Quasi 3D

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from John Wayne’s place and today is the day. But first let’s talk some new-aged Nintendo. Again, I’m not a gamer. I don’t want to own an X-Box or PS3. I don’t want to play fake 1^st person-shooter wars, we’re at war. And I really don’t care about trolls and elves and crap. But I do play some Nintendo games.

The Game Cube was purple. What? (You know the score.) We didn’t have much games for the Cube, but the games we did have we rocked. Super Mario Sunshine! F.L.U.D.D. on the back washing things. Dizzying graphics, but at times repetitive. But it’s cool, we loved the game. Pikmin! The best thing on the Cube ever. Toss and pull, toss and pull. Pull and drag. That game gave plant life a whole new look. We had other games, but those two were the action.

Career separated the Cube and I. That’s when I got down with the DS Lite. Every Mario game was bought and flipped. Ninja Gaiden was a beautiful treat. As with Mini Ninjas. Both Zelda games were instant classics. Go Toon Link! I got the Final Fantasy library for the DS, but those got too laborious to play, so I stuck with the one-run wonders. New Super Mario Bros. is hot.

Speaking of the New Super Mario Bros, let me introduce you to my Wii. It’s black everything. And I keep it flat: flat black. Wii-motes, the chucks, the console: black everything. And black is sexy. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (I’m all about speed runs and daredevil runs now), both Galaxy games (I still get dizzy), the Kart (ridin’ dirty), the Brawl (cheesing it with Meta Knight), the Zelda game (one more coming soon), Punch-Out (damn Bald Bull! hahahaha, but still on fire), Okami (thank you chuggaconroy…a beautiful game), Mini Ninjas (even bigger that the DS), Da Blob (I love music and I love color), Sports and Resort (let’s bowl!), and Wiiware (Dr. Mario…what?). Moving is so exciting, wouldn’t you agree?

These three systems took the regular 2-D Nintendo side-scroller and gave the characters body with quasi-3D visuals. So when I heard at the 2009 E3 Expo that Nintendo was developing a hand-held console that projects 3D graphics, I was down immediately. And now, I get down tonight!

There are no pictures for this one, but there will be a few on the next one. Until then. Next time, the 3DS.

Tonight I Dined Thai II

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from Thai Chili on the west side, and seeing as to how my adventures are soon coming to an end, as with all adventures, I end it blissfully by eating a beautiful meal. Being my last meal before my travels, tonight I dined Thai. Though the restaurant may be different than usual, as with the time zone and general local; there is no friend or circle of friends joining me, just good food and pleasant company. Company provided by the waitress whom I saw the day before. It’s funny; when my mom was describing me to my uncle she told him that I “was hard to miss.” It is seemingly true as I seem to have that affinity towards people remembering me at restaurants. Not just remembering me, but treating me as a part of the family. It’s a shame as I didn’t even ask her name, but she seemingly knew what I wanted to order and what I may have wanted. And that’s always comforting. Comforted, I dined Thai; ordering a 3-course meal with the same burgundy napkin rolled erect.

With this one I can be what I wanna be
I don’t have 2 live up 2 no one’s fantasy
I could write another 300 melodies
2 her it’s just 3, cuz this one, she loves me 4 me

Wtih this one I don’t even have 2 comb my hair
I can wear what I want 2 or nothing – she don’t care
I don’t even have 2 take her on the rollercoaster, see?
Cuz this one, this one, she loves me 4 me

1^st Course: Combination Appetizer

An entire plate full of the restaurant’s most popular appetizers: an array of spring rolls, shrimp rools, 4 eye-pleasing and bud-dancing Bangkok cups, friend wontons and chicken satay. On the side, three sauces; peanut, sweet & sour and cucumber relish.  If I were to rank the flavor, the wontons would be least, as they tasted plain and unappealing; the most liked would be the Bangkok cups still a favorite. Regardless, all of them were good and eaten with utter enjoyment.

Entrée: Pad Thai with Chicken

The most classic and most famous Thai noodle dish: a simple dish with stir-fried rice noodles, egg, green onion, bean sprout and ground peanut. Though, it may have been my mental state at the time, but this was arguably the best Pad Thai that I have ever eaten. The smell was not sour and the taste was not bitter. Strangely enough, the dish reminded me of my mother’s pancit.

Dessert: Coconut Ice-Cream with Sticky Rice

It was no surprise here. She asked “would you like dessert.” My response, “absolutely.” With no other verbal exchange, as if she read my mind or perhaps saw my enjoyment of the dish on my first encounter, she brought the dessert with a little extra crushed peanut on the side.

So there I sat, smiling from ear to ear like a child in a sandbox playing under the sun with a favorite toy: reminded of my past days with my mother’s cooking of a completely different origin, comfortably sitting and now ready for my journey. This being my last meal, I have come to the conclusion that I belong here: that the west coast is the coast that I call home. I am happy here, my family is here, people are nicer here, I am comfortable here, this is where I belong. Did the meal influence my decision? I would like to think not, but the meal, with every delicious bite, did provide a divine palette for my mental state. With the flavors still dancing in my mouth and still smiling, I take my belongings, bid farewell to the waitress (not knowing if I were to ever return) and walked out of the restaurant listening to Maceo Parker blow his horn on Back ‘N The Day. On my walk, I just knew that it’s gonna be a beautiful night: Prince accompanied me along the way.

It’s gonna be a beautiful
It’s gonna be a beautiful night
U got your world together
Everything’s lookin’ alright
Tonight there’s no tomorrow
This is gonna be the one
Tonight we’re gonna lose our sorrow
Tonight we’re gonna have some fun

My friends and reader, I thank you for reading. Until the next time, I bid you farewell and fare well.

It’s Here! Where Are My Glasses?…I Best Game Boy.

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from the ACC. If we had eight AA batteries, we would have hours upon hours of fun. Tomorrow…I get mine tomorrow! My first Game Boy has been through everything; typhoons, black-outs, long drives going from one side of the small island to the other within an hour’s timeframe and moving from island 1 to island 2 to mainland. I’ve also learned a lot from my Game Boy; (1) it’s not a good idea to bring it to school, (2) you should never mix batteries from two different companies or the batteries will pop in your Game Boy, thus you will need to clean out the battery acid in the tiny crevasses of the battery case, but you get lazy and just leave a little in there, leaving an eternal residue in the Game Boy that reminds you never to mix batteries again until the next time you have to, because you only have 2 Energizer, 1 Duracel and 1 other AA batteries in the house, and (3) if the batteries are dead in one unit, you can always play a 2-player game with both units hooked up with only one visible.

One of our first GB games was Super Mario Land…I guess you can say that this was our first official Mario game. There were some other classics: Gargoyle’s Quest – that game was badass; Motocross Maniacs – doing back flips on a dirt bike long before Travis;  Tetris – Russian classic; Malibu Beach Volleyball – the game looked horrible, but that’s where we found out about the dead batteries trick; and F1 Race – just ridin’ dirty.

Of course there were the crappy hard games: The Amazing Spiderman (I love and still collect the comic book but damn game) – Spider-Man doesn’t swing like that…why does he look like a tool?; The Punisher (two horrible Marvel games in a row) – it’s just bad…a bad piece of crap.

The Game Boy phase lasted awhile, before one day we got the Game Boy color. What? When it came out, you could have gotten it in two types of purple, solid or atomic. Oh! I love purple. I was rocking the atomic, playing Link’s Awakening, Pocket Bomberman and Kirby’s Dream Land (I know that Kirby’s Dream Land was not a Game Boy Color game but we got the game at the same time as the unit). Those three games are ballaholic. The Game Boy Color was also my introduction to Pokemon with Pokemon Silver or Gold, I went with silver because talk is silver. I started off with Cyndaquil, caught Lugia and Ho-Oh, got that shiny Gyarados, and even got my three dogs Raikou, Entei and Suicune (through some Master Ball trading hahahaha). But my favorite Pokemon was Tyranitar which evolves from Larvitar , who is a beast.

That’s the rant. Next time: New-aged Nintendo – Game Cube, my DS Lite and my Wii. Until then this is Pen. Pic. signing off. Zip it up and zip it out.

Tonight I Dined Thai

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from 302, where I eat to live not live to eat. Most of us eventually become accustomed to our mom and dad’s cooking. We have become so accustomed that when we grow up, our palettes are so finicky and stubborn that the thought of eating, yet alone enjoying a meal outside of the family norm is considered blasphemy. With that, it is easy for me to say that my favorite type of food is Filipino food…I grew up on it. But finding said cuisine is rare unless one ventures to prepare each dish. When those rare occasions are not in-ecstasy had, I go for Thai food…a close second.

I have become so fond of Thai food that I eat it at least once a week. Upon my recent journeys, my last meal before leaving the Island was shared with a “flower” of a friend over Thai food. Thus, it was only fitting that I would be eating Thai again my second and third days away.

Come get some, in Martika’s kitchen baby
You bring the noise and Ill bring the smile
It’s been so long since you’ve been down in the kitchen baby
My desire’s running longer than a country mile
So true, you can make all my wishes
So real, you can make all my dreams

1^st Night

Thai Tangerine
12451 Harbor Blvd.
Garden Grove, CA 92840
http://www.thaitangerine.us

Situated in a quaint shopping center, Thai Tangerine was the only Thai restaurant, within walking distance that was open on a Sunday evening. Much like the shopping center, the restaurant itself was cozy, divided into two dining areas separated by a wall with 3 vertical ellipses evenly cut-out and draped with curtains as to see both sides of the dining area simultaneously. The glass-topped tables were set with decorative placemats and forks wrapped in either a black or purple napkin such that it looks as if the fork were wearing a suit jacket. (And did I mention that I love black and oh! I love purple.) Liking the scene. I ordered a 3 course meal: appetizer, entrée and dessert (one item on the menu).

Appetizer: Chicken Satay

A Thai (let’s face it, an everywhere) classic, skewered chicken served with peanut sauce and a cucumber sauce. The peanut sauce was thick and tangy; everything expected from a peanut sauce. However, the cucumber sauce left a lingering after taste similar to that of fish.

Entrée: Pad See Ew with Chicken

The only menu item that won a “tasting award” in 2009. Another Thai classic; stir-fried rice noodles with broccoli, carrots, egg and a brown sauce. Unfortunately, the sauce here was a little bitter. But the amount of food was promising.

Dessert: Mango with Rice Pudding

Plated to look like a rice heart within a mango heart; what was particular elegant with this dessert was the toasted shreds of coconut on top of both rice heart and mango slices. It was a nice conclusion to a meal. 

Women not girls rule my world
I said they rule my world
Act your age, mama (not your shoe size)
Not your shoe size
Maybe we could do the twirl
U don’t have 2 watch dynasty
2 have an attitude
U just leave it all up 2 me
My love will be your food

2^nd night

Thai Chili
4715 West Chapman Ave.
Orange, CA 92868
http://www.thaichilirestaurant.com/home.html

A single 2-story antique building amongst palm trees in the adjacent lot and in the middle a relatively busy business area. Climbing the stairs before entering is a nice touch. Inside, there are a few pieces of Thai artwork hanging on the spackled off-white walls with brown trim and just enough light to set a mood in. The dining room, though bigger than the other, was still split into two sections; this time the split was made by a ground-level architecture as high as the booths caressing it. The booths are a little awkward as if you were to sit up, you would be hunched over the table, and if you were to slouch, you’d swear that you’d be under the table in no time. Again, a glass top table with decorative place mat and a burgundy napkin rolled and made erect on a plate with adjacent fork. As usual, I ordered a 3-course meal.

Appetizer: Bangkok Cup (Krathong Thong)

An eye-pleasing affair with minced chicken meat, corn, peas, carrot, potato, curry powder nested in a crispy rice flour shell and topped with cilantro served with an eye-popping, visually ferocious and luscious cucumber relish.

Entrée: Yellow Curry with Chicken

A mild Thai curry with carrot, onions and potato cooked with curry powder and coconut milk. This curry tastes great on a cold and hot day.

Dessert: Sticky Rice with Coconut Ice-Cream

Two scoops of coconut ice-cream served over a bed of sweet sticky rice and crushed peanuts on the side. The peanuts complimented the dessert elegantly. Again, this was another blissful way to conclude a meal.

The sky looks like it’s turnin’
Turnin’ from blue 2 black
Still I feel the sun is burnin’
Hot monkey on my back
Am I in a speeding car?
Am I lying in your bed?
One kiss from U is all that I do
And I’m outta my head (My head, my head)
Bliss
This is heaven, I swear 2 God
Wish that I could spend everynight with this feeling some more

Until next time, this is your host signing off from the mother-ship.

I don’t want real-life…I want 3D!

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from I-5. So, the Nintendo 3DS was released and you can find them in stores now. I pre-ordered mine before preordering was cool. Unfortunately for me, I will not get mine until Thursday night. But until then, let’s spend the next 3 or 4 days talking Nintendo. The only Nintendo gaming systems that my family and I have owned were the the original NES, the Gamecube, I gots the Wii, the original GameBoy, GameBoy Color and the Nintedo DS Lite. 4 systems in 4 days. Let’s rant:

I am not a gamer, but I do play video games. When we got our NES, we got the Deluxe Set that came with the zapper,  R.O.B. the robot, Gyromite/Stack-Up and Duck Hunt. With those two games, we also got Seicross and Tiger Heli. Gyromite and Stack-Up took away too much time just to set-up (thank you R.O.B.) so they didn’t get much play. Duck Hunt was cute until that dog became annoying…which was quick.

Seicross made us hate rocks and Tiger Heli (much like Seicross) just kept on going…forever. But those were the classics. We didn’t have Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario Bros 2. In fact our first Mario game was Super Mario Bros. 3 (the best NES game ever). Our second NES Mario game was Dr. Mario, which has the best soundtrack ever (screw other opinions…Fever and Chill are banging).

Mike Tyson’s Punch Out was an instant play-all-day game. I remember not eating the night the game was bought, because we just got past Glass Joe and we were trying to figure how to beat Von Kaiser. I’ll admit it, I was knocked-down by Glass Joe at first…I was slow. King Hippo took awhile. Stupid Bald Bull “bull charge.” But I did TKO Mike in the 1st round once in my life instead of the round3 decision.

I skipped school just to play Double-Dragon II…I’m a master of the super-knee kick thing. Make them fly! Chicago Bears in Tecmo Bowl. Walter Payton running forever. Mike Singletary getting the sacks. Going long to Willie Gault. Returning everything with Gentry. We can easily rack up 200 points on the Redskins or Cowboys.

We never flipped Metal Gear…we don’t know how to destroy the Super Computer. Let’s not talk about Ninja Gaiden. WTF? Punching dogs to death! Hiding in a box! Okay that’s actually pretty neat…but still damn game. How does Snake carry all that crap? Dude is a boss! A boss that can’t even pick a lock to a locked door. Got to find that card key.

Of course we eventually got the Zelda games. They were gold…love that. Star Tropics was hot. You had to wet the map to see the code! What? Instant classic. Thanks to my dad traveling, we’ve had the pleasure of owning classics which were rare to find in the states. Burai Fighter was a beautiful game, but hard as hell. How can I play on Ace when I can barely beat the game on Eagle?

Another game brought to us from overseas was Romance of the Three Kingdoms; the NES game based on the classic Chinese novel. Thanks to this game, the novel is one of my favorites. I love the game too. Who am I playing? Of course I’m going to start off as Liu Bei. Of couse I want Guan Yu and Zhang Fei on my sqaud. I’m a winner. What? But the game is a classic whoever you chose as ruler.

As AVGN has showed us, with every good NES game, there is a stupid amount of bad games. For example, one of our worst Deja Vu. Alligator in a sewer, which we can shoot with our pistol. An endless sewer. Being mugged by the same guy. The girl in the red dress. We played this game a million times and never knew how to pass it. Who would have known to dump all of our possession in the sewer? Balls! Bad Dudes and N.A.R.C. should only be played in the arcade. But all NES games should be played.

3D in 4 days! Next time: GameBoy.

Let’s Experiment

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from the skies (ever notice how airports are for couples and families?). Let’s talk about dough (2 points if you can name the purple). It’s simple enough: 

The dough is the foundation for this meal. Everything related to life and daily-function requires a solid foundation. Though the materials of that foundation may differ, the results are the same; the foundation provides the same support a bed would for a person needing sleep. Striping away all of the complexities of life and daily-function, a solid foundation is built through (1) family, (2) friends (or at least some sense of community), (3) water, (4) food, (5) hobby (or at least some outlet), and (6) finally sex (for a lack of a better word and related tastes related to it). With these six simple ingredients, dough can be made.

The family is the epitome of who we are; they were the ones that set our behaviors, influenced our thoughts and sculpted our life. The family is a dormant volcano patiently waiting for activity: an eruption that simultaneously causes destruction and given birth. So it is only fitting that only 4 cups of flour be sculpted into a volcano. 

What’s a matter with your world?
Was it a boy when you wanted a girl?
Don’t you know straight hair ain’t got no curl?
Life ain’t every funky unless it’s got that pop

Friends are a good thing, unless you (like me) are sole and solitary. Regardless, a sense of community is crucial, as it balances out the influences of our family; it’s the glue that keeps our human nature together. Glue consisting of 5 large eggs (or 4 extra large eggs if you really think about it). 

I never wanted to be your weekend lover
I only want to be some kind of friend
I could never steal you from another
It’s such a shame our friendship had to end 

What’s better than sharing drink and meal with those you love? Nothing that’s what. After all, if it’s good for the body it’s good for the soul. ¼ cup water and one tablespoon of salt. Mix and slowly combine solids with liquids.

Let me tell you want I did
I took another bubble-bath with my pants on
All the fighting stopped
Next time I’ll do it sooner

Hobbies provide balance when the level of people has become cumbersome. Hobbies, also take time to master. They take patience, and endless hours of involvement in your craft; repeating repetitions that have been repeated 3 times before. It’s like kneading dough. Repetitive kneading gives the dough the right texture and consistent for a good pasta. 

Honey, we’ve been together, honey, for too long
Honey, we’ve got to make it better, honey, before we go wrong
We got to try a new position (yeah) something that will make it alright
New position (yeah, yeah), let’s go fishing in the river of life

Having been richly influenced by the first five ingredients, our tastes may be fitting for others. And there is only one way to make sure that the taste is to your liking…you have to taste it. The first taste is nerve-racking, almost uncomforting. Yet, at the same time the first taste is a sweet bouquet of layered ecstasy that reminds you of the rolling waves on a tranquil ocean. Doesn’t that taste so nice? Roll the dough like an ocean.

I’d rubbed your back forever, it’s automatic
I’d look for a needle in a haystack, that’s automatic too
I’ll go down on you all night long, it’s automatic (yes I will baby)
And if you need a right, I’ll be wrong, that’s automatic too

Once your doughy desires have been met…the hardest part. Too many ingredients can complicate things. For example, it was thought that Mozart used too many notes in his music. Thus, fulfilling the need of each ingredient requires sacrifice. The time spent for each ingredient has to be cut, constructed and managed. And that’s the hardest part, after spending the time to mix all of the ingredients together, you have to cut them apart making individual noodles which contain elements of each ingredient.

Life is dough. Dough is hard to make. But life tastes so good. Enjoy!

So It Begins Again

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live on another side. As with the other, I will be your host on this adventure. You can call me Penny…Penny Picayune. In the rare chance you happen to have stumbled onto this blog already knowing of one Penny Picayune that would lead me to guess that you also follow the untitledincandide blog. And if this were indeed the case, thank you for following the latter and thank you for stumbling onto this one. One which, will be treated in a very similar manner as the latter, but instead of there being many; there is only one.

Every blog should have a reason for existence . But, unfortunately, I have yet to determine what that existence-defining reason is. I do know from untitled that writing not as technically as I have been does provide a nice break from a rather drab and mundane work essence. So that is a good thing. Maybe this blog will exist for the sole purpose of maintaining (love and) happiness. Or perhaps this blog will exist simply to determine why this blog does exist. Ah…that’s the one.

So my dear friends, sit back and relax with that Coke and a smile, as it will hopefully be a random ride. Until next time.