• Life

    Sylvanian Families Gardening Set vs Stomle Hacienda Set

    February 27, 2025 - By 

    My daughter lost a tiny radish from her Sylvanian Families Gardening Set. (We later found it in the hollow of a tree in her treehouse.) I decided that I would try the off-brand, which is available from several storefronts on Aliexpress for roughly US$3.24 before tax. The box of the Stomle Hacienda Set came crushed enough that I could pull the bagged contents out of the very large holes without removing any tape. Issues I noticed are: Compared to the Sylvanian Families Gardening Set, the colours are less appealing. These are somewhat compatible with the on-brand Sylvanian Families / Calico…

  • Travel

    Toddler’s Travel Potty

    February 15, 2025 - By 

    I was concerned that my daughter would lose her good potty habits and act as a young diaper-only baby once more when if she spent too much time without a potty. Most places are not like Sesame Place, which has child-sized toilets for the very young. After some research, I purchased this potty: The look resembles a potty, which I think is important for the baby visually. Some travel potties look like a collapsible crate with a vaguely oval hole on the top. At about one foot tall assembled, this was not too big for a 1-year-old. The dimensions when…

  • Life

    Free Baby Bags, Kits, and Boxes in 2024/2025

    January 26, 2025 - By 

    In 2024, I signed up for “free” baby things from Amazon, Target, Macys, and Babylist. I checked my old Enfamil and Similac accounts. I was going to possibly sign up for buybuy Baby and Walmart, but both of those were out of stock every time I checked. Some of these are not available if you do not reside in the continental US. I originally thought I would skip free baby boxes this time, but I decided to sign up in hopes of getting a variety of pacifiers and bottles to try with my future child. In 2020, I received a…

  • Travel

    What Happens When United Has a Flight Delay in 2024?

    December 11, 2024 - By 

    In November 2024, one of my relatives travelled from the United States to Asia and encountered a long delay. The first leg of the flight was delayed by an hour and a half after two changes. This left a layover of a 45 minutes, which is difficult to consider smooth in SFO, the layover airport. Although the traveler initially worried while at SFO, because time was ticking and no deboarding had happened yet, we soon discovered that the second leg— the final leg— of the flight was delayed. First, it was for a mechanical issue. Then, a new crew had…

  • Food - Tea Things

    Fall Afternoon Tea at Salamander DC in Washington, D.C., United States

    November 26, 2024 - By 

    I will probably not be back at Salamander DC for afternoon tea after the ridiculous experience I had, but I might still book the hotel for its excellent location. It happened like this: I noticed that Salamander DC, my scheduled hotel in Washington, D. C., offers Afternoon Tea in their lounge. I would be in time for the very last day of Fall Afternoon Tea in 2024. The cost was US$95.00 per guest excluding tax and gratuity. I immediately ran into a potential problem: I wanted to possibly apply $100 of hotel experience credit (which I received for booking through…

  • Life

    Gryph & Ivyrose Seal the Deal(TM) Moisturizing Balm

    November 6, 2024 - By 

    I decided to try the Gryph & Ivyrose Seal the Deal(TM) Moisturizing Balm after I had been experiencing a wrist rash for about half a year. It was suspected to be a metal allergy, but the rash unfortunately persisted months after I stopped wearing the suspected bracelet. The rash was annoying, a little embarrassing, and I was willing to spend more to try make the allergy rash go away sooner. I found this balm in the Saks Fifth Avenue online store for US$49 before tax. Gryph & Ivyrose is based in Miami, Florida, United States. The Seal the Deal (TM)…

  • Life

    Bétta Carry me! Baby Carrier from Japan

    October 25, 2024 - By 

    When I decided I wanted to try the Bétta Carry me! baby carrier, I had been looking into baby equipment marketed in Asia. Many of the baby carriers marketed in the US were just were not comfortable for me. Problems included carriers being too long, too heavy, excessive leftover tail length after tightening, straps lying in uncomfortable places, waist-based types set too high if secure and just better positioning my infant to scream in my ear, etc. Being a shorter torso-ed Asian woman, I hoped that a baby carrier from Asia would suit my Asian body better. (A similar concept…

  • Life

    How to Fix “VLC Pauses Playback Randomly” on a Lenovo Computer

    October 12, 2024 - By 

    I was using VLC media player recently. It kept pausing playback. It was on a Lenovo laptop, and this potential fix for this VLC issue on specifically Lenovo computers solved my problem: This “Zero touch video playback” is supposed to stop things from playing when your computer thinks you are not presently using your computer. I am glad the setting is easy to disable.

  • Travel

    Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan: Soak Your Feet While Viewing Art

    October 5, 2024 - By 

    The Hakone Open-Air Museum, first opened in 1969, allows for a nice walk and has a very comfortable hot foot bath. One of the main highlights is supposed to be the Picasso Pavilion, but my favourite part of this attraction was the foot bath. The museum is open from 9 AM to 5 PM daily. Adult tickets are JP¥2000 (~US$13.51 in 2023) each. As I already mentioned, my favorite part of the visit was sitting with my feet in a hot foot bath while gazing out at the enjoyable scenery of grass and sculptures. You sit on a wooden bench…

  • Travel

    Can You be a Transgender Tourist in Japan?

    September 30, 2024 - By 

    In 2023, one of travel companions in Japan was a transgender woman. She was a little worried about how she might be perceived and treated, so we all did a little research to figure out if there were any precautions to take or if a trans person in the group would limit us in any way. The main potential things that came up online were that public hot springs would be difficult, that rural areas would be less welcoming, and that you might occasionally get a brief stare/glare for going in the bathroom you think you belong in but someone…