puddleshark

Here are my Asian snack reviews for the stuff we got from H-Mart!

• Chocolate Churro Turtle Chips: 20/10 I can see why these are viral. DANG! The texture is amazing and the flavor is chocolate with a little spice and crispy sugar. Really really good, grab these if you see them.

• Fruit/Veggie Electrolyte Drink: 8/10 No artificial sweeteners, just a lightly sugared/salted drink with a mild fruity flavor. Rehydration without dyes or weird ingredients. Very good!

• Wasabi Shiitake Chips: 10/10 These were way better than expected, crunchy and light with a mild wasabi flavor (I do wish they were spicier.) Lovely texture and not overly mushroom-y or earthy. I will keep an eye out for these and get em again.

• Pumpkin Yakgwa: 5/10 These are fried honey-soaked cakes/cookies with pumpkin powder added. They are good, but very oily and the flavor of the oil kind of overpowers both pumpkin and honey for me. Ok but I wouldn’t buy them again.

• Pine Bud Drink: -5/10 Eugh. I’m a person who LIKES other pine-flavored things, but this was too sweet and it was like sugary PineSol. Nope.

• Grape Jelly: ??? Haven’t tried yet but I’ll bet it’s good :P

• Hawaiian Pineapple Citrus Soda: 9/10 Just like Olipop sodas, even the ingredients are mostly the same. Delicious and refreshing!

• Tokyo Banana: 7/10 Lovely packaging, soft sponge cake with a smooth creamy banana filling. Flavor-wise it’s nothing special…just a basic prepackaged dessert. But grateful I got to try it since they’re hard to find!

• White Peach Ice Cream: 20/10 Another viral hit, the flavor and ultra-smooth texture were 🤯🍑 Like oh my GOODNESS. The white chocolate coating was soft, not crunchy, so it felt like biting an actual juicy peach, with loads of sweet cream. If you want to treat yourself to something really special and unique this is IT. They’re expensive but absolutely worth trying at least once in your life.

There ya go.

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FRIDAY

Jameson and I were both up early. I placed an Instacart order, had breakfast, and wrote the review above while Jameson went for a mental health walk. He wants to get outside more to see if it will help with both depression and losing a little extra weight, and I wholeheartedly support this. I love that he will often (not always, but often) step up and take initiative himself on things like this, even when depression tries to stop him from helping himself out. Not everyone can do that.

The Instacart arrived a little after Jameson got back, everything was accurate so we'll have a nice dinner tonight. Put it all away and practiced trombone for a bit, then had the BATB safety meeting via video chat.

The topic was "Unannounced Law Enforcement Visits," which of course refers to ICE without outright referring to ICE. A lot of reassurances were given, which imo were needed since ICE is now being sent to airports and we have quite a few international cast members, some of whom happen to be POC, many of whom may travel independent of company-booked travel, and who may fly overseas for visits home. And imo considering how we've seen ICE behaving, any and all concerns or fears related to ICE are completely valid and should be discussed. I did find the meeting to be reassuring for the most part, though all of this nonsense of being illegally detained will continue to be a real concern for EVERY American until someone else is in the WH. But anyway.

Lunch with Jameson, then he went back to work for a bit. I requested tickets for our show for my sister and her family in Hartford, since she'd had to cancel in Philly due to a winter storm. The show is still very sold out in Hartford, but no one has said they're revoking or limiting our house seats like they did in Philly so hopefully my request will be approved.

Also, most (definitely not all) of the 2026/2027 tour dates and cities are now live on the company site.
LaughingPlace wrote a brief article about the extended route. Is your city on the list?


There was another company meeting at 2pm about social media. While waiting for that I mixed up an elote sauce for dinner tonight, which is street corn chicken rice bowls. The social media meeting was informative, nothing else really to report about it. After that a little rest, then I made our dinner.

Chicken breast cubed and rolled in Mexican spices (cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder) topped with roasted corn, red onion, mayo, Greek yogurt, cotija cheese, and lime dressing, served with brown rice and avocado. A drizzle of hot sauce added after this pic.


It was very good and very easy to make. I will see if Jameson eats any of the leftovers and that'll tell me if it's worth making again :p

After dinner we listened to Jameson's Queen II Collector's Edition vinyl, which he'd just gotten in the mail. It comes with not only the vinyl but also several CDs and a 112-page book, high-quality photos of the band, etc. Jameson is a huge Queen fan and was thrilled to hear this album (and I was happy to listen along; I may not be a superfan but I can appreciate musical genius.)

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SATURDAY

I was up early, Jameson slept in. I enjoy having quiet coffee time in the mornings :)
Boston Foodie Finds work, a vague shuffling around of my tour items because a week from now I really will be packing to go back. We had a slow and rather lazy morning, then hopped in the car for Disney Springs. We somehow managed to catch almost every red light, so it took nearly an hour to get there! Crazy!

Our destination was The Boathouse, which is supposed to be upscale but this is Disney Springs so it was packed with sweaty tourists and huge family groups, kids crying and screaming. The restaurant is huge, however, and we were taken to a quieter section (there were still loads of poorly-behaved children around but we were away from the dueling pianos at least and could hear each other talk.) Placed our drink orders and received some honeyed dinner rolls.

Jameson's ridiculous hard blueberry lemonade. I angled my phone intentionally to make it look bigger, but it was pretty big!


Despite the lovely aged steaks, lobster tails, raw oyster bar, and other delicacies on the menu, we observed that nearly everyone around us was ordering the Wagyu sliders and the side of fries. I'm guessing that's an affordable option that can still feel like a special lunch. Especially if you have little kids...sliders are perfectly sized.

Jameson had the shrimp and andouille mac and cheese in a spicy beer sauce. I was surprised because he doesn't usually go for sausage, but he said it was excellent and not too salty.

I had the seared coriander-crusted yellowfin tuna, with blistered shishito peppers, sitting in a soy lime vinaigrette, with wasabi mayo and sriracha on the side.


The tuna was fresh, clean-tasting, meaty, and cut like butter. The peppers and vinaigrette added perfect seasoning and pops of flavor. This was a strategic choice because it had no carbs or heavy sides, thus leaving room for THIS MONSTROSITY:


Key Lime Pie for Two! I felt that it was more of a cheesecake situation than the traditional custard pie, but it was still damn good. We each lopped off a big chunk of it, but there was still a large 1/3rd left when we reached our limit. Phew! But it was worth it!

After that we walked around the Springs a bit. Near The Boathouse is Chapel Hats, and some of you may recall that I worked there in 2024 while between tours. Therefore it was mildly traumatizing to go back in, haha. Anyone who's worked a retail or service industry job knows what I'm talking about. But it also felt good, because seeing it reminded me how hard I worked here (and for very little pay.) Doing my best without knowing what would come next. Now I get to look back on that period...a past life that helped get me to where I am today. It wasn't that long ago, but it feels like a lifetime has passed since then. So much has changed.

We tried to visit the LEGO store but there was a huge line, so instead we scoped out the Christmas store for potential gifts for Jameson's mom, then decided to head home. On the way we stopped at a LEGO reseller that we'd noticed in a strip mall. It was pretty cool, but considering that most of their sets were used they were selling at near-new prices, and that was a bummer. Still, it was fun to look. Back home we watched the end of the Cubs game and rested and digested. Jameson ate a light dinner, then because a cold front was blowing through we went for a walk. It was windy and cloudy but much cooler than you'd expect from Florida, and I'm glad we'd done a walk because it felt nice :) We talked about this and that...I think we were both feeling kind of pensive today. Talking about past jobs, and Jameson dreading regular colonoscopies soon while I wondered out loud what menopause will feel like when it's fully upon me (I think some peri has started already.) As mentioned in other posts, Jameson is feeling his age lately and struggling with it, and I of course am thinking about it more as well by proximity.

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SUNDAY

I was up early, working on Boston Foodie Finds again and starting a load of laundry. I'd finished breakfast by the time Jameson was up. He went for a walk and I practiced bass while he was gone. Folded my laundry, he started a load, yada yada, domestic stuff. We watched an episode of The Traitors UK while I tried to figure out what to make for dinner tomorrow (air fryer panko pork chops, butter noodles, and candied carrots I believe.) We watched the Cubs game and ordered subs for dinner. It was a very "nothing" day...and I'm ok with that. 

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Monday: Picking up dry cleaning and ingredients for dinner, practice, and beginning one more round of cleaning.

Tuesday: Cleaning the bookshelf using Dust Battle tactics, probably changing our sheets, practice, any other chores I'm up for. No other plans.