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Off to Japan…

Nov7

As you read this, I should be on my way to Japan. Another chance to make beautiful memories with Chan in one of our favorite places to travel. Our fear this trip is if the local Japanese people will hate us since we are foreigners and some foreigners are not doing us any favors with their bad behavior in Japan!

As always, feel free to follow me on instagram. I will be posting stories daily of our adventures! So excited for this trip, I am super burnt out from work and just life in general so I need this breather. Short blog vacay, see you folks soon!

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Mixed Plate Friday

Oct31

Pileus Cloud
(If this photo is yours, please let me know so I can credit you)

Not much of a mixed plate today, just a bit of storytelling. About a year ago, I went to a conference and was speaking with a fellow attendee who is originally from China. Part of our introduction assignment was to discuss the origin of our names. I have never asked or been told about the origins of my Chinese name. My English name, yes. My parents did not know English and asked either the doctor or a friend to name me and were given the name Jenny.

Anyway, the Chinese colleague I was seated next to was so warm and genuine that I felt inclined to ask her about my name. I’ve had a complicated relationship with Chinese people, a lot of my family members are directly from China and I have been treated quite poorly in my upbringing which has brought a hesitancy to talk to or be nice to other Chinese people in fear of getting hurt like I have in the past. Anyway, I wrote my Chinese name out for her in Chinese and she diligently started up looking the characters to find the meaning.

Soon, she told me it meant little cloud which was amazing to me because I just never assumed my name had any meaning (much like Jenny). Then something told me to look up my mom’s name and asked her to look it up as well. I forget the exact meaning of my mom’s name but it is associated with clouds as well which really touched me, that I was called little cloud after my mom.

Now about a year later, I got asked about the origins of my name again but decided to do the googling on my own. I looked up the name myself and pulled up pileus cloud. Do you see that image on the top of this post? Apparently the iridescent pileus cloud occurred in China, isn’t it just such a majestic sight? I feel so creatively charged when I think about this image and my name’s connection. I think about how much thought and consideration was taken in coming up with my name. The meaning is so deep. I do hope I have a chance of seeing an iridescent pileus cloud in person one day. Something about my name now brings me such a heartwarming feeling. If you don’t know the origins of your name, I do hope you go out and find it. You could be very pleasantly surprised like I was.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Oct24

I don’t know the rules about this but it’s okay, I took a picture of the flowers I placed for my mother’s memorial day. Actually, Chan paid for the flowers so it was from him. Aren’t they pretty? Always such a nice day when I go to visit when it’s not raining – what I don’t like is that it is so close to the Byodo-In Temple so I have to be around all the tourist parking hassles.

Lego Lei

Look at the beautiful lei my friend made for me for my birthday! Isn’t it so beautiful? I knew he would be able to create this kine stuff all on his own. Lego leis were a trend this past graduation season and I would love to learn how to make it myself. I got many compliments when I wore this lei. It’s a beautiful lei and it’s a forever lei – I think more people should make and sell these leis! Moreso my friend because he has such good taste in how he makes them.

Japchae

Chan’s Mom made japchae and it is absolutely one of my favorite dishes ever from her. I got to basically keep the entire container and I was ecstatic, it’s the best I have ever tasted! So lucky…

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Mixed Plate Friday

Oct10

Fat Pig Fried Rice | $10.95
bacon, kalua pig, portuguese sausage, scrambled egg

Had a quick breakfast at Yogurstory and you can’t go wrong with the fat pig fried rice. I must be getting old because oh man was this dish salty. I really prefer blander foods now other than spicy (ha!). It was very good but I always forget how the dish comes and find myself asking where the portuguese sausage is. It’s just chopped up as part of the fried rice! Duh! Anyway, good dish but like I said…salty and probably get MSG.

Garlic Shrimp Spaghetti | $14.25
including 2 pc garlic bread

Mini Cold Ginger Chicken (all rice) | $9.89

Back at Lucky Box Restaurant again – can’t go wrong with their food. Tried a new dish this time, the garlic shrimp spaghetti. How was it? Good. It’s just garlic shrimp scampi on spaghetti noodles and well, the noodles are a bit bloated because I think they pre-cook it and just throw it into hot water again to warm them up for orders, so yeah…not at all al dente. That’s okay with me though, I like noodles in all shapes, sizes and textures. The garlic shrimp tasted good. And the cold ginger chicken? Well nothing new there, still good as always. I think I like their cold ginger sauce the most of all that I’ve tried. I am pretty sure they add garlic to it too which makes it lip smacking good. Love it!

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Mixed Plate Friday

Sep26

Spicy Peanuts | $17.69

I thought I planned out the perfect Costco trip. I took my car in to get my tires rotated and they gave me a 1.5 – 2 hour time frame. I sat in the food court and read my book for a little bit, then as the last hour crept up, I went in to order my contacts and then do my shopping. Well, I certainly took my time walking the aisles this day. It was also crazy that it was way busier at 3 something than at 5 something. What? Are people not working? Anyway, long shopping trip means I buy stuff I don’t need. This is one of the things…but it’s good! It comes with 3 medium sized packs inside! Kind of spicy – it has like a mala flavor. Oh by the way, it took almost 3 hours for my car to be done. It’s complete madness.

Honolulu Okazuya Company Kettled Cooked Products

I saw these in the frozen section of Don Quijote the other week. Have any of you tried this? I was quite intrigued. Get “naporitan” pasta, teriyaki yaki-udon and yakisoba noodle. These are all fully cooked, just heat and eat kine. It says they are all small batch and kettle cooked – just throw the whole bag in boiling water for 20(!) minutes and then you can serve it up. I wonder how it is. and don’t let the name fool you, it’s actually a Japanese company.

Tangle Garlic Oil Pasta

Yes, the continuing saga. I got the garlic oil version as a cup noodle and tried it at work. It was better than the bulgogi flavor but not great. I followed instructions for water measurement and placed it in the microwave – it completely overflowed into the microwave enough though I barely had water inside. It was okay but not great.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Sep19

Tangle Bulgogi Alfredo Pasta

This is the newest trend in instant noodles from Korea. It’s pasta but not really cause it looked like ramen noodles to me lol. And man I should have known since it said alfredo that due to my previous experience (anything cheesy or creamy in Korean cuisine is sweet), it was sweet. I did not enjoy it. I also added the exact amount of water they told me to add and it came out as like a soup and not like a pasta dish. They tout high protein in these noodles and get other flavors too, give it a try! They sell it at Don Quijote.

Another trend I saw on TikTok – just combining Kraft Mac and Cheese and Shin Ramyun. I didn’t realize I was making this an instant noodle mixed plate today. But yeah, I bought this mac and cheese thing just to try it.

It was definitely better than I expected but you could just make a regular shin ramyun and add sliced cheese on top. I used to put Kraft’s American Cheese on top – that was good and similar to this.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Sep12

Left: Sesame Garlic Chicken (3rd Pan 2#) | $37.50
fried boneless chicken, sesame garlic glaze, ginger scallion
Right: Fried Noodles (3rd Pan 2.5#) | $27.50

Chan had a lunch order with his office from Alii Fish Market and this was part of the order. I thought the pans were so cute (lol), I never seen this size before. The food was all good, as usual! And I finally tried the yaki onigiri and yes, I now know what the hype is all about. Highly recommend!

Doesn’t this picture look almost like it’s from Japan or something? We were driving down Kapiolani and I glanced out the window while we sat in traffic and saw this. Just felt very Japanese-y, it was really cool to see. Oh! And we’re going to Japan in November! There’s my announcement lol, I’m so excited!!

Happy belated birthday to me! Of course I gotta show off the beautiful flowers and balloons that Chan got me for my birthday. He always makes me feel so special even though I don’t like getting older…especially at this age. I am at Auntie age but I am a-okay with that. I earned that badge. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Mixed Plate Friday

Aug29

Strawberry Jam and Butter Sauce Packets

Yes oh yes, I was able to snag a few packets when Don Q had it in stock. Of course it was posted on social media and sold out like crazy. One of my favorite things to eat in Japan is the strawberry and butter sandwiches from the convenience store. It’s made like an uncrustable but it’s not easy to find and not at every combini. This will have to suffice until I find it in Japan again! Pretty good! I would definitely get more if I see it in stock again.

Fin’s Bagel with House-cured Salmon | $17.95
choice of house-cured fish: salmon, ahi, mahi, ono, or smoked fish salad with tomato, onion, cucumber dill, local sprouts, capers and cream cheese (we got roasted garlic cream cheese)

Thank you Chan for treating lol! This was for a meet-up with Kat, it was so nice seeing her and spending some time with her. I know her trips to Hawaii are always busy so I am happy she tries to schedule some time with us! Fin’s Bagels just opened up in downtown a few weeks ago so we wanted to try! We ordered our sandwiches with everything bagel and wow, they are HUGE. I could barely finish half for lunch. So how was it? While they are super generous with the ingredients and cream cheese – I thought it was just okay. I actually found the bagel itself to be too big and too chewy. I also don’t love sprouts so I would get it without the sprouts next time.

Fat Cheeks Hawaii Fish and Fries | $18.50
flaky white fish, battered with our house seasoning and fried crispy on top of fries. served with lemons, tartar sauce, and hot sauce on the side.

I joined in with Chan’s office order one day and finally got to try their version of fish and chips. Oh my gosh, it was SO GOOD. And it was a HUGE portion. 4 big pieces of fish fried to perfection and the fries are good too! Of course I couldn’t finish this, shared with Chan too. I didn’t even realize it came with a container of hot sauce on the side so I didn’t even use it! Ugh! They did find the hot sauce in the bag and thought it belonged to the hot chicken sandwich order but I guess it was for mine! It’s great that they have online ordering and they keep to the time you request. It won’t be ready earlier than that which is a good thing, you’re getting your food fresh!

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Mixed Plate Friday

Aug22

Notice anything odd about this? I was driving one day and this truck was BEING TOWED through the roads like this. Yup. With all the garbage bags, gardening debris and the garbage can in the back. Nothing flew out at me but then again, we were stuck in traffic. Isn’t that’s crazy?

Trolli Gummi Pop | $8.99

I’m such a silly sucker for trends. I saw this on social media and was intrigued, a gummy worm type textured popsicle? I love gummy worms so I wanted to try this out! They sell this in Safeway and took a while to get here. How was it? Ehhh…it has a weird texture that is a bit flexible for a popsicle but not exactly a gummy worm texture. Wouldn’t recommend it.

Kokoro-Tei Omelette Rice | $14.98

I love Kokoro-Tei and have been wanting to try their omelette rice for a very long time. They only have this for a daily special so you have to check their website to know when to order it. First time trying it and I loved it. Love the soft runny omelette and the demi glace sauce over the rice. Great dish! I would definitely order it again! And love their online ordering system – makes everything so easy peasy!

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Mixed Plate Friday

Aug8

Lasoon Butter Chicken Mini Plate | $12.45

It’s great to have a good Indian food establishment on campus. I was feeling like Indian last week so I got myself a mini plate and a samosa (Honestly, I wanted the samosa most). This butter chicken is sweeter than I expected, and didn’t contain as much spices and I would have liked. I enjoyed the cabbage side dish and the basmati rice. I got some acid reflux after eating this but that could just be me and the tomato based dish. I do want to return and try the lamb curry next time!

Miyakonjo Bento & Catering Seafood Katsu Combo Plate | $11.45
choice of 1 pc fried Hoki or Aji (Mackerel) with 2 pc Oyster katsu and 1 pc soy milk cream croquette. Comes with fresh tossed salad and furikake rice. Sauce and dressings are on the side.

We had a staff training retreat last week and decided to check out Miyakonjo, I never heard of them before and boy are they located deep in the Kalihi industrial area but what a find. Super great deal on their plates and bentos and it was super good. The salad comes with a small container of goma dressing. I got spicy house made tartar sauce for my katsu and it was delicious! I got the hoki as my fish – every piece was perfectly fried and I finished it all lol. Very good!

Baked You a Smile Hawaii | Kulolo Filled ChiChi Dango

My wonderful friend picked up this mochi from a pop-up market and we both have been wanting to try this place for a while. I’ve been super curious about how this would taste and wow, it is super soft and delicious. Only drawback is that you have to eat this fresh. The mochi stays super soft when refrigerated but the kulolo becomes rock hard. So good! Would recommend! Also, follow them on IG because they are at different locations from week to week!

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