Game galore...

Cornbeef hash skillet...

Blueberry, cheesecake pancakes

Now that work is in full swing, I have let the blog kind of go by the wayside.  My wife and I have kind of settled into a routine as well.  It seems I have become the chef since I get home about 4 hours before she does.  This wasn’t really a rule, its just how things ended up.  A couple of my creations have been the breakfast skillet and my blueberry, cheesecake pancakes...

I have been cruising other blogs lately from people who just arrived in Japan not too long ago, and I am reminiscing quite a lot.  They are all in their Disneyland phase of Japanese life.  It’s the best phase to be in and usually last for only 3 months.  This is when everything is so new and interesting that everyday is an adventure.  Every little festival is a gold mine of culture.  Since my return to Japan, I didn’t get any of that… I had mine long ago I suppose.  I am also saving a lot of money for things like pension payments, initial apartment set ups and healthcare, which isn’t much now, but it will be next year.  I do really miss going out to explore on my days off or going into Tokyo to be irresponsible with my money.  Instead, I stay home and play video games… Not that it’s upsetting me.  Truly, I love it.  I have 4 great loves right now.  

The first is Dawn of war II…  I have always loved the Warhammer intellectual property, and since I can’t play the tabletop games anymore, I play the computer games and read the books by black library.  Incidentally, I am going to try and snag a gold copy of ‘Aurellian’ tonight.  Shipping is free, so it’s worth it.  Wish me luck… They sell out super- fast, so I will be playing quick button on the computer.  Plus its by Aaron Dempski-Bowden… One of my favorite up and coming authors.  As for DOWII, its actually an uninspiring game as far as story goes… It’s just really gratuitous violence, and Astartes.

The second is Shogun Total War 2.  I am a huge fan of the total war series.  They are usually about 90% historically accurate and a great way to relive tumultuous times in history.  The whole total war series started with Shogun… and this is such a beautifully rendered version.  It gets my strategy fix on.

The third is the Witcher 2.  Honestly, I haven’t played it a whole lot… yet, but its stunningly beautiful and really adult.  Most games for adults are PG13 if they are movies… but the Witcher 2 is definitely R.  I haven’t played much, but there is full nudity and a whole lot o cursing.  I like to call this low fantasy.  High fantasy is your D&D realm stuff, which borders on science fiction.  This feels like it could be what medieval Europe would be if it had magic.

And lastly is an older game… Mass Effect.  Oh my god! It’s like playing a movie.  The story is amazing, and what makes it more amazing is that you can import your files to the next installment, and from there you can further do it to Mass Effect 3… coming out soon.  Since they all link, the game has a lot of replay value.  I am stuck to this game like crack… The trailer is for the second installment... which I have yet to play... but its better than the first, which does it no justice.

Anyways, I have been living vicariously through the blog of someone I interviewed with for my current job.  It’s kind of like reliving a lot of past experiences.  Of course she has a bunch of experiences unique to her, but the over- all jumble is very familiar to me.