Thursday, October 25, 2007
uday65.oct25.bug bug homebug
So all my time lately is trying to squash bugs occurring between Sudoku and the Xbox360. It's a pain. But I now know when I'm coming home, the 6th midnightish, so we're almost done. I'll make a post this weekend about the last 10 days. Here are some highlights in pictures:
Monday, October 15, 2007
uday55.oct15. don't worry, I've been eating well
This post is about various foods I haven't posted about yet. Picture and then caption.
These are the 5 kachapuri , the oh so delicous georgian bread (ხაჭაპური) that is made with leavened bread and distinct fresh and aged cheeses. Sometimes they are topped with eggs, like the one in the second picture that just came out of my oven. Despite being 40 degrees f out, you'll see that the window is open because my oven door smokes something fierce and I don't want the alarms going off, well, that is if they actually work. I love them much and will have to find a way to get them when I'm home.
This is a tasty Russian fairy creature that is usually sad. This one is happy to be of use filling my belly.
*&(*&*( Pozatahata or something I can't remeber well is the name of this place. It's one of the only Ukrainian "fastfood" places, but it's more similar to K&W, you select food, put it on a tray, and then pay at the end. This one was in the mall, so we were smart and grabbed a seat before the food. Definitely the right choice as I later watched people wandering with their hands full of food they couldn't yet eat (is there a worse torture?).
First time to the "Nobu" here (I really doubt they pay chef Nobu Matsuhisa for his name here). Jeff and I got this, 2 more rolls, 2 types of dumplings, tempura, miso, and a pin-noodle salad.
I ate that whole thing after the aforementioned soup and salad. The dumplings and tempura came next - that was hard to fit, but I did likely much to the amusement of the staff. The next time I dined, the sushi chefs pointed to me and were talking to a chef who wasn't there before. It might have been because I thanked them in japanese and said it was delicious too.
This was a beef tenderloin salad d'or bleu that was fantastic, pictured before I poured 1/2 that boat of blue dressing on. Also pictured is a ukrainian champagne that Alla ordered and was surprisingly, to me, deelish.
I whipped out a little easter spirit egg hunt style and hid food for the cats to find
This was beef wrapped in rice paper, similar to a vietmanese spring roll with beef tenderloin. Very tasty (sorry the picture is poor).
The waiter recommended I try a salad they had that day using marinated beef tongue. I don't believe I've had beef tongue before, or it wasn't memorable enough, so I agreed and found it better than agreeable. yay!
This is the same restaurant I got the khachapuri from, suliko (it's a classic georgian girl's name). As you can see, there is a khachapuri , a sweet white georgian wine (also very good), and tender pork ribs sauteed with sweet onions.
.jpg)
After finding the chinese restaurant and having 20+ dumplings, I decided to go back for another night. One was great wall of china pork and it came out flaming. The host (and waiter) flipped it around and opened it to reveal this:.jpg)
The carrot was shaped into a section of the great wall very well, but wasn't captured on film. I did capture half of it with my belly though. The parsley made up the trees around the wall - very cool. Oh, the pork was soft and savory.
.jpg)
So I had rice, red tea, a thick tofu and ham soup, a squid, mushroom, and noodle soup, cucumber and rice noodle "rain" salad, salty fried buns, cold sliced duck, fried dumplings, and lychee fruit for dessert.
closeup clockwise starting with the fried bun, then the rain salad, next lychee, and finally tofu soup. I really like the chinese here, but it's farther to walk to the restaurant and more expensive than in the US so I haven't gone a lot. I look forward to going again though.
These are the 5 kachapuri , the oh so delicous georgian bread (ხაჭაპური) that is made with leavened bread and distinct fresh and aged cheeses. Sometimes they are topped with eggs, like the one in the second picture that just came out of my oven. Despite being 40 degrees f out, you'll see that the window is open because my oven door smokes something fierce and I don't want the alarms going off, well, that is if they actually work. I love them much and will have to find a way to get them when I'm home.
This is a tasty Russian fairy creature that is usually sad. This one is happy to be of use filling my belly.
*&(*&*( Pozatahata or something I can't remeber well is the name of this place. It's one of the only Ukrainian "fastfood" places, but it's more similar to K&W, you select food, put it on a tray, and then pay at the end. This one was in the mall, so we were smart and grabbed a seat before the food. Definitely the right choice as I later watched people wandering with their hands full of food they couldn't yet eat (is there a worse torture?).
First time to the "Nobu" here (I really doubt they pay chef Nobu Matsuhisa for his name here). Jeff and I got this, 2 more rolls, 2 types of dumplings, tempura, miso, and a pin-noodle salad.
I ate that whole thing after the aforementioned soup and salad. The dumplings and tempura came next - that was hard to fit, but I did likely much to the amusement of the staff. The next time I dined, the sushi chefs pointed to me and were talking to a chef who wasn't there before. It might have been because I thanked them in japanese and said it was delicious too.
This was a beef tenderloin salad d'or bleu that was fantastic, pictured before I poured 1/2 that boat of blue dressing on. Also pictured is a ukrainian champagne that Alla ordered and was surprisingly, to me, deelish.
I whipped out a little easter spirit egg hunt style and hid food for the cats to find
This was beef wrapped in rice paper, similar to a vietmanese spring roll with beef tenderloin. Very tasty (sorry the picture is poor).
The waiter recommended I try a salad they had that day using marinated beef tongue. I don't believe I've had beef tongue before, or it wasn't memorable enough, so I agreed and found it better than agreeable. yay!
This is the same restaurant I got the khachapuri from, suliko (it's a classic georgian girl's name). As you can see, there is a khachapuri , a sweet white georgian wine (also very good), and tender pork ribs sauteed with sweet onions.
.jpg)
After finding the chinese restaurant and having 20+ dumplings, I decided to go back for another night. One was great wall of china pork and it came out flaming. The host (and waiter) flipped it around and opened it to reveal this:.jpg)
The carrot was shaped into a section of the great wall very well, but wasn't captured on film. I did capture half of it with my belly though. The parsley made up the trees around the wall - very cool. Oh, the pork was soft and savory..jpg)
So I had rice, red tea, a thick tofu and ham soup, a squid, mushroom, and noodle soup, cucumber and rice noodle "rain" salad, salty fried buns, cold sliced duck, fried dumplings, and lychee fruit for dessert.
closeup clockwise starting with the fried bun, then the rain salad, next lychee, and finally tofu soup. I really like the chinese here, but it's farther to walk to the restaurant and more expensive than in the US so I haven't gone a lot. I look forward to going again though.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
uday53 pics, work. sushi for dinner
It's a rainy saturday, so I only took a few pictures today. The first picture is how to get wires from the inside of the building to the outside, or vice versa, ukr style:
Then I decided that at the 53rd day, it was about time I bought an umbrella. I walked to the stall mall (made up of small stalls and almost no real walls, but inside a big multistory building). On the way I couldn't help but hear kids type music through my koss noise muffling ear phones. Mickey Mouse was dancing with a hairball and a santora (sp?)(not pictured) juice box, a brand I like, while fuzzy people danced on a big stage.
Close to work I took a picture of trees and vines, and then another shot of the haphazard wall building methods:
Now here are random pics from other days, captions beneath:
Zombie stockings. ugggggh.
TGIFWTF
McDonalds. One of the nicest I've ever seen. In the picture you might be able to count 10 women. There were 20 ahead of me, including the 13 working there. They were all in good health and looked clean/happy. This seemed so contrary to US fastfood I had to pinch myself. Then you look at the board and see steak fries on the board next to the drink. You get to choose which kind you want and they're both delicious. I only tried fries, fries, and a vanilla sunday with strawberry. I wanted nuts on that too, but they said that only comes with the frosty or whatever. gah, lies. every american knows that their mcdonalds has nuts for sundays. grow a pair. I'll try a burger or something later, but I've been too in love with georgian cuisine so far.
The juice here rules. Some things cost more than the US, these however only cost about a dollar and in each they capture the essence of the fruit by cramming damn near the whole thing into a blender as far as I can tell. The medleys with pear are especially tasty.
View from my apt during lunch. Cars and honking galore.
Security is kicking me out. I'm going to go have Japanese soup and some sushi. I'll take pics. Cheers.
Then I decided that at the 53rd day, it was about time I bought an umbrella. I walked to the stall mall (made up of small stalls and almost no real walls, but inside a big multistory building). On the way I couldn't help but hear kids type music through my koss noise muffling ear phones. Mickey Mouse was dancing with a hairball and a santora (sp?)(not pictured) juice box, a brand I like, while fuzzy people danced on a big stage.
Close to work I took a picture of trees and vines, and then another shot of the haphazard wall building methods:
Now here are random pics from other days, captions beneath:
Zombie stockings. ugggggh.
TGIFWTF
McDonalds. One of the nicest I've ever seen. In the picture you might be able to count 10 women. There were 20 ahead of me, including the 13 working there. They were all in good health and looked clean/happy. This seemed so contrary to US fastfood I had to pinch myself. Then you look at the board and see steak fries on the board next to the drink. You get to choose which kind you want and they're both delicious. I only tried fries, fries, and a vanilla sunday with strawberry. I wanted nuts on that too, but they said that only comes with the frosty or whatever. gah, lies. every american knows that their mcdonalds has nuts for sundays. grow a pair. I'll try a burger or something later, but I've been too in love with georgian cuisine so far.
The juice here rules. Some things cost more than the US, these however only cost about a dollar and in each they capture the essence of the fruit by cramming damn near the whole thing into a blender as far as I can tell. The medleys with pear are especially tasty.
View from my apt during lunch. Cars and honking galore.Security is kicking me out. I'm going to go have Japanese soup and some sushi. I'll take pics. Cheers.
Customer Service: sony, microsoft, and nintendo
Ok, this post is about games, not the ukraine. games and customer service. I won't feel bad if you skip it.
so I recently received an email from Nintendo saying they'd send me some protective sleeves for my wiimotes and wanted to know how many I needed. This made me think of the other big 2, sony and MS.
In all my experience with sony (as a consumer) since the PS1 they've constantly fought the consumer. When my PlayStation decided it liked to be upside down and refused to play games until I acquiesced (and the CD is a flip lid, so it was extremely annoying), sony said I would have to pay to get this fixed, even though vocal gamers made it sound common (I think it was). Fine, so the sony logo and PS1 get to eat carpet upside down instead of resting on a nice table (on flat surfaces the top spins and slides, so you're likely to pull it off/around with the corded controllers). with the PS2 or PS3, the issues were word of mouth or in the media, but I didn't hear positive CS stories (more about charges for general use issues).
As for Microsoft, I bought the xbox and received a package one day with a new AC cable because a few, out of millions, had burst into flames or something. That was pretty nice, except for the flames part. After that I bought the 360 and it broke 2 times. Both times it was replaced for free by MS, shipping paid both ways. It was annoying, but at least they didn't charge me. Now they've extended a 3yr warranty to the systems and for those who had to pay, MS paid them back regardless of whether their repair was MS or that customer's fault.
Back to the Nintendo, when the Wii was released and users started letting go of the remote erroneously, Nintendo realized they had neglected to see this new behavior from new gamers and sent new wii-stronger wrist straps to make sure people weren't launching their remotes into objects and organisms. Now, once again, they're sending out clear rubber controller protectors for people who don't use the wrist straps to protect those users' property. Protecting people doubly from their mistakes and actions, that's the best CS I've seen from a console maker ever.
Nintendo really gets customer service, Microsoft does well on listening to what users want and then updating or adjusting, and sony, they tell people what they need and fail. I look at the UMD and sony's dead music formats and wonder when they'll understand that the customer is sony's reason for living, not the opposite.
so I recently received an email from Nintendo saying they'd send me some protective sleeves for my wiimotes and wanted to know how many I needed. This made me think of the other big 2, sony and MS.
In all my experience with sony (as a consumer) since the PS1 they've constantly fought the consumer. When my PlayStation decided it liked to be upside down and refused to play games until I acquiesced (and the CD is a flip lid, so it was extremely annoying), sony said I would have to pay to get this fixed, even though vocal gamers made it sound common (I think it was). Fine, so the sony logo and PS1 get to eat carpet upside down instead of resting on a nice table (on flat surfaces the top spins and slides, so you're likely to pull it off/around with the corded controllers). with the PS2 or PS3, the issues were word of mouth or in the media, but I didn't hear positive CS stories (more about charges for general use issues).
As for Microsoft, I bought the xbox and received a package one day with a new AC cable because a few, out of millions, had burst into flames or something. That was pretty nice, except for the flames part. After that I bought the 360 and it broke 2 times. Both times it was replaced for free by MS, shipping paid both ways. It was annoying, but at least they didn't charge me. Now they've extended a 3yr warranty to the systems and for those who had to pay, MS paid them back regardless of whether their repair was MS or that customer's fault.
Back to the Nintendo, when the Wii was released and users started letting go of the remote erroneously, Nintendo realized they had neglected to see this new behavior from new gamers and sent new wii-stronger wrist straps to make sure people weren't launching their remotes into objects and organisms. Now, once again, they're sending out clear rubber controller protectors for people who don't use the wrist straps to protect those users' property. Protecting people doubly from their mistakes and actions, that's the best CS I've seen from a console maker ever.
Nintendo really gets customer service, Microsoft does well on listening to what users want and then updating or adjusting, and sony, they tell people what they need and fail. I look at the UMD and sony's dead music formats and wonder when they'll understand that the customer is sony's reason for living, not the opposite.
Friday, October 12, 2007
uday52.thecatsreturn
So now the kitties recognize me before I pull out the food or make food noise and come running when I come out of the building in the morning. 
Then they circle me like sharks, but i'm left with hair on my pants instead of sandpaper-like abrasions. 
After this one, one of the parent kitties came late to the party so I took the food back out and fed them. I fed more on the way to work, but I'll update about that tomorrow (i'll try). It's 11:16PM and time to go home and reheat a khachapuri in my oven. i guess i have to post about those too..gah.
Then they circle me like sharks, but i'm left with hair on my pants instead of sandpaper-like abrasions. 
After this one, one of the parent kitties came late to the party so I took the food back out and fed them. I fed more on the way to work, but I'll update about that tomorrow (i'll try). It's 11:16PM and time to go home and reheat a khachapuri in my oven. i guess i have to post about those too..gah.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
uday49.oct09. some pics n comments
Tuesday.
Last night I read a whole book, the first Hugo Award winner (1953) "The Demolished Man" by Alfred Bester. It's great for a short sci-fi read, 5 hours. It tackles some large topics even though Sci-Fi was just budding, similar to Heinlein. Large corporations, the death penalty, and the responsibility of power in a future with psychics that make premeditated murder difficult (like the more recent Minority Report). I definitely recommend The Demolished Man.
Totally unrelated: pictures (and reference below pic).
The door to my place is directly in front of that white car. I was pretty scared after seeing the state of the other buildings when I first arrived, but once I got into my flat I saw things were fine.
This is the other side of the building from the pic above. I walk by here every day. Usually at night, there are young guys hanging out and drinking on the benches.
This picture shows the wide range of economic conditions from one foot to the next. This is directly in front of the courtyard entrance (not pic'd) and is in view of my porch.
I walk by here most days on the way to work and people live inside. I'll take pictures of a garden to the immediate right that is nicely maintained by the inhabitants of this dilapidated block.
Condemned hospital. I love taking pictures of it. Recently someone bashed the concrete and lock on the front door. Maybe all the ghosts I see at have been now loosed upon the city.
Abandoned military installation I walk by each day, near the condemned hospital. They're building the UEFA (soccer) stadium 1/4 mi away from here so all this will become ~prime real estate.
See those strips hanging down? They're all over cars here. I finally found one I could read and they're anti-static strips, so I guess you don't get shocked when you egress, or improves radio reception.. Mike needs to start selling a ricer version for Fords that have TRD stickers on them.
The first omelet I made here (and more cans of the fish that went in. wee)
Hot cranberry schwepps soda! and nasty bitter lemon. The difference is that the cranberry was pretty good.
I wanted to be taken seriously, so I bought professional gum.
Last night I read a whole book, the first Hugo Award winner (1953) "The Demolished Man" by Alfred Bester. It's great for a short sci-fi read, 5 hours. It tackles some large topics even though Sci-Fi was just budding, similar to Heinlein. Large corporations, the death penalty, and the responsibility of power in a future with psychics that make premeditated murder difficult (like the more recent Minority Report). I definitely recommend The Demolished Man.
Totally unrelated: pictures (and reference below pic).
The door to my place is directly in front of that white car. I was pretty scared after seeing the state of the other buildings when I first arrived, but once I got into my flat I saw things were fine.
This is the other side of the building from the pic above. I walk by here every day. Usually at night, there are young guys hanging out and drinking on the benches.
This picture shows the wide range of economic conditions from one foot to the next. This is directly in front of the courtyard entrance (not pic'd) and is in view of my porch.
I walk by here most days on the way to work and people live inside. I'll take pictures of a garden to the immediate right that is nicely maintained by the inhabitants of this dilapidated block.
Condemned hospital. I love taking pictures of it. Recently someone bashed the concrete and lock on the front door. Maybe all the ghosts I see at have been now loosed upon the city.
Abandoned military installation I walk by each day, near the condemned hospital. They're building the UEFA (soccer) stadium 1/4 mi away from here so all this will become ~prime real estate.
See those strips hanging down? They're all over cars here. I finally found one I could read and they're anti-static strips, so I guess you don't get shocked when you egress, or improves radio reception.. Mike needs to start selling a ricer version for Fords that have TRD stickers on them.
The first omelet I made here (and more cans of the fish that went in. wee)
Hot cranberry schwepps soda! and nasty bitter lemon. The difference is that the cranberry was pretty good.
I wanted to be taken seriously, so I bought professional gum.
posted a draft and it showed up when i started it, 3 posts down
so read 3 posts down.
as for today, thanks to James, I discovered the best animated video game reviews ever. They're hilariously scathing: < link >
as for today, thanks to James, I discovered the best animated video game reviews ever. They're hilariously scathing: < link >
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Aberdeen F.C. thinks I'm Ukrainian
So we went to the mediterranean cafe, Yaffo (sp Jaffo), that I really like and the guys from Aberdeen F.C. (scottish footy club) heard us speaking english and came over. This likeable big fellow, Mike, asked if Luke and I were from the Ukraine and Dnepropetrovsk (laugh). He said our english was pretty good. We were sad to admit we were american. He professed a dislike for Microsoft when we said we were in software, which is funny cause Luke worked there and I currently deal with them daily. I wished them luck in their game today against Dnipro today (in 20min). Hopefully, I'll get to see soccer kitted up hooligans when I leave work, but it might be too late then.
other notables, I tried horsemeat for the first time too. So now I've had horsemeat and sour horsemilk, fun! The meat was done in a style that goes along with drinking vodka I think, so I wasn't a big fan. It's most like when I over-marinate steak in sugar and soysauce and then cook it to a red candied state (like a week marinating). It wasn't bad, but I require horse steak for a true comparison. we watched happy gilmore while eating as an homage to my lonely home theater.
other notables, I tried horsemeat for the first time too. So now I've had horsemeat and sour horsemilk, fun! The meat was done in a style that goes along with drinking vodka I think, so I wasn't a big fan. It's most like when I over-marinate steak in sugar and soysauce and then cook it to a red candied state (like a week marinating). It wasn't bad, but I require horse steak for a true comparison. we watched happy gilmore while eating as an homage to my lonely home theater.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
laugh at me
uday43 oct3rd wednesday
So I went grocery shopping the other day for shampoo, lotion, juice and water, all at the little shop near my place. I tried my best to pick out normal products, not really being able to read much other than the name or the words "shampoo" and "lotion." Well, after moisturizing my feet, lets, and arms I noticed my hands sparkled. Apparently Dove Silk is a shimmery lotion and I likely look more ridiculous than usual. I sparkle. I sparkle.
So I went grocery shopping the other day for shampoo, lotion, juice and water, all at the little shop near my place. I tried my best to pick out normal products, not really being able to read much other than the name or the words "shampoo" and "lotion." Well, after moisturizing my feet, lets, and arms I noticed my hands sparkled. Apparently Dove Silk is a shimmery lotion and I likely look more ridiculous than usual. I sparkle. I sparkle.
Monday, October 1, 2007
uday41.Oct01 - Food has been wonderful
So the 1920s place I ate in the basement of when I first got here (the 3rd picture in the column on the right) has a really nice restaurant on top, above/below the stairs style. With Jeff visiting, we hit the upstairs part after he arrived and freshened up. I enjoyed a Tuna Carpaccio with a sweet raspberry sauce and Delicate Sea Bass with asparagus and a veloute sauce. Jeff had one of the top steaks of his life he said. 
No wonder, it was a Chateaubriand, the best cut of beef tenderloin. The head chef was french and it really showed with the food. We had to go again later in the week, before Jeff left, and this time I ordered a side of sautéed spinach in a cream "souce," OMG, it was the best spinach I've ever had. It was topped with almond slices and crushed almonds, toasted. Suffice to say I had to go back again just for the spinach..and a Chateaubriand of my own. Also, their Mojito's were surprisingly delicious, satisfying the craving I had for a Brazilian steakhouse experience of the caipirinha (brazilian mojito) and lots of steak (chateau..is like a double cut of tenderloin basically). 
No wonder, it was a Chateaubriand, the best cut of beef tenderloin. The head chef was french and it really showed with the food. We had to go again later in the week, before Jeff left, and this time I ordered a side of sautéed spinach in a cream "souce," OMG, it was the best spinach I've ever had. It was topped with almond slices and crushed almonds, toasted. Suffice to say I had to go back again just for the spinach..and a Chateaubriand of my own. Also, their Mojito's were surprisingly delicious, satisfying the craving I had for a Brazilian steakhouse experience of the caipirinha (brazilian mojito) and lots of steak (chateau..is like a double cut of tenderloin basically). 
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
