Monday, April 27, 2020

Cavalock and Another Lockdown Home-Cooked Collage

Been a few weeks since I posted a collage of the glorious meals that the Baker-at-Home had cooked up for the two of us during the Lockdown. Believe it or not, it's me first time having quinoa, and I'm enjoying it. The Baker-at-Home is a fan of quinoa for awhile now while I have been avoiding it until now. Hah!


Am so glad I have been buying all them Japanese face towels whenever we were there over the last couple years. I have at least a dozen and they all came in real handy as I'm using them everyday. Being in Lockdown means no more chilling in an air-con office or mall environment which leaves me sweating like a rain god to all the bugs around me. So of cos, I have been going through the photo reel in me iPhone cos what else can I do besides gaming, reading, painting and watching YouTube during a Lockdown? Some snapped last year, same earlier this year.

Well, colour me green! I never knew that's how brussels sprouts are grown before picking this up at Isetan a couple months ago. Now there's this rice spoon or scoop I spotted in Tokyu Hands that measures the amount of calories in each scoop. I thought that's pretty cool. And fluffy chicken in me Dad's neighbourhood.






Saturday, April 25, 2020

Cavalock and The Bulmuda Waffle Confluence

Really fortunate that my friend dropped by my place several days ago to gift us two pairs of her popular frozen waffles as well as two tubs of ice-cream to go with it, from her shop. Been awhile since I been to Creamier so this was a most welcome treat during these apocalyptic times. No dire situation a generous serving of yummy waffles and ice-cream can't help alleviate.


We toasted the waffles in our Japanese Bulmuda Toaster and although there is no degree setting on the toaster, it turned out golden perfect. Same setting as when we toast our morning breakfast bread as there's a setting for 'toast' and no aluminium foil needed. Absolutely delicious after dinner dessert and we are saving the final two for another day. Once they are available to the public again, we are definitely buying them.


If you really bored and got a printer at home, you can check out some complete print and play games over at Asmodee's page. The games are all free and most are simpler versions of actual boardgames.

One of my favourite solo boardgames right now is Metro X, the Tokyo and Osaka edition. It's flip-and-write game based on the Tokyo or Osaka train systems in Japan, where you turn over card after card from a deck and depending on the number of the card revealed, you decide where to add stations on a special sheet of paper. However the number of times you can add stations to each line is limited and that makes this tiny little game a real brain burner.


"In more detail, each player has their own sheet of paper, with all players using either the Tokyo or Osaka map. Each sheet shows an interwoven subway system, with the system consisting of many subway lines; each line has a name, a number of indicator boxes, a number of empty station boxes on the subway route, and two bonuses. On a turn, a player reveals the top indicator card from the deck of twenty cards, then each player individually and simultaneously chooses a subway line, then does something depending on which type of card is revealed. Once all the indicator boxes are filled, the game ends. In solo mode, you try to beat a certain high score."

Monday, April 20, 2020

Cavalock and The Lockdown Fridge Discovery

Well, the country is still in a dismal Lockdown but life goes on and there are still things to do. Things like while clearing out the fridge, the Baker-at-Home found this forgotten gem in our fridge that we bought back in Tokyo last year! Honey Miso Garlic Dip!


We got this little bottle of miso dip from a small shop near Tokyo Station specialising in all kinds of honey (L'abeille means 'honey' in French) and sauces from Japan. It was one of those fascinating shops that we happened to stroll past and just decided to enter and then leave with a bag of new stuff. Y'know, the kinda shop that locals frequent, and you know there are some local treasures inside. Hah! A tiny little spicy kick from the garlic but so much flavour, and goes so well with the veggie sticks. Should have bought the larger bottle. You should see how we are rationing this during meals, it's hilarious! Ah, reminds me of all them past yakitori restaurant dates, until the Lockdown ends I guess this all we have for now.

Thanks to me foot operation last year, I reckon I got some practise with being in a Lockdown as in being immobile and having to stay indoors for a couple months. I can understand if you are over 60 years old, how sucky it can be when you are forced to stay indoors but if you are young, healthy and with access to the Internet, come on! Take it from a certified introvert, the outdoors are way overrated. Alright, I'm kidding, maybe it's just a little overrated.

Been getting my daily doses of boardgaming at the free Boardgame Arena site. Am simply loving the boardgames here. Gotta keep them grey cells working. Mostly gaming with my friends in the afternoon when they can take a break from working from home or in the evening. Although you could just log on and pick a game with strangers instantly. You just stroll through the games you like and you'll see tables opening up for folks to join in. Been playing 7 Wonders, Puerto Rico, The King's Guild and several others. Like I said in my last post, the interface is brilliant, with game instructions and everything.


Monday, April 13, 2020

Cavalock and The Post Easter Sunday Post

Hot-crossed buns! Been awhile since I had one and the Baker-at-Home did her very first batch this Easter Sunday afternoon! I remembered I had the occasional hot-crossed bun when I was growing up in the old family home but today's buns were nothing like the ones I had as a kid. For starters, they had rum-soaked raisins in them! They were soaked late last year but we had our home renovations back then so the Baker-at-Home didn't have time to bake her usual Christmas fruit cakes. It was only a small jar this time so she decided to attempt baking some hot-crossed buns with them, using a modified Mary Berry recipe I believe.


Yah, 12 freshly baked hot-crossed buns for just the both of us is a lot! But they taste great so no complaints at all.



So believe it or not, I haven't painted a single miniature since the Lockdown started. Gawd knows it's not cos I haven't got anything to paint. Still got a backlog of bout half a dozen figures to paint. I did paint a couple little treasure chests to use as objectives in future tabletop games.


Well, I been playing boardgames online at Boardgame Arena. It's a site where they got digital versions of popular boardgames like Carcassonne, 7 Wonders, Tzolk'in, Saboteur, Stone Age, just to name a few. And it's all free, well, you can pay to be a premium member to get some other benefits like voice chat and a wider selection of games. It's async too so you can make a move today while your opponents make their moves later in the day and you can continue the day after. Or you can also play in real time. It's that versatile and the interface is extremely user-friendly as well.


Thursday, April 09, 2020

Cavalock and The Home-Cooked Collage

Home-cooked meals are the order of the day during this here Lockdown. From beef don to chicken noodles, the Baker-at-Home has been stellar in putting food on the table over the last couple weeks. A guy can't be more blessed than this. For breakfast, we were lucky to have purchased one them big ass blenders with them power blades earlier this year, specifically to blend nuts or almonds to be exact, into jars of nut butter. A thicker and richer spread than the nut butter you find in your grocery stores, and I suppose it's healthier too cos it's all natural.

It's very unlikely that we'll be doing any traveling this year so no more obligatory vacation food collages but here's a home-cooked collage instead.


The Baker-at-Home is now also the Office Worker-at-Home cos her office just delivered all two big monitors and they are both now occupying the study table. My iMac is now a fixture on the dining table, yah, the same table that I host my Warhammer tabletop sessions with me friends. Well, anyway it's not like I can ask them over any time soon. Hah!

Some new bird pix by me 85-year-old Dad before the Lockdown. Mostly taken at Jurong and Botantic Garden.