For the first leg of my 6 month stay in Japan, my destination was Niigata.

Niigata, Japan is a city located on the Japan seaside to the north of Tokyo. An agricultural powerhouse, this region is known for pure water, and excellent growing conditions for rice and produce.

I was fortunate enough to sample these during my time there, enjoying the hospitality of the folks I was homestaying with. The rice and the miso (soybean paste) was delicious! One of the highlights of the homestay was the tasty sukiyaki stew with Takayama wagyu beef. This region is known for having even tastier meat than Kobe beef!

There wasn’t too much of the seaside to see in the middle of winter, but I did get to go down to the middle of Niigata city and check out the New Year’s festival at the Hakusan Shrine. In Japanese culture New Years is held during the solar calendar, with activities taking place on Dec. 31st and January 1st.

Amatsu’s Kapha filled field map is based on the layout of a traditional Japanese shinto shrine. At a shinto shrine, you can purchase all sorts of charms and objects to bring you good luck in the new year. Purchase a fortune and if you don’t like it, tie it to the branch of a nearby tree!

The place has the air of a summertime festival. The specialty of Niigata is “Popoyaki” with “po-po” being the sound of steam puffing away as the pancake-like treat cooks.

Except for the cold, Niigata was the perfect place to spend a first New Year’s in Japan.

All iRO Servers

[Server]User configurable spam blocker

Real Money Transactions (RMT) is illegal on iRO but zeny sellers will still send annoying PMs to users. To combat this, we have a built in spam blocker that you can configure yourself! Check out this handy guide on how to quickly block the spam!

[Server]God Item Trade/Keep Boxes

To combat complicated issues of God Item Ownership disputes or scams, WoE 1 God Items drop in account bound boxes. These boxes can be exchanged with the Godly Item Exchanger in Prontera Castle to turn it into a 30 day “Ephemeral” God item. This can be traded freely but after the 30 days have elapsed return to the NPC where the owner can pick it up again.

[Monthly Event] Town Spotlights

Every month, we have a special event where we give a boost to the experience, drops and spawn amounts of monsters in a particular town. This usually means doubling the exp you get when you kill monsters from that town’s field and dungeon maps. In months where the spotlight is on a town that does not exist on Classic Pre-Renewal, we spotlight a separate town there.

[Subscriber]Primo D’Buffer Free Stat Buffs

As a bonus for VIP subscribers, we have the NPC “Primo D’Buffer” in the Eden Group on Renewal Chaos and in the new Asgard Training Village on Classic Loki. If you are currently subscribed on that account you get a free buff that gives you a +3 increase to your stats.

[Quest]Community Written temporary and permanent quests

Through the years we have had contests and events where members of the community could write or propose quests, which we put into the game.

[Event]Granny Boxter Random item Turn In NPC

This NPC can be found in the Eden Group. She will take items from the most recent random lucky box and give Brownie Points. These Brownie Points can be traded in for additional Lucky Boxes. She updates her list of acceptable items about a week after a new Lucky Box is implemented. This is a way for you to trade in unwanted items from the Lucky Boxes in order to get another chance at an item you might like more!

[Event]Jumping Janeway Leveling Quest

This NPC can be found in the Asgard Training Village on Classic Server and in Izlude on Renewal. She gives a series of quests that will level you to level 70 on Classic and 99 on Renewal, as well as providing consumable supplies and gear that are very useful when you’re getting started out.

Renewal Chaos Server

[Quests]Gramps Turn In Quests

[Quests]Bounty Board Quests

[Subscriber]Overlook Dungeon

[Event]Enriched Hammer

[Server]Level Based Drop Penalty Removed

[Server]Limited

Pre-Renewal Loki Server

[Community]Classic Foundry Program

[Map]Asgard Training Village

PVE Monster Spawn Improvements

Album of the Week: Return to Paradise by the 50 Guitars of Tommy Garret

For the cocktail of the week, try out this: The Lapu Lapu from the Disney World Polynesian resort’s Tambu Lounge
alt=”Photo from the Disney Food Blog” />
LAPU LAPU
2 oz Myer’s dark rum
2 oz Unsweetened Pineapple Juice
3 oz Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
1 part sweet and sour (instead it is recommended to use one part simple syrup/agave syrup to two parts fresh lemon juice)
Shake with crushed ice and float 1 oz of Bacardi.

For today’s bit of history, we focus on the long-gone but not forgotten Clifton’s Pacific Seas. Founded in the early 30s as part of a chain by Cliff Clinton, this restaurant was converted to a faux Polynesian theme in ’39 during the original Tiki bar boom started by Don the Beachcomber.

Cliff Clinton was an interesting guy, who provided millions of meals for little or no cost during the great depression at his restaurants, with a edict that no-one be turned away from his restaurants. During the dark ages of L.A. politics he worked to expose the considerable corruption that had infested nearly every level of the local government and had a bomb exploded in his home as a warning from crooked cops. Despite this and other assassination attempts on fellow reformers they were able to provoke a recall election that ousted the mayor.

Pacific Seas became “the poor man’s nightclub” in Clinton’s words, an iconic hangout in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, and one of the early tiki restaurants in Los Angeles. It survived until 1960.

Further reading: Collector’s Weekly has an excellent write up on Clinton and his restaurants.

For the recipe of the week, we have a neat Pineapple recipe from Clifton’s restaurant

PINEAPPLE BRAN MUFFINS

2 cups Bran, unprocessed
1/2 cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 1/3 tsp Baking Soda
1 Egg
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup Honey
3 tbsp Milk Powder, dry, nonfat
1 1/2 cup Flour
3/4 cup Water
1/3 cup Crushed Pineapple, drained

1. Place bran, sugar, sal, baking soda, egg, oil and honey in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Mix at low speed until ingredients are well mixed.
3. Add dry milk, flour and water. Whip until batter is just mixed. Do not over-mix.
4. Add crushed pineapple. Mix in thoroughly
5. Spoon batter into papaer-lined muffin cups, filling 3/4 ful.
6. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Serves 12-15 muffins

Ok, as a bit of an aside from Tiki, Trek and all that other fun stuff this week is dedicated to Mr. “Weird Al” Yankovic, perhaps one of the few artists who straight up has a ” ” in their stage name.

He’s made hit albums, had a tv show, a cult classic movie, and has survived 90% of the acts that he’s parodied. I grew up listening to Weird Al and the Beatles, my favorite albums my parents owned. For the album of the week is Weird Al’s EVEN WORSE, the parody of Michael Jackson’s seminal BAD. The album is a good mix of megahits parodies and original songs, though it’s one of the only Al records not to have a polka medley. I still have this record to this day.

Listening to Weird Al’s records and watching his feature film UHF (a classic) warped my mind and is largely responsible for my sense of humor. The image of a squashed Indiana Al fading into a grilling burger is one of the nuttiest transitions I’ve ever been privileged to watch. He’s shaved the mustache and gotten lasik surgery but in my heart he’s still the perm’d bespectacled Al from his early days.

For this week’s recipe, I will just share this. The Twinkie Weiner Sandwich invented for UHF:

Probably recommended that you cook the hot dog first, but like Weird Al himself, this is pretty much the most American thing you could eat. Now that Twinkies(R) have returned to the marketplace you no longer have to seek out black market Twinkie(R) dealers in the bad parts of town.

Also, I had more questions about off topic stuff asked (which really helps to pad out the length of the show) and I like answering questions about pop culture stuff.

So please ask away!

For the album of the week, let’s go with some fun Hawaiian Luau Music!

Today’s recipe is something BBQ friendly for Father’s day or just to enjoy the summer outside grilling: The Bengal Barbeque Sauce (for chicken)!. This is a secret Island-influenced recipe smuggled out of Disneyland’s kitchens, courtesy of Tiki Central’s Food Thread

Bengal BBQ

Photo from this Disney Blog
Tonkatsu Sauce (Chicken Marinade)

Ingredients

Teriyaki Sauce 1 cup
Soy Sauce 1 cup
Red Wine Vinegar 1 tblsp.
Brown Sugar 1 cup
Sherry Cooking Wine 1/2 cup
Whole Bay Leaf 2 each
Ground Black Pepper 1 tblsp.
Fresh Ginger Root 3 tblsp.
Fresh Garlic 2 tblsp.

Preparation

Mix ingredients and marinade chicken overnight in your refrigerator.

Pour-on Tahitian Sauce (Chicken)

Ingredients

Whole Cloves 4 each
Red Wine Vinegar 1 tblsp.
Catsup 1 cup
Crushed Pineapple 1/2 cup
Pineapple Juice 1/2 cup
Brown Sugar 1/2 cup
Soy Sauce 1/2 cup
Orange Juice Conc. 1/4 cup
Water 3 tblsp.

Preparation

Simmer cloves in vinegar for 5-10 minutes. Strain cloves and add other ingredients.
Bring mixture to slow boil over medium heat.

It’s recommended to steam the chicken until the pink is gone from the middle before putting on the sauce. Optionally, grill the chicken briefly just to get the grill marks on before adding the sauce.

Restaurant of the week is my personal favorite eatery in Los Angeles: PANN’S Diner! A literal Mom-and-Pop restaurant, this diner was founded by George and Rena Panagopoulos in the late 50s. George had emigrated from Greece after WWII and had married Rena. Together, they worked in diners and restaurants through the east coast, the Southeast and eventually made their way to Los Angeles. Since George had learned cooking in the restaurants of the South, Pann’s has always had amazing Southern comfort food (the chicken and waffles rival Roscoe’s in my humble opinion).

The building is as impressive as the food. Designed by Chinese American Architect Helen Liu Fong (please read this article about her work, very cool), it epitomizes the “Googie” style. This style is sort of the architectural expression of postwar futurism, with bold V shapes , signs design be spotted from passing motorcars and space age materials. The inside of the restaurant had been desecrated in the 70s to make it look more stereotypically “50s” but in recent years they had removed that to restore Pann’s to it’s original glory.

A few years ago, I happened to meet Mrs. Panagopoulos, who was happy to chat about the history of the restaurant that she and her husband built. She and her son buzz by the restaurant often to make sure that service and the food are up to snuff. And they always seem to be. If you live in the Los Angeles area or plan to visit in the future, make sure to stop by Panns.

Well, since you’re already sitting down and eating a burger or fried chicken at Panns, why not enjoy some relaxing midcentury organ tunes?

While you have that playing in the background, you might as well chew on some Space Food Sticks and enjoy this futuristic cocktail:

THE COCONAUT

From Beachbum Berry’s Remixed book, which you should really buy.

8oz Lopez coconut cream
2 oz fresh lime juice
7 oz dark Jamaican rum

Put everything in a blender and fill to the top with ice cubes. Blend until slushy. Pour into ceramic coconut shell mugs (if you have them). Serves two to four. You can spice up the presentation of this cocktail by hollowing out a half a lime and placing a toasted cube of white bread inside. Place the lime shell, and douse the crouton with 151 proof rum and light with a long match. This will give a fun flaming effect for the drink.

Photo from here.

Recommended: Yes

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was better than it really had any right to be, delivering a satisfying spy thriller and modern action film. Though I am a big fan of Joe Johnston’s work (The Rocketeer is on my top 10 of all time favorite films) the first film felt a bit like it suffered from being overstuffed with foreshadowing for the Avengers, like Iron Man 2 before it. Not super memorable compared to that series of films but with a solid hero, it wasn’t clear how Captain America was going to mesh with a comic universe with demigods and crazy mystical artifacts. In his second outing, would Cap be able to stand on his own?

Thankfully, the answer to that is YES! Instead of being a retread of the style and story of the first movie, the second Captain America film is a serious espionage film in the vein of a Bourne or Daniel Craig Bond film. A complex conspiracy threatens SHIELD and without getting into spoilers Captain America and Black Widow are the ones to try to tackle it, with some excellent buddy chemistry between Hemsworth and Johannsen. Even more than in the Avengers, Nick Fury and Black Widow feel like they have a strong reason to be there, with no superpowered heroes around to save the day. I was afraid that like in the Star Wars prequels, Sam Jackson would just be the guy who stands in front of monitors telling the heroes where to go.

Captain America also shows why he needs to be in the film, acting as the moral compass for the film-a morally uncomplicated and uncompromising man who you can latch onto in a situation where no-one else can be trusted.

The movie felt it’s length (three hours or so) once in a while, but was able to wring a lot of character development in those quiet moments between explosions. I’d highly recommend it to people who love the comics, or who get a charge out of the idea of Tom Clancy mixed with the Marvel universe.