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Alive

Sep2

I am alive, indeed!  I’ve been back from Chicago for about a week now and it’s taken me about that long to get back to Hawaii time.  I spent last week waking up at 4 am almost everyday.  I had a very nice trip to Chicago.  It was incredibly hot the first two days but cooled down a bit for the rest of the trip.  The trip was definitely spent moving my cousin into her apartment for school.  It’s quite all right because we definitely got in some good eats and some sight seeing!  I wasn’t holding my camera too much this trip but did get some pictures through my phone that I will be sure to upload.

I’ve gotta admit, I’ve been in a bit of a slump for the past few weeks.  I don’t know what it has been and I don’t know how to get out of it. I also think the word slump is underselling what I’m feeling but what can I say?  It’s on me to get through this.  I hope everyone is doing well.  I leave you with my first meal of Chicago.  A Chicago dog from Portillos…along with cheese fries that I did not capture!

130902-01I’m not a fan of the hot peppers but everything else is winners.  

 

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Uni Pasta

Aug26

My last uni pasta order will probably be my last order for a while.  I’m not saying uni pasta is not good, but well…okay it’s not great.  I used to love it but I wonder if it was under the allure of eating uni.  The actual taste of uni pasta just tastes like a really rich cream sauce.  I think the uni taste gets washed out by all the cream in the sauce.  The uni pasta dish is also usually one of the most expensive entrees!  So if you ever dine with me in the future and I seem to be wandering over to the uni pasta dish, stop me.  Please.

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Time Passes Too Fast!

Aug19

I’ve been incredibly negligent on this blog and I apologize.  It has been quite crazy the past week or so.  Once I booked my trip, I just spent a lot of time at work super busy.  I even brought home my laptop this weekend to get some work done.  Did I do work?  No.  Of course not.  And guess what?  My trip to Chicago is tomorrow!  Am I packed?  Also no.  I used to freak out about trips and I used to pack super early.  The last two trips, I have been packing like the day before the trip.  Bad bad bad.  But I do have a very concise packing list so maybe that’s why I am not worried.  Okay I lied, it is now 6 pm and I have to pack and do some work for tomorrow.  I like to work under pressure but this is a bit too crazy even for me.

I hope the weather in Chicago will be on my side.  Although, I think the weather will be very similar to Hawaii.  A lot has happened this week alone.  Yesterday was my birthday and what a wonderful day it was.  I got to spend time with good friends and family.  I have an awesome dinner and received incredibly thoughtful gifts.  It was truly a blessed birthday and I want to thank everyone who made it wonderful, I really appreciate it.

Also, my iPad 2 broke this past week!  I don’t know how many of you have a tablet out there but I realized just how dependent I am on it this week.  I couldn’t stand it!  I took it into a place for an estimate on repair and it was quoted for $200.  That was a bit too steep for my pockets, especially for a tablet that will be outdated in the soon future.

Well, let’s cap this post off with a picture of food.  Although this picture might sick some of you guys out.  🙂

130819-01Natto Pizza!

Ingredients: Mini naan, mayonnaise and wasabi base, prepared natto, cheese and nori.  I used a pizza white cheese (if I had provolone, I would have used that).  I toast it in the toaster oven for a few minutes until it’s warmed through and the cheese melts.  Then I hit it with some shredded teriyaki nori and bon appetit!  I really like it and this is coming from someone who used to hate natto.

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All Booked Up!

Aug10

I have been doing very late preparations for my last few trips.  I’m not sure why – maybe I enjoy the pressure??  But I finally booked my Chicago trip along with the hotel stay.  Chicago definitely is not cheap and I didn’t leave enough time to do research for places to stay.  My cousin already has my next visit planned out, well dates anyway.  I’m going to become a total Chicago pro soon.  Well pro at Chicago tourist areas.  I hope everyone had a good week.  At first my week felt so slow but then yesterday, it just went by too fast!  I was able to get a lot of things done after the end of day so I feel good.  Got a lot to do next week, especially before my trip!

Anyhow, let me leave you with two pictures of something so cute!

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Can you tell what this is?  (besides being a flower bouquet!)

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It’s a Hello Kitty flower!  University Flowers is famous for this flower.  Isn’t it so cute?  The price for each flower though is $25 so I think this is definitely a luxury item.  But if you know anyone who loves Hello Kitty, this would be an absolute delight for them!

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Dim Sum More

Aug7

Not much to update on this post.  I did want to share a small pet peeve of mine and it involves driving.  There are times when you reach a stop light and there are two lanes, one that goes straight or turns left and the right lane turns right.  Well the general rule is, if the car in front of you is wanting to turn left – you can usually go around that car into the right lane to go straight ahead.  Actually now that I think about it, I don’t know if that’s exactly a rule but people do it.  Now, if the car in front of you is for sure turning with his/her signal on – I say go ahead and go right around him/her.  Today, I was the second car at the stop light and we both were going straight.  I see the truck behind me pull up into the right lane and just sits there.  That ticks me off.  I must warn you though, I do get road rage.  Anyhow, I didn’t do much of anything.  The car in front of me and myself, we went straight right when the light turned green.  And no, I did not let that truck cut in front of me.  Why should I?  Pretty sure he was pissed about it but I didn’t care.  Honestly, we all have places to go so just follow the rules buddy.

Okay, I will end this post with two pictures of my dim sum favorites.  I also love baked custard buns but I don’t have a picture to share of it right now.

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Delicious Siu Mai.  I don’t know how pork hash has become so different when it is served in a Chinese restaurant versus any place else.  My favorite comes from a legit Chinese restaurant.

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Custard Tarts.  Another specialty that is very different from the American counterpart.  I much prefer the Chinese version as well.

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Already August

Aug5

Can you believe it’s already August?  Where does time fly?  I’m planning a trip to Chicago in about two weeks.  I can’t believe I just said two weeks.  And let’s use the word plan very loosely because I have done no planning.  I have not booked the trip.  I have done a bit of research in the past week or so, so I don’t feel TOO worried.  This trip will be a bittersweet one.  I will be sending my cousin and don’t let her hear this, one of my best friends away for school.  It’s going to be very hard.  Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend.  My weekend went okay.  I’ve been prepping my lunches every week in an effort to be healthier.  I didn’t do it this week.  Got a bit too lazy.  Busy week ahead for me!  I hope I can keep my posting up for this week.

I leave you with a picture of my Ahi Poke bowl from Gyotaku a long time ago.  I tried to be artsy with this picture.  🙂

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Manoa Falls

Jul31

I’ve worked in Manoa for almost 8 years now but have never been on the Manoa Falls Trail.  As beautiful as it was – I’m not sure how fast I will be rushing back to this place.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s gorgeous and the waterfall you see at the end is amazing…but getting there is dangerous!  I must have gone on a very wet day because it was SO muddy.  I also had to hold the hand of a scared 4 year old which didn’t help my balance at all.  But it was definitely a good experience to try.  I give props to people who can make it through without slipping!  I had to chuckle to myself when I was walking back down and encountered women going up with jewel encrusted slippers, they certainly didn’t do their research.

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Succulents

Jul23

I never had experience with succulents before.  In fact, it was this past December that I even knew of their existence!  I was able to take home two cute succulent plants from a Christmas party and have loved them ever since!  I’m assuming succulents are one of the easiest plants to take care of, but I can say with full confidence that I will find a way to kill them.  They are still alive though, lol!  Well here is a cute plant I found that I gifted my coworker recently for her birthday.  I thought it was put together so nicely and she seemed to enjoy it.  🙂  Just wanted to share pictures of it…

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Makapu’u

Jul16

I’ve been a bit of a hiking fiend as of late.  I’ve done three hikes in about three weeks, not bad huh?  This was the one that started it all.  Makapu’u is definitely an easier hike – even for someone who’s horribly out of shape like me…lol.  It was a nice hike and you get such a beautiful view at the end.  It was also very windy up there – although it was very hot in the middle of the path.  We went at the perfect time, right before sunset so we got to watch the sky turn all kinds of colors as we returned down.  It was gorgeous, I plan to share my pictures very soon.  I’m sorry for the lack of updates – I’ve been a bit stressed at work so I’ve come home exhausted.  Let me share this one picture of the lighthouse I got from this hike.  It sounds weird but lighthouses remind me of the mainland from the movies…so when I saw it in person – I felt like I was in the mainland.  Do you get that?  Hehe…hope you all have a great week.

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Bambu Desserts and Drinks

Jul12

I have been so bad at updating lately.  I think I need to go back to scheduling a few posts at a time.  When it comes to the work week, I get very tired and am not able to update at night.  Can I share with you my current favorite?  I tried out Bambu Desserts and Drinks about a month or so ago and absolutely loved it.  They specialize in Vietnamese desserts.  I get the number 10, I don’t even know what it’s called but all I can think about is #10 all the time.  It contains coconut milk, grass jelly, red tapioca and pandan jelly.  It’s amazing.  In my past visit, I learned that you can substitute the insides as well!  I haven’t always been a big fan of the grass jelly so I decided to try the basil seeds this time.  Not bad, it doesn’t really have a taste much like chia seeds.  I think the next time I will ask for half pandan and half red tapioca.  Yummy…

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