each other, you can't find a better time (without the use of illegal substances or services) than that!

Then there's our regular DnD role-playing game sessions, that is frickin' FUN! That is why I can never understand guys who are younger than me who take life too seriously and who only know how to think about making money and stuff, don't they remember what it was like being a kid and having fun? But that's another post or rant for another day....

Anyway these aren't kiddy boardgames you find in our department stores. Here are just some of our current favorite games. Kingsburg below is great dice game where you total the points on your dice roll and buy resources to build your kingdom. Very luck-based if you are into dice rolling.

Another dice game is the best-selling new Quarriors. Released a couple months ago only, it's already sold out around the world. Roll a set number of special creature dice, use the results to 'buy' more dice and beat the crap outta your opponents!

If you don't like the luck factor of rolling a dice, there's the multi-award winning 7 Wonders. A card drafting game where you are in charge of an ancient city, and each card plays as a different resource or building. The card drafting is the fun part where you try to outsmart the guys sitting to your left and right. More strategy here than most other games which also means more fun for all!

And then there's the ol' classic Dungeons and Dragons, the role-playing game that has driven women away from us geeks for centuries! Now updated for the 21st century with the iPad!

A final parting shot of me and former DC Comics President Paul Levitz while he was here a couple months ago. That's yours truly moderating a panel with him (er, can you still call it a panel if it's just the two of us on stage like The Actor's Stage?). Biggest geek thrill of the year! And a big thank you to Red Dot Diva who snapped that shot. Check out her site over the couple weeks as she hangs out with some Hollywood celebs at New York Comic Con later this month.

Alright, the next post will be about FOOD! Promise! <^;^>