On the Friday before the Lunar New Year, I stopped by Kin Wah Chinese Restaurant for dinner. For the New Year, they had a special on Harbin Lager. I had never tried one of these before, so I gave it a shot. There was no indication of size on the ad, so I was initially shocked by the 600ml size. Flavor-wise, I was expecting a vile, overly-hopped, Pilsen-esque Heineken clone along the lines of a Tsingtao, but was pleasantly surprised with something wonderful. The initial mouth feel was dry not unlike a Japanese lager, but with more bittering hops. This gave it more of a Pilsen-like first flavor, but the middle had a distinct, full malt flavor like a Bavarian lager. The finish was clean. This was a good, refreshing, easily drinkable beer. I later called Fabio to tell him about it, and he stunned me with the revelation that Harbin fell under Anheuser-Busch ownership in 2004. Oh man… well, I guess if that wasn’t the case, I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to try it in the States! Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – Harbin Lager’
Archive for the 'Review' Category
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This is another Chainlove find. These shorts sell for $120 USD MSRP, a price that makes you think twice about getting a pair, but on closeout at less than $60 USD, they are within the reach of all but the poorest dirtbag. General appearance is very good, with durable nylon and mesh construction. The inseam length is nice and long. The center seam is welded – not stitched – both to provide a snag-free seat interface and to reduce discomfort by eliminating the thickness of a stitched seam. Mesh vents start on either side of the backside, and wrap around and down the front of the legs and back around the hemline. These provide more than adequate ventilation. There are two front slash pockets and two zippered pockets on the outer thighs, the one on the right being rather small because it is cut to accommodate the Fox head logo in the vent mesh. There are Velcro adjusters on either side toward the back that add tension to the waist elastic. Belt loops are also provided. The front closure is laced “board short†style with a half-length gusseted Velcro fly. The inner liner is made from a breathable stretch mesh with an integrated chamois. There are two loops at the side seams of the liner short that interface with two thin bias tape ribbons on the outer short that close with tiny plastic snaps. Continue reading ‘Fox Attack MTB Short’
Original article is here
On this past Saturday’s ride, the chinstrap buckle stopped working. It would “clickâ€, but any pressure would result in the buckle popping open and the strap coming loose. I discovered this at the beginning of the ride to my dismay, but rode anyway despite the danger. I emailed Fox on Monday, but they replied with a stock, “please call our 1-800 number so we can sell you the replacement part†message. When I asked if this was a warranty issue, they replied with a cut-and-paste of their warranty policy, indicating that I should take it back to the dealer. Seems like they’re all “corporate†and don’t handle customer service issues in the same proactive manner as some companies still rooted in their sport do nowadays (Burton and HopeTech USA are good examples of companies with excellent customer service). Continue reading ‘Fox Flux MTB Helmet Update’
In my book, GU makes the best energy gels, both in nutritional content technology and flavor. Now they have upped the ante by introducing Roctane, basically a double load of calories and performance enhancing components in around the same volume. With double the content, comes double the price: A regular GU retails for about $1.25 USD, whereas a Roctane retails for around $2.50 USD. I bought a few back in December before heading to Japan for snowboarding and gave them a try. Indeed, the effects are more noticeable than with a regular GU. The added aminos and citrates that Roctane includes helped delay the burn and maintain performance levels. This was especially critical, since I didn’t bring with me my normal complement of sports drinks that usually provide these. There are two flavors, a vanilla/orange and a blueberry/pomegranite. Of the two, I only like the blueberry. The orange has a bitter orange peel flavor. This is in line with my dislike of GU’s other orange-flavored products – the regular GU gel and the GU2O electrolyte beverage powder. Continue reading ‘GU Roctane Energy Gel’
Okay, maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but it is my favorite Loco Moco-type thing available here on O’ahu. Here are the long-awaited pics of the Sugoi Hash Loco Moco that I mentioned a while back. The absolute best Loco Moco I ever had was at the cafeteria at the Sahoro Resort in Hokkaido (not at the Club Med, but at the second floor of the ski center). If you notice in the right picture, the fork is 25mm (1″) across the tips, meaning the hash patty is well over 30mm (1-1/4″) thick! Sugoi!
Just as awesome the second time around!
Whenever a package arrives from Chain Reaction Cycles, it’s like the holiday season in the office! While Ckucke and I were away, a parcel arrived, bringing wonderful things from the UK. I got a long-sleeve Hope Technologies DH Jersey (more later), and my long-awaited pair of gold Hope brake lever reservoir caps! They came packaged with black TORX-head replacement screws, but I retained the original stainless metric hex-head ones. Installation was quick and simple. I didn’t really need these, although one of my caps had a cosmetic ding from an OTB incident in Whistler, but now all my Hope stuff has gold bits wherever possible, with the exception of the two-piece rotors (those are next!). Continue reading ‘A Bit of Bling, UK-Style’
Whoa! Did Fabio get some new burger that instantly fell apart and got sauce everywhere? Nope, this is the newest seasonal offering from Burger King, the Angry Whopper. All the radio spot hype made the jalapenos, angry onions, and angry sauce out to be too hot to handle by a mere mortal, but of course this is just advertising hype. If they really made it as hot as they intimated it was they’d probably get sued. From some of the stuff I’ve seen online while looking for the nutritional information, it appears that this burger launched in the UK and Australia before it hit North America (there are pictures of RHD automobiles, but I don’t care to figure out if they are UK or AUS models). Continue reading ‘Angryburger’
Dunkel, or Dunkles beers are Bavarian-style lager beers brewed using a dark roasted Munich malt, and in fact the dunkel was the original Bavarian beer until new brewing techniques introduced in the later half of the 19th century which allowed the preparation of a lighter malt. The name Dunkel literally means “dark†in Deutsche. Although one would expect a stronger flavor from a darker beer, in general, dunkels have a smoother and “maltier†flavor than the other common Bavarian lager, the helles, or pale lager, and have no significant bitter or sweet character from the hopping. This example from Otaru Bakushu Brewery in Western Hokkaido has a mild smoky flavor, but has only a hint of malt taste. The initial mouth feel is smooth but slightly thick with the carbonated “karakuchi†dry bubbly sensation popular in Japanese beers. There is a hint of caramel sweet in the middle from the roasted malt and hopping. There is no significant bitter. The finish tapers to a faint malt flavor. The color is a dark, nearly stout-like brown. The carbonation level is moderate. This Dunkel is easily quaffable. Like the Otaru Bakushu Pilsen, this beer has no objectionable traits, but it similarly doesn’t really have the strong malty beer flavor I would expect from a dunkel. I am not sure if this has anything to do with the “organic†origins of the beer, or if it is due to the brewmaster’s choice. I would almost say that with the hint of sweetness and the light malt taste, this seems more like a bock than a dunkel… Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – Otaru Bakushu Organic Beer Dunkel-Type Jibiiru’
Whoa!
How does one begin to describe this…
We got lunch from Sugoi’s in Kapalama (near Woodcraft and the Driver’s Licencing office). They had breakfast stuff, so I ordered the “Hash Loco Moco“. Lo, a more amazing thing I have never before had! Imagine if you will, a Loco Moco made with a 3cm thick, 15cm diameter breaded and deep fried corned-beef hash patty instead of the hamburger patty! Essentially corned-beef hash katsu and a fried egg on rice smothered in brown gravy! The gravy was a tad salty, but the hash was very good. Continue reading ‘Sugoi!’
Finally replaced my M Frame Rx’s. I’ve always had problems finding sport glasses to fit my face. Low nosebridge the most annoying problem so that glasses nosepieces were superflous and the bottom edge would sit on cheeks, and a gap over the top of frame I could look out over. At the time the M Frames were one of the few (or only) high coverage sport glasses with a single layer prescription lens. I learned to live with the nose bridge. The optics were stellar. But the prescription insert eventually would cause the outer polycarbonate lens to crack. I actually had one of the first generation models, and went through three iterations. Each successive one Oakley improved on the problem, but eventually those stress cracks would still appear. Continue reading ‘Oakley Flak Jacket, XLJ G30, Rx, Asian Fit’