Toku-WHAT-su?

In the beginning there was Ultraman...

Specium Ray

Japan is a place that has fascinated me for a big chunk of my life now. My initial interest came through my study of Isshinryu Karate which began when I was 10. As a teenager I had friends who were really into anime but I was more into American comics at that point. Plus I had seen Ninja Scoll late one night on Teletoon at an age where I probably wasn't ready for it and it kind of turned me off anime for a while. I have been lucky enough to visit Japan twice in my travels. The first time was a 5 day trip to Okinawa which was awesome and probably the initial spark toward today's post. The second time was a bit over a year later as we (me and the at-the-time-soon-to-be Mrs. ISMOTU) left China for the final time we decided to turn our layover in Tokyo into a week-long holiday which probably cemented or at least furthered my fascination.  At the time I had just rediscovered Transformers in the form of Transformers: Prime and that led to spending too much money and suitcase space on fun Asian exclusive toys that I'd never see again.

But that's not what I want to focus on today. Boy do I have rambling, slightly askew openings to these posts. Well if you've read this far, thanks for sticking with me hopefully it'll be worth it.

David's Tea Cocomint Cream Fruit Infusion

Coconut and peppermint? Sure why not.

This is a older tea in our cupboard and as such I don't think it's available anymore. But it is a nice one actually. I definitely wouldn't have thought to pair coconut with mint but sweet and fresh tastes work together well. The blend of apple, coconut, blackberry leaves, peppermint, and spearmint is described as "cool and creamy" on the label and I'd say that's as apt as anything I could write.

Cocomint Cream has an interesting flavour that I enjoy best in nebulous intervals. It's not one of my "go to" teas but it certain hits the spot when I'm in the right mood.  I'm enjoying what may just be my final cup of this blend as we prepare to honour Alan Rickman's passing by watching GalaxyQuest, "By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!"
Recommended.

*edited to add: apparently I reviewed this one once already back in September. Here's what I thought of it then.

Hallowe'en Horror

I love Hallowe'en, and ever since I was a kid the biggest part of Hallowe'en for me wasn't the candy but dressing up in a costume. I would change my mind about a million times before October 31st rolled around.  I wanted to dress up in all the costumes and occasionally I'd wear different costumes to different Hallowe'en events prior to All Hallows' Eve.

from wikipedia.org