Seafood Shanty

This probably doesn't matter to anyone outside the Philadelphia area but I want to get it off my chest. Back when I was a kid, Seafood Shanty was the restaurant to get seafood. It was awesome. For whatever reason (hey, I was a kid), the franchise went out of business and disappeared. Recently, a local guy decided to bring it back. He bought some of the original recipes from the old Shanty and opened a store not far from my house. We finally got to try it out last night. I was disappointed.

First, service was pretty slow. I used to be a waitress so I tend to be fairly lenient on wait times. However, none of our food should have taken particularly long to cook. The most 'complicated' food was my husband's lobster rigatoni, which didn't even have rigatoni noodles. I had a steampot, which ended up way too spicy and didn't have a whole lot in it. My daughter ordered a "bucket of dungeness crab," which contained an entire half of a crab. To top it off, everything took so long that we didn't get home until way past my daughter's bed time.

This brings me to my second point. For the amount of food we received, the price was way too high. A few months ago, the three of us visited Joe's Crab Shack. We ordered similar food and the cost was the same. BUT there was twice as much food at Joe's. The bucket of crab I had there had one and a half crabs in it.

So, if you are in the Reading, PA area and are thinking about trying the new Seafood Shanty, skip it. Drive the extra hour and go to Joe's Crab Shack in King of Prussia. You won't regret it.

Busy Busy

My daughter was sick last night so I have been working from home today. As a result, things have been pretty busy around here. Luckily, she is feeling better and should be returning to school tomorrow. It'll be nice to have things back to normal.

I choose you!

After taking a few days to make a decision, I have finally picked the next jdrama I'm going to watch. Hito ni Yasashiku starring Katori Shingo. I haven't heard too much about the show but I have been dying to watch it. Hopefully it will be awesome!

Seriously?

As I'm sure you've figured out, I like reading about various weight loss fads. I came across something called Chili Burn this morning. Thinking that it was something completely different, I read some chili burn reviews. It is almost exactly as it sounds - chili powder. There are some other things mixed in there (green tea, ginger root, peppermint, etc.) but, despite having more green tea than chili pepper in it, the idea is that the hotness of the chili will burn off the pounds. I don't think I would want to even try a chili powder tablet. There is no conclusive proof that it would work anyway. The only ingredient proven to help with weight loss is the green tea and there isn't enough of it in the tablet to work. Thanks to its crappy marketing scheme, it's not allowed in the US right now. So it's mostly being marketed to Canada. Watch out Canadians!

JDorama review: Kamisama, Mou Sukoshi Dake

Title: Kamisama, Mou Sukoshi Dake Also known as: God, Please Give Me More Time Broadcast dates: 7/7/98 - 9/22/98 Number of episodes: 12 Genre: Drama Cast: Kaneshiro Takeshi, Fukada Kyoko Plot: Kano Masako (Fukada) contracts HIV after prostituting herself in order to buy tickets for a concert featuring her favorite composer, Ishikawa Keigo (Kaneshiro). Keigo, who lost his previous lover to death, finds the will to live again when he meets the high school girl. What is good: Some parts of the story bring out a deep emotional response. What is bad: The writers couldn't really decide whose story this was. Letter rating: C

I don't normally watch depressing dramas. However, I am a big fan of Fukada Kyoko so I wanted to watch some of her older works.

To be honest, I'm not really sure where to begin this review. While the show did have some very emotionally moving pieces, there were so many wrong parts that didn't make the show, as a whole, worth watching. Masaki is 17 years old, which puts her in the 'selfish teenager' age group. Throughout the entire show, everything she does is nothing but selfish acts. Even when she claims she is thinking about someone else's well-being (mostly in the "I'm such a burden!" sense), that's not the truth. The worst part is that Kamisama isn't Masaki's story. It's Keigo's.

I'm sure that tons of people will protest that fact. But, if you have watched the show, think about it. Masaki rarely does anything in the entire series. Everything she does is a reaction to Keigo. Kamisama is the story of Keigo learning how to love again after the death of his previous lover. Masaki is just the path he takes to get there.

Taking that into account, it is a very good story. Unfortunately, the writers decided to focus on Masaki and her plight with HIV. I know that the story takes place in the late 90s and things have changed a ton since then. However, HIV was discovered in the early 80s. In the show, they treat the disease like it is a brand new illness. The writers also do an awful job at showing how much time has progressed in the series. While we know that Masaki was in high school in episode one and there is a THREE YEARS LATER in episode nine, there isn't anything in any of the other episodes to show us how much time has passed. Characters are always referencing how little time Masaki has left to live but there are few signs showing how long she lived.

At the end, I wouldn't recommend watching Kamisama. Maybe if you feel like watching something super sad, it might fill the void. Just keep in mind that the show has a very slow pace and there is a lot of crap to put up with before you get to the final episode, which is sadly the best part of the whole series.

One left!

I have one more episode of Kamisama left! While I am hoping to get it finished tonight, I'm not sure that will happen. At the latest, I will have it done by Friday. I can't wait to get this thing over with. Any suggestions for my next jdorama? Please try to keep it on the happier side this time. I don't think I can handle two depressing dramas in a row.

Tax Time!

I know I haven't posted all week and I apologize. However, I wanted to get this reminder out there: For those of us that live in the United States, the tax deadline is Tuesday, April 17! Make sure you either get your taxes done or get your extension in!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is having a nice holiday weekend. It doesn't matter if you celebrate Easter or Passover or whatever. Just take some time to be with your loved ones and maybe relax a bit. Me? I had dinner with my in-laws and now I will spend the rest of my weekend doing laundry. And deciding if I should look up raleigh carpet cleaning services. Maybe I'll just try to take a nap instead.

Happy Holidays everyone.

So tired

Today has been super busy! No time for jdramas, Wholesaleinsurance.net, or even a nap. I had my first Hip Hop Hustle class today and, despite some room snags, it went very well. Then I had to go pick my daughter up from my sister's house. While I was there, we all put together postcards for me to mail out to get new members in my classes. I got tons accomplished but now I am so tired. I am going to try to sneak in a few more episodes of Kamisama before I completely collapse. Wish me luck!

Ah, holidays

Ah yes, it is Good Friday and I am still here at work. All of the bosses have left, leaving us peons alone. While it is nice and quiet, I think I'd rather go home and snuggle with my husband instead of sitting here googling Tubing Bender websites or something. Yes, I am bored. Very truly bored. The only thing getting me through the rest of this day is the mere knowledge that I am going to the mall once the day is over. Though I may regret that. I'm sure there will be tons of kids getting their pictures taken with the Easter Bunny. Ah, holidays.