Does anyone know if the Union Plus plan is still in existence? A few months ago they reduced the discount from 10-15% to 5%, supposedly because it was not used frequently enough, which in itself is a bizarre way of reasoning. If it's not used much, surely it's not costing them much either.

My UP points are running low, and so I was going to go to their electronic payment page and add more points to it, charged to the bursar bill. And lo and behold, it's /gone/. They still mention it, and there's a PDF application you can download (that is not linked from the Union page), but no electronic payment option. It might be being phased out.

Considering the food quality is going downhill, I'm probably only going to make use of the convenience store and the coffee shop anyway. But it's still a bizarre way to retire a service.

Since there is no real authentic Japanese restaurant in town, with the probable exception of Mikado (which is out of the way for patrons of the rickety public transportation system, at least enough to preclude it being a dinnertime option) - Domo provides good service most of the time, but if they don't have something in the menu you're normally out of luck; and Asuka combines Chinatown-esque, first-generation émigré level of service with Japanese-level pricing - both times I have been there, they managed to be inattentive and mess the order up - anyway, back to the point.

Since none of the Japanese restaurants serve chawan mushi (Japanese egg custard) - apparently more popular among Indonesian patrons of Japanese restaurants than American ones, since Googling for cawan mushi yields an Indonesian-language recipe near the top - one has to resort to making it oneself. And in the process adapting a pot for use as a steamer. The result is surprisingly edible; even an accidental overcooking resulting in a temporary bloat over the rim of the cups did not leave lasting damage apart from tiny bubbles near the top.

Next stop: sushi. Or sashimi?