Book Review: 'The Rose Throne' by Mette Ivie Harrison

The Rose Throne follows the story of two kingdoms divided by different brands of magic. We read it in the perspectives of two rival princesses who seek the throne that may reunite their kingdoms, yet wish to marry for love. Though I don't generally go for romance, the fantasy aspects of The Rose Throne appealed to me enough that I decided to give this YA fantasy/romance a try.

Princess Ailsbet was born without magic, hates the court, and loves music more than anything else in life. Though she would love to have friends and marry someone she likes, she's been burned a few too many times by people who only pretend to like being around her to trust anyone easily. Marlissa, on the other hand, has plentiful magic and is loved by her people. She, too, dreams of marrying for love and eventually taking the throne, but it's a man's world, and she, like Ailsbet, must abide by the kings' wishes.

Elementary School Lunch: 05/23 - seconds

I've had Japanese curry, and I've had udon, but today was the first time I've ever combined the two together. And it was good.

Besides the bowl of curry (pork and veggie), we had a plate with mashed potatoes and more veggies (carrots, corn, etc), and some yogurt. The yogurt had prune and iron, though the look and consistency of it was of plain yogurt (i.e.: no fruit chunks were in there). Also, for the first time this year, I totally over-ate because I got seconds, both of curry sauce and the potato plate.

I still had some noodles left over after finishing the first bowl I was served, so I, along with several other co-workers, got a sauce refill. Some of my male co-workers went back to the sauce pot a few times, actually. The mashed potato/salad plate was appealing because it wasn't cold. If it had been a cold potato salad, I wouldn't have cared for it. Especially if it had mayo and other gunky stuff in it. This was just plain mashed potato with the other boiled veggies added.

Calorie count: 690. Yep, I totally went over today. I guess it's a good thing I mostly went over on vegetables, since I didn't get udon noodle seconds. I also didn't drink the milk, despite showing it in the image. This was a co-worker's tray.

Elementary School Lunch: 05/22 - I eat you, killer tofu

Internet cookies if you can guess the reference in my awful pun in the headline!

Today's main dish featured tofu quite heavily, and it was cooked with some pork and veggies in a bowl of delicious wonderful-ness that we've seen once before already. The difference is we had some shiitake in there instead of bamboo. The salad on the side featured mostly these long-ish clear beans with a little bit of ham and cucumber mixed in. The other side dish is, of course, a red box of rice. Shown in the picture is my cup of green tea (instead of milk).

Same as the last time we had a Chinese day with a tofu bowl, I pretty much ate everything except a portion of the rice. It's just way too tasty, and all those veggies can be filling. Even now, as I write this four hours later, I'm not starting to feel hungry like I might on most days already.

Calorie count: 669

Elementary School Lunch: 05/21 - double up fish

I'm doing another double post today because I suck and forgot to post my lunch yesterday! Don't you worry... I didn't forget the picture. I just forgot to post.

Alright, so yesterday we had seafood stew, some salad, and raisin kuro-pan. The stew had plenty of veggies, along with shrimp and other bits of fishy things, but since it was all creamy and stuff, mine was drained before I ate it. The image that I took (above) is someone else's tray with the proper amount of broth in there for the benefit of you lovely readers.

The salad itself had something new (for me) in it, too. A kind of seaweed that looks clear and crispy like small pieces of plastic, except obviously not. A co-worker told me that while it's a zero-calorie food, it's quite fibrous and thus, good for you. I took an extra picture of it just because I love you. If it's too small, you can click on the image to get a good look.

If you've been keeping up, you might remember kuro-pan from a previous lunch. This is the same deal, except it was baked with some delicious raisins in it. I was tempted to claim one of the leftovers (there were two people missing that day), but while I deliberated someone else snatched it. That's what I get for hesitating!

Calorie count: 629

Today's lunch was quite tasty. The salad was more wild than usual with a little bit of corn added. It was dressed in standard Japanese, and accompanied by a piece of fried fish (I'll update again when someone can tell me what kind it was - I'm actually not sure!). The bowl had some steaming veggies and meat, which was a bit different from the usual steaming bowl - some string beans snuck in there! My usual cup of tea is in view, along with the red tray for rice, of which I left half because the veggies filled me up.

Calorie count: 698 (yikes! That's quite a lot for a meal that wasn't even saucy. I wonder what hiked it up - the fried fish?)

Adventures in Gunpla: SD Knight Gundam

Now that I'm in Japan, I'm seeing gunpla at pretty much any store that also sells toys. Like, you go to a store that has some kids toys, and there'll be at least a corner of gunpla somewhere tucked away. Big store with lots of collectibles and more high-end toys? A boatload of gunpla!

So now I find myself trying (and failing) to avoid the "bug." I've bought two SD kits so far, and the first one was Knight Gundam. I picked this one up because I like the design, including the actual eyes and spiffy cape. This one also transforms, and I guess I'm not technically 100% finished since I didn't build the transforming parts, but the Gundam itself is built.

Knight Gundam was pretty easy to put together - possibly the easiest of the three I've made so far. I'm thinking that it's partially because I'm now more familiar with the pieces and I can look at the runners and start to identify where all the bits will eventually end up. That and, it's just an easy kit. But whatever - I'll take my small victories!

Anyway, I'm happy with the result, and my little Knight looks rad with his gear on. My next kit is SD Gundam AGE-FX , which is another one that I picked out specifically because I like the suit's design. I haven't actually watched AGE, so I'm not sure about the pilot (I've heard he's kind of lame?), but the green parts look neato and I am always down for an extra splash of color in my model kits.