Shadow At The Water's Edge

Title: Shadow At The Water's Edge
Distributor: HER Interactive
Date Released: October 19th, 2010
Age Groups: 10 to Adult

(Just for a heads up, I'd recommend this for older kids. *POSSIBLE SPOILER*Nancy encounters strange, ghostly images, footprints, and messages. ) Mouse over shaded area to see spoiler.

Plot

Awesome! It's time for Nancy Drew to relax in Kyoto, Japan with her two BFFs, while teaching Japanese grade-schoolers American English and grammar in the mornings, and staying at a cozy and cultural Japanese ryokan owned by a family at night. But Nancy Drew discovers that hot baths and tea are not all that awaits her at the ryokan.

As soon as Nancy Drew arrives at the inn, strange and sinister things are already happening; doing much harm to the family's reputation. The inn is said to be haunted, and scary sounds and images are scaring away guests. So as always, Nancy Drew grabs her magnifying glass and steps in.

Nancy explores Japan, and while gathering clues, makes bento, solves math puzzles such as Sudoku and Nonograms, makes shocking discoveries, and of course, has a little fun making pictures and playing Pachinko. Sayonara!

Characters

Nancy Drew: As the lead character, 18-year-old Nancy Drew, amateur sleuth investigates a supposedly haunted inn. Nancy is brave, fearless, and intelligent. Nancy is part of a teaching program for Japanese students, so she has papers to grade (educational value). She is the only playable character in the game.


Georgina "George" Fayne:


 

George is one of Nancy's best friends; Bess's cousin. During the game, George and her cousin Bess are at a Japanese Expo; (they couldn't get tickets for Nancy). She can be called for hints.


Elizabeth "Bess" Marvin, (Left girl, blond):



Bess is George's cousin and Nancy's other friend. She is with George, at the expo during the game. She can be called for hints as well.

Shimizu Yumi:

 

The oldest sister of the Shimizu family. Yumi's mother died when she was fifteen. As oldest daughter, Yumi was supposed to take over the ryokan, but she left it for a wild, hip, very pink, and fashionable city life. She owns a bento stand at the expo. Yumi is always wearing a crazy pink outfit that she made herself; she has a closet full of pink clothes she made herself. Nancy talks to her during the game, and assembles bento boxes for her when Yumi falls behind in her work. At one point you can explore Yumi's also very pink apartment. She has a real blog you can go to, called "Let's Happy Bento!" Yumi does not have a Japanese accent, but a high, squeaky voice.

Shimizu Miwako: 



The younger sister of Yumi. Miwako was very young when their mother died. Unlike Yumi, Miwako is simple, plain, responsible, and slightly insecure. Yumi is supposed to be running the inn, but Miwako has taken her place. Miwako works at the ryokan's front desk, so she is the victim of many rude complaints from guests whose families are scared in the middle of the night by ghostly sounds and images. She has a robotic cat named Suki that her boyfriend, Rentaro, got her, since she is not allowed a real cat inside the ryokan.

Aihara Rentaro: 



The awkward, and clumsy handyman and boyfriend of Miwako. He was the Shimizu's neighbor when they were kids. Rentaro is weird and somewhat annoying, often getting into fights with his girlfriend. He loves to give Nancy number puzzles to do. Nancy finishes them all, of course.

Nagai Takae:



As the mother of the deceased Kasumi, and 祖母 to Miwako and Yumi, Takae is "in charge", and all changes must be clarified by her before they are made. She is very cultural and offers lessons on things such as calligraphy. Takae believes that Kasumi's ghost has come back for revenge, and that is why guests are being scared away, but Nancy thinks otherwise. According to Rentaro, Takae likes to give lectures, and he is often the "victim" of them.

Conclusion

This was a great game, (scary sometimes), and I would play it again, if I wasn't so excited about the Tomb Of The Lost Queen! Go HER Interactive! Nancy Drew is so fun!

Everything On A Waffle

Title: Everything On A Waffle
Author: Polly Horvath
Pages: 150
Date Published: 2001
Age Groups: 8-13

Plot

In a small Canadian fishing village, there is a little eleven-year old girl named Primrose Squarp. Primrose likes sweaters and views things from a sometimes bizarre perspective. But when Primrose's parents supposedly perish at sea, a everyone is scrambling to get her into foster care... or the care of her active and busy Uncle Jack. But Primrose knows her parents didn't die at sea. She knows they are still alive, even if everybody doesn't exactly believe her.

At first, Uncle Jack is reluctant to take Primrose in, and Primrose is not sure if he likes her or not, but then she gradually starts to like him, even if he leaves her at home all the time while he sells real estate, and lets older boys use his gym while she is home.

Primrose's favorite restaurant is The Girl On The Red Swing, where she goes to help the owner, Miss Bowzer, and collect recipes. At The Girl On The Red Swing, everything is served on a waffle, even Shepard's Pie.

As Primrose goes through her twisted and odd life without parents, accidents, a dog, and a rude Miss Honeycut, she finds many people who make her laugh, feel sad, and feel happy.


Main Characters 

Primrose Squarp: Primrose is an eleven-year-old Canadian girl who is newly "orphaned", and has a unique and sometimes bizarre perspective of things. She takes her uncle's dog to the beach often. Miss Honeycut thinks she is emotionally unstable, on account of her constant injuries and such.


Uncle Jack: Uncle Jack is the charming, blonde uncle of Primrose Squarp. He is a developer. Jack has a gym in his house that he lets the boys at Primrose's school use. Miss Honeycut is constantly blushing around him. Uncle Jack is very "heroic" at times. His dog is named Mallomar.

Miss Honeycut: Miss Honeycut is the closest thing Coal Harbour has for a guidance counselor. She is very snippy and rude, and she has "royal blood". Miss Honeycut is always arranging "talks" with her and Primrose during school about Primrose's parents and her "issues", but Miss Honeycut shows an obvious dislike for Primrose, and thinks she will hurt herself if she is left alone. Primrose says her Pear soup tastes terrible, and she even gives a recipe for it.

Miss Perfidy: An old woman whom the town was paying to take care of Primrose for a short while. Miss Perfidy has an odd habit of walking out of a room as soon as Primrose is about to say something. I think Miss Perfidy stated she had something similar to deja vu, but Primrose stated that she thought Miss Perfidy was "failing". Primrose says Miss Perfidy's biscuits taste horrible, and she gives a recipe for them also. Apparently, she always smells of mothballs.

Miss Bowzer: The owner and chef of The Girl On The Red Swing, Primrose's favorite restaurant. She has a lively friendship with Primrose, although she despises Prim's uncle because he wants to have Miss Bowzer's restaurant torn down so something classier can be built. Miss Bowzer shows Primrose how to cook many foods; a lot of Primrose's recipes are from Miss Bowzer. Miss Bowzer hates Miss Honeycut.

Mallomar: Mallomar is Uncle Jack's, preferably Primrose's, dog. Primrose named her after her favorite cookie; she describes her as "round and white and black like a Mallomar". Mallomar grows from a young puppy who likes to chase the seagulls on the beach Primrose takes her to, to a more mature but loving puppy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this was a very odd, dramatic, and funny children's book that kept me reading without interruptions almost the whole way through. I loved the recipes at the end of each chapter, and Primrose was such and interesting character, who always had the funniest and most backwards things to say to adults.

Food Models

You like hamburgers, right?


Let's say it's Friday and you're coming home from work or school or wherever, and you have a hamburger some hobo-looking guy on the street offered you for free. You're about to take a bite when you realize-

 It's PLASTIC...

 Apparently that hobo was either mistaken or really wanted you to eat plastic...

Anyway, I learned that wax food models were used often in Japanese restaurants for people who had a hard time reading the menus. So they restaurant workers got wax models of their food (really cool) and displayed them for their customers to choose from.

Random Pictures of Our Vacation and Other Stuff

 Shells I found at Manhattan Beach.  The chipped shells are some of my favorites. But if you look closely you can see the Sand Dollar.  It was dead but they do move when they are alive and they eat plankton.

This is a picture of my great grand mother. She looks like me. Oh, boy.

 

Yummy cheese cake I ate at Whole Foods.  It was really good I ate so much I couldn't finish
everything.

It is hard to see from this distance but this is the Castle at Disneyland lit up at night. We went inside the castle and it was Aurora's castle.

This is a play area for kids at San Francisco Airport.

Souvenirs from Disneyland, They are magnets.

Transformers

Naren the Transformer Fan

I tried to video tape an interview with my brother, but the video shows up as a picture, so I will do an interview here. Today's interview has a guest star!

Mommy!

Key

P: Priya

N: Naren

M: Mommy

We begin.

P: I understand you have many more Transformer items that are not in this picture, correct?

N: (nods his head.)

P: You have to say something.

N: Yep.

P: What Transformer items do you have, books, hats, DVDs, etc.

N: Backpacks...

N: And toys.

P: What kinds of Transformers do you have?

N:Warpath, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and that not-transforming Bumblebee.

P: Do you like the Autobots or the Decepticons better?

N: I like the Autobots better.

P: Why?

N: Because they're my favorite kind of transformer.

P: Have you seen the old Transformer movie?

N: I've seen the cartoon movie.

P: That's what I'm talking about.

P: Is Daddy a Transformer fan, too?

N: Um... yes.

P: What are you doing?

N Huh-heh, HAH HAH HAH (pants like a dog, breathes in and out like an asthmatic and spits out by accident.

M: (Comes in, sees spit.) What is that stuff on Priya's desk?

P: Spit.

M: Why are you spitting, Naren?

N: Because I can't stop!

M: Put on some clothes.

Well, that concludes our interview.

Um, Let's See

So, my vacation to California was awesome. I picked shells on Manhattan Beach, visited my dad's parents, went to Disneyland, and visited Neel and his adorable and chubby little baby sister Maya.

My vacation was good, but the trouble started as soon as we got to the Los Angeles airport. Yousee, we planned to take a plane from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and a plane from there to home. But there was air traffic, and our first flight was like, 30-60 minutes late. 

After waiting we got on the plane with no problem (my UNCLE got of a plane at LAX just as our plane pulled away! My uncle lives in Missouri!) There was a lot of turbulance while we were on the plane, so it was a little bumpy. On the plane, our ears were popping and the flight attendant had this horrible cheesiness on her face. My dad sprained his ankle and had it laying out in the aisle.

Her (with a smile and a giggle with NO sarcasm.): Sir, are you trying to hurt somebody?

Dad: I have a sprained ankle. (He removes his ankle from the aisle.)

Mom: His ankle is sore. 

Her (with a smile and a giggle with NO sarcasm.): No, no. Leave your ankle out there if it's sore. I'll just hop over it. It'll be good exercise for me. My daily exercise. Go on.

Dad: Um, no, that's okay.

Her (with a smile and a giggle with NO sarcasm.): Okay, then. Suit yourself! Hee Hee! (She walks 

away.)

Dad: Um...

Okay... 

Anyway, after we got off the flight we hurried, and hurried and hurried...

Only to find out the connecting flight  had already left at 4:50, and it was around 5:20. Thank you United Airlines, for your sorry excuse of a schedule. We found out from a woman in line behind us for customer service help that she, too had missed the flight, and had been walking around the airport looking for the correct gate. The employees had been giving her incorrect information! Uh, I now hate United. I LOVE SouthWest Airlines. They just, well, get you there. Now, my brother is running out of gluten and dairy free food and my my mom can't eat a lot of what's here since she can't have sugar.


My parents say we have a NEW plane plan.


Old Plane Plan


Los Angeles - San Francisco - Home


New Plane Plan


San Francisco - New Jersey - Home

My parents received food tickets. We walked to a chain of Japanese restaurants.I got California rolls with chopsticks. My dad...

Oh, my dad just sat down and hurt his injured ankle. OUCH! I hope it feels better soon. 

As I was saying, my dad got Miso soup, some veggies, and some noodles with imitation crab. I had some of his food.

After we ate, we walked to a new gate. next to it there is a children's play area. I found two "office" cubes near our seats, and now, I, Priya, am typing this post from an airport cubicle. Today is so weird.

Planes, Food, and Music

7:00


I'm at the airport right now with my family, and the flight leaves in about 30 minutes! I can't wait! First we came to the airport and parked our car. Then we got out our many bags and suitcases and waited at the Shuttle stop, got on, and rode with a few other families for about two minutes the airport entrance.


After we got off the shuttle bus, we took our things and checked in. We went through security, took the underground subway, and started taking pictures. Then we went to get some food. As we ate, we watched other planes back up and take off. When we were done, we got up and walked to the gate (my little brother and I took the moving walkway, and ended up farther than we should have! Luckily, my dad had followed us. He was confused. He said, "Wait, where are we?"). My mom just watched the whole thing, laughing and shaking her head.


Now we are all sitting in the seats at the gate. I'm listening to this iPod my dad bought in 2000 and blogging on my laptop, my mother is watching knitting videos on the iPad, my brother is doing something, I think eating crackers, and my dad is listening to music and taking photos on his camera.

Steak Chart

I LOVE medium rare steak. My mom will go out and buy, let's say, three organic steaks. She will cook one medium rare (dad), one medium (me), and one well done (mom and Naren.)




I actually do not agree with the last sentence of the "Well done" section. It says, "Waste of a good steak." Steak does not have to be cooked raw. Someone made it cool. It DOES taste good, but eating a Blue rare  is probably dangerous for your health. Medium rare is a bit better to eat, if you like to eat pinkish, juicy meat. Besides, Blue rare steak is ridiculous. It's almost completely raw steak.


Before about a month ago, my mom would cook me, my brother, and herself a Well done steak. I do not like Well done steak as much as I like Medium rare steak. I like Medium rare steak very much.




I always ask my dad for slices of his juicy steak, and he always gives me them, but my mom thinks I might get sick eating a partially raw steak. That's why she won't let me eat sushi. Just wait until she hears about the Blue rare steak!


So my mom really noticed how much I loved the rich meat and started cooking my steaks Medium. They are only a little bit tougher the Medium rare steak, although I still eat some of that, too.


The steak I get looks something like this, although I think this steak is a Medium rare, and not a Medium. Sometimes she cooks it Medium well.






Happy Eating!

Naren's Birthday!

Today is my little brother's birthday! He is turning six! Today, he brought goody bags for his kindergarten class. When he got home, mommy  took him to the park and he scored 56 baskets! 111 points! Athletic prodigy.


Then they picked me up from school. When we got home, while I prepared my brother presents, mommy took Naren downstairs to make a cherry smoothie. It tasted good. While he watched TV, I got a brown paper bag.


I gave him:

• 30 marbles + a shooter
• $5.00
• The first eight A To Z Mysteries books by Ron Roy
• Two green mechanical pencils and a polka - dotted wood pencil

The result? A very excited face. He even loved the books. I did too, when I was younger. After I gave him his gifts, we read the first chapter of The Absent Author, acted out Spongebob's Bubble Blowing Technique, played basketball, and made a rubber band ball. We had fun.

Later we all played board games.

March Puzzle