Rant and Rave

I’m just gonna start off with a rant and then end with a rave so it can be on a positive note. On Friday, I had a day off from work and decided to pick up my brothers from school and spend time with them and my cousin who was leaving back to school in Chicago. I may have mentioned this before but my brothers are very young and I could be their mother. Well if I had my kids early in life, then yes, I can be their mother. I’m not. So the first pick-up was for the youngest at the preschool. It was nap-time and I told the teacher I was picking up Jayson. She was very friendly, don’t get me wrong…but I still believe she was very rude. She asked who I was and I told her and then the questions started. First she asked how old I was, and sorry but I am now at the age where it is SUPER rude to ask me how old I am. I am pretty sensitive about my age now, haha. Then she just keeps going, so I basically have to share my life story about my father and him having kids with his new wife, etc. She bombards me with non-stop questions, where do I live, who else is in my family, majorly personal and sensitive questions. I’m not comfortable but I answer them because, get this, I don’t wanna be rude! So after the whole inquisition, she then says she has to check my ID to pick him up in case I’m kidnapping him or something (ha! sarcastically).  Then at the end she has the wonderful foresight to tell me that if I had a kid, my youngest brother would be an uncle.  Thank you for the information. I’m glad she had a laugh at her own rude joke.

Anyway, sorry that was the rant. Maybe I’m at that point of the month where I’m sensitive but I still think her personal questions were rude. I got the sense that the way she asked them were also judgemental. Sigh. Other than that I had a pretty good day off, can’t wait to share the pics with you! Let me share with you a picture from Lanikai last week!

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Retirement Coffee Hour

We recently had a coffee hour for our director that retired in December.  Gosh, December was such a blur but I would take home cooked food over take out food any day!  This day was filled with so many home made goodies, I just wanted to share them!

140111-01This looks professional but was homemade!  There were black bean sauce in these noodles, very good. A lot of pictures are coming in this post, you have been warned!  Continue reading

Sunny Side – Wahiawa, HI

I’ve heard about Sunny Side for years now but I hardly go out to that side so I never got to try it.  On my productive day off, I decided to hit up Sunny Side on the way to the North Shore.  What a great idea!  I’ve been missing out all these years!  I love the feel of this place, definitely a small business that serves up some great food for us locals.  We got ourselves some breakfast and a slice of their infamous pie.  Check it out.

140110-01Fried Rice Special with Eggs over Easy.  Delicious!  And so cheap…cash only though.  Luckily I knew.  

140110-02Side of hash browns.  Can’t go wrong with this.  I thought it tasted just fine!  Like my art work?  Haha!

140110-03Slice of their blueberry cream pie.  This was mainly for my cousin who is a blueberry freak and she LOVED it.  She’s pretty picky too.  She even asked for it the other day…I guess we’ll have to go back when she comes home again!

Day off – North Shore, HI

So as I have mentioned before, I was super stressed in December with a lot of different projects at work.  When my final project was complete, I totally took a vacation the day after.  Since I was taking the day off, I wanted to make it a productive one and I certainly think I did!  We drove out to Wahiawa to try Sunny Side Bakery, then up to the North Shore to get shrimp for lunch.  The day ended with dinner and a movie, while that included a lot of “doing,” I felt completely relaxed!  Let me share some pictures!

140109-01Pupukea Beach Park.  There was a guy sitting up front forever which ruined all our shots.  I finally got this when he left…hehe.

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Christmas 2013

Late post but I just wanted to share some quick pictures from Christmas. A picture of my present from my friend Kristian. As you will learn in this blog, he’s an amazing gift wrapper. Take a look at his gift this year!  He already has an inspiration for next year and I’m super excited to see it executed. Hahaha…for lunch, I cooked up a whole bunch of portuguese sausage, eggs and rice for the family. It was delicious!

140108-01Courtesy of Kristian!

140108-02Best breakfast (for lunch!) ever!

King’s Korean BBQ – Honolulu, HI

King’s Korean BBQ is a cozy little Korean BBQ joint located in the same lot as Sweet Home Cafe and Kozo Sushi in Moilili. We’ve done lunch orders here a few times since it’s close to us!  I love to support this joint over Gina’s (she is so mean!) since it is run by a really sweet Korean couple all on their own.  Their portions are good and the prices are reasonable.  Check out the pics!

140107-01Mini Kalbi Plate ($9.00) – Pretty good price I think!  Their mini plates comes with two scoops of rice and two veggies. Continue reading

Pho Bistro 2 – Honolulu, HI

I love me some good ole’ pho. It’s so good and warming for the soul. Pho must be Hawaii’s answer to chicken noodle soup. I’m finding that I love all things Vietnamese lately…desserts, entrees, appetizers, coffee – there’s no going wrong! My current favorite places include Pho Bistro 2 and Pho Thinh – both great restaurants!  Here are a few pics from my recent visit.

140106-01Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and Spring Rolls – this is a cold noodle salad and it’s delicious! They serve it with a fish sauce/vinegar sauce. This dish includes the topping of your choice on top of plain cold vermicelli noodles and a variety of raw veggies. I hate raw bean sprouts  but I can tolerate it in this dish.

140106-02Combination Pho – you can’t go wrong ordering this.

Izakaya Gazen – Honolulu, HI

Izakaya Gazen is a lovely little Japanese eatery located in Moilili behind Market City Shopping Center. There might be a bit of confusion with their name, I’ve only known them as Izakaya Gazen but I also see Gazen Bar and Grill floating around. I’m not a fan of the other name, so we’ll just call this place Gazen. They’re known for their homemade tofu which I have tried and loved. Unfortunately, I will not be sharing those pictures at this time since I didn’t get them this time. We had a nice little Christmas dinner here. Thank you for Open Table so I could make reservations early on. All restaurants should be on Open Table!

140105-01Beef Tataki ($8.50) – Delicious dish with a good sauce. Also comes on top of a bed of thinly sliced onions. Perfect combination! Continue reading

BLT Steak – Honolulu, HI

I have been wanting to try BLT Steak for a long while now.  The reviews on Yelp are glowing so I booked us a table on Christmas Eve.  How was the experience?  Well much like the quality of my pictures, terrible.  It’s really such a shame.  Let me share with you through pictures.

140104-01Ribeye Steak – Medium Rare ($46).  Overcooked, tough and expensive.  The first bite was good and it was all downhill from there.  My friend asked for medium well and received like medium rare.  Great right? Continue reading

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers – Cheesy Tots

Have I shared my love for tater tots with you? I bet I have. But I’ll share again. I like tater tots. I like that Teddy’s serves tater tots. I also like that they let us be gluttonous and add on cheese sauce. It’s definitely a guilty pleasure. Have you tried it? You should. I just wanted to share that. I also wish we had a Sonics here so I could get tater tots with my food instead of regular fries. Am I in the minority? 🙂

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