Mar. 27th, 2008

Ah, Pocky

Mar. 27th, 2008 08:16 pm
sherryillk: (Default)
I love Pocky. I really do. There are just so many different combinations and so many different flavors. I mean it's a candy covered stick! What is there not to like about them? And I love trying new Pocky. What I don't like about Pocky, something I'm pretty sure I said before, is that Pocky is really expensive! I mean it's typically about $2 a box with possibly about 15 sticks total... Tell me that isn't highway robbery! But still, I buy Pocky and I buy Pocky often. Why? Because they're damn yummy and I really can't help myself.

IMG_0630Today I bought some new Pocky -- Rum Raisin, Chocolate Caramel and Winter Pocky (Fuyu no Kuchidoke Pocky). I had to go and buy some Chinese veggies and I couldn't help but stop over at the snack aisle. I'm sorry to say that I wasn't able to score the Marble Green Tea Pocky. I wasn't a big fan of the Green Tea only Pocky but the Marble one is awesome. I didn't think I would like that one too much either but I really did. Surprisingly, chocolate pairs well with Green Tea and I quickly became addicted to the stuff. But they were out of stock when I looked today. :( I saw one girl holding a box and asking a salesperson if they had any more and they didn't... I guess she snagged the last box.

Still, I came away with some pretty neat new Pocky if I do say so myself. I have no idea what the Winter Pocky will be like... It looked like if it was covered in cocoa powder so I'm hoping for a truffles sort of taste to it. The Rum Raisin I originally thought was White and Milk Chocolate but apparently not. Still, I'm not disappointed. I took a look at the ingredient list and I was right about the white chocolate bit of it. I'm not so sure what is so...rum-my about because while I can taste a hint of sweet raisin, I can't quite make out the rum. Or maybe it's just that I've never had rum before and I can't pick it out of the Pocky. Still, whatever it tastes like, it's actually quite good surprisingly. The white chocolate part of it works well with the coyingly sweet raisin and it's a bit unexpected when that first taste of raisin pops in after the white chocolate. I like it at the very least.

I have yet to try the Winter Pocky or Caramel ones since I didn't want to eat them all at once but I have high hopes for the Caramel one. I love Caramel, I really do. If it disappoints, I will probably be very sad.

Anyway, yesterday was my Gene Structure and Function exam... It wasn't as great as it could have gone but at that point I had pulled an all nighter with no sleep at all so I guess it went as well as it could have. And the regrade is worth half of the grade so I'm pretty confident that I'm going to end up doing okay on it. My Japanese class was unexpectedly canceled which really kinda pissed me off because I spent three hours prepping for it.

The ironic thing is that I distinctly remember wishing that my professor would cancel class so I would have more time to study and not have to work on Japanese and lamenting over the fact that she never seems to cancel class. Well the joke's on me, isn't it? Still, not having to sit through Japanese after my exam was much appreciated none the less.

I came back to the dorm and I thought about going to sleep immediately but I didn't. Instead, I ended up making myself some food and watching a bit of TV before my body really couldn't take much more of it and I fell asleep around 7:30 PM... Still, really early but after about 30+ hours of no sleep, I think I held out for pretty long. I didn't wake up until after 8 AM the next day. I guess I'm no Diana who can marathon sleep after something like staying up all night studying. *shrugs* Still, over 12 hours for me nowadays is considered pretty good. Usually my body would refuse to sleep any longer than 9 hours.

IMG_0627What else was I going to say? Ah, right I got my book today! Isn't it pretty? I'm so stoked! Finally, Amazon deigned to ship the damn thing to. I had pre-ordered it a while back but apparently Amazon either couldn't get a hold of it as soon as it was released or the release day was pushed back because I had it pushed back a few weeks and that they were shipping the other part of my order without it. And after that, they sent me another email about it being pushed back again. Not cool. But a few hours later they sent me a shipping notice email which was kinda strange. I was just happy that everything was shipped. Another weird thing about this whole order was that I got the book first! I had also pre-ordered The Ark of Truth, the Stargate: SG-1 movie that basically resolves the whole Ori business and even though that was shipped first, I got the book before that one... :\ Hopefully it arrives soon... I mean I already watched it (leaked on the internet like a couple weeks early) but I want the pretty DVD! And hopefully any cool extras it might come with.

IMG_0634Anyway, back to the book. It's Joe Abercrombie's second book in his The First Law series and it's called Before They Are Hanged. I had picked up the first book in this series The Blade Itself on the review of Joe Mallozzi, one of the producers and writers for Stargate: Atlantis (yes, I'm a diehard Stargate fan). He gave it a glowing review on his blog (his review can be found here) and who am I to not trust a writer for one of my favorite shows ever? I found it at Strand and had to grab it up. Apparently it was one of the review copies of it sent out back in September 2007 to prospective bookstores, book reviewers and the like. I know this because the book still contained the form letter and the small postage paid business reply postcard in the book. *laughs* I guess someone who got it sent to them didn't like it enough to keep it with them and sold it away to Strand.

Whomever that person was obviously couldn't appreciate a good fantasy book if it hit them on the ass. It's really, really, really good. I wholeheartedly recommend it. The characters are real and flawed (oh, how they are flawed) and while they seems like the most unlikely lot to be saving the day or even just working together, they seem to work well. Surprisingly, my favorite character is Inquisitor Glotka, a person I'm sure some people around him would call evil, heartless and a bastard. He used to be a Champion fencer, brilliant, beautiful, until the war and he become an unlucky prisoner of war who ends up in an enemy prison. He is now bitter, horribly crippled and disfigured and now works as an Inquisitor, but really, that's just a better name for the guy who tortures people out of information and confessions (even if they have nothing to confess). And yet, there's just something likable about the guy. I guess you end up feeling for him, first pity and then you get to the point where you understand that even though his life isn't what he wants it to be and even though he hates himself and the person he is today, he still hasn't given up and is still curious enough about the world to live on. He's carved out of the place the world has put him in, and even though he hates it bitterly, he still hasn't given up. There's something nice about that.

Then you have Captain Jezal dan Luthar who is probably your typical hero -- handsome, charming, next in line to be the next Champion in fencing. He's a noble, rich, he's connected and he has hordes of girls fangirling him. But he's really an arrogant, selfish, egotistical bastard. I mean, he really is annoying! I wanted to smack him a few times for some of the stuff he spews out of his head. And his thoughts are so much worst. They're practically racist, if not class-ist. And he's bit of a lazy coward as well... It's almost crazy that this man, despite his good looks and skills can even attract normal people to even like him. And that's probably why all the non-nobles tolerate him only because of who his is. Still, Ardee, a girl from the North (*gasp* those heathens!), simple, not of the right blood and sister to one of his fellow soldier buddies (more like an acquaintance because their family is not noble and therefore below him) seems to capture his eye in ways that are more than sexual. That's when you start liking him, or at the very least feeling very satisfied to see him humbled by his conflicting emotions of liking this girl that he would never be able to seriously associate with. And the girl has spunk and seems to see Jezal for what he really is which helps too. Seeing him cut down is rather nice.

Anyway, the story is still trying to unfold in the first book as it's more about introducing you to the characters and getting them together. Characterization is spot on and the characters are memorable and believable. The story is a bit mysterious in that while things are happening, they haven't fully come together yet so you're still a bit confused. In any event, it's a very well-written book and it definitely makes you want more. And I got the second book! It's sooo pretty! I mean its sparkles! I can't wait to crack it open. Hopefully it'll fare a bit better than the first book. It's survived two cross country trips so it's a bit beat up... The cover is a bit flimsy but then again it is a paperback so I guess that's a given...

Tonight I'm going to spending my night reading. I just love getting a new book!

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