ADVENTURES
Kinton Ramen – Quartier Dix30
Not a whole lot of adventures here except for the random meal outing. In this case, we went to check out the opening week of Kinton Ramen in their latest location at Quarter Dix30. I haven’t been to Kinton Ramen since before the pandemic except for the one time I did some takeout from one of the downtown locations so didn’t really know of any of the changes on the menu. The menu remains pretty simple but added a beef option now. The food was okay. The chicken donburi (left photo) was a tad salty in some spots but I got it for my toddler and he seems to enjoy the rice portion a lot. We also shared the ramen where the chicken was pretty good and the egg was cooked as it should be (which is an important element of the ramen bowl). I took the thin noodles which is my normal choice. I did also take the takoyaki which I forgot to take a picture of but was good. I wasn’t super impressed with the service but its the first week so I’m fairly understanding of it. Its a passable experience and at this point, its been open a couple of weeks so if you are near there, then you can go and form your own opinion about it.
Toddler Update
Nothing but good news on the 17 month update for Triple V. Our latest doctor follow-up visit included a full check-up and everything is doing so great, our next follow-up is at 24 months. He’s back on the curve and all his development seems to be hitting the mark as his toddling took a huge leap in the last month to walking and now its speed walking, shuffling, climbing, etc. A lot of more attention on the little guy is where we’re at but he’s also creating a lot of fun activities for himself like literally running circles around it. When he does that, he’s having a party of two or three because we’re having fun watching him so giggly and happy as well. The vocabulary and general comprehension is definitely improving but he is working with three languages in our house so the doctor also said as long as he is understanding, then he will pick up the talking gradually. Just have to keep on keeping on like we’re doing right now and continue finding more activities.
Holidays Marathon
As I try to get some type of movie reviews up and always seem to turn to TV binges instead, Holidays Marathon will happen but only in the week prior to Christmas, mostly because I’m running really low on what to review. I might even toss in some titles in December for films set around Christmas which happened to be a huge theme of November which was completely unintentional. We will see how it goes but I’m working on it.
Real Life & Minor Kitchen Renovations
Talk about a month of real life happening, normally this month would be when I’d share my awesome Black Friday hauls but this month included some sudden financial things like mortgage renewals, dentist appointment, and some minor kitchen renovations purchases. Of course, I did take advantage of Black Friday for very fun essential stuff like windshield washer fluid, ice melter and most importantly, diapers. You know it! Nothing beats buying diapers on discount because they are probably the most used item in the house right now. The serious part of this is probably that with minor kitchen renovations to work on, we will see how much Christmas we can get up when our normal Christmas tree spot is full of Ikea boxes as we install the new items ourselves gradually.
WHATS UP
BOOKS
Currently reading: Flying Volant of Snowy Mountain
Nothing too exciting on the reading fun as we continue on the slow bedtime reading of Flying Volant of Snowy Mountain. If anything, my Cantonese reading is getting much better now after exactly 200 pages, which is where I’m at with this book and that’s just about halfway. I’m halfway and the story is basically a lot of talking about the past and setting up the situation and now they are looking for a treasure in a icy cave in the snowy mountain. I wonder if the entire story will be set around this scenario. I can’t remember the adaptation but it didn’t seem so focused on one spot. However, that’s not to say that it isn’t good. It is pretty fun to see the story unfold as they tell their story and debunk another’s lies.
MOVIES
- Choose Love (Interactive, 2023)
- 365 Days (2020)
- 365 Days: This Day (2022)
- The Next 365 Days (2022)
- Book Club (2018)
- Sly (2023)
- Mean Girls (2004 rewatch)
- The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
- Hotel Chevalier (short 2007)
- Quiz Lady (2023)
- Nine to Five (1980)
- For The Birds (short 2000 rewatch)
- La Luna (short 2011 rewatch)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
- A Haunting in Venice (2023)
- In Her Shoes (2005)
- Isle of Dogs (2018)
- National Treasure (2004 rewatch)
- Smile (2022)
- Nowhere (2023)
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007 rewatch)
- Cruella (2021)
- Eternals (2021)
- Drive Me Crazy (1999)
- Table 19 (2017)
- Toy Story 4 (2019)
- Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961 rewatch)
- Noelle (2019)
- Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool (2023)
The final month of discounted Disney Plus in play here as I try to catch up to a lot of titles from the recording of an upcoming season of Movies and Tea (you can guess the director) to Pixar which was a sorry effort and Marvel Cinematic Universe, which also wasn’t too great in progress but ended up catching a bunch of random titles on my watchlist instead. I guess that’s how it always is but I did find some interesting movies in the mix like finally watching 10 Things I Hate About You which I thought was pretty fun. I can’t really talk about Disney Plus without talking about Quiz Lady because of Awkwafina. I just love her. She’s such a shining point in everything that she’s in.
You can also noticed that I challenged myself early in the month at the 365 Days Trilogy which I’m trying to write about it but there’s just so many things that probably is worth more of my time to write about before the end of the year. As we talk about Netflix productions, the documentary for Sylvester Stallone called Sly is very good much like the stand-up comedy of Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool. The latter is really more because of the jokes landing because of the general age group landing around the people I know so I can definitely get a lot more of the jokes.
I watched a lot of movies this past month and I’m trying very hard to see how to get all these films written. You might start seeing groups of reviews come out especially since I’m trying to see how to write a little about all the Marvel movies I’ve watched this past year but not having to do full reviews because its a lot and some of it isn’t very diverse in discussion points. We will see where it goes.
TV
- American Ninja Warrior (Season 13, 2021)
- The Midnight Club (Season 1, 2022 Review)
- Call Me By Fire (Season 3, 2023)
- National Treasure: Edge of History (Season 1, 2022 Review)
- Let’s Fall In Love/Relationship (Season 5, 2023)
Currently watching: Light Chaser Rescue, Crush Over 2023, Singing With Legends S4, Asia Super Young
Writing TV Binges are a lot of fun, much like watching TV series is a lot of fun as well. This month might not seem too plentiful considering I only have a pair of eyes and they were spent watching movies during most of my spare time. Honestly, everything I’ve been watching has been really good. You can already read the reviews for The Midnight Club and National Treasure: Edge of History which were both entertaining to say the least. As for variety/reality shows, it will pop up in the next roundup. The very odd single season of American Ninja Warrior Season 13 got added to Netflix and I’m always a big fan of these things plus it got me motivated to get back into shape. The Chinese shows are the same but shows that I personally enjoy from dating shows to music shows.
GAMES
- Jusant
- Venba
- Cocoon
Currently playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Look at this gaming month, even I’m a little impressed with myself. Nothing like the stress of the ending of a subscription to give the perfect kick in the pants to play more games. I kept the Game Pass an extra month just to play Jusant and boy, did it not disappoint. While I’m not gaming as much as I used to, its definitely a sit back and relax sort of game as you go on a climbing adventure to the top of a mountain to learn about people who used to live on the side of the mountains but eventually had to move on with the lack of water and excessive heat. The soundtrack is just wow. If you aren’t a gamer but want to chill out, I recommend this soundtrack.
Venba is a short indie game about an immigrant family and the challenges between generations, trying to fit in and also keeping family tradition, in this case, cooking or trying to mend her mother’s recipes. Its only about 2 to 3 hours long. It almost feels like it could be fleshed out more with its cooking mechanics.
Cocoon was a last minute pick for myself and it was because I learned that this is from the game designer of Limbo and Inside, two games that I love a lot. Playdead director and designer may have gone their separate ways to different projects and Somerville is a game I’m going to play very soon but Cocoon is a fantastic puzzle adventure and the no narrative world is great. The puzzles are a little loopy especially by the end because of the world/orb travelling element but nothing so complicated that a little brain exercise can’t solve. Of course, that comes to say that you do have to enjoy a little challenging puzzle game.
Time to battle the Steam backlog now that I am Game Pass free (until the next $1/month promotion if it happens).
Tranquil Dreams 