The B. Stands for Bucks
I think I was wrong. The “B” in B. Patisserie may not stand for “box” but rather “bucks” as in we spend big bucks whenever we pay a visit.
Who Did It Better, USAA or Costco?
Who did the dad helping his son fish better, USAA or Costco?
My Japan Education: Tokyo vs Osaka Banana
Apparently, banana snacks are a thing in Japan. I was introduced to the Tokyo Banana but then was told that the Osaka Banana was better. After wrapping my head around the concept of these banana-based concoctions, I was fortunate enough to sample both. They weren’t the freshest samples but well within the alloted expiration date.
Tokyo Banana
Many flavors are available, each with its own visual design. The Tokyo Banana feels more playful with its designs and multitude of variations.
The inside is more like a banana cream filling with a Twinkie outside.
Osaka Banana
The Osaka counterpart, on the other hand, comes from a refined point of view. It’s packaging is more sophisticated, void of the playful Tokyo patterns.
The confection itself is partitioned in indivdual containers that keep the Osaka Banana in its sliced form. The banana is sandwiched in between soft sponge cake.
My Preference
Personally, I gotta give the nod to the Tokyo Banana. I like the overall execution of this treat. I’m not a fan of bananas to begin with, and both Osaka and Tokyo Bananas didn’t really get the banana flavor quite right. The Osaka Banana flavor was more realistic but not real enough. Because the authenticity of a banana was lost at this point, the cream filling of the Tokyo Banana appealed to me more since it was like eating a banana cream pie. And for me, I didn’t mind that the design pattern was actually emblazoned on the cake.
“East Side” Girl Scout Smores Cookies
Alright, a Girl Scout troop in Hawaii needs to find a way to bring in the other Smores cookies. Sourced from two different bakeries, there are differences in Girl Scout cookies throughout America as described by the L.A. Times.
Personally, I think these chocolate-covered graham cracker cookies are way better than the sandwich version sold by Hawaii-based Girl Scouts. The sandwich version tastes like any other sandwich cookies available at grocers. If both types of Smores could be brought to Hawaii, they could to be sold regionally, like an “east side” and “west side” Smore. That’ll provide a distinguishing characteristic for the cookie and maybe stir up some preference tiffs (like the argument about who makes the best malasada). I’d definitely go for this “east side” Smore.
My Japan Education: Gudetama
What, really?!? This guy is the most popular Sanrio character since Hello Kitty? Gudetama? The lazy egg?
I can’t even imagine the appeal of this non-cutesy character that doesn’t seem like a creation from Sanrio that spawned Kerokeroppi and the Twin Stars. And Gudetama is a real downer, seemingly unable to cope and deal with the real world.
Oh well, now I’m educated about this “unstoppable cultural phenomenon.”
I Don’t Know Fashion
Obviously my fashion sense is flawed, especially when Target is involved. Here I thought the Victoria Beckham collaboration with Target would be very popular. But judging from the inventory currently available, it appears that this Spice Girl-turned-designer collection isn’t doing that well.
After looking through the line, yeah, I’m not won over. Maybe it’s just a Hawaii-thing, but I can’t picture the locals outfitted in these pieces.
That’s too bad since Target was ready to handle the (potential) sales by installing even more self checkout counters.
Target Kailua Now With More Self Service
I guess after a one-year learning session with these self checkout counters at Target Kailua, the time to expand was right. Now the self checkout counters have about doubled with the installation of another row.
Amazingly, the traditional checkout counters manned by employees still have long queues. I guess business must be good?
The Costco Caffeine Embargo Is Over
I never did learn the reason why several Hawaii Costco locations were without caffeineated varieties of their signature Seattle Mountain Coffee whole coffee beans. But rest assured the caffeine is back in stock.
Coming to Kailua: AT&T and GNC
Finally coming to Kailua is its own AT&T location. Previously, the closest location was in Kaneohe, but now Kailua residents can get serviced at the soon-to-open location near Times.
Neighboring AT&T is the once-again relocated GNC. GNC was right across the street next to Starbucks and Jamba Juice then moved by UPS. And now its latest is at the Kailua Shopping Center.
Looking for Trip Itinerary Planning
Can anyone recommend a good trip itinerary planning service or app? Ideally, I’d want both – a web site that has a mobile app to access its services on the go. This service would keep track of a trip itinerary, showing what’s planned for each day. Gotta be able to add places, attractions, events, lodging, etc by name but also show these locations on a map. Need to share this itinerary with others going on the trip. These other travelers should be able to add other locations they’re interested in seeing. They can also leave comments on locations. Sounds basic right? Sadly, I haven’t found anything that works completely.
TripAdvisor
I started with TripAdvisor that covers most of my needs. The reviews and data behind TripAdvisor make it a great place to start. But I’m running into problems adding small attractions to a TripAdvisor saved trip. It’s easy to add the mainstream attractions, but say you wanted to visit a specific 7-Eleven in Kyoto (for whatever reason), you’d probably have a hard time in TripAdvisor since this mundane location won’t have an entry. So how do you add that spot to your saved trip itinerary?
TripAdvisor uses Google Maps to visually depict my trip locations, but it doesn’t fully integrate with Google Maps. I can’t pull up my TA-saved locations using the Google Maps app. I manually re-enter them into Google Maps.
Google Maps and Trips
So a search for “trip planning itinerary” reminded me of Google’s recent Trips mobile app. It’s mobile only and kinda useful if you have no real itinerary set while on your trip since the app will give you suggestions. Too basic for what I need, but it does integrate with my saved locations in Google Maps.
Google Maps is just that, maps. This is useful in and of itself, but you can’t build an itinerary solely off of a map. It does help plan your trip since you can easily see locations in a region and get approximate travel times. I tried adding multiple layers in the My Maps area where one layer corresponded to one day. But there’s a (small) limit to how many layers your map can have, so that was a no go.
Yelp
Um, no.
Google Docs
Sadly, Google Docs seems like the eventual winner for my predicament although I don’t like it. Sure, it can sorta do the job but isn’t the most elegant match for what I ideally want. I can add links to all the places that we’re going to or plan to go to. I can share and collaborate on Docs, and I can add the link to my shared Google Maps. But it’s so not what I want.
There has to be something! Sound off below.
An Unicorn Kind of Day
Today was surely a day of unicorns where not one, but two proverbial unicorns made an appearance. First off, Starbucks really did launch their magical Unicorn Frappuccino today.
Yup, it’s pink, purple, and blue and looks absolutely crazy! But, the taste is anything but crazy. Heck, it’s even not as sweet as it looks. Sure, there’s sugar galore, but it’s not so bad that you’re done after a few sips. Despite this drink’s outlandish appearance, you’ll taste vanilla. Colored vanilla, but vanilla nonetheless. The sour raspberry swirl does add a much needed kick for contrast, but there’s not enough of it. You’ll quickly go back to vanilla. There’s a tinge of fruity flavor, but I wouldn’t have said mango if I didn’t already know that. Fun and frivolous, but it’s one and done for me.
The second unicorn of the day occurred while waiting at a traffic stop light. Check this out.
See that old school Toyota Servco bag? I haven’t seen one in years since I was a teenager. I had a black one with the silver panels. Such memories of stuffing sporting equipment and anything else in the bag. No pockets, no dividers, no compartments, just one cavern of space. Okay, really, it wasn’t the greatest bag, but the memories! I guess these bags are still made, or is this really an unicorn sighting?