Peter Lok

Kumotawa Confluence Available on Amazon

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 23:22:00 +0000

This is my contemporary fantasy novel set in Japan. It contains a fusion of Japanese folklore, relentless action, and characters both ordinary and heroic. Kumotawa Confluence plunges you into a world where ancient myth collides with the modern world. Yuriko, a veteran ex–special forces operator turned small-town convenience store manager, investigates eerie disappearances on Mount Kumotawa. After meeting a mysterious cat, she uncovers a hidden realm of yokai and escalating danger.

What starts as faint rumors around Mount Kumotawa erupts into a storm of bullets, blades, and sorcery. A humble convenience store transforms into the front line of a war no one saw coming, dragging ordinary lives into extraordinary peril. At the heart of it all lies an ancient shrine standing as the final barrier against a darkness older than empires. As shadows gather and legends awaken, what will happen when the veil between worlds tears?

Ebook and paperback available on Amazon, all regions. Ebook can be previewed.

Kumotawa Confluence - Amazon.com

Kumotawa Confluence - Amazon.ca

Kumotawa Confluence - Amazon.co.uk

Check it out to support an independent author!

Author's Note

I've used my experience from publishing a guidebook on Tokyo and my blogging to craft a story that is an action-oriented, urban fantasy, but it has slice of life elements, friendship, along with gripping adventure and battle. Readers who like the X-Files, light novels like Otherside Picnic and In/Spectre, anime like Katana Maidens and Lycoris Recoil, and gripping military action like Blackhawk Down and 13 Hours will enjoy this book. It is an unusual take on urban fantasy with an older heroine who manages a convenience store, Japanese mythology come to life, an awesome and mysterious grey cat, a sword princess who wields a mystical sword, and there's even fresh coffee in the store. Now available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

My Urban Fantasy, Kumotawa Confluence, is Done and Serializing on Royal Road

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 21:24:00 +0000

If you're looking for an urban fantasy story set in modern Japan, Kumotawa Confluence, might just be what you are looking for. In this world magic works near convergence points between different worlds. These weaknesses in space-time are called Confluences, and this novel centre's on a particular one at Mount Kumotawa. The setting includes shrines, foggy mountain slopes, a convenience store that is more than it seems, a mysterious cat, and a diverse cast of characters including a sword princess. A rich mix of of Japanese culture and mythology is used to craft a gripping story that starts small and ends big.

NOTE: The book is now stubbed on Royal Road for KDP publication and can be purchased on Amazon as either a paperback or ebook.

This is my second completed novel and third completed book (I have a published Tokyo guidebook, too). I started this novel years ago, before the Great Lockdown and worked on it in my spare time. I've talked about my planning and outlining methodologies before, and this is the culmination of my efforts. Still, it wasn't something I did on my own, and I thank my reviewers and the Edmonton Writers' Group for their help.

I will be serializing the novel first on Royal Road and then on other platforms. An ebook version and a paperback will be published sometime when the serialization is half or 2/3 done, but I expect to serialize the entire novel online to start.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/108238/kumotawa-confluence
More about my writing. https://tokyoexcess.blogspot.com/p/my-sf-writing.html

My Main Blog is Tokyo Excess

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 18:50:00 +0000

Hello!

I started this writer's blog years ago and found that I didn't have time to maintain two separate blogs as time passed. This blog is only updated a handful of times a year, so for my latest news, please visit my main blog tokyoexcess.blogspot.com about my writing projects, Japan, anime, sci fi, and whatever interests me enough to write about.

An early cover concept.

I am currently revising Kumotawa Confluence an urban fantasy novel set in an alternate modern Japan where magic works and an ancient evil stirs. So stay tuned to keep updated on my progress.

Thank you for dropping by, and my main blog is at tokyoexcess.blogspot.com

Peter Lok

Quenzar's Caverns Registration and Tip Sheet - Official

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 18:08:00 +0000

Hello,

I'm Peter Lok. Decades ago (1993) I wrote Quenzar's Caverns as shareware for Windows 3.1. Over the years a few people have reached out about it and I see it is in the Internet Archive now. While this software is not abandonware, it is no longer sold or supported and only runs on older versions of Windows.

DISCLAIMER: I take no responsibility for anything that happens when anyone tries out this ancient software, so use at your own risk. However, there are nag screens as it was shareware. I enclose the registration and tip sheet for it below which has the code to disable the nag!

Registration Instructions For Quenzars Caverns V1.5 or Pulse Pack 1

Thank you for registering your copy of Quenzar's Caverns with Pulse Ventures Ltd., and supporting the concept of shareware. We hope you get many hours of playing enjoyment from the game.

To remove the registration reminders for Pulse Pack 1 (Windows 95 only)

1. Locate the Registration Program Icon amongst your other Pulse Pack Program Icons in the Pulse Pack menu folder.

2. Run the program and enter the password diamondgem

To remove the registration reminders, follow the steps listed below for Windows 3.1 or 3.11.

1. Start up windows.

2. Open up the group containing your Quenzar's Caverns icon. In the installation example, Figure 1, the icon is in the Games group.

Figure 1

3. Select the Quenzar icon by clicking the mouse once on it. In Figure 1, Quenzar is selected and shown in highlighted print.

4. Click on the File menu of Program Manager. This will bring up the File menu, see Figure 2 below.

Figure 2

5. Now select the Properties option by clicking the mouse on it. This will bring up the dialog box shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3

6. Click on the Command Line: edit box to place the cursor after the path and the name of the executable. In Figure 3, the path and the name of the executable is c:\sw\quenzar\quenzar.exe. Now type in the password diamondgem after the program executable name, leaving a space between the name and the password. The text will scroll if you reach the right hand side of the edit box. In the example, the contents of the edit box will now read c:\sw\quenzar\quenzar.exe diamondgem, see Figure 3 again for for an example. The password will disable the shareware messages and enable random dungeon generation.

7. Press the OK button to accept the change you have made.

8. Double click on the Quenzar icon to play Quenzar with random dungeon generation.

9. Please note that this password will have to be reentered if you ever delete the icon from Program Manager and create a new one. Keep this sheet for future reference.

To remove the registration reminders, follow the steps listed below for Windows95.

The process is similar to the process for Windows 3.1.

Figure 4

1. Right mouse click on the desktop so you see a popup menu with the item New, the pick Shortcut on the next level down. This will bring up the following dialog.

2. Browse or type in the path to the Quenzar.exe file and type in the password diamondgem after the program name in the edit box.

3. Click the Next button and continue on to create the shortcut on your desktop.

4. Double click on the desktop icon to play the game without the registration screens.

NOTE FOR QUENZAR 1.0 USERS:

Replace the password diamondgem with the password authentication delta to run 1.0 without the registration notice screen. Keep the password lower case with a space between the words.

QUENZAR'S CAVERNS TIP SHEET for V1.5+

Quenzar's Caverns can be a tricky little game. It is a challenge as you must face shock traps when navigating the dungeon and husband your resources to fight monsters. This sheet will explain some of the details of the game, giving you a better understanding of how it works. Use the Randomize Items function, or play an advanced level to get even more challenge out of the game!

A FEW SAFETY TIPS FIRST:

1. Do not rush around in the dungeon when moving. It is too easy to blunder into a shock trap.

2. Always use your best weapons and armour, particularly armour. For example, it may pay to use a two-handed sword with leather armour to do more damage against a large opponent such as a goblin, but you should usually use a one handed weapon with your armour and use a shield if you can for the extra protection. Using a weapon, shield, and armour is definitely better against bats, rats, spiders, hounds, and other creatures that do not do as much damage and are not that tough. MORE ARMOUR IS GOOD, even though it reduces your chances of hitting in combat!

3. Now that I have said more armour is good, if you are having a problem hitting monsters, check your modified dexterity. Hitting is based upon a random number generated between 1 and 20 vs. your modified dexterity. If your modified dexterity is only 8, then you only have a 40% chance to hit. You may wish to adjust your armour / shield mix. I like small shields (unless the Dragon Shield is available), and chainmail as a non-magical mix. A modified dexterity from 8 - 10 is satisfactory.

4. Also use the Defend option when facing dangerous opponents when their dexterity is much higher than yours if you are wearing armour. Quenzar, the vampire, minor demons, etc., fall in this category.

5. Use your ability to use healing potions, change weapons, and other objects in the middle of a combat to your advantage.

6. See what types of items are contained in certain types of furniture and only search the ones you need. For example, do not search weapons racks if you already have the Dragon Sword or another magical weapon to avoid setting off any traps.

7. When trying on rings, save them up until you have a few scrolls, of which one is a remove cursed items hopefully, before you use the rings. Wearing a cursed item around is discouraging and items should only be tried when you know what they are! Finding the lens of identity early in the game is always a big bonus as it reveals the identity of everything you find.

8. Use healing potions before restoration potions. Use restoration potions when your strength is low (low is at your discretion, but 1/3 or less is good).

9. Once you have a magic weapon, you can dump your other weapons as you won't be needing them.

10. Watch your point value vs. the monster's point value. This is a good indicator of how tough they are.

11. When you are weak at the beginning, running into a goblin can be a treasure trove. Using a grenade to obtain good armour, a shield, and a good weapon can give your character a good start.

12. Save a grenade for Quenzar's bodyguard at the end of the game. Grenades also have 1 chance in 8 of doing a point of damage to Quenzar.

13. Run away from the horror as it doesn't hit too well, or use grenades if you have them to spare. Killing it is most satisfying for some reason though.

14. Use potions carefully, except for pink ones. Potions other than red or pink can permanently raise or lower your attributes. Red potions can cure you of all wounds or poison you in some cases.

15. Pink potions and scrolls are always good.

16. The talk option is also underused by most people, and it is extremely handy to buy off tough monsters like vampires, or goblin chiefs. The money you use to pay them off stays on their person, so if you come back later, you can get some back by slaying them. Don't be too cheap when bribing.

17. Heal often with the Healing Spirit as long as your money holds out.

NOTE! You do not need the Dragon Shield and Dragon Sword to kill Quenzar - they just help.

ARMOUR/SHIELDS IN ASCENDING VALUE : WEAPONS IN ASCENDING VALUE:

Armour/Shields	Protection	Dex. Mod	Weapons	Damage	Hands Used
none	0	0	hands	0	0
padded armour	1	-1	dagger	1	1
leather armour	2	-2	club	2	1
chainmail armour	3	-3	shortsword	3	1
partial-plate armour	4	-4	sword, mace	4	1
plate armour	5	-5	long sword, morningstar	5	1
magic chainmail	4	-3	battle axe	6	1
magic plate	5	-4	spear	6	2
			greate axe	7	2
none	0	0	magic sword	7	1
small shield	1	0	halberd, greatsword	8	2
shield	2	-1	magic glaive	9	2
large shield	3	-2	Dragon Sword	9	1
dragon shield	4	-2	Dark Sword	8	1

MONSTER STATS (read at your own risk of losing surprises):

NAME	Avg. Str.	Avg. Dex.	Avg. Int.	Armour	Attack	Special
blob of slime	20	3	1	1
giant rat	2	10	1		2	-1 to hit
giant spider	1	11	2	1		poison, -2 to hit
killer rabbit	5	15	3		2	-1 to hit
skeletal guard	9	8	3	armour	weapon
goblin guard	11	10	7	armour	weapon
goblin chief	13	10	10	armour	weapon
black hound	9	11	2	1	2	flame
trapper plant	13	6	0	3	1
giant lizard	14	12	1	1	2
cave bat	2	12	1		2	-2 to hit
cave troll	15	8	5	armour	weapon
minotaur	16	11	3	1	2
cave kraken	15	12	2
tunnel frog	5	13	1		1	poison
ghoul	10	10	3		1
imicon	10	11	2			-1 to hit
minor demon	15	13	13	1	2
imp	6	15	11
vampire	14	14	11	1	1	vampire drain
giant	16	7	6	armour	weapon
medusa	10	10	14		1	stone gaze, 1/2 to hit
blood wisp	6	12	1		1	strength drain, -2 to hit
giant snake	6	10	1		1	poison, -1 to hit
Healing Spirit	1		15			heals you
Quenzar the Wizard	14	13	16	m-chain	d-sword	spells
large golem	20	10	2	2	3
gargoyle	16	13	2	2	3
automaton	14	10	2	m-plate	halberd
dragon	18	12	2	4	3	flame
Slithering Horror	30	6	3	4	2	regeneration

Press ALT-F1 to activate the secret blast spell when there is a monster in the room. This costs you strength.

2024 Edition Of My Guidebook Tokyo Intro Is In Print

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 20:18:00 +0000

This new version of Tokyo Intro is available in print form for the first time and it is also the first time I've worked through the entire process of printing a paper book. It was a ton of work to do page layouts and especially cover formatting, but I now have a new skill! In role-playing game terms, I leveled up!

This 3rd edition of the book is current as of June 2024. It was a pile of work to update certain sections, while others were relatively untouched as the information was still current and relevant. It is always fun planning for my Tokyo trips and documenting what I find benefits both readers and myself. Tokyo constantly changes with new experiences to enjoy, but it has a stable core that you need to know to enjoy any visit. This guidebook provides a nice base of information to enjoy any visit more fully. I have to say holding a print copy in my hand really drives home a personal achievement.

If you're planning on visiting Tokyo soon, or just want to read some cool stories, consider picking up a copy of this as a paperback or an ebook!

The book is now available on Amazon Canada, USA, and other English markets.
Tokyo Intro - Stories, Pop Culture, and Places on Amazon.com
Tokyo Intro - Stories, Pop Culture, and Places on Amazon.ca

Every section of Tokyo Intro has been updated with new information and several new sections have been added. The key sections in the book are:

JAPANESE POP CULTURE AND TOKYO
TOP ATTRACTIONS FOR TOKYO - new
NEKO ASTRAY - story
JAPANESE POP CULTURE
ANIMATED IN AKIBA - story
GLOBALIZATION OF JAPANESE FOOD
PRINT IN TIME - story
TOKYO TRIP TIPS
GENERAL GEOGRAPHY AND TRAINS - new
CORE DISTRICTS TO VISIT
GREAT VIEWS
KAIJU KNOCKING - story
TOP TOKYO EXPERIENCES
TOKYO EXPERIENCES LIST
SOUVENIR SUGGESTIONS

The jacket blurb on my book states "Going to Tokyo? Want a richer experience?"

My book introduces Tokyo using a pop culture lens to give a visitor insight into what is cool about Tokyo. I use stories to introduce some interesting aspects of Japanese pop culture and the city to give a visitor additional insight into experiences they have. Learn about Japanese food, key experiences, sights to see, districts to visit, anime, and why the country’s pop culture is so popular worldwide. Japan has a rich culture and history and is still creating more of it in the 21st century.

For myself, my next visit to Tokyo will include the new TeamLab digital art experience, new megaplexes like Azabudai Hills and Toranomon Hills, and the revamped Shibuya Crossing Q Front building. So pick up a copy of this book and learn more about Tokyo!

2020 Sales of Ebooks and Print Books and Your Book Selling Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 00:41:00 +0000

I was doing a little reading and concluded that my next books and revisions of my older books need to have print on demand (POD) and ebook availability. I've included some of the articles on the web I was reading for research.

Ebooks reversed a downward sales trend last year by growing due to the pandemic, but print books still held steady and grew too. People like paper even if I do most of my fiction reading on an ebook reader with e-ink. I buy non-fiction books that are reference or art books in paper mostly these days. Anything with pictures chews up too much room on an ebook (I do buy some manga volumes as ebooks if the filesizes are < 150 MB as it is half price compared to the paper book, but cookbooks and some manga are huge now at 300 MB and upwards.

At some point this year I need to seriously look at publishing solutions such as Draft2Digital to allow for ebook and POD simultaneous publishing and on multiple books stores at the same time too! This way I don't have to manage an Amazon, Google, and Apple Books accounts.

https://www.draft2digital.com/

The links about these topics are listed below for your reading pleasure.

Why Are Americans Buying Far More Paper Books than eBooks in 2020? Paper is just a great medium and we might even absorb information better in the page turning format!

https://frontedgepublishing.com/why-are-americans-buying-far-more-paper-books-than-ebooks-in-2020/

Print Book Sales Rose 8.2% in 2020

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/85256-print-unit-sales-rose-8-2-in-2020.html

Is Predicted eReader Decline Indicating Reverse Digitization?

https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/is-predicted-ereader-decline-indicating-reverse-digitization

Publishers Worry as Ebooks Fly off Libraries' Virtual Shelves. Anyone who can is borrowing ebooks from libraries. Best way to go is the Libby app, but if you don't want to read on an expensive IPAD or a small screen phone, buy a cheap android tablet such as an Amazon Kindle Fire for < $100 and use the Overdrive app if your libraries support these lending methods.

https://www.wired.com/story/publishers-worry-ebooks-libraries-virtual-shelves/

Big Fail for publishers? Just $92 per household spent on rec reading in 2019—and even that may decline long term. This is kind of interesting as books are actually really expensive compared to DVDs / Blu-Rays too if you think about it. How much does it cost to make a series or a movie compared to a novel? Mass market pricing at work for the DVD / Blu-Ray and not for books.

https://teleread.org/2021/02/04/big-fail-for-publishers-just-92-per-household-spent-on-rec-reading-in-2019-and-even-that-may-decline-long-term/

Book Sales Are Soaring—And Not Just the Digital Kind. Pre-pandemic from 2019. Think about what's changed in 2020 and 2021 moving forward.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/570930/book-sales-are-soaring

My Writing Group Has Just Published All Mapped Out - A New Anthology

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 22:55:00 +0000

Hi everybody! Two years ago I joined up with the Edmonton Writers' Group and have been attending the meetings regularly. The group is a loose affiliation of writers who just get together every two weeks to critique one or two short stories or pieces of writing from a member(s). It's all done in good fun and the group has been running for fourteen years.

The group had previously published some anthologies and late last year, people started wondering if they should do another anthology. Well, it is a year later and I contributed a story to All Mapped Out, the fourth collection that has just been published.

All Mapped Out is a set of stories based on the theme of MAPS. Many kinds of maps are involved that range from actual paper maps to abstract concepts of a path or even a journey. There are fifteen stories in this collection with no two stories being alike. Some are mysteries, others are emotional journeys, and there are fantasy and science fiction stories too. They’re all pretty enjoyable reads too (a good thing as this volume went through a number of editing passes within the group). The volume has been in the works for over a year and it is the fourth anthology published by the group, and it is the first one for me to be involved in. All Mapped Out is available online as an ebook or in print. All profits from this anthology are donated to the Edmonton Public Library which also hosts our meet ups when we meet in person.

It is a whole bunch of work to get out a printed book and ebook, but the Edmonton Writers' Group is a good bunch of folks who apparently love a good challenge and writing of all kinds. Membership isn’t all that exclusive as there are no fees and you just have to attend three meetings to be considered a member, but we have people who come regularly and people who only drop in a few times a year. The group has a pretty diverse membership with dozens of members and meets every two weeks to do friendly reviews of one or two stories. Even with the pandemic this year, we went online to hold our meetings by video (and didn’t miss a single meeting), and I think everyone is glad to have some social contact with their fellow writers. Personally, I’ve found that everyone is pretty supportive of each others writing and the commentary is always interesting as it brings up things that I never thought about or missed.

I contributed the story “Green Day” to the anthology. My story is set in a future Edmonton which has undergone immense change due to climate change. It is a story about competitors running a foot race around the core of the city while racking up scores on an overlayed virtual map. The prize is luxury food privileges in a future that provides for all, but things we take for granted are now expensive luxuries.

It was really interesting to see the diversity of stories in this anthology and it really shows the different personalities and interests of the people in the group. If you pick up a copy of the book, I hope you have a good read.

A big thanks also goes out to our editor, Howard, and Robin for facilitating the online meetings.

Where To Get All Mapped Out
All Mapped Out at Amazon.ca - Canadian Kindle ebook
All Mapped Out at Amazon.ca - Canadian trade paperback
All Mapped Out at Amazon.com - USA Kindle ebook

Older Works by the Writing Group
Between the Shelves at Amazon.ca - Canadian Kindle ebook
Edmonton Unbound at Amazon.ca - Canadian Kindle ebook

The Edmonton Writers' Group Blog and Website
http://edmontonwritersgroup.blogspot.com
https://sites.google.com/view/edmontonwritersgroup

My Writing
Tokyo Intro - a storytelling guidebook to the city
My science fiction books and stories

Food Preservation with MREs and Combat Rations in General

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 31 May 2020 18:00:00 +0000

I've always been fascinated by the science of preserving food so that it can be eaten at a later date. In southern Chinese cuisine there are the black 1000 year old eggs from China, dried shrimp and scallops, salt fish, or tasty salted duck eggs, etc. In Europe you have bacon, ham, sausages, etc. The Native Americans had pemmican and smoked meats too. While these old food preservation techniques are no longer needed, they are still used today to preserve food and to provide great variety for eating. Who doesn't like bacon if they are allowed to eat it! I can't believe they have bacon jerky now too!

Food preservation technology via canning took a big advance in the 18th century if I recall from watching the show Connections. Napoleon was concerned about feeding his army and a man named Nicolas Appert figured out that he could preserve food in bottles if the food was cooked and sealed in an airtight container. Canned rations followed later in the 19th century. Military needs basically produced an innovation in food preservation. On an interesting side note, this also means that making jam and other fruit preserves didn't exist until after these innovations, so the techniques are only a few centuries old. Before canning, you had drying, smoking, salting, and pickling as methods of preserving meat and vegetables.

Skipping ahead a couple of hundred years, past WWII K-Rations, then C-Rations, you now have MREs or meals ready to eat. So rations were bottled, then canned, and now they are stored in retort pouches made out of laminated foil and plastic. MREs were a big improvement on previous types of military field rations that existed even in the 1970s. These days, they would be compared against other types of dehydrated or retort packaged foods and they hold up pretty good against the competition.

It turns out there is a community of military ration enthusiasts and I watched bunch of unpackaging videos on Youtube. You could spend hours viewing a variety of military rations from different countries and be impressed.

It was pretty interesting watching as you can see what different countries consider essential to their soldiers in the varieties of food and amenities packed. Some of the European rations like the ones from the French and Italians were pretty fantastic looking as it was almost like having a picnic, the Japanese ones were pretty darn cool for their food and contents, and the American MREs had to be the best designed. I was really impressed with how you could eat the contents right from the pouches, mix your drinks in the pouches, only need to use a spoon, and generally eat without camp stoves and such with the flameless ration heaters. Some of the other nations needed little stoves to boil water or to heat their canned meals.

Gundam Cup Noodle

Instant ramen is another advance in food preservation technology. I blog about instant ramen on my Japanese Pop Culture blog, particularly cup noodles from Japan as they are far superior to the regular cup noodles you can get over here (it is more about quality in Japan than value). It is interesting that the Japanese Self-Defence Forces actually issue cup noodles and the government over there keeps cup noodles stockpiled for emergency preparedness.

Cup Noodle cutaway

Instant Ramen

Interesting post about Japanese military rations here.

Back to the MREs now. I finally bought a box of civilian MREs from Meal Kit Supply via Costco Canada (thanks Costco for carrying these at a reasonable price), and I'll try a bunch of these over the year just for the sake of trying them. The box of 12 meals I received contained a variety of meals and they actually look pretty cool packed in their tough plastic bags.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Potatoes au gratin
Chili with Beans, Fried rice
Vegetarian Ratatouille, Potatoes au gratin
Chicken with Noodles, Fried rice
Beef Ravioli, Potato cheddar soup
Chicken Fajita, Fried rice
Meatballs in Marinara Sauce, Potato cheddar soup
Vegetable Lasagna, Zapplesauce
2 Apple Maple Oatmeal, Brown sugar toaster pastry
2 Sausage Patty with Hash Browns, Hash brown with bacon

There is a great deal of stuff packed into each one of these, and they are heavy, but you'll get a ton of calories from them. If you can carry the weight, they are definitely good for rations on the go, and the variety of items inside is a nice plus.

I've only tried one MRE so far, a Meatballs in Marinara Sauce and a Potato Cheddar Soup with Bacon meal. It was actually pretty good overall and I'll comment about the meal in the pictures below. A meal works out to cost less than $10 Canadian if you take out the shipping cost. They last a long time too, up to five years with regular cool storage.

The MREs come in tough plastic packages within a sturdy cardboard box and are tightly fitted inside. You'll need a lot of muscle or a cutter to open the tough bags.

The large amount of contents in an MRE. You get drink mixes, instant coffee, suger, salt/pepper, spoon, napkin, hot sauce, two main entrees, nice big package of crackers, peanut butter, and a flameless ration heater. The two dull olive green packages in the top right are the main entrees in their retort pouches.

Flameless ration heater wrapped around my soup and meatballs. It didn't heat as much as I thought it would, but I don't think I measured the water right and I'll have to try again with the next meal. It was cold outside, so we'll see.

The meatballs in a tomato sauce. The small meatballs were quite firm, but I enjoyed it. It is probably better to have a firmer meatball than a squished on in my opinion.

Chedder and potato soup. This was pretty good too and it went down real easy.

I was quite impressed by these crackers as they were crisp, had a good texture, and were fresh. Went real good with the peanut butter.

When I write some more stories, some MREs need to factor in somehow to add good background for them! Other than space gruel out of a tube, food synthesizers, or the little brick of miracle food (like Elven bread), science fiction MREs should be pretty darn interesting. This is something that isn't really written about all that much, but maybe space marines will still be complaining about their field rations anyhow as it is a common thing to complain about.

As a parting shot, here is a picture of space instant noodles (ramen) that I shot when I was in Tokyo. It was developed by Nissin for the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA).

Public Domain / Open Access Image Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Fri, 23 Nov 2018 00:25:00 +0000

There are numerous sources of free images that you are available for use in your projects or blogging. Most of these image banks are for older images (out of copyright, something you would need to check), but something from the 19th century is probably pretty safe.

From NASA / Flicker. No known copyright restrictions (no need for attribution either).

In some cases you need to attribute the image to the source, but that is a pretty easy restriction to follow for free use. For tech or space images, NASA is a good source too. Searching Flickr with filters for Creative Commons licenses also can work too, but you have to make sure the subjects are not people or owned by someone even if the image is free to use. Before using any image check for yourself to see if you can truly use it or it is public domain, kind of like buyer beware.

Here is a short list of amazing resource sites. Beware the Internet rabbit hole!

The Library of Congress digital Free to Use and Reuse Sets. I like the Japanese fine prints collection, and you could definitely do a lot of creating with the other historical collections.
Their main digital collections page with millions of items that are not just images, but you need to be more careful about copyrights and usage.
The British Library released over a million images on Flickr that are in the public domain. There are lots of old maps and other images. Search or browse for hours.
NASA and it many projects and divisions have piles of space images. Not all are public domain, so do read the usage policies and restrictions.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory Images and usage policies.
ASTER Satellite Images that require credit.
NASA on The Commons are images that are in the public domain on Flickr.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access has 400,000 images online
Japanese Illustrated books in the public domain - check policies.
Getty Open Content Images, check their usage policies.
National Gallery of Art Open Images, check their usage policies.
Art Institute of Chicago, under Creative Commons License, make sure the Open Access Checkbox is on for the search.

There are other sources of images too, but this is already a pretty big set.

My Tokyo Introductory Guide Book Is Now Available!

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 20:50:00 +0000

Going to Tokyo? Want a richer experience?
Tokyo Stories provides an introduction to the city by using storytelling and Japanese pop culture in a unique format. Learn about Japanese food, key experiences, sights to see, districts to visit, anime, and why the country’s pop culture is so popular worldwide. Japan has a rich culture and history and is still creating more of it in the 21st century.

Learn About Tokyo
This book provides a comprehensive background for any visit on its own and easily complements other guides to the city. Over fifty experiences to have in Tokyo are detailed to allow the visitor to pick what they think is important to them.

Key sections in the book are:

Japanese Pop Culture - Anime and Manga, Idols, Kawaii, Cyberpunk, and Videogames
Japanese Food - Eating Out In Japan, Casual Restaurants, B-Kyu Food Of Japan, and more
Tokyo Trip Tips – Planning, Booking, Transportation, Monetary, and Personal
Core Districts To Visit - Shinjuku, Harajuku, Omotesando, Shibuya, Ginza, and more
Great Views - Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Tower, Mori Tower, Ginza Six, and more
Top Tokyo Experiences – Modern Tokyo, Historic Tokyo, Seasonal Events, and Anime Culture
Descriptions of more than 50 Tokyo Experiences – 100 Yen Store, Akihabara, Depachika, Gardens, Kappabashi Street, Konbini, Meiji Jingu, Odaiba High Tech, Ramen Museums, and more.

Stories In Tokyo
The four short stories in the book gently introduce what it is like to ride the trains, eat a meal, explore some must-visit districts, and have a pop culture adventure at the same time. Stories are remembered, so this is a great way to learn more about the fantastic city of Tokyo. One early reviewer remarked that they felt like they experienced the city through them, and that they loved the introductions to each story.

The stories are:

Neko Astray – you help a lost cat get home with some unexpected help provided.
Animated in Akiba – you assist a magical girl in Akihabara, the heart of anime culture.
Print in Time – you meet an ukiyo-e artist who has accidently travelled in time to modern Tokyo.
Kaiju Knocking – you are a tourist in Tokyo when it is attacked by a giant monster.

By the time you finish this book you will have an idea about how much there is to see in Tokyo, and what you would like to see and do. However, this book is not a guide to Japanese etiquette, hotels, the restaurants, nightlife, shopping, or things that more typical guide books cover. Knowledge from this book supports planning with other resources, as it is intended to introduce and entertain only. Online sources of information for travel to Tokyo are excellent. You can use Google Maps and reviews, blogs, Youtube, Tripadvisor, Yelp, etc. They will provide you with addresses, exact map locations, and any other details you can think up. This book is like having someone tell you about Tokyo over a coffee with some tall tales sprinkled on top.

The author, Peter Lok, has written the novel Neo Ace, and has been blogging about Japanese pop culture and Tokyo since 2009.

The e-book is now available on Amazon Canada and USA.
https://www.amazon.com/Tokyo-Stories-Visitors-Introduction-Culture-ebook/dp/B07HR3YZ8N
https://www.amazon.ca/Tokyo-Stories-Visitors-Introduction-Culture-ebook/dp/B07HR3YZ8N

For more information on Tokyo, visit my travelogue page with this link.

Writing Mecha Science Fiction and Exocrisis Blue

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:31:00 +0000

I started out to write my mecha science fiction three or four years ago when I just decided I needed to start writing again. I picked this particular science fiction setting because I felt that I could add to it in an original, more realistic manner, one that was inspired by Japanese anime, particularly Evangelion, Full Metal Panic! and Gundam. I also have a Tokyo / Japanese pop culture blog too, so the focus was kind of natural.

So, how could I write a more realistic SF story with big combat robots inspired by anime roots? I would have to avoid trying to do something only a Japanese writer would do well, do some creative thinking about the robots, integrate what I knew about modern military systems and tactics, and have a great story with great characters.

1) I didn't pretend to be a Japanese writer.

I grew up on reading western SF and literature, so that is what I know and will write. I'm not Japanese, but I have a few insights into their mindset, after years of exposure to history books, translated novels, travelogues, anime, movies, and manga. This is enough to write about the Japanese, but not as a Japanese. I do like their creative work and pop culture in general so whatever I write is a tribute to this.
The stories so far are not set in Japan, but in Canada, America, or in Africa.
They have primary characters that are not Japanese, but there are Japanese characters.
My main alliance in the stories is about CAJUN, or the Canada Japan Union that arose after the Alien War.
Anime fans will recognize certain tropes, but it is all written from a western science fiction perspective (think Bolo or Starship Troopers) for a western audience. This means no shouting out attacks as you enter battle like in a Shonen anime or a Hong Kong Kung Fu movie.

2) The HARM robots had to be as realistic as you could get with big robots (I'm actually with the school of thought that big robots = big targets = big missile sponges = unfeasible and expensive). So I pulled a bit of technobabble to solve the problem.

Robots are built using reverse-engineered alien technology to leap us ahead.
They are powered by chemical fusion, a technology that allows massive power generation and blows up real good if ruptured. The power is needed to power weapon systems and defences.
Survivable, so I equipped them, and their alien counterparts with active molecular armour. This was a lightweight armour plating that has incredible tensile strength and hardness, when it was powered up. This expensive composite also has incredible heat dissipation protperties against lasers.
Large, as in 2 or 3 stories high, to carry the chemical fusion plants and be giant robotish, but not too big as to be a big target. Basically they mass like a modern main battle tank.
Nimble, run quickly, to dodge incoming fire, react quickly, and allow the pilots to use their skills.
Deadly, by firing hypersonic projectiles from coilguns (similar to railguns).
Advanced AI and neural syncing control technology to move a robots like a human. The AI also acts like a weapons operator and copilot.
I also added point defences, and complimentary weapons systems like missiles to the robots to make them more lethal.

3) The robots fit into a near future miltary structure as the elite front line units that are the pointy tip of the spear.

They are expensive and regular military units such as tanks, powered infantry, and artillery still comprise the bulk of the army.
A HARM mecha is the equivalent of a tank platoon in firepower, but more deadly due to its mobility, agility, and firepower.

Finally, I guess I'd say that I started with a short story, HARM, to test out if I could write about combat mechs in action. That story introduced one of my main characters, Joshua Scott, who appears in all the stories. Dr. Janet Chan, the lead engineer on the HARM project, was also introduced in this story and she ends up playing a pivotal role I never anticipated when I was initially outlining the stories. HARM succeeded and I then wrote another story, Raid on Kahamba, about a mission to retrieve an alien artifact. Finally the current novel, follows up from Raid, centered on a new generation of teen mecha pilots (there is a reason they're teens) and the alien artifact.

If I've perked your interest, head over to my publications page for links to Amazon ebooks here. Thanks for dropping by.

Favourite Japanese Dining Experiences in Edmonton

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 00:48:00 +0000

Japanese food is not just sushi. Sushi made it famous worldwide, but there are all kinds of tasty Japanese food to eat. Below, I've listed a number of tasty dishes at some of my favourite restaurants around Edmonton from breakfast to dinner.

First up is breakfast. I actually don't know any Japanese places that serve Japanese breakfast in Edmonton, but I ran into a hybrid the other day at Tasty Tom's down on Whyte Avenue. I ordered their breakfast snitzel which turned out to be a fried pork cutlet with panko breading. So western breakfast of fried eggs meets a very well made Japanese tonkatsu. The pan fried potatos were also done with curry powder giving it a bit of a Japanese flair. This was a great meal that was quite filling.

Breakfast Snitzel.

Lunch and dinner options for Japanese food abound in the city. I Love Sushi does sushi, but they're one of the only places that does a katsudon or oyakudon. This is a real down to earth Japanese dish where you have the katsu cutlet or chunks of chicken in a cooked egg mixture with sauce on rice. Quite tasty.

Katsudon

I've eaten at a number of ramen places in town. Tokiwa Ramen is my current favourite. Their long cooked tonkotsu broth is quite good, but their chicken shoyu broth (for their chuka soba) has more flavour according to my taste buds. Their toppings and noodles are good, but their soup is great, so their bowls of ramen really take off.

Tonkotsu Ramen

The funnest place to have Japanese food is Dorinku. I've been here for lunch and dinner and it is always a favourite as the food is great and the atmosphere is great. The restaurant has lots of Japanese pop culture loaded into its decor from functioning vending machines, a toy figure collection on the way to the bathrooms, to food models. They even show anime on the big screen.

Izakaya Lanterns out front.

Great display at the front.

Dorinku is full of tasty small dishes - like tapas, but Japanese pub style. They do all kinds of sushi, but their cooked dishes are what really stand out for me. They do Japanese curry, shaka shaka fries, karaage, stir fried udon noodles, seared tuna, sashimi salad, this really tasty beef rib, and more. Everything goes great with a beer too!

A really tasty beef rib.

Another Japanese pub type restaurant is Izakaya Tomo. This is another favourite place. They have more of a variety of small dishes that are more izakaya-ish. Dishes like their daikon salad and kinpura (burdock root) are not very common. They also do a really good takoyaki that isn't deep fried as far as I can tell. I'm mainly eating their cooked dishes here like their Udon Aglio Olio E Peperoncino, gyoza, and karaage, but their sushi is good too. Best of all, it all washes down with a beer.

Their cool looking upside down gyoza.

Finally, my favourite sushi place is Sushi Wasabi. I've been eating here for a decade and their sushi doesn't disappoint. Nice large pieces of niguri sushi and good looking tamago. The Japanese family who runs it used to even have a booth at the spring festival down at the Devonian Gardens.

Finally, coming in 2018 to Edmonton is Gyu-Kaku, a Japanese BBQ chain from Japan. I've eaten several times down at their Calgary restaurant and they're expanding up here. You grill all of your own meat at a table top grill in front of you and it is really tasty and again, it goes well with beer.

Great Locations To Play Pokemon Go In Edmonton and Calgary

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 21:03:00 +0000

Poke-Grafitti seen on a wall in downtown Edmonton

Pokemon Go took the North American mobile gaming world by storm in July 2016, with the app being the number one app in the Itunes store and more popular than any social media competitors. No longer top dog, it is still a very popular mobile game.

I started playing it too and it has been a blast, but after a month of it, my enthusiasm along with that of many others has died down from a fierce bonfire to a nice toasty camp fire. It is a pretty fun game as everyone loves wandering around and capturing pokemon in the real world environment. There is always that thrill of capturing a rare pokemon or desired pokemon with a pokeball, but the trade-off is that there is a massive time investment required to get the full enjoyment out of the game (even if you are getting fit by walking around). It takes a huge amount of time to complete a pokedex or to level up so you can both capture higher-level pokemon and be able to level up your pokemon for gym battles. There is also the monetization aspect of the game which could cost you more than paying for a full Nintendo DS game and you don't get a storyline. Purchased coins can be used to expand your inventory, store more pokemon, obtain lures to draw more pokemon in, and purchase incubators to hatch more eggs (eggs give you stardust, more pokemon, and candies to evolve and level them up).

For most people it is next to impossible to complete a pokedex anyhow due to region specific rares. I'm at the point where I've completed about 85% of my pokedex by capturing or evolving pokemon but it isn't much fun to complete the rest as it is freaking hard to find some of these pokemon unless you live in some really big cities where it is a happy pokemon hunting ground. I've never seen a snorlax either (it has appeared on my radar once and I couldn't find it) and the randomness in the game for encountering rares actually kind of sucks as some people are lucky (they literally stumble over snorlaxes) and others just aren't (the game also doesn't work too well in rural or small town areas). Still, I'll keep playing for now and Niantic is improving the game by changing spawns, fixing the busted poke-radar at some point, etc.

To get to the point I'm at, I've been fortunate to be able to hunt in both Calgary and in Edmonton without going out of my way for an out of town poke-expedition. Here are some great hunting grounds in the two cities. When you hunt you need to spend at least a couple of hours looping around, but some lucky people have spent 4 to 6 hours just to get a rare or two. I'm never there when they spawn so my timing is bad. Both Edmonton and Calgary have lots of drowsies, but I have never seen a tauros which is the North American only pokemon.

Edmonton Legislature
The area around the Provincial Legislature building, especially the south grounds is a really good hunting ground as there are numerous pokestops to replenish supplies at and there are four pokestops by the lawn bowling green that are often lured. As of mid-August/early Sept, this place is currently crawling with clefairy and ponyta, the odd water pokemon (like squirtles, horseas, staryu) as of August/early Sept. It was a geodude nest with some growliths (they still show every so often) in early August that switched mainly to Ponyta, and I'm sure it'll switch again in September. There is plenty here that isn't ratatas or pidgeys.

All the lured pokestops south of the legislature.

Also this is one of the areas that spawns magikarp, dratinis, and even dragonites. I have never been able to capture a dragonite here (missed one by 5 minutes), but I have caught aerodactyls, a lapras, and several dratini. It is almost best to come here in the evenings as it seems like more people, more lures, and the later time of day produces more pokemon. I think this is the best place to hunt pokemon in the city, but parking is hard (all on the road along the east side of the Legislature) and there are no amenities in the area. Public bathrooms are in the Annex building on the north side of the Legislature, and in the SE corner of the south grounds behind the bandstand, but they all close by 10 PM.

University of Alberta (Edmonton)
This place is packed full of pokestops, with a very busy set of four by the University Museum's house in the NW corner of the campus. The main quad which is anchored by the Science building to the north and Student's Union Building (SUB) on the south end is a good hunting ground. You could do a massive loop from the NW corner, head south through the main quad to end up at the south side of SUB then head back north again. The set of four stops by the NW corner are often lured and it was busy in July, but I found it wasn't so busy in August or early Sept. This set of four stops doesn't produce many water/grass/fire pokemon, but there are a ton of pidgeys, bugs, and a scattering of other types. It is a good place for leveling if you don't want to move too much as you can reach all four stops from a stationary position.

The NW set of four pokestops on Campus.

The pokestops down by SUB on campus (SE corner of SUB is the purple stop). Someone lit up like six of them all around SUB the other day and many pokemon showed up including a dratini that I just missed.

The spawns in the quad are mainly the same, with some fighting pokemon and other varieties popping up. The pokestops near SUB are pretty interesting as they are partial water spawns as you find squirtles, horseas, psyduck, dratini, magikarp, and even gyrados has shown up. Having lots of lures really help here to liven it up. There does seem to be a squirtle nest here as squirtles spawn in the quad and just NE of SUB. You can always get food, drinks, and seating inside SUB too for a break.

Update: I played here for 2.5 hours on the morning of Sept. 7 after the students were back for university. There were people playing and some pokestops were lured, but it was mainly busy with students getting educations. In the 2.5 hours, the more significant pokemon I managed to bag were six squirtles, a staryu, an abra, a 1200 CP cloyster, a 800 CP omanyte, a mankey, four evee, a couple of ghastly, a lickitung, a magikarp, three meowth, and a poliwag. A 1400 CP dewgong ran on me and I missed out on another lickitung and an omanyte from what some other players said. So there is plenty of pokemon here as I caught over a hundred without being at active lures most of the time. I also managed to hatch a 5 km egg for an ekans.

Princes Island Park in Calgary
This is probably the best place to hunt pokemon that I have been to. You can actually do a loop around the lagoon here for variety and there are many amenities nearby (bars / restaurants) to help keep you going. The couple of weekend evenings I was here in August were amazing as there were 500 to 600 people playing the game (more than I have ever seen at the legislature). There were also 5 to 6 million mosquitoes at the time to make things more interesting.

The ring of pokestops around the Princes Island lagoon.

The pokemon the place spawns are probably at least 30% water type, with staryu, slowpoke, magikarp, polywhirls, horseas, etc. It is also a known area for dragonite, dratini, lapras, and dragonair. I caught a dragonair and a few dratini when I was down there. There was a very nice variety of pokemon here and there are tons of lures going when it is busy (the whole lagoon can be lured). Walking through the park is also nice, even if it is a big loop, but the loop works better than the layout at the legislature for moving people.

Calgary also has good pokemon spots at Central Memorial Park, and SAIT where there are many pokestops on campus. I'm sure there will be plenty of pokemon when school is back in like at the U of A.

That's all for now, so happy pokemon hunting. May your pokedex be complete.

Future Battlefield, Tanks Versus Aliens, Excerpt From HARM

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 22:22:00 +0000

This is an excerpt from my short story HARM, which is about the first combat use of a HARM (Humanoid Assault Reconnaissance Machine) mech against the alien Blue Newts. The story is about the final production prototype machine being sent in to support a company of conventional battle tanks and infantry to stop an enemy advance. I have a short story, a novella, and a novel all set in this same Exocrisis Blue universe. For more information, please visit my Publications Page.

In this scene I wanted to show how conventional forces could fight advanced alien war machines. The conventional forces are composed of main battle tanks, quadrapedal combat walking robots, and powered infantry. There is no air support as the anti-aircraft lasers used by the aliens have been very effective. In fact, the pilot of the mech which shows up too late to affect the battle was a shot down close air support pilot. I was aiming for realism with extrapolated tech on both sides of the battle.

Photo by kanegen. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

***

Bravo Company was well dug in along the most likely line of approach to Huntsville. Captain William Ericson had his tanks dug in on a narrow front flanking both sides of a highway overpass. His ready to eat meal pack was only half eaten, forgotten due to the rapid planning he had been doing with his platoon leaders. His three platoons of main battle tanks (MBT), for nine tanks in total, were hull down, only showing their turrets behind tank-sized firing pits dug for them by the combat engineers earlier in the day. Each one utilized the natural cover of shrubbery and active camouflage netting to conceal their location from visual and thermal detection.

His M3A3 tanks were not a match for a spider-mech in a one on one fight even though they had been upgraded to the new 130 mm smoothbore guns. Even their bulky ablative armour add-ons would only take a single hit from the alien beam cannon. The extreme engagement range for the 130 mm gun was about 2500 metres, but he knew the chance of getting a kill on a Black Widow spider-mech were non-existent at that range. They had to get the range down to 1500 metres to get good kills. On the other hand, the alien beam cannon could kill a tank at 2000 metres with a far longer extreme engagement range that could even engage aircraft.

Ericson wasn’t in the best defensive position, but it would do as the flanking copses of woods and gullies would work for him. At the same time, it wasn’t a likely ambush position, and he was banking the aliens wouldn’t think so either. The tanks were going to be the hammer for the attack, but he would need to guarantee the spider-mechs would enter the anvil. To bait the spider-mechs in he would use one of his two platoons of robot combat walkers. When the tanks engaged the aliens they would be the opening hammer. The other walker platoon, concealed in the northerly copse of woods, would to hit the Newts from the side. From the southern side, a platoon of battlesuit infantry would strike at the same time to complete the ambush.

The plan looked great, he just hoped it would survive contact with the enemy. Originally, X-14’s long range coilgun was supposed to begin the engagement, but things hadn’t worked out. Still, it was good news that X-14 had knocked out two spider-mechs as there were two less to worry about. He knew X-14 was coming in, but he also knew it wouldn’t make it for the opening of the battle in time. Its primary weapons would have been a great asset. As it was, the battle ahead was going to be bloody.

Specialist Sam Winston called up to Ericson at his commander’s position from his gunner’s seat. “Think the plan’s gonna work?”

Ericson looked down at Sam. “I think we got a good chance,” but Sam could tell he was putting the best spin on it. After all the LT couldn’t be a defeatist or it would be game over already.

“We’ll get ‘em. I’m going to put a sabot round up their butt,” Sam replied with bravado. “They must have butts, right?”

Ericson, gave a slight laugh at the half-hearted humour. He pulled out a rumpled picture of his wife and his two daughters from his pocket. I’ll be back to see you, he promised himself. He had not seen them in months, but at least he knew they were safe.

***

The Blue Newts had sent a trio of moth-like reconnaissance drones ahead of their advance to observe for enemy activity. As the drones approached they managed to see a half dozen combat walkers on the highway scrambling to cover, but that was all they saw. Shoulder launched anti-aircraft missiles from the advance pickets of battlesuit infantry shot them down before further observations could be made. The infantry then bounded in powered hops to new concealed firing locations from their old positions.

The trap was set and a little luck would not hurt, Ericson thought. He suddenly realized his throat was quite dry and took out his canteen for a quick swig. Yes, he thought again, a little luck wouldn’t hurt at all. “All units. Prepare to engage according to the plan. Let’s get these guys.”

Now that enemy units had been spotted, the spider-mechs slowed and spread out into a skirmish line that was almost a kilometre wide with seventy metres between each mech. Their turrets panned from side to side. They had seen the robot combat walkers. The walkers were normally no match for them, but there could be other enemy units nearby.

The command data net had gone passive so units wouldn’t give themselves away via radio emissions. A few furtive reconnaissance RPVs flying low at extreme range provided partial data feeds that his whole command observed. His own units with good positions could visually observe the advancing alien units to supplement the feeds but kept radio silence. Looking through his tank’s periscope Ericson could see that the spider-mechs at the ends of the advancing line were very close to some of the concealed units. He prayed that they would remain unspotted and that his men kept their cool. Half of his unit was made up of green recruits, as casualty rates had been horrendously high, but the newbies had been spread out with the veterans to stiffen them up.

A great deal of his plan depended on the combat walkers, a military innovation introduced in the 2030s. The walkers were autonomous, quadrupedal robots with a weapons mount on the back of their thick stubby bodies. They were approximately the shape and size of a horse with a sensor array where the horse’s neck would be, and stood on narrow legs that allowed them to traverse most rough terrain. While a tank company had only 10 tanks, including the command tank, they had a swarm of 18 combat walkers to support them. Two special transporter vehicles would both remotely control and transport the walkers. The walkers acted in the hybrid role of a light fighting vehicle and infantry support for the tanks. Every walker was armed with a machinegun that could be supplemented by either anti-tank missiles or a chain gun.

Sweat was beginning to form on Ericson’s brow and he was sure everyone else was just as tense. Watching the tactical display count down the distance between the Newts and the camouflaged tanks was nerve wracking. While he couldn’t see Lieutenant Nguyen, who commanded the robo-jockeys, he had fought with him before and knew he’d do his job. When the Newts had advanced within 2000 metres of the tanks the six combat walkers rose up on their legs from their prone positions and each fired an improved anti-tank missile on the same central walker. They then ducked back down, popped smoke and fell back towards the overpass directly behind them. The missiles were self-homing and contrails of smoke showed them closing the distance as supersonic speed.

The air was suddenly full of laser flashes. The Newts had data-linked fire control that multiplied the lethality of their machines by synchronizing their weapons to act as a whole. Their beam weapons now worked together in an anti-air capacity. Four of the missiles exploded in mid-air. The last two missiles struck the targeted spider-mech dead on. Great balls of flame erupted on its upper, frontal armour where the shaped charges detonated, trying to burn through the molecular armour. Both warheads left great blast marks on the surface, but black smoke only boiled out of one of them, where one warhead had penetrated. However, the mech looked like it was still quite functional as it and a number of the other walkers returned fire through the smoke. Their shots hit the empty ground that the walkers had vacated. The advance of the spider-mechs picked up as they tried to close the range on the walkers.

Each combat walker had one missile remaining. They continued to run for the cover behind the overpass, their weapon mounts traversing to the rear. Emerging from a depression in the ground they fired again at the same spider-mech. Lasers flashed again at the missiles. Five more exploded in mid-air, the sixth staggered the damaged spider-mech, but it still didn’t go down. The lasers then targeted the escaping walkers which were running flat out at 30 kph. The combat walkers didn’t have much of a chance. Four out of the six walkers disintegrated into metal flinging fireballs while the fifth and sixth walkers managed to dodge and clear the corner.

1800 metres… 1700 metres… Three more of the combat walkers popped up over the top of the overpass shoulder and fired another barrage of six missiles. The damaged spider-mech had already fallen behind and took two more hits. This time it stopped all movement, but continued shooting. Return fire on the walkers was fierce. One more walker exploded with a direct hit. The last two walkers popped more smoke and ducked back down behind cover. 1600 metres… 1500 metres… The spider-mechs relentlessly closed in.

Ericson saw that the range was good. “All units, engage your targets!” His own command tank surged forward to expose the turret over the top of the overpass embankment to add additional firepower. He had also been using the overpass embankment for cover. “Gunner. Fire at will,” he ordered.

All nine MBTs open fire within a second of each other. The open woodlands was filled with the roar of 130 mm cannon fire and the pulsing cracks of the enemy beam weapons. Each of the enemy mechs was hit by the initial barrage, brilliant explosive flashes from the impacts lighting up each mech, but they withstood the attacks. Laser fire began stabbing back at the dug in tanks. Flashes of light, the explosive vapourization of ablative armour blocks indicated direct hits on several of the tanks, but the ablative armour held.

Before the autoloaders on the tanks could complete the loading of the second rounds into the gun breaches, dozens of anti-tank missiles streaked out from both the north and south woods. The battlesuit infantry platoon and other combat walker platoon were engaging the spider-mechs from the flanks. A second set of 130 mm discarding sabot penetrators fired off just 7 seconds after the first set. They were at the maximum rate of fire for the guns.

The battle became frenetic, with the air filled with laser fire, missiles, and tank shells. A flanking spider-mech suddenly exploded from either an armour piercing round or a missile hit – no one was sure. A tank exploded, multiple heavy lasers burning through the ablative armour and the composite armour underneath. Infantry fired grenades from their launchers and emptied magazines of ammunition into the spider-mechs. More anti-tank missiles fired off. The combat walkers fired off their second wave of missiles then engaged with machineguns. Machine guns had little affect on the spider-mechs, but they could damage sensors, and distract the enemy. Spider-mechs had their primary beam cannon, but they also had a secondary laser for use against softer, non-armoured targets. These rapid fire guns began firing back at the combat walkers and infantry, suppressing and killing them.

Another spider-mech exploded, then two more tanks. Smoke filled the air from burning wreckage, burning trees and brush, and all of the explosions. Yet another tank exploded, it’s turret hurled up into the air. God, that was Zawadski’s tank, Ericson thought to himself. Zawadski’s wife was now a widow, but he didn’t even have time to think her or even his own wife as events were moving too quickly. The alien spider-mechs kept coming, attacking, and were breaking out of the ambush. The range was now down to 900 metres. Two more spider-mechs were damaged and limping, but they kept coming.

Nothing breaks these guys, he thought. We need more firepower. He was strangely calm – beyond fear now that combat was underway. This was a battle the tanks wouldn’t be able to disengage from too easily due to the speed of the alien mechs. The battlesuited infantry might be able to escape as they could use the woods for concealment, but the tanks would win or die on this battlefield.

“Gunner. Target mech right,” he yelled, feeding coordinates at the same time. A spider-mech was targeting them.

His tank rocked from the recoil of its main cannon. “Sabot. Away,” the gunner called out.

At the same time, his tank was rocked by a direct hit on the turret from the alien’s main beam. Ablative armour erupted in a incandescent blast cloud, absorbing the high-energy pulse. It suddenly got warm inside the tank. Looking through his viewfinder, he could see smoke billowing out of the alien mech from their hit. It fired at them again, but missed. “Driver, back us up. Secondary fire position,” he ordered.

Suddenly, a half-dozen, laser-guided artillery rounds directly struck the spider-mechs. The forward observer had called in the fire mission and infantry with laser designators guided them in. Huge explosions from the 155 mm artillery shells knocked the spider-mechs off balance while blowing off legs and sensors. One more spider-mech went down, but it was trying to get back up. The artillery had bought them some time, breaking the enemies momentum, but it would be temporary. After firing one salvo, the artillery would need to scoot to a new firing location as the aliens also had counter-battery fire. Even now, specialized support spiders further in the rear would be firing off homing missiles to try and kill off the artillery units.

The two sides were now just over half a kilometre apart – 600 metres – too close. The lasers stabbed out again. Tank guns fired. More vehicles exploded. Two more tanks and three of the damaged spiders were destroyed. That left only three tanks and five attacking spiders. Only two of the spiders were still undamaged. All the main weapons were very lethal at this range. The tanks had launched smoke grenades and were firing as they backed up into new positions. Ericson’s tank and a couple of re-armed combat walkers were back up on the overpass shoulder trying to provide fire support. Fire from the woods had slackened considerably after being heavily suppressed by enemy fire. Both the combat walkers and the infantry had expended their missiles and had taken considerable losses in the fight.

Even as Ericson watched, a beam burned through the turret armour of another tank which exploded in a brilliant fireball. His tank fired again. This time one of the damaged spider-mechs blew apart, collapsing down on its now limp legs.

His tank was suddenly hit by a hammer blow that knocked the breath out of him. A laser blast had blown a hole in the front left of the tank’s body. The interior filled with thick acrid smoke while the power went dead. A fire suppression system went off filling the lower interior with foam. “Sam, Evan, you guys okay?”

Sam, the gunner, called back, “I’m okay. Think Evan’s dead though. The blast caught him, and there’s blood everywhere. Smoke’s getting thick.”

“We gotta get out,” Ericson replied, “tank’s history.” He turned around and opened the turret hatch. He climbed out and helped to pull his foam soaked gunner out of the burning tank. They would have to run for cover. The battle would be over soon as it was one tank against four mechs.

***

I hoped you enjoyed the excerpt from the short story HARM. Please check out my other work on my Publications Page. I also have a post about writing mecha science fiction here.

Future Warfare, Drones Versus Alien Kaiju, An Excerpt From Matters of Destiny

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 21:09:00 +0000

I'm working on my next novel to wrap up the Exocrisis Blue main story arc. In Exocrisis, the world has been invaded by the alien Blue Newts and mankind united to fight them to a stalemate. Exocrisis made me extrapolate near future military tech and write something that seems feasible, even if large combat robots are involved. Drones play an important role in Exocrisis Blue too, replacing manned fighters in my future universe. So, after an alien invasion, massive changes to the international order, here is a good chunk of an early chapter involving attack drones against an alien monster from my upcoming novel, Matters of Destiny.

Navy drone launch, courtesy of the United States Navy (attribution here).

Captain Williams had received the level one alert issued by CINCPAC and was slightly surprised that there was a bogey in the Sky Hope Security Zone. Checking the map display, his air carrier was the closest patrol ship, being some 150 kilometres from the bogey. “All hands to battle stations. All hands to battle stations. This is not a drill. We have an unidentified surface contact in the security zone that is moving slowly towards Sky Hope. Upload target coordinates and launch the ready alert,” he ordered the Carrier Air Group Commander or CAG. An alarm klaxon sounded as if to emphasize the situation even more.

The flying air carrier, Lexington, was a twenty thousand ton, bulbous flying wing that was mostly an airship. Without the lift generated from the wings the ship would begin to gently descend to the surface as its helium cells made it just slightly negatively buoyant. Air carriers were mostly constructed from lightweight composites and propelled by turbo fans that were electrically powered by a chemical fusion plants, like those found on heavy combat mechs. At its maximum speed of 250 kilometres per hour, the Lexington wasn’t going to break any speed records, but it could travel completely around the world before refuelling.

The super aircraft carriers of the early 21st century were completely obsolete by the end of 2030s, and had been replaced by these new flying carriers. These new carriers were designed from inception as drone carriers. They were smaller, mostly crewed by robots, and stealthy between their active camouflage and radar deflecting construction. These carriers operated without escorts, and delivered their squadrons of supersonic attack drones into battle from a stand-off distance. Human piloted fighter aircraft had been almost completely replaced by unmanned drones due to the advent of laser weapons. The autonomous drones were cheaper, more maneuverable, capable of pulling high-G maneuvers that would incapacitate a human pilot, factors that made them more survivable and expendable at the same time. A drone could still be remotely operated by a human pilot, but a squadron of six drones usually had only one human squadron leader in the kill chain to both guide it and authorize weapons use.

The left side drop bay doors flipped opened in the bottom of the carrier. There were two long bays running down each side of the carrier. A squadron of drones hung suspended from their cradles some 10,000 metres above the ocean far below. One squadron of drones, the ready alert, was always ready to launch on immediate notice, while the other five squadrons could be armed and readied within fifteen minutes. On the CAG’s orders, the squadron dropped free from the ship nose down. Their afterburners kicked in during free fall to have the fighter squadron arc back up in a parabolic curve then turn towards the unknown contact at maximum speed, breaking the sound barrier as they went.

The carrier’s bridge and combat information centre (CIC) were both in one large room located within an armoured compartment in the middle of the carrier. Automation and integrated workstations had now put control of all of the ships systems in one place. Touch sensitive display consoles that controlled the ship and its weaponry were grouped by related function and organized in a semi-circle in front of the captain and XO’s stations, and all personnel faced forward towards a large set of displays at the front of the bridge. The main display showed the forward view in front of the ship with tactical and strategic displays along side showing the view in front of the shop along with tactical and strategic displays along side it.

“Ready alert is away. The Gunslingers report they are fully operational,” the CAG reported to the captain. “Arming and fuelling the White Knights is under way.” In the hangar, robot arms and a small human crew were working quickly to ready the next squadron.

***

The tactical operations officer notified the captain that a long range reconnaissance drone was coming up on the contact and put a visual up on the main display. The view of the ocean in front of the carrier vanished and was replaced by clouds racing by. The video was being transmitted from a Albatross III reconnaissance drone, one of many wide-winged, solar powered drones that patrolled the security zone for months at a time. The drone descended below the light cloud pocket it had encountered and the bottom of the video feed showed an altitude of 1000 metres, with an airspeed of 300 kph.

There were a series of gasps from the bridge crew as the video feed locked in on a strange beast that pulsated and glowed yellow from within. It resembled a crested jellyfish floating above the sea, with a frilly beard around the base and masses of long tentacles below it. A band of dark black eyes seem to circle it around the body’s midpoint. It was hard to get a scale on it until you looked down and saw the waves breaking against the tentacles that reached into the ocean. You could understand it was big and a couple of hundred metres high, but you weren’t sure.

“What is that thing?” Williams asked aloud.

“Don’t know,” the XO replied. “Sure looks like some kind of weird alien jellyfish to me. The thing is actually floating in the air. Probably some kind of Blue Newt critter. Data has been forwarded to HQ. Maybe the AIs can tell us.”

“Drone will be overhead in two minutes,” the tactical officer chimed in. “Gunslingers will intercept in four minutes.”

“That thing shouldn’t be possible,” the captain spoke again. “The square-cube law says no living thing could support itself at that size. Is it even organic, or is it some kind of machine?“

“Looks organic to me,” the XO replied, “run a full scan of that thing.”

The tactical officer spoke again. “Drone indicates that the thing does not return on radar. Ladar is painting it and it looks like it is about three hundred metres high. The main body at the top is about 75 metres high, with a diameter of 50 metres. Thermal indicates the thing is hot, almost 400 degrees celcius.”

“That’s crazy. Its hotter than molten lead,” Williams spoke again. “Recheck the instruments.”

The picture was suddenly a wall of static, then it restored just a little to see the tentacled beast flailing tentacles in a grainy image. The visual broke up again and restored a little, then broke up again.

“Drone reports massive radio interference,” the tactical officer reported. “The thing is doing some type of broad spectrum electromagnetic jamming, almost like an EMP. The body is heating up. It is almost a 1000 degrees now.”

Captain Williams was beginning to get a very bad feeling about this. “Order the drone to maintain distance. We’ll have the Gunslingers do a close-in pass of that thing when they arrive.” The picture from the recon drone broke up into static again and then re-established itself as the Albatross began to circle the alien beast.

***

The Albatross had only made a partial orbit in the next minute when the tactical officer yelled out. “Heat spike!” The picture from the nose camera of the drone showed a bright flash from on of the many eyes on the alien jellyfish and the image violently shuddered, then showed the surface of the ocean. “Albatross is falling. Reports heavy damage, with no response from the tail. It is going down, sir. Looks like it got hit with some kind of directed energy weapon.”

“I guess we know it’s hostile.” The XO spoke up. “Orders, captain?”

“Weapons free. Take that thing down. Have the Gunslingers hit it with everything they got.”

“I suggest we rearm the White Knights for anti-ship, sir, “ the CAG spoke up. “The Gunslingers are primarily armed for air to air.”

“Make it so,” Captain Williams replied. “Prep all of the squadrons, anti-ship. That thing is big, but it is going down.”

***

“Sheriff,” Fast Eddie Wilson, the Gunslingers squadron commander was ready for action. Both he and his assistant commander were already in their flight pod in the Boom Room. The Boom Room housed six virtual reality command pods, each of which commanded a squadron of drones. All of the pods were currently occupied during the alert, with each squadron either in flight or arming.

The Gunslingers pilots sat in tandem in their pod, surrounded by a 360 degree view around the lead drone, and control consoles with flight controls in front of them. Both pilots wore helmets with a transparent full face visor that partially obscured their faces when the heads up display (HUD) projected on it. Eddie guided the lead drone, and issued orders, with Roscoe acting as his backup and attack coordinator for their six drones. The AI controlled attack drones could fly and attack completely autonomously, but human pilots commanded them and could fly them as required. A human component was still essential in the kill loop for coordinating tactics, target identification, and weapons release authorization.

Eddie was a veteran pilot, unlike his assistant, he was old enough to have flown jet interceptors before the last of them had been decommissioned just over a decade ago. He always felt a little detached when flying drone missions as it didn’t have the same impact as being in a cockpit in the middle of the action. He could still get into the mission, but the thrill wasn’t the same. After watching the recon drone feed and and the shooting down of the drone, he had bad feeling about this mission building in his gut. Maybe it was just the strangeness of the alien monster, but he was glad he wasn’t in a cockpit facing that thing right now. Looking forward he could see the alien monster straight ahead of the lead drone and slightly lower. They were sixty seconds out.

“All drones report ready,” Roscoe called over. If he showed any nervousness, it was hidden in the excitement of his voice. This would be his first combat mission.

“Let’s do this by the book,” Eddie replied to reassure Roscoe, but it was probably for both of them. “Attack Pattern Alpha. All weapons hot. Select Jackhammers, mass fire.” Eddie wished their drones had been armed with Sea-lance anti-ship missiles, but they only had a mix of air to air missiles and the general purpose Jackhammer missiles. Still, each drone carried four Jackhammers and also had a 25mm gatling cannon that could be used for good effect.

“All drones to max combat speed, fire all missiles at 10 km, then break off. We’ll reform at point delta and come in for gun runs if it isn’t dead yet.”

The drones confirmed their orders visually on the helmet HUDs. They began to assemble into a dispersed ragged line based on the lead drone, following the designated attack pattern. The drones did not come in directly, but weaved and bobbed in their formation to dodge possible enemy fire. Eddie was not directly piloting the lead drone, but worked with the AI, and both human and computer counted down the seconds till weapons release.

Internal weapons bays opened up on the drones and the Jackhammers dropped out in pairs from each drone. Twenty four missiles burned in at three times the speed of sound. Contrails converged in from the drones wide front into one point where the alien monster was. “Missiles away,” Eddie called out. “Drones breaking off.”

Behind the retreating drones, the monster seemed unaware of the missile wave closing in, its tentacles slowly moving in the air and in the water where they touched the ocean. Suddenly, it seemed to realize the danger that was incoming.   The mass of tentacles began flailing in the air and the body pulsated with flashes of orange. The temperature of the beast rose as it generated energy. Long duration beams of energy shot from a half dozen of its eyes. The beams swept through the air at the incoming missiles. A half dozen missiles exploded in the air, but the other relentlessly closed in.

Jackhammers were designed to engage ground targets like tanks, spider-mechs, the big robotic HARM units, or bunkers. They packed a hundred kilogram explosive warhead shaped to punch through armour while providing a large blast effect. Eighteen of these warheads detonated in rapid succession against the beast’s body. Explosions and big clouds of dark clouds of smoke obscured the beast for a half minute. Tentacles could still be seen flailing through the air, but it did not look like the slowing death throes of an animal.

The air began clearing and the pilots and the bridge crew of the carrier gasped. There were a good dozen holes in the side of the creature which was a bright orange now. Yellowish protoplasmic fluid oozed out of the holes in the creature’s thick hide. Even as they watched, the holes could be seen to be shrinking, the creature was healing. Static filled the picture for a moment as more electromagnetic interference burst from the creature.

“Holy Crap,” Roscoe exhaled. The thing had taken a beating ad was still going.

“That’s not good,” Eddie added. “We’re going to need more missiles, or bigger ones. Let’s try for the eyes on that thing. It’s got to have a weak spot. Drones, Attack Pattern Delta. The things got some kind of energy beams protecting it, but we’re going in with guns. All units to use maximum speed and evasion.”

This time, the drones formed into a wide arc and began closing in. They were widely dispersed and randomly dipped and weaved in high-g maneuvers that would have killed a human pilot. The alien monster saw them coming in further out this time and began to fire its beams at them in rapid succession. At first, the drones were successful at evading with the maneuvers designed to counter anti-air lasers, but as the distance dropped, the beast’s accuracy was telling. One drone exploded, then another, but four drones were still on approach.

At two kilometres, they began to slightly straighten out and begin to fire at the creature’s eyes in long bursts of their cannons. At fifty rounds in a burst, several of the eyes were struck, and they burst open in great gouts of dark fluid. The beast seemed to react as if it were in pain. Tentacles arced high into the air and some seemed to be covering some of its eyes. The drones fired several more bursts to less effect and then passed over the alien monster at high speed. More eye beams burned out and another drone exploded. The remaining Gunslingers did an incredibly tight turn and began another attack run.

Beams and cannon tracer rounds blazed through the air. Another drone exploded on the way in and another drone exploded on the way out.   Two more eyes on the beast were taken out. Less than a couple of minutes had passed and only one craft from the squadron of multi-million dollar drones had survived.

“Gunslingers are withdrawing,” Eddie, “Squadron has suffered heavy losses, 5 drones down..” He looked in the at the receding alien monster through the rear camera on his drone. There were still a couple of dozen of eyes left on the alien thing. “I hope it doesn’t heal as fast from those hits on its eyes. I recommend that we try to hit it at standoff range with anti-ship missiles and multiple squadrons to swamp its defences.”

“You did good,” Captain Williams replied back. “That thing is tougher than anyone thought.” The entire bridge crew had seen the action first hand. “We’ll do better next time. We’re already arming for anti-ship and we’ll stage the next one to hit it as hard as we can.”

“Yes, sir!” Eddie responded. He then exhaled hard, the intensity of the moment had been greater than he expected.

Turning to his XO, the captain then said, “Get CINCPAC on the horn. We might need more firepower. Request railgun cruisers and more carriers.”

***

Cool Japanese Snacks

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 20:19:00 +0000

Japan produces some of the best snacks and candy. Here are some of the ones I've tried over the years. Their snacks and candy are so popular they are found all over Asia and can even be found in various oriental supermarkets in Canada and the US.

Nissin Cup Noodles. Nissin invented the instant noodle in the form of Nissin Chicken Ramen in the 1950s and then they developed the cup noodle in the 1970s. There are many flavours of cup noodles in Japan and in Asia, and they are much better than what you find in typical North American supermarket shelves.

Canned bread. This stuff comes in many flavours and is often branded with an anime series. They aren't bad at all considering it is canned bread and they remind me of those Italian holiday cakes you can buy in a box at Christmas.

Japanese Kit Kats. These come in an awesome number of flavours. Some are really good, some are kind of so so, but their Kit Kats rock overall. The Green Tea Kit Kats are very common and very tasty. There are regional specialty Kit Kats with exotic flavours like ponzu, red bean, Japanese strawberry, pear, soybean, etc.

Pocky. These are biscuit sticks covered with chocolate for the basic variety and they have many many varieties like the Kit Kat. There are special dessert Pocki and stubby thick Midi Pocky too.

Coconut Pocky and tropical Pocky shown below. Like many types of snacks in Japan, there are many limited edition and seasonal Pocky that are available for limited amounts of time.

Karipori Candy Sticks. There is cola and ramune flavours on the left, and grape and melon on the right with Pikachu.

Pretz. These are savoury biscuit sticks. The ones below are shoyu flavour, as in soy sauce.

Jagabee Potato Sticks. Many different flavours and eating these reminds me of eating really crispy french fries.

Look Chocolate and a couple of other ramune flavoured candies and gum.

Puccho chewy candies and whistle candy. Everyone likes the chewy candies with the little gummy bits embedded within. The whistle candies are fun as you can really blow through the little hole in the middle for a loud shriek and they come with a little toy.

Various kinds of rice crackers. Very delicious.

Different types of potato chips and snacks from Calbee. I really like their curry potato chips.

Hard candies and gummy candy that is ramune flavour (a type of Japanese lemon flavour - very nice). The Super Soda candies have a really sour coating.

Meltykiss chocolates. These are pretty deluxe little chocolates with an intensely flavoured center of green tea and strawberry in the boxes shown below. They come in individually wrapped cubes and are very good.

Instant miso soup. You have a dried ingredient pouch and another pouch holding the miso soup paste. Very popular in Japan.

This is another kind of instant miso soup that is freeze dried. This is from an American company and the little puck rehydrates almost instantly with boiling water. Quite good.

The rehydrated miso soup below.

This is a type of summer watermelon gummy candy that is pretty delicious, but available for the summer months mainly.

Puccho sour plum flavour chews.

Ramune soda. These are bottled like sodas were in North America in the early 20th century. The bottles are sealed with a marble under a cap and you have to push the marble in with a special tool that comes with the bottle. There are two notches in the glass on the inside of the bottle to hold the marble back when you sip.

Takoyaki flavoured corn puffs.

Ramune bubble gum candy.

Summer watermelon candy

More ramune chewy candy.

Ema hard fruit candies. These are sugarless.

These are good tasting chocolate biscuits with strawberry cream chocolate mushroom tops.

Tiny potato chips in a long tube. These are chicken flavour.

Hi-Chew chewy candies. This was a big bag available at Costco once upon a time.

These are more Pocky but chocolate and crushed almonds.

That's just a few of the hundreds or thousands of Japanese snacks you can get.

A Secret Hankering For Foreign Chips

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 01:34:00 +0000

Potato chips. Crunch. Crunch. That savoury, salty, or otherwise flavoured deep fried wafer of potato. Every country pretty much has their own local type of potato chip. Here in Canada, there are plenty of varieties too, but I still like to try other chips from other countries.

First, lets start with Lays Canada. They have been promoting regional flavours of chips, and asking for Canadians to vote for their favourite. I actually liked their butter chicken and more recently, their wasabi ginger flavours. The butter chicken was a pretty good approximation that hit the highlights of the seasoning for it (sans chicken of course), and the wasabi ginger really appealed to tastebuds familiar with wasabi and ginger. The wasabi wasn't too strong though, which was good, and I bought a few bags to munch on before they vanished.

Butter Chicken and more

Wasabi Ginger. It was a nice combination of Asian flavours.

Then there are chips from Japan. They have plenty of strange flavours, but they can do a very nice potato chip when they want to. They have every odd flavour you can think of from plain to sour plum or pepsi flavoured, but there are many tasty varieties in between. Here are a few that I've tried.

One time I was in Tokyo at the right time and actually found these limited edition chips in a konbini. They didn't taste like KFC, but there were some similiarities, and they were tasty.

This isn't actually Japanese, but it could have been. Crispy battered strips of seaweed. Quite tasty.

From left to right. Here are prawn crackers, lobster bisque flavour, and lobster flavour. They do like seafood flavours. I found the lobster flavours okay, a little fishy, but okay. The shrimp is usually pretty good from any asian country.

On of my favourites is on the left. It is curry! Tastes very much like a Japanese curry. The pizza was kind of the generic tomato, cheese flavour, and the one on the right was one I have forgotten I even tried.

Last year I went to France and lo and behold, some very tasty French potato chips. I was pretty busy eating normal French food while I was there, but I did pack some back as souvenirs.

Lays did an awesome roast chicken chip (actually had chicken in the seasoning). From top left to bottom right. Olive flavoured chips (quite good), cheese chips (so authentically cheesy and good), Soy chips (were okay - kind of salty if I remember right), the amazing roast chicken, ham, and chorizo were okay, but the chorizo were kind of like BBQ flavour.

I also like these Greek type snacks, and am fond of the oregano flavoured potato chips from that country. I spent a bunch of time living there and still miss having a good gyro or roast lamb.

Pistachios, bagel crisps, jam filled croissants, and Tsakiris oregano chips!

I think I'll be having a few chips tonight after this post...

Gundams (Giant Robots) Battle It Out In Edmonton

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 18:37:00 +0000

Wow. Gundams battle it out in Edmonton, the capital city of the Pacific spanning nation state of Arbrau. The news is out thanks to Nopybot.com (who does an awesome job of nailing locations from the episode in real life), and then the Metro newspaper, followed by the Edmonton Journal, and even Forbes magazine. All in a 24 hour period. I'm a big Gundam fan myself, and have gone to Tokyo to see the life-sized 1:1 scale Gundam at the Diver City mall, but I'm pretty stoked about this myself. I'm also working on my second original mecha novel too as you can tell from the other posts on this site.

The original Gundam RX-78-1 in Tokyo taken on my last trip to Tokyo in 2015.

Who knew so many people would write about a medium sized city like Edmonton having Gundam battles. I woke up on Thursday morning thinking the news in the Metro newspaper was pretty cool, and then realized that my blog post on this same topic would be coming kind of late to the party.

The battle in Edmonton happens in episode 24 of Gundam, Iron Blooded Orphans, which is also set over 300 years in the future after the Calamity Wars. You can stream the show on Crunchyroll or Daisuki.net. Here, Tekkaden, a child-warrior mercenary company, is escorting the former prime minister of Arbrau to an election being held in the capital. Obviously they're going to have opposition.

Hints about Edmonton being in the show were being dropped in episode 22 and I really wondered how much of the city I'm living in would appear in the show. Based on Nopy's blog, it looks like plenty of Edmonton is going to show up, so I'm happy about that. Anime series often use real world locales and plenty of mecha fans will now see Edmonton looking real good before robots smash up parts of it. On a side note, the first Gundam pilot Amuro Ray was also a Canadian!

The Associated Engineering Building on the left on the corner of 109 St and Jasper Avenue. Just shot this yesterday.

Another view of the corner where the Gundams duke it out. I work on this block so it is a pretty cool coincidence.

Iron Blooded Orphans was one of those Gundam shows that I wasn't too sure about at the beginning as it was about child warriors. This concept isn't new to Gundam as many Gundam heroes have been teens, but this show took the concept further in having some mercenary organizations exploiting orphans on Mars and in space. Anyhow, the kids revolt and take over the company. They then meet Martian Princess Kudelia Aina Bernstein who needs their help to get to Earth to negotiate with the Earth power blocks for a better future for Mars. They meet space pirates, interplanetary cartels, and make some arch-enemies on their journey to Earth. They finally cut a deal with the former prime minister of Arbrau who needs their help to get back into power, which is where our story ends.

Despite the doubts at the beginning, the story telling was pretty top notch in this series with many great characters, interesting plot developments (like how Kudelia's legend grows), tragic back stories, and you really got to know the kids. I'm looking forward to see the episode on Sunday March 27th.

One last thing. Why would Edmonton be the capital of Arbrau? Edmonton is only the capital for the province of Alberta. I would take a guess that the Calamity War must have been pretty devastating and a smaller city like Edmonton would have survived where larger cities were nuked or destroyed in massive battles. Or someone on the production team at Sunrise visited Edmonton in the summer and thought it was a pretty nice place to live!

Was the Arbrau Parliament modeled on this old federal building in the city?

Edmonton City Hall.

The river valley from an light rail transit train (LRT) going over the North Saskatchewan.

Also, if you are train otaku, the historical rail society here has a collection of antique working street trams, including one from Japan.

This tram was from Melbourne.

The trams still run across the High Level Bridge in the summer.

Here are some posts about Edmonton that I have previously written if you want to know a bit more about the most northerly large city in Canada.

The Common For Downtown Dining Week

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 01:03:00 +0000

I managed to get out once for Downtown Dining Week awhile ago and had dinner at The Common on 109 St, a couple of blocks south of Jasper Avenue. They had a pretty good looking menu and I wanted to see if their "hipster" vibe lived up to the hype you read in some of the reviews.

When we arrived, there was not seating so we had a couple of beers at the bar while waiting for a table. The atmosphere was nice. Casual, the decor was nice, and you could tell the restaurant was full of the after work crowd at 6 PM still. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and soon enough, our table was ready.

We had a booth at the back of the restaurant and a big white chandelier hanging there which I hit on the way out of the restaurant with my head. It was pretty funky, but I needed to ducky. We both chose a mushroom risotto to start, followed by the steak frittes, and a dessert of poached pear and lemon pound cake. The risotto was nice and creamy with plenty of mushroom flavour, and the rice wasn't crunchy so it was a really good start to our meal. The main course of steak frittes was a crusted Quebec veal tenderloain with an arugula salad and some nice skinny fries. The veal was nicely done at a juicy medium rare, and dipped into the bernaise sauce if you wanted for a nice creamy hit on top of that, and it went really well with the crispy fries. Finally, there was the dessert of poached pear and lemon pound cake with a creme anglais. This was a tasty dessert with many textures and sweetness. The only thing you had to look out for were the decorative (and harmless) strands of baby corn husk which sure looked like white chocolate shavings in the dim light.

Risotto

Steak Frittes

Poached Pear and Lemon Pound Cake

All in all, this was a great dining experience and I'd go back there again!

Some Japanese Snacks and Candy and More 2016

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 01:49:00 +0000

Just sharing some photos about Japanese snacks this time. One of the great things about all things Japanese is the packaging is very pretty and well thought out, even if there is too much of it sometimes. I do like the fact that their snacks are usually packaged in individual portions or in small batches inside the box most of the time so everything doesn't go stale if you don't polish it off in one sitting.

Not Japanese, but I thought this was cool with banana flavours for Minions.

These weren't Japanese either, but tic tacs that look like Minions is genius!

Strawberries are a very Japanese thing and Meltykiss chocolates are awesomely good. They are the masters of the strawberry, even if it is an imported cultivar. Strawberries are very important for Valentine's Day over there and they are delicious with intense and sweet berry flavour unlike what you get in the supermarket here. Their strawberries are unique local varieties and are carefully grown and harvested. They aren't cheap, but they taste great.

Japanese strawberries in the supermarket in Japan. Some of those packages of berries are $14 for 8 deluxe berries.

Who doesn't like Pocky chocolate cream. These midi sticks are shorter and thicker than the regular Pocky.

This Strawberry Pocky on chocolate biscuit sticks was really good. They are like $5 a box here (a little more than double what they cost in Japan), but they are at your fingertips.

Veggie chips.

Different types of sweet cakes that go with tea. You have red bean paste fillings and more.

All kinds of hard candies. The one on the left has flavours from various Japanese sodas or juice.

More hard candies. The Super Soda ones have a very tart coating on the outside. The lemon type are super sour.

This a green tea hard candy that comes in five flavours. Green tea soda, green tea and molasses, green tea and salt, green tea (matcha), and green tea and ponzu. All very nice variants on just matcha flavour.

One of my favourite hard candies with ramune and fruit flavours. Ramune is a Japanese lemon flavour that isn't lemon, it is ramune. Unique and I haven't met anyone yet that doesn't like it. I like how the bag is in the shape of a bottle of ramune soda which is where the flavouring first appeared.

More tasty chocolates filled with fruit cream. I haven't seen these before here or in Japan. Yummers.

You're probably off to the Asian supermarket after this. You'll find tons of snacks at a supermarket like T & T. Good luck!

BB-8, Lego, and Japanese Toys at Xmas Like Yokai Watch

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 01:15:00 +0000

Christmas is always one of those really busy times of year. Since I have a big family we went out shopping for toys for the many children after taking a second mortgage out on the house. Plenty of toys, but I was surprised that there weren't as many Star Wars toys out as I expected with the big movie release of Star Wars The Force Awakens. There were lots of Star Wars toys, but I guess I expected twice as much or something as Disney is usually a marketing genius about tie-ins.

I'm always interesting in seeing what kinds of Japanese toys there are and saw plenty for Yokai Watch. Yokai Watch is the new Pokemon in Japan and they were trying to launch it here with the new DS game which I own and have to play. I'm going to play through Pokemon Conquest first (which is a cool cross-over with the Japanese strategy game Nobunaga's Ambition from KOEI). Nobunaga's Ambition was one of the games for the original Gameboy that I played in the early days of portable gaming.

Anyhow, onto the list of some of the toys I saw.

I I got one of those Iphone/Android remote controlled BB-8s as a present and it was a pretty neat little robot. The controls work great and it rolls on the hardwood floor real good. It has a number neat little mannerisms and such programmed in, but it is too bad that all sound and stuff comes from your phone and not the robot itself. But the robot does light up a bit and the head bobs around on it pretty good (attached by magnets).


Yokai Watch figures wit the blind bags of plastic discs. You collect these figure or discs to put on your special Yokai collecting watch to get their sound effects and such. There are hundreds of the little discs so I'm not going any where near this collectible.

I caught a bit of an episode of Yokai Watch in my hotel room one morning in Tokyo. Seemed like an interesting little show with the Yokai (spirits) talking, unlike Pokemon where the critters don't really talk. In Yokai Watch, you catch spirits who then help you / become friends as you complete quests and such.

The legendary Yokai Watch itself. This sucker was sold out in Japan last year and there were lineups to get them. I don't think it is quite as popular here yet.

Jibanyan, the main yokai that helps out the protagonist.

I like how these yokai look here. Very neat appearance.

We bought one of these. Dr. Who Tardis Lego set with Daleks!

I can't believe there is a Big Bang Theory Lego set.

And yeah!!! Godzilla. The biggest baddest import from Japan. Not as cuddly as a yokai.

I like the Lego Dimensions computer game tie-ins. Very cool.

More Dr. Who and K-9. That is too cool.

These little World of Nintendo Dioramas are cool. I have to play through Zelda Windwalker again one of these days.

And of course there were still Pokemon toys. Mario too in the upper left corner.

Another Windwalker diorama section. That boat was fun.

These Lego sets are expensive, but who doesn't like the Millenium Falcon. I can't believe the original version of this set years ago was even more complex and goes for even more on eBay.

That's all for now.

Izakaya Tomo For Beer and Tasty Food

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 01:46:00 +0000

My accountant originally told me about this place and we had an okay visit the first time we went, but it was awhile before we went again. We have been back several times after that and the food / service has been consistently better than the first visit. I really like this place for the atmosphere, food, beer, and will be back again. The Japanese owner recognizes a Zaku (from Gundam) when he sees one!

There is a nice selection of Japanese beers and I don't have a particular favourite, but it all goes good with their dishes, of which there is a nice selection of things you don't find in most Japanese restaurants here. The restaurant has been around for more than a few years and is a great addition to the Japanese food scene in Edmonton.

Beers! A couple of the rarer Japanese imports here.

Simmered pork belly. Savoury goodness at its best.

Tuna Yukke with fresh quail egg and tuna tartar. Break the egg, mix it up for creamy goodness.

Kinpura, Burdock and Carrot Salad. Quite tasty with plenty of crunch to the two type of roots involved.

Tuna Tataki.

Takoyaki or octopus balls (double order of 12). This is a real Japanese treat! The takoyaki are crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside, then covered in sauce, bonito flakes and mayo. Yum! This is one of the dishes I order every time I visit.

Closeup of the Takoyaki

Udon Aglio Olio E Peperoncino udon with octopus and squid. I like this simple, yet flavourful take on an Italian dish.

5 Gyoza cooked in a pan, flip it over to see your dumplings. Cool presentation.

I'm always saying I want to drop in for some takoyaki and a beer and I've never done it, but one of these days... This is a great place to go to sample some Japanese food both traditional and inspired. They also have sushi, but we usually order mainly the cooked dishes with the odd roll to supplement our meal. As Arnie says, "I'll be back."

More takoyaki.

Yummy Ramen in Edmonton at Kazoku and Prairie Noodle Restaurants

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 01:08:00 +0000

In November and December of 2015, two new ramen restaurants opened up in Edmonton. Kazoku was first, followed by Prairie Noodle. I had to try both of these new places as I love ramen and eat lots of it every time I've been to Tokyo. Ramen is basically soup, noodles, and toppings. It is cheap, easy, fast food that could be quickly prepared and quickly eaten. It has become more glamorous these days with chefs and such making it, but it is still one of these things that a hole in the wall can do really well as it isn't exotic (if you know the time consuming prep process to make it).

A post on yummy ramen from my Tokyo Excess blog about Japanese Pop Culture

One of the most important things about ramen is the soup part. To me, the soup needs to grab the attention of your taste buds on its own as it is what warms the soul. I've had ramen with broth like this savoury nectar of the gods in Tokyo. The odd time, I've had really good broth here too in Calgary or Edmonton, but most of the time it is just passable or pretty good. The noodles have to be firm, maybe a little chewy, and definitely not soggy. The toppings, with roasted pork of some sort must be tender and flavourful with lots of umami, and the ramen eggs need yolks that are still soft or a little runny. If you have these things, you have an awesome bowl of noodles. So, onto the restaurants.

Kazoku Ramen
Kazoku is a nice little restaurant way out on Stony Plain Road near West Edmonton Mall. It is a little far for me to go for a ramen fix, unless I'm in the area. The restaurant has free parking which is nice, and has a nicely done interior with the Ramen Rex focus wall. I was there with a large group and we ordered the tonkotsu ramen, the shoyu ramen, and the Kazoku Special Ramen. We also ordered the katsu curry, some tempura, and an order of gyoza.

The service was okay, and the food was pretty good overall, but we did have a few hiccups on our visit. I'm not sure I like the tempura as much since the batter reminded me more of Chinese deep frying for chicken balls or shrimp rather than a tempura batter. The broccoli batter was still not completely cooked in the middle, but they quickly fried up a fresh one for us. The tonkatsu curry was pretty good, with the curry being tasty with a nicely fried up pork cutlet, and a fluffy egg omelet underneath it; all on top of the rice - very filling.

Assorted tempura

gyoza

katsu curry with a fluffy omelet underneath the cutlet.

Tonkotsu Ramen. You have lots of the traditional things for ramen happening here with naruto, soft boiled egg, the pork belly, green onions, dried seaweed, and pickled bamboo shoots.

The ramen soups were pretty good and I was pretty satisfied with my meal. The couple of us who ordered the Tonkotsu ramen enjoyed it the most, with the soup being thicker, more robustly flavoured, and saltier. The Kazoku Ramen was a lighter, thinner tonkotsu broth, but the person who had it said they would have the regular tonkotsu next time as the flavour was more intense. The gyoza weren't piping hot when we got them, but they were good with lots of garlic like I like it for Japanese gyoza. The roast pork belly was pretty tender and tasty, but one edge (the outside edge was on the tougher side and probably should have been trimmed off).

Overall, I'd try them again for sure and I'll have the tonkotsu or the katsu curry! It's always great to have another ramen eatery around.

Prairie Noodle
Boy, this place can be hard to get into as it is so busy. They've even sold out of their various types of ramen on particular days. I'm sure the crowds will eventually die down, but they sure were off to a great start after a great social media campaign with popup restaurants and all that. This was the place I was really eager to try after some local food bloggers raved about it. The first time I went it was like a 45 minute wait, and we had to pass on it, but the second time, I walked in the door to get a seat after they had just opened for the day. There were already more than half a dozen customers in front of me.

Sitting down at the counter I could see them preparing all the food and you can tell they have an eye for detail here. The restaurant is small, but has a nice modern decorated theme to it. I like the fact that they have coat hooks under the bar, like in Japan to hang a bag or your jacket. They are not doing traditional ramen, and I like the fact that they are doing something different with locally sourced ingredients.

Pork Ramen - nicely presented with a good portion size.

I ordered the Pork Ramen here as pork and ramen are like fish and chips for being two peas in a pod. I also want to see what their take on a classic combination was. When the ramen arrived it was very nicely presented with the shredded roast pork, the pork belly, and the crispy pork skin. I tasted the broth first and it was light with a flavourful undertone, but it didn't knock my socks off or anything. The soup was good, but it really shone when I had it with a mouthful of the shredded pork to provide that big kick of umami. The noodles were nicely done by being firm and chewy and went well with the soup. The pork belly was tender and tasty with the umeboshi egg surprising me with its tartness (but there is pickling involved) The egg was done nicely though. Overall, it was a pretty good bowl of noodles. I'll try the chicken ramen next time, and the miso ramen (with cheese - so it should have lots of flavour) after that. I didn't have room for appetizers, but the ones I saw pass by looked pretty good.

Crispy pork skin on top of the egg in the middle. Lots of green onion and roasted corn.

I'll definitely be back to try more of their ramen with the local/regional touch, which is something that is a plus everyone.

Starbucks In Different Countries

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 02:55:00 +0000

I enjoy having a grande bold in a venti cup in the morning before I start work. I guess I've been going to Starbucks pretty much since they arrived in Canada years ago and I'd say they've done pretty good to bolster their food offerings along with their coffee. Some people say the coffee tastes burnt, and I'd agree (I avoid the Sumatra myself) in some cases, but I do like my coffee strong, so to each, their own. When I decided to write again, I typed my first short story in 10 years sitting in a Starbucks couch.

Starbucks Japan
I'd have to say my favourite Starbucks are the ones in Japan. Starbucks does know how to pick some premium locations for their shops. The first Starbucks I went to in Japan was the one at the super busy Shibuya Crossing. Their shop is in the Q-Front building there looking across the intersection to Shibuya Station. I ordered my latte and had it by the time I paid and cleared the counter. It was memorable as it was ultra efficient (it felt like I paid and they handed me a latte). You then could go upstairs sit at the window (if you could find a seat) and view the crossing with the thousands of people. They have some nice locations in Ueno Park and my favourite one is one the roof of the Tokyu Plaza in Harajuku with its rooftop garden/deck. The food they have in Tokyo is a cut above North America as I think the coffee shops and bakeries are way more competitive with quality offerings.

Caramel Frappucino

They have different sandwiches and quiche in Tokyo.

Quiche and cakes! They even have a tasty sakura cake in the spring.

Waffles and pastries.

Starbucks For Sale
This is the equipment and furnishings for a Starbucks up for sale when the Target stores closed in Canada. I think the bids started at 30 K and the food oven was like 5K or something (it was expensive).

Starbucks Canada
Where I get my regular fix. Nothing like a hot coffee on a cold morning (not that is is always winter in Canada). Prices keep going up, like everything else these days, but I'm a coffee and not a latte drinker most of the time, so the hit is only half as bad.

Snowy day

They have added a nice variety of baked goods with their new bakery line. The croissant breakfast sandwiches are pretty darn good, and a good go to for a quick bite.

My breakfast one morning.

Theses savory spinach pastries were okay, but not my favourite.

Their little bento style snack boxes are a good idea. They aren't cheap, but are good in a pinch and pretty healthy. The boiled egg one is probably my favourite of the bunch.

Pastries.

Starbucks Paris
Starbucks is everywhere. This is their take on the sidewalk cafes of Paris and having a coffee there isn't nearly as affordable as back here in North America. Still, it is great to get a consistent product and service. I haven't been to enough of these to compare anything though.

I like the sidewalk seating.

All kinds of baked goodies along with the regular drinks. Some different sandwiches and more.

Baked goods.

That's all for now.

Edmonton Heritage Festival Fun in the Sun

noreply@blogger.com (Tostzilla) — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 00:50:00 +0000

The Edmonton Heritage Festival is a fun event that runs over the three day August long weekend. It has 60 tents/pavilions that cover 85 different cultures, showing the diversity of immigration in Edmonton area. I try to get out to this every year and also eat some ethnic good food. Brought a big donation for the food bank too and took the bus down there from the University of Alberta Campus.

This event is pretty amazing as it takes a ton of volunteer hours to put together and man these pavilions. The pavilions usually have some information about the country or culture and often have crafts for sale and a kitchen that cooks up some regional specialties. You have to buy food/drink tickets at booths on the grounds and you should make sure that if there is a long line, to check the back side of the booth which might have a teeny line.

There are also many folk dances and regional arts performances and one of the things I like the most is the music. It is almost like flipping channels on a global radio station as you walk through the different pavilions as the music shifts. A fun time and anything sausage-like is almost always tasty!

So learn something about the world, enjoy the diversity in the city, and eat lots!