Sunday, August 29, 2010

Blog 2.8 Generation gap

Many sundays ago, both Handsome Jade and myself used to work at Sportsgirl. We had lots to talk about. For example,

Handsome Jade (HJ): Like we should be like serving customers in rollerblades.
Jaystin Unicorn (JU): You mean in rollerskates.
HJ: Don't you have to like learn to rollerblade first before you rollerskate?
JU: Nah man, you got it the otherway round.
HJ: That's because you're old.

-END-

Note: The year 20XX, when I was XX years old and Handsome was like YY years old.


Foodview 2.5 McCain Frozen meals, Woolworths

Yes, only on this food review site will you find a review on frozen tv dinners. Well, I did mention that this discerning review site is aimed at the budget conscious individual à la, E's so tight 'is arse squeaks.

Moving forward. Today's foodview is something close to my heart or stomach. Frozen tv dinners. I work on the 52th floor in Melbourne's tallest building and getting out to lunch is much a hassle. So I always turn to a reliable brand, McCain which I can buy at my local Woolworths store.

Before I get into the foodview, y'all must see this novelty toy

I bought mine but failed to convince my co-poftersworkers to buy one too. Anyways, this retails for USD 22.20 EXCLUDING postage BUT if you buy it at dealextreme, its cheaper and has FREE postage. Nice. There are also dog and other feline versions but this is the only version on dealextreme.

Chill out and listen to the groovy tunes of Nina Simone, whilst I write this foodview-slash-cute toy fetish.


Crickey, I forgot to take the picture of the package... Anyways its red and look like the above.

The meat was soggy in the middle and not a lot of meat in it.

Frozen peas. What more can I say?

Carrots are nice and mushy.

The potatoes were great. Yum!

Value : 2 out of 5 stars
Taste : 3 out of 5 stars

I dont think there are many brands available in Woolies. I think McCain own the entire Australian frozen tv dinner industry. It is rather expensive at AUD6.25 a meal and the portions are really small. Taste-wise is passable. I only recommend getting it when Woolies does its specials like 4 for AUD20 or something.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Blog 2.7 dont buy laptops on ebay

Prove it to yourself!!!! Find out more by clicking on the Colgate ad>>>

Today's entry is brought to you by Colgate Sensitive Pro Relief toothpaste. This stuff works... according to the youtube videos that's on the colgate website. Check it out by clicking on the ad!

I havent been on ebay for a very long time ever since I discovered dealextreme.com. That and also I learnt a very painful lesson on ebay... never bid on anything you dont intend to buy, such as a AUD1,500 Toshiba craplaptop that I won. Thankfully, I managed to offload it... but at a loss. Still, the thrill of outbidding others in the dying seconds of an auction is indescribable. NOTE: Don't ever buy laptops off ebay! They'll withhold any drivers or software that came with the laptop, and make you pay extra if you want it! Asians... no doubt about it.

Today I placed my first bid/s (since May 2009. Gosh, that's a long time). For
Dumbbells. Yup, if y'all remember I found a perfect mint condition adjustable flat/incline bench on the streets of North Melbourne and carried it home. So it would prove useful to me if I had weights to train on it. So I'm hoping I win these dumbbells. Oh, gotta run these by Mr.P to see if AUD90 is paying to much for these dumbbells.

In other news, I have finished painting my BB#257 Freedom Gundam SD. I will upload a youtube of the paintjob shortly. Speaking of Freedom Gundam, this year's 2010 Perfect Grade gundam is none other than Strike Freedom Gundam! Coinkidink?

If y'all forgotten the different grades of gundams, Perfect grade is the best of the best and costs lots of moolah.

Speaking of moolahs and youtube, seems like one can make lots of moolahs on youtube such as this fella. I wanna know the secret to earning money by just staying at home. sigh.

Last bit of news is my own personal challenge to achieve calves like Mr.P without running. Yes, I am going to be like one of those people who believe that 'you can get this body too! In the convenience of your own home. So call now...'.

And no, I am not buying any of that crap from Tv. I will still hit the gym but I am going to focus more on my calves and upper and lower back, now that my chest and arms are to my satisfactory condition.

So here is the before shot and I will update y'all in 4 weeks time from today.
My leg does look abit funky.

Blog 2.6 Wedding gig


Image ripped from Temasek Polytechnic

I wish I could say that our first gig venue was as above but being a wedding, it was a at function hall in eltham.

My band, Jaystin and the Unicorns were invited and we only played one song, which was a cover of Coolio's I'll c u when u get there. Thanks to our intrepid cameraman, there was only one photos of us playing (to the very left of the photo, you can barely see Mr.P without his shirt on the drums)
The lovely couple dancing to our song.

To pull off the cover song, I needed a choir as well as 3-piece orchestra, so I called on the Eltham symphony orchestra and choir girls.
Here are members of the band and the Eltham orchestra girls posing together with the bride and groom.

And now a foodview!
First off is a nice favour. A pear soap.


Ravioli.

Not sure what this is.

Fish.

Chicken.

Desert.

Overall the food served was 3 out of 5 stars.

Great atmosphere and a great night. Thanks to the bride and groom for inviting us! All the best for the married life!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Gym 33


Initially, I was going to post a guide to changing classical guitar strings. I bought a pack from Dealextreme , my favourite $2 online store but whilst taking pictures of me restringing my guitar... two of the brand new strings snapped. So I wasted my time and my hard earned AUD4... and I was already halfway typing up my 'guide', I decide to chop of the guide-y bits and put in the bits about my band... how exciting. By the way

Quality : 0 out of 5 stars
Price : 5 out of 5 stars
Comment : I am not going to complain about the quality of the strings since its cheaper than Nat Chan. I was very disappointed that it snapped and I didnt even get to strum it once. Sigh.

Onto my lifestory... When I am not busy collecting staples at work (yes, I am a used-staple collector). I perform with my band, Jaystin and the Unicorns. I have just recently formed my band and our first ever gig is to play for a wedding this coming Saturday at Eltham. Oh, oh, oh how rude of me to not introduce my band

Lead singer/songwriter/guitarist
Jaystin Unicorn
Image ripped from gundam-unicorn.net
Jaystin Unicorn writes and sings all the songs played by the band.

Drummer
Mr. P
Image ripped from DrClay.com
Mr. P is the greatest shirtless drummer in Melbourne. Enough said.

Bassist/Vocals
Suzuki
Image ripped from Wikipedia
Hailing from Osaka, Suzuki used to play for major acts in Japan before moving to Melbourne. She also provides vocals.

Keyboards/Vocals
Nat Chan
Image ripped from The improper
Hailing from Iraq, Nat Chan is the 'face' of the band attracting hundreds of chicks and he also plays the keyboards. This can be a good thing (attracting chicks)... more fans... even though its not for our music. Nat Chan also does backup vocals and raps on some of our songs.

Wasted my night but I did have a good gym session. I just wanted to get in some chest and concentrate on my arms.

Set 1 15kg 10 reps
Set 2 15kg 10 reps
Set 3 15kg 10 reps
Set 4 15kg 10 reps

Dumbbell curls (Combined)
Set 1 18kg 10 reps
Set 2 18kg 10 reps
Set 3 18kg 10 reps
Set 4 18kg 10 reps
Set 5 18kg 10 reps

Set 1 50kg 10 reps
Set 2 55kg 10 reps
Set 3 60kg 9 reps

Set 1 18kg 10 reps
Set 2 18kg 10 reps
Set 3 18kg 10 reps

Monday, August 16, 2010

Gym 32

Set 1 8kg 10 reps
Set 2 8kg 10 reps
Set 3 6kg 10 reps

Set 1 16kg 10 reps
Set 2 16kg 10 reps
Set 3 12kg 10 reps
Comment : I gotta remember the weights I'm using. Keep forgetting.

Dumbell laterals (Combined)
Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 10kg 10 reps
Set 3 10kg 10 reps

Dumbbell raise (Combined)
Set 1 30kg 10 reps
Set 2 30kg 10 reps
Set 3 40kg 10 reps

Dumbbell curls (Combined)
Set 1 18kg 10 reps
Set 2 18kg 10 reps
Set 3 18kg 10 reps

Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 20kg 10 reps
Set 3 15kg 10 reps

Assisted chin ups (Weight indicated is the counter-weight used)
Set 1 30kg 10 reps
Set 2 30kg 10 reps
Set 3 30kg 10 reps

Gym was packed. sigh

Set 1 25kg 10 reps
Set 2 25kg 10 reps
Set 3 25kg 10 reps

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Gym 31

Set 1 6kg 10 reps
Set 2 6kg 10 reps
Set 3 6kg 10 reps
Comment : Reviewing the technique on InstructionalFitness. I realised I have been doing it all wrong and I am using to heavy a weight. That is why I dropped my weight and put a foot stool underneath my feet to raise my knees closer to my chest while maintaining and arc in my back.

Set 1 12kg 10 reps
Set 2 12kg 10 reps
Set 3 12kg 10 reps
Comment : I gotta remember the weights I'm using. Keep forgetting.

Dumbell laterals (Combined)
Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 10kg 10 reps
Set 3 10kg 10 reps

Dumbbell raise (Combined)
Set 1 20kg 10 reps
Set 2 20kg 10 reps
Set 3 30kg 10 reps
Comment : I think I heard a snap in my back. So better be careful lol

Dumbbell curls (Combined)
Set 1 16kg 10 reps
Set 2 16kg 10 reps
Set 3 16kg 10 reps

Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 15kg 10 reps
Set 3 15kg 10 reps

Assisted chin ups (Weight indicated is the counter-weight used)
Set 1 35kg 10 reps
Set 2 35kg 10 reps
Set 3 35kg 10 reps

Set 1 50kg 10 reps
Set 2 55kg 10 reps
Set 3 55kg 7 reps
Set 4 60kg 4 reps
Comment : Even though its green, I didnt finish my sets. SO this is a fail.

Set 1 18kg 10 reps
Set 2 18kg 10 reps
Set 3 18kg 10 reps
Comment : This was hard!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Foodview 2.4 Fryske Dumkes, Netherland

[Jaystin - Yet another special edition foodview! This foodview is from International Foodview correspondent, Milktea. She is based in the Netherlands. The aim of International foodviews is to showcase and have an appreciation of the different and yummy foods from around the world! The following is her review]

hey all! I am [Name withheld] aka Mirukuchii aka Milky aka Milktea ;)
Mr Jaystin himself asked me if perhaps I could do some guest reviews about the Dutch food. Well of course I will help out!

However in my opinion Dutch food is really boring. I mean REALLY boring, you see most of the food consist of potatoes and cooked vegetables nothing added just that :/

So instead of telling you about the boring stuff I wil try to make some "reviews" about the more interesting foods/sweets that the Dutch have to offer.

Up first. Fryske Dumkes!


Fryske Dumkes (lit. translation means as much as Frisian small thumbs)
are small cookies which are for some reason mostly eaten with hot chocolate.

I cheated a bit since this is not Dutch but Frisian instead. But since I am a Frisian I will add them.

For those not familiar with Frisian I will explain. Up north in the Netherlands there is a small province which is called Frisian. We have our own culture and language and also out own specialities ;)

Frisian used to be big, really big. It spanned all the way down to Utrecht (the middle of Holland) all the way up to Denmark across the coasts. But because the Frisian liked to fight, also with themselves, they were overrun by the people of Holland and drawn back in this small province where it lays fairly unknown

You might know Frisian from their cows though. the black and white ones? Yup also Frisian.

So far the History lesson sorry about that ;)

The cookies are always rather small, the ones in the picture are rather big about 10 cm or so. What makes them special is that they are made with anise which give them a very strange but sweet taste.
Fryske Dumkes can only be bought in Frisian (for as far as I know) and are one of the products the stores try to sell to tourists for ridiculous high prices.

My advice, just go to a bakery, much cheaper, fresher and tastier ^^

Only thing I dislike about them is that you get these tiny pieces of anise in your mouth that tend to get stuck between your teeth.

My other advice : Check your teeth for any leftover anise before going out!

Well I hope you all liked the short "review" Maybe more will come, if you like them that is ^^

[Jaystin-That was fantastic, Milktea. Please give more facts and history lessons! I enjoyed this foodview. I appreciate the time taken to be a guest reviewer. Thanks! Oh, I seriously never figured out why Frisian cows were called Frisian cows. Now I can move on. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of aniseed. I am anti-aniseed. Like evil!]

Foodview 2.4 Suzuki's, Malvern

Suzuki's, is a new home-cooking style restaurant specialising in Hong-Kongnese and Japanese cuisines somewhere on the eastern side of Melbourne. Why do I seem unsure of the location? That's because I've sent another UAC (up-and-coming) foodviewer to report this new restaurant, Anel Bum!

Unfortunately, Anel got robbed by a bandit and her camera (along with the photos of her food review) are long gone. Don't worry, Anel... just patch up your wounds and bruises, buy a new camera and move on..... on to another career, this line of work ain't cut out for you.

Fortunately, Anel remembered to take-away food for me (left it in the boot of her car prior to her getting robbed... Good thing that bandit didn't look in the boot or my lunch would have been stolen too)

Sweet and sour pork on rice from Suzuki's
Reviewed by Anel Bum.
Photos by Jaystin Unicorn.

Despite being take-away, presentation is great. Unfortunately the food was not served directly from the wok and suffered from condensation in the take-away container.


Presentation is spot on. Colourful to the eye as well as the bite-sized peppers and pineapple.

Sauce is not over-powering and doesnt saturate the pieces in this dish

Meat is fresh and tender. Always a good sign of a good dish.

Anel's score
Taste : 4 out of 5
Value : 5 out of 5

Overall comments:
It is a very good dish but unfortunately the condensation from the container prevented this dish from receiving full marks. The batter which was thinly coated is a rare find. Places like Laksa King, smother teeny tiny pieces of pork in tons of batter. Very disappointing. That is why I am very strict in handing out points when it comes to reviewing Sweet and sour pork dishes. Great dish overall!

Gym 30


My 30th workout this year. That is SAD. Sigh. Also, Mr.P gave me a new protein supplement to try, Vital Strength. There is currently a comp going on their website, join now and win a year's supply of protein... yummy. I tried it after my workout and I think I had heart palpitations... and tasted funny.

Deadlifts (Smith machine)
Set 1 20kg 10 reps
Set 2 30kg 10 reps
Set 3 40kg 10 reps
Set 4 50kg 10 reps
Comment: I am super stoked that I dead-lifted 50kg. Plus the instructor checked my technique.

Set 1 8kg 10 reps
Set 2 8kg 10 reps
Set 3 8kg 10 reps
Comment : The link is a new video from InstructionalFitness. I have learnt so much and corrected many of my mistakes from their videos!
I must admit I have been doing my lateral raises the incorrect way. Lucky this video was recently released!

Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 10kg 10 reps
Set 3 10kg 10 reps

Dumbell laterals (Combined)
Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 10kg 10 reps
Set 3 10kg 10 reps

Dumbbell raise (Combined)
Set 1 18kg 10 reps
Set 2 18kg 10 reps
Set 3 18kg 10 reps
Comment : New exercise added.

Dumbbell curls (Combined)
Set 1 12kg 10 reps
Set 2 12kg 10 reps
Set 3 12kg 10 reps
Set 4 12kg 10 reps
Set 5 12kg 10 reps

Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 10kg 10 reps
Set 3 10kg 10 reps
Set 4 10kg 10 reps
Set 5 10kg 10 reps

Assisted chin ups (Weight indicated is the counter-weight used)
Set 1 35kg 10 reps
Set 2 35kg 10 reps
Set 3 35kg 10 reps

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Blog 2.5 Burger King What?

I had lunch with Mr. Nat Chan at Hungry Jack's today. We discussed about potential shoes that I could get to match my skinny jeans. As we waited for our Angry Angus burgers, I recalled that I visited a similar restaurant when I was in Indonesia.

Below is a transcript of my fictitious conversation with my possibly fictitious friend.

Jaystin Unicorn : Hey, Nat Chan did you know that in Bangkok, they not only pirate video games and movies but even restaurants!
Nat Chan : Is that a fact?
Jaystin Unicorn : Indeed, there was a restaurant called Paldo's or Mambo's or something. It was a complete knockoff of Nando's! They even had their own puri-puri sauce.
Nat Chan : How rude.
Jaystin Unicorn : Indeed, anyways they even do it in Indonesia!
Nat Chan : Blasphemy!
Jaystin Unicorn : I kid you not, They have fake Hungry Jack's overthere and they call it, Burger King!
Nat Chan : Sacrilegious!
Jaystin Unicorn : Indeed, do ya know what I mean?

And that ends my fictitious conversation... or is it? Alright, I was just kidding about Indonesians ripping off Burger King. However, for some strange reason, Burger King in Australia is called Hungry Jack's, why? I don't know and I don't care but its strange. Perhaps the Queen has taken offense and so the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard changed it, know what I mean?

On a serious note, I did order an Angry Angus burger when I visited a Burger King during my Indonesian trip.

Image is from Hungry Jack's.

So the picture above is what any Australian would expected to see and get if they ordered an Angry Angus burger at any Australian Hungry Jack's restaurant. So, you can imagine my reaction when I ordered an Indonesian Angry Angus...

Alright, first is a picture of a Burger King cup. I still was not used to the idea that Hungry Jack's is called Burger King.

The interior design in Indonesia is way better than in Australia. Also the restaurants here are way bigger too!

and here is the Angry Angus... what? Crisps in my angry angus? what?

I never thought I'd see crisps in burgers. I bet in China, they have noodles in their Angry Angus burgers... complete with a bowl of chicken soup.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Blog 2.4 Skinny jeans and Gundam GP03 Dendrobium SD

I've yet to wear my skinny jeans. Reason is because I don't have any shoes that goes with it. The only thing I think would go with the jeans is flip-flops, but that's not happening right in the middle of winter. I've seen Nat Chan in his skinny jeans and he wears chuckies with his skinny jeans.

Image is from Shoes Point.

I aint gonna wear chuckies .

Maybe with these kinda shoes

Image is from Uncrate.

But I don't own these type of shoes either. Guess its gonna be flip flops in summer... unless I can find some slim type shoes. Runners? mmm no. But summer's so hot. Sigh why did I buy these jeans in the first place. I know, I will blame Nat Chan for influencing me, that beast.

Anyhoo, last week was my last shift working together with M.A.C. Good luck and it was awesome worknig with you! All the best working with that evil person that no one likes and who also happens to be the only person who isn't invited to an upcoming event. lol.

I am not sure if the readers noticed this but at the bottom of every page on this blog, there are link buttons.

This is a button I made for Mac.

And for Zyzzy's


And for Milk tea's
I gotta make more of these buttons for my friends' blogs.


In other news, yes, the picture below is a gundam riding in his batmobile.

And here is an email that I have just received,

Dear Jaystin Unicorn,

This message is to let you know that the following merchandise has been shipped to you from HobbyLink Japan.

Invoice Number: 1XXYYXX

Customer ID: 2XYYXX

Shipping Address:
XXXXXX
YYYYYY XXYY
Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Shipping Method: SAL - Small Pac
Click here for an estimate of shipping times

Order Number: YYXXYYX

Item Code Item Name Quantity Price Extended Price
BAN76373 BB #207 SD Gundam GP03D 1 1,000 1,000
Merchandise Total: 1,000
Shipping Charge: 780
Total: 1,780

Sweet.

Foodview 2.3 Fungs Asian Food & Sushi Bar‎, North Melbourne

Today's foodview is sushi from Fung's Asian Food and Sushi Bar in North Melbourne on Errol Street. There are 3 sushi bars on this street alone. With the sushi it's selling, I highly doubt that it will provide any competition to the other two sushi bars.

I ordered a stand sushi, Crispy chicken roll.

A very big portion. As big as my hand.

The first thing I notice is that there is sauce on the chicken. Very unusual. I opted not to put any soy sauce.

Looking at the inside, I was instantly disappointed. The pieces look big because its filled with AIR and batter. Look at the chicken meat... lizards have more meat than this.


The 'meat' doesnt span the length of the 'enormous' sushi. I estimate the sushi's content is 80% rice and 10% batter and 10% chicken meat - and the meat was not fresh.

Taste : 1 out of 5
Value : 0 out of 5
Overall comments: I gave one point purely because this restaurant tried a different approach to crispy chicken sushi by putting a sweet chilli sauce of some sort. Very very disappointed. I will not return to this establishment ever again.

Foodview 2.2a Chef Lagenda, Flemington

Notice to readers: If I intend to review more dishes from the same establishment, I will put alpha letters next to the foodview numbers such as today's foodview.

Today is pau or steamed buns from a new restaurant located in Flemington. Food has been kindly sponsored by Handsome Jade Gundam Services.

The bun was hard when I received it. I had to microwave it for 30seconds to soften it.

First impressions upon opening it. Lots of bun but not meat.

The meat was very chewy - could mean its not freshly made.

Sauce was not as sweet for pau of this type.

Taste : 2 out of 5
Value : 1 out of 5

Not very impressed with this new restaurant that recently open. Apparently the ex-manager of the mighty Laksa King is the owner of this establishment. A bad start to a series of foodviews that I plan to make on this restaurant.

Gym 29

Another day, another interruption. Can't I have a day to myself.

Gym cut short to dumbbell bench press.
Set 1 20kg 10 reps
Set 2 30kg 10 reps
Set 3 40kg 10 reps
Set 4 50kg 10 reps
Set 5 55kg 10 reps

At least there is improvement. New colour coding so I can visually see my progress without reading. lol

Legend
Red-Worse than last workout,
Yellow-Same as last workout,
Green-Improvement since last workout

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Gym 28


This picture is just a bottle of regular over the counter painkillers but as you well know, a picture is worth a thousand words and the words this picture wants to convey is as follows:

This bottle of painkillers belongs to none other than everyone's favourite rival, Mr.P. Now, Mr.P gets terrible pains in his calves (for the record, Mr.P is not a farmer and no, Mr.P is not looking for a wife. I am refering to the muscles in Mr.P's legs).

So he would pop one or two of these pills like a billion times a day to relieve his pain (I am sure taking more than 8 of these pills a day will probably shorten his finger/s).

That's fine and to be honest, I don't really care what Mr.P puts in his mouth. However, today he showed me his bottle of pills.

Mr.P : Good morning, Mr. Unicorn.
Mr.Unicorn : Top of the morning to you, Mr. P
Mr.Unicorn : You look rather pale today, didn't you take your pills?
Mr.P : I tried but I can't.
Mr.Unicorn : What do you mean you can't?
Mr.P : Well, something is wrong with this bottle. I can't seem to open it, its like welded shut or something. So I figured maybe you can give it a go since you're on the road to recovery at the gym and might be strong enough to open it.
Mr.Unicorn : Ooooh, I like rivally things
Mr.P : Bet you can't 'cos scientifically, I'm like 8.4x stronger than you!

Bottom line is I did open the bottle and yes, I defeated Mr.P yet again. Oh yea. The power is coming back.

Dumbbell biceps curl (Combined)
Set 1 12kg 10 reps
Set 2 12kg 10 reps
Set 3 14kg 10 reps
Set 4 14kg 10 reps
Set 5 14kg 10 reps

Comment : Increasing slowly but surely. Controlled and contracted at peak. Very happy

Tricep pull down
Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 10kg 10 reps
Set 3 10kg 10 reps
Set 4 10kg 10 reps
Set 5 10kg 10 reps

Comment : Need to focus on contraction at max pull. If not waste of time and effort.

Shoulder
Dumbbell raise
Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 12kg 10 reps
Set 3 12kg 10 reps

Dumbbell side raise
Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 10kg 10 reps
Set 3 10kg 10 reps

Dumbbell bent-over lateral raise
Set 1 10kg 10 reps
Set 2 10kg 10 reps
Set 3 10kg 10 reps

Comment : Need to focus on side and lateral raise. Can get carried away if I just want to get 10 reps and not doing it properly

Chin up assisted (Using 35kg counter weight)
Set 1 10 reps
Set 2 10 reps
Set 3 10 reps

Overall: Short session because of other commitments but a good workout. Enjoyed it.