Review of 198 Barbershop

Haircut

I needed to get a haircut before an important meeting next week. As I had a short day at work today, I decided to go to the 198 Barbershop on MD-198 and get myself all neat and trim again. I'd let my hair grow long and, I looked like a hippie. I thought that was kind of fun but, that look doesn't make the best impression and, I'll need to make a good impression next week.

The 198 Barbershop is a nice place. The barbers are friendly, competitively priced and do a good job. The shop has adequate parking and is very close to the MD-295 exit making it easy to get to. As an extra treat, they have a popcorn popping machine where you can get yourself a free bag of popcorn while you wait to get your hair cut. As far as waits go, I've never had to wait that long there. They usually have 3 barbers there and, they don't lollygag. I don't know if you can make appointments with them. You can find more information about the shop at http://www.198barbershop.com. I would definitely recommend them. Cheers all!

Update February 27, 2018: I just wanted to mention that this barbershop has gone out of business. The owner as I understand it wanted to cut back on her responsibilities and tried to sell the business. As far as I can tell, there haven't been any takers so far.

Azumagourmet Calamari Salad Review

I like calamari (squid) so when I saw Azumagourmet's calamari salad, I decided to try it. I found the salad to be packed with calamari as well as crunchy vegetables and sesame seeds. The calamari itself was tender and very eatable. I mention that because anyone who has had calamari knows it can sometimes be like trying to eat a piece of rubber. Price wise, the salad is a little pricey. A 24 ounce container of the salad will cost you $11.99 at the Columbia, Maryland Costco (I don't know what other stores carry the product though I know the Laurel, Maryland Sam's Club doesn't carry it). This breaks out to approximately $8 a pound. The product has to be refrigerated and Azumagourmet recommends you consume the entire product within 5 to 7 days of opening it. I've gone longer than their recommendation without any ill effects though I have kept it refrigerated all the time barring when I was getting some out for a meal.

Overall, I've been very pleased with this product and would recommend it anyone who likes calamari. It's a very tasty salad with a nice oriental taste to it. Bon Appetit!

Update February 23, 2014: Like the Tuscan bean salad I reviewed and updated, this product has been dropped for some unknown reason by Costco. Like the bean salad, I hope it's just a seasonal thing. I plan to check on it later in the year to see if Costco starts carrying it again. I really liked this calamari salad and would recommend it to anyone that likes calamari.

Update February 26, 2014: I checked Costco's Glen Burnie, Maryland store and, they don't have this product either. They do have Azumagourmet's seaweed salad which I've never tried as it doesn't sound terribly appealing to me. I like seaweed with sushi but, I don't think I'd care for it in a salad.

Update April 27, 2021: To my surprise, the Columbia Costco started carrying this product again. The price is $11.79. It's still very good and, I ended up stocking up just in case they decided to stop carrying it again. If you like calimari, I think you'll like this product.

Update September 3, 2021: I visited the Columbia, Maryland Costco and, they were offering $3 on this calamari salad until September 12th. That means, it's selling for $8.79. Those who like calamari should get to Costco and grab this deal while they can.

Update November 17, 2022: I've visited the Columbia Costco store twice now in the past month and both times, it didn't have this product. It's possible it may not show again till spring. 😞

Update August 13, 2023: The Columbia Costco still isn't carrying the calamari salad. However, you can find it at the Whole Foods Market in Columbia though it is more expensive and isn't labeled under the Azumagourmet brand. It's labeled under Genji, comes in 4 ounce plastic containers and costs $5.99.

Update July 10, 2025: I visited the Columbia, Maryland Whole Foods Market to buy some of this calamari salad. They didn't have it and didn't know if they'd ever get it in again. I subsequently contacted Azumagourmet who make the salad who informed me they weren't making the salad anymore and didn't know if they would make it in the future.

Review of Mobile Reference's Bermuda Sights E-Guide

Today, to my embarrassment, I found out I'd bought a guide to the 16 most important sights in Bermuda over 4 years ago and forgot totally about it. I finally got around to reading it today. I thought it might be useful as I'll be sailing to Bermuda on Saturday out of Baltimore on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas.

The e-guide costs $4.99. It has 56 pages though some of the pages are very small. It's an easy read and supposedly will take less than an hour to read it through.

One problem I encountered while reading the guide is some of the information isn't accurate. Later, after I wrote a review on it, I found out why. It was published in 2011 making it outdated. I tried emailing the email address they give at the end of the guide and, it didn't work. It would be nice if they'd update their guide. One bit of outdated information I noticed was how many cruise ships The Dockyard can handle. I know for a fact The Dockyard can handle to 2 cruise ships at the same time. I cruised to Bermuda in September 2024 on Vision of the Seas and, the ship was the second ship to dock there. I remember an earlier cruise (I can't remember the date) when they were building the pier extension.

I found other information in the guide to be interesting like how the airport was built in Bermuda (it was initially for the U.S. Army). I think most of the sights reviewed in the guide are still in Bermuda. One place I wish they'd mentioned is the Frog and Onion Pub which is located in The Dockyard. It features craft brews which I've enjoyed a number of times while there. A pint of Somersby ale will cost you over $15 (as of September 2024, I'll update this if I find out the price has changed.). I can't tell you how much the food costs there as I've never eaten anything there. Stuff tends to be expensive in Bermuda because they have to import it.

Overall, the guide can still be useful BUT, you might want to see if you can find one that is more current. It does have some useful maps of Hamilton and St. George both of which you can get to from The Dockyard. There are regular ferries that go to both from there. The last time I took the ferry to Hamilton, I believe it cost me $10 round trip. One nice thing about the ferry ride is you get to see some stunning homes built along the shore. I'd hate to see what those homes cost.

That's all for this post. Sorry that I've been so bad about posting. I didn't realize until my earlier post today on the Maryland Lottery's Lucky 7 games that it had been over a year since I last blogged. I will try to post something from Bermuda. Safe travels to all of you. See ya!

Review of Maryland Lottery's Lucky 777 Game

On May 19, 2025, Maryland Lottery launched its Lucky 7's games. The games have similarities to Maryland Lottery's Hot 7 games. For starters, There is a family of games starting at $1 and going up to $20 like Hot 7's. They offer most of the same multiples i.e. 3X up to 7X (on the $20 game), the same prize amounts $1,000 to $1 million dollars. They have the same junk symbols when you don't win. The games differ in that on the Hot 7's games, you had to hit a fire symbol whereas on the Lucky 7's games, you must hit either a black 7 or a red 7 (if you hit this, the prize is doubled). Another difference is that at the top of the ticket on the Lucky 7's games, there will be chances for instant win prizes depending on if a symbol shows up example: piggy bank which wins you $57 or Please Try Again. The prizes on the instant win windows start at $57 and go up to $507 depending on the price of the ticket. At the time of this post, all six $1 million prizes were unclaimed. Losing tickets do qualify for spins with Lottery Rewards where you can win free money ($1 or $2), free play (the various number games), prize points (where you can get various stuff) and draw points (where you can get entries for various drawings). Entering the losing tickets can be work at times BUT, at least this way, you can get something back for your losing tickets. Kudos to Maryland Lottery for that. Overall odds on the different games can range up to 1 in 3.10 for the $20 game (source: a ticket I bought with my own money).

That's it for my review. Good luck to all players out there. Please play responsibly. All comments on here are my own and, I'm not in any way connected with the Maryland Lottery. I didn't receive any compensation for this review (I felt it was time to post a blog entry. It's been over a year since the last one. Time flies.). Cheers!