Why you should teach your kids to spell

Because Sodoku is something completely different!

Thanks to comments on Tom Snyder's excellent post on Soduku, the newly invented Jedi vs. Droid laser battle puzzle.

Sushi Siam - not a Sammy Sushi

Continuing the reviews of restaurants I visited 4 months ago, that may not even be around...

My mom and I tried Sushi Siam, a Thai / Sushi place recently opened next to the Target in the new Washingtonian Plaza. Funnily enough, she had described it to me as a sushi place (well, it does have sushi in the title), but never having been there before, wasn't aware that it also served Thai food. (This is what happens when you don't pay attention in geography class, kids. Maybe I should start speaking broken French when we go get pho next time?)

Anyway, we started out with some deep fried tofu, because my mom likes it, but it was bland for my tastes. (agedashi tofu, this was not) I also didn't particularly care for the sauce, which was some sort of spicy nutty sauce (but very different than a chicken satay dipping sauce.

Not being quite in the mood for sushi, but being somewhat in the mood for greasy Thai noodles, I ordered the pad see ew. Overall, I think this is a safer bet than pad thai, since each restaurant does pad thai a little differently with different toppings. Personally, I'm not a fan of uncooked mung beans, but a bit of chopped peanuts and shredded carrots can really bring out the dish. Regardless, I am always pleased when Thai restaurants do NOT use chinese broccoli, but instead use plain old broccoli. This dish turned out pretty well, if a little greasy. I would say the balance of egg to broccoli to meat to noodle came out very well. I like veggies, but it didn't feel like they were skimping out on meat or anything either. The sweetness was also pretty well-balanced with the saltiness. Overall, I would say this was just a really well-balanced pad see ew.


My mom tried the sashimi sampler. Nothing spectacular there. Plating was also mediocre, but then again, it was pretty cheap, so what do you expect. It's a sign when even the sashimi comes with the pinkish ginger instead of the pale yellow ginger. (which is far superior. Much stronger flavor and crunch. I have a story about the ginger at Sammy's, but that should go in a later revisit post to Sammy Sushi.)


Overall, well-balanced Thai place trying to cash in on the sushi fad, but can you really blame them? Still, miles better than Tara Thai. (not the same as Thai by Tara. I still wouldn't go to either one.)

Sushi Siam
31 Grand Corner Ave
Gaithersburg MD 20878
(301) 417-0005

Events from last week

Saturday (M's b-day party):

The awesome: Watching him open gag gifts his friends bought for him. Also, the food.
The amusing: playing I-never with various people from the lab and their significant others.
The not-so-awesome: Having my dish come out not quite complete. (I need to get a larger steamer, dangit!)

Sunday & Monday(hanging out with my cousing, S):

The awesome: My cousin's a pretty cool guy.
The amusing: Having him try two variants of not-good-for-you fries: carne-asada fries, and In-n-Out's animal-style fries.
The not-so-awesome: One of my other cousins (Z) chose to do his co-op in Texas instead of SD?

Tuesday (Anne-Sophie Mutter in concert):

The awesome: Anne-Sophie Mutter in concert.
The amusing: Having Lambert Orkis sign the cd for an album he didn't accompany her on.
The not-so-awesome: Not bringing some of my other cd's because there wasn't any mention of a signing on LA Phil's website.

Friday (Jennifer Frautschi in concert):

The awesome: Jennifer Frautschi in concert (Beethoven violin concerto to boot!)
The amusing: Seeing Prof. and Mrs. Frautschi at the concert.
The not-so-awesome: Too much echo in the cathedral (not sure what to expect there), getting seated at the end even though I bought an aisle seat, guy in front of me blocking my view.

time to buy more music

For some reason, I was approved to be a CDJapan affiliate. I guess that means I can now post links to items from their website and get some kickback if purchases are made. Even better, apparently I can take advantage of this to get kickbacks for my own purchases. Undoubtedly this is probably the ONLY way I will get any benefit from this system, and yet, I got approval to be an affiliate.

Anyway, that being said, first up are the latest singles from Maaya Sakamoto. (*sniff*, she used to have her own special page on cdjapan's website, but now she's not even listed under female jpop artists)

Triangler, the new intro theme to Macross Frontier. (As previously blogged, I have high hopes for this series.)

Saigo no Kajitsu, the intro theme to Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations. I'm not sure what the relationship is between that and Tsubasa Chronicle.