Checkin' in

I've been super busy since I came back from home. As most of you know already, I am finally engaged. Yay, whoohoo, congrats, yippideedoo, yippideeda! Ok ok, enough already. These past few weeks, my mind has been working really hard coming up with designs for the save-the-date card, invitation, program, thank you card, wedding favor, and the wedding website. I am also searching for wedding gowns, bridesmaid dresses, and secure wedding websites where my guests can RSVP. Yes, we are going green so everything will be via the web...at least for the technologically advanced minds. On the weekends, HappyOblivion and I are looking for homes with our realtors and whenever we have time, we would visit different locations for the ceremony and reception. Then this week, I am busy making Jung for Chinese New Year's. I am very excited about everything but also very tired. At times, I just want to sit and do absolutely nothing. Regardless, I want to thank all my family and friends for offering to help. I am so grateful :)

On another note, I am happy to know that Kate Voegele is releasing a new album in Spring of this year. Yippeee! I heard her sing in the show, One Tree Hill, and just fell in love with her voice and her songs. I can't wait.

Home Sweet Home

Why do I enjoy going home so much? Not only do I miss my friends and family, but there is one thing that nothing can ever replace...

At around 7PM, I wait impatiently upstairs for my mom to say, "Time to eat!" I walk back and forth between my room and the computer room, waiting ... When I hear her, my eyes widen and my tummy begins to talk. My mom would always say those words as she is bringing the first entree out from the kitchen. By the time she sets one dish on the dinner table, I am already in my seat, waiting to smell every dish as they come. Again, I am first to get the rice. As I open the rice cooker, I let the steam fog my glasses and warm my face. Ah, the smell of freshly cooked rice, very comforting. I fill my bowl with rice and return to my seat. As I pick up my chopsticks, I think to myself, "I am ready."

Mame's home cooking never disappoints. The word "delicious" doesn't do justice to her food. Every bite brings me back to the same spot, a very good spot - the feeling of home. This is the meaning of comfort food and it doesn't get better than that. Below is beef with cabbage stir fry. So simple and so wonderful. Nothing can replace this, and that is why I love going home.

I updated my turtle blog with more pictures of my turtles that I took from this past trip back home.

No Work

All week long, I was jealous that HappyOblivion had Friday off. Come Thursday night, my boss phoned me about the possibility of work being cancelled for Friday due to the high winds. I was like, "REALLY! There is a storm coming?" He said, "It is all over the news! There is a tropical depression and wind speeds could reach up to 30mph, with gusts 50-60 mph." I shouldn't get too excited because it had to be approved by the governor. Thirty minutes later, my other boss called and said, "No work tomorrow!" YES YES YES! All State employees, excepting the "essential" ones, were granted administrative leave for Friday, January 16th. I definitely am not an "essential" employee, so free day! I practically wasted my day cleaning house, washing plants, blogging, and shopping at the Rack. HappyOblivion bought more socks and I, after 2 weeks of searching for the perfect wallet, bought one yesterday!  I bought a Harajuku wallet. Unlike the other Harajuku designs which are a little too colorful and immature, this one is black and white with rough sketches of a girl. It was the last one and I knew it had to be the one. 

Baby Monkeys

Back in San Jose, one of the things I did most was chillin' with my best buds, my niece Ellyse and nephew Elliot. My niece is now 4 years old and my nephew is only 2. They both talk so much! Ellyse was always talking about her day, what she did, and what she wanted to do the rest of the day. She also asked me a bunch of questions about what I did, what I liked, and why I am in Hawaii. Elliot was curious about the new necklace my mom gave me. The necklace has a circular pendant and Elliot seemed to like it very much because everytime he saw me, he would ask for me to carry him, and then he would grab my pendant and say, "Yoon Goo Look", meaning "circular object". He was always asking questions and repeating them, making sure we were not lying to him. They are both so adorable.

I took so many pictures of them I had to pick the best ones and also merge them so I wouldn't be blogging about 20 photos in one post. The photo below was taken at their house during Ellyse's 4 year old birthday party. Before dinner, they were playing with the piano and dancing to the Christmas music. Gong Gong (my dad) and Elliot were the DJ's.

Cake time for Miss Ellyse the Princess. She requested a princess cake from my sister and she got one. Popo (my mom) and I went all over to search for princess items to decorate the cake. We ended up getting a Cinderella candle, carriage icing, and a princess tea set which she loved. My sister did a great job on the cake. It was light and not too sweet, perfect for those with 7 cavities and still craving for more sweets (that's me). You can see that Ellyse wore a Belle princess dress to celebrate her special day. She was so happy. Read more about the cake on my sister's blog.

The day before I left home, everyone came over for dinner. I commend my mom for cooking such a great dinner even with a little fever and cold. Lucky my sister came over to help. After dinner, I put Elliot right next to Gong Gong on the sofa in front of the TV. He didn't move for half an hour. He was watching Dirty Jobs the whole time. Everyone came over to poke him, pat him on the head, and talk to him. But, he did not blink, move, or talk. He was watching Mike Rowe doing some dirty manly jobs the whole time. He is so cute!

There you have it, my niece and nephew taking over the world, and our hearts. They put smiles on everyone :)

Farmer's Market

On the last day of our trip in Los Angeles, we visited Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax. I loved the atmosphere and the feel of the place, very country-like. It was crowded, smelled great, food everywhere, shops with weird stuff, and people doing random things. While I struggled to squeeze my way in, I came across HappyOblivion's shop, "Bryan's BBQ", ha! (No, he doesn't have a shop.)

We stopped by a general store that sold gourmet ingredients. By the front door were 6 tubs of olives, all different variety. I saw Evian water for $6 because the bottle was specially design by Christian Lacroix. The most amazing was the coloful pasta stacked neatly on the shelf. I thought, "Maybe the colors make the pasta taste better!"

A little after noon, I was craving for sweet sweet crepes. I dunno why. So we stopped for a quick bite at The French Crepe Company. I ordered the La Chapon, which was made with cream of chestnut spread and whipped cream. My sister ordered the Crêpe Suzette, which was made with grand marnier, butter, and sugar. My parents ordered the Venezia panini sandwich made with goat cheese, sun-ripened tomato, black olive spread, and basil. They were all so delicious. I LOVED the chestnut crepe, so rich and creamy. Sorry, I ate it so fast I forgot to take a picture of the cream.

While everyone were finishing their food, I wandered around the market, looking for fruit stands. I love taking shots of fruit stands because they are so colorful, and colors make me happy :)

I wish we had more time to walk around Farmer's Market. Next time...

Hong Kong Style Breakfast

My family and I took a trip to Los Angeles for 4 days. The purpose of this trip was to visit HappyOblivion's parents, but...outlet hopping was also on our to-do list :) I have never been to an outlet in LA. If I have, I certainly don't remember because either I didn't buy much and/or I didn't have any money. Now that I have a job, I saved up some to blow away.

We went to the outlet just before Palm Springs, 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, and Citadel Outlets in LA. We all expected expensive things in Santa Monica. However, we ended up buying the most there :) Speaking of purchases, my sisters bought me a Furla bag. I don't have any brand name bags for obvious reasons (in case you don't know, I am pake and I don't earn much). But a Furla bag for $60, originally $300. I have to say this, again, for the 500th time, "Wa, go Furla doy hou pang ah!" (English - The Furla bag is really cheap!) On the drive back from LA, my sister and I kept on repeating that phrase. So silly. Anywho, we really enjoyed shopping in Santa Monica. The beach was nice and the atmosphere was romantic. There were people singing on the streets, doing tricks, and dancing. One of the stores had cigar boxes for sale. I love cigar boxes because they are sort of antique and romantic.

I was excited about shopping because things were cheap. However, I was more interested in the food. When I was in Hong Kong, I ate so much good food. I don't quite remember what I ate but everything was delicious. In LA, we each had a Hong Kong style breakfast almost everyday. The breakfast came with macaroni and chicken, sausages, toast, and 2 eggs. The best part was the milk-tea-coffee drink. Milk tea is pretty common. But milk-tea-coffee is usually available in Hong Kong style restaurants, which are not so common.

Stay tuned for our trip to the famous Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax.

Christmas Celebration

The day after I returned home, we had a gigantic dinner to celebrate Christmas and my two sisters' birthdays. There were lots of food! We had honey-roasted ham, yam, cranberry-orange sauce, vegetables, fish, and turkey. Although the turkey was a little undercooked in the middle, the seasoning was yummy! I also really enjoyed the fish, which was coated in batter and panko crumbs, then lightly pan-fried.

After dinner, my niece and nephew helped make madeleines for our LA trip the next day. They did a little "real" mixing before it became a game of who-can-throw-more-flour-on-the-carpet.

This year's birthday cake was beautiful. No, my sister didn't bake a cake for herself, which she shouldn't. She went and bought a cake that she loved and shared with everyone. It was a chocolate cake with winter theme decorations.

Mmm...I still like her cakes more :)

Leaving on a jet plane

I figured I won't have much time to catchup on blogging once I return to Honolulu, so I decided to begin now since I have some time. HappyOblivion and I left Honolulu for home on the same day but different flights. He flew Delta to LA, and I flew Hawaiian to San Jose. We showed up at the airport 2 hours before his flight at 1:36PM. After checking in our baggage and going through the security gate, we met up in the Hawaiian Airlines Premier Club Lounge. We sat there until 1 and then I walked him to his gate. At 1:15, we heard a final call for HappyOblivion to board. We ran and ran and ran. It was AWESOME! After he boarded and on the way to my gate, which was a completely separate wing of the airport, I saw his name everywhere on the monitors. HappyOblivion was famous!

While his flight left early, mine was delayed half an hour. Grrr!

I just updated my Artsy Blog, so please check it out!

Bye bye la...

So long, farewell, la dee la dee doo... I am going on vacation for the next two weeks. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Before I sign off, I want to leave you with this picture that signifies a beautiful memory. Nope, not telling you what happened. Ooooo, the suspense is killing you, whoahahahahaha! Happy Holidays :)

What rocked my world

If you have been reading my Artsy Blog, then you know that I have just opened my own shop at Etsy.com. If you have an Etsy account, you can mark another shop or item as favorite simply by clicking "Add this seller/item to favorites". You can also see who "hearts" you or a specific item you are selling by clicking "See who hearts me". When I first opened my shop, my friend didn't want to open yet another internet account just to "heart" my Etsy shop. I completely understand because, what's the point of opening an account if you know you are not going to purchase or sell anything on Etsy? Instead, he did something that I think is very creative. He went to my "Who hearts me" page and post-it himself on the monitor. Then he took a picture of it with my camera.

I remember we had a discussion about certain words or phrases that make people very happy. For example, my mom would be delighted to hear that she sews like a professional. Or, my sister would put on a smile so large when people tell her to open her own bake shop because her cakes are so delicious. I asked him, "Do you know what rocks my world?" He tried but nothing he said made me especially happy. Well, I bet he will be happy to know that what he did in the photo TOTALLY KICKS AS%#$@!!!

Hawaii Orange Juice

My friend at work gave me some oranges from her tree. Since I could not possibly eat all 15 of them before I take my vacation, I decided to juice em'. They were soooooo sweet and delicious. I added a little lime juice to punch up the taste. What you see in the photo is 99% Hawaii orange juice with the 1% lime juice and a little simple syrup. I didn't know real juice could taste so real! When I drank it, I felt like I was slurping 10 oranges.

Toads n' Chicks

Last week, when I was on the field in Maui, I made some new friends. While I was taking flow measurements in Palauhulu Stream, a toad was sitting quietly on the bank, watching our every move. He jumped in the stream a couple times and tried to swim against the current. However, his futile attempts brought him back to the same spot. When he realized this embarrassment was scrutinized by the very same people he was watching before the swim, he stopped and went back to sitting. A majority of the photos I took that day were of this little guy.

On the way to another stream, we stopped by the wayside to rest a bit. At the parking lot were 6 chicks and the mom. The chicks were hiding beneath the mom so it looked like she had 7 pairs of feet. Then we got the chicks to come out and took this shot. Why is one chick black? Hmm...must be a wild hot mama when she was young. Ha!

I just updated my Artsy Blog, so please check it out!

Thanksgiving Feast

Whew! I just did all my Christmas shopping yesterday at Waikele. As always, I kept finding things for myself. However, I did manage to maintain focus and bought gifts for my family ... except in Sports Authority where I bought only one thing for me-self, hee :) Oh shush! I only bought a swimsuit. I decided to try the Speedo ENDURANCE line that my mom had told me about two weeks ago. She found them in Hong Kong and had wanted to buy me some. Good thing I asked her not to because when I tried them on, they were a size too big. The ENDURANCE line is 100% chlorine resistant with the 4-way stretch fabric. The material feels thicker, stronger and warmer too. Even though it was quite pricey, I decided to give it a try, hoping that their slogan "lasts 20x longer" would be at least 25% true. So, I wear out a swimsuit every 9 months. Based on my assumption, the ENDURANCE suit will have to last 15 months for me to save. Let's hope it does!

Thankgiving dinner, it was onolicious! Mahalo HappyOblivion for cooking such a delicious meal. Yes, he cooked everything himself. I only contributed the roots - yam, mashed potatoes (the real kine), and caramelized carrots. He prepared the stuffing, cranberry-orange sauce, and most important, the turkey. This year's turkey was better than last year's. Even the white meat was juicy! I dunno how Happyoblivion did it but maybe the great chef can give us hungry readers some advice for next year??

I prepared the table spread with my new "Homemade in Portugal" dishes.

Dun dun dun, the famous turkey by happyOblivion. It was a 17-pounder. The seasoning was perfect!

We invited some friends over who brought yummy pumpkin crunch cake. We were all in food coma an hour later.

My wii pig turned orange!

So much has happened since I last blogged. I feel like I haven't been on the internet for a month, but it's only been a week and a half. Let's back track a little. For the past three days, I was on Maui doing field work. I am so glad we returned to Oahu before the storm hit. Outside the window, I see trees doing the mambo jambo and cars creeping on the shiny wet road. Hmm ... hot soup is perfect for stormy weather. The week before, I began making christmas presents for my family and friends. More on this inspirational project in my Artsy Blog.

When I am behind on blogging, I usually look through my photos to determine where I should begin. During Thanksgiving week, HappyOblivion went back home for his friend's wedding. That Saturday, I busted out the Wii Fit and exercised for an hour. When I finished, the piggy bank (time keeper) jumped up and down, then it changed from silver color to gold! I was so surprised. I got a gold piggy bank for breaking 10 hours on the Wii Fit.


Next day, HappyOblivion came back from LA. To celebrate, I served Cheese Ravioli (from Costco) on the fancy green "Handmade in Portugal" plates I bought from Ross. The food look more delicious and appealing on these nice plates, don't you think? 


More on food...  A while ago, I bought baby bak choi from a shop in Chinatown. They come in a puffed up clear plastic bag, very fresh. They taste ono simply fried in garlic and salt. Since then, I haven't been able to find them because ... well, to be honest, I don't know my way around Chinatown. Yes yes, I am Chinese and I do work only a few blocks from Chinatown. So embarrassing. Anywho, my friend from work recently took me to a shop that sells these baby bak choi. I was very happy because Happyoblivion had been wanting them for quite sometime. I fried these baby up with chicken and oh, so ono!

Handmade in Portugal

I have fallen in love, with imperfection. Dishes by "Handmade in Portugal" have been sold at Ross for years. I always had an eye for them because 1) they are REALLY handmade in Portugal; 2) some of the designs have a very rustic look and feel; 3) it is one of a few brands that know how to do cut-outs in dishes; and 4) they are heavy duty ceramic. However, the most important reason that I love these dishes is that every dish of the same design are, different. 

Recently, I took advantage of the holiday sales and bought a couple dishes...well, 7 to be exact. Two of them are green with a beautiful cut-out border. 

Four of them are off-white dishes that have a wave border, and a large bowl of the same design.

When I look closely at the dishes, every cut-out, every wave, every dimple on these dishes are different from one another. I stacked the wavy dishes together and ran my fingers on the side, the waves don't match up. I tried this with the green dishes, the cut-outs don't line up. This is when I fell in love with imperfection. Every dish is unique.
  
I used to inspect every dish, making damn sure every one of them, every design, and every corner of the dishes are the same. "Handmade in Portugal" threw my whole perception of THE PERFECT DISH out the door. I now have a weekly mission. It is to scout out these dishes, hoping to find the most imperfect dish to add to the eclectic collection :)

A Kincaid's Thanksgiving

Kincaid's is my favorite restaurant for dinner in Hawaii. As for lunch, I love Alan Wong's Pineapple Room. We recently received a $20 gift card in the mail. Yeah, we randomly get these gift cards in the mail addressed to "Current Resident". Is that great or what? Since it's Thanksgiving, we thought we should treat ourselves to a nice romantic dinner.

One of the reasons I love Kincaid's is their garlic bread. They come out warm, soft, garlicy, and buttery. I wish I could just eat these and drink a wine without ordering anything from the menu. That would be kinda' rude...

Instead of ordering crab cakes appetizer like all the other times, we decided to try something different. We ordered the scallop lollipops. They are grilled scallops wrapped in salmon. Very juicy and tasty.

For main dish, I ordered the seared ahi. The fish was cooked to perfection. The meat came out by slices. The fresh and lightly cooked vegetables compliment the salty taste of the fish.

HappyOblivion ordered the crusted opah. I never had opah before so I didn't know what fish it was. The dish was a surprise to me because it tasted very different from what I had imagined. The fish was delicious and crunchy. Not oily at all.

We had a nice time eating and not talking during dinner. Who needs to talk and converse about relationship when you have such good food sitting in front of you. Just eat and be merry :) Talking is overrated.

Yaku-doshi Celebration

This past weekend, HappyOblivion and I attended my friend's Yakudoshi party to celebrate his birthday. Bad luck years are referred to as yaku-doshi, with yaku meaning “calamity” or “calamitous” and doshi signifying “years”. These years are considered critical or dangerous because they are believed to bring bad luck or disaster. So, people throw a big party to drive away the bad luck. Of course, this is superstition in the Japanese culture.

The party rocked, literally! The birthday boy is a musician and he plays in a couple bands. One of them is named "The Desert Sea" and they played rock music at the party. My favorite used to be "Another Movie" until I heard "Moon Rise", their newest song. The lyrics are romantic and I love how the music transitions from very quiet to blasting rock! I am sure there is a music term for what I just described...   

Food food food, lots of food! Out in the yard, there was a sushi stand and a tempura table. Inside the house were homemade food - special rice that you must eat to drive away the bad luck for the birthday boy, more fish, noodles, beef, chicken, etc. I ate so much I had to sit on the couch the last hour of the party. 

Everywhere was entertainment. Outside had the band. The TV was showing movies after movies, all Pixar. Wii games in another room. Playroom upstairs where we had loads of fun playing with random toys and pigs. We toured the birthday boy's guitar room (I lost count on the number of guitars in the room). 

Well, what about the most memorable part of the party? When we sang Happy Birthday to the special boy. He wore a traditional Japanese gown, a non-traditional birthday hat, and a Hawaiian lei. So hilarious. While everyone was singing, the daughter nibbled on a corner of the cake. I caught her red-handed with the camera! Such a happy family ey?

Hihiwai

On my last work trip to East Maui, I took some keiki hihiwai home with me. If you want to know what a Hihiwai is and why I love them so much, see my Artsy post. The following day, I went to FloraDec and bought a small glass container and some rocks to make them a home. These guys are really easy to take care of. They just need some rocks, algae, and chlorine-free water. No air filter, no food, no pump. For a couple days, the hihiwai have gathered in one corner of the container. I keep wanting to move them on the rocks. Then HappyOblivion said, "Would you want me to move you away from the couch and the TV whenever I want to?" Then, I stopped thinking about moving the hihiwai. Now, they just sit in one corner everyday, every minute, every second of the day. I miss my turtles.

Nemo

You probably know what I am going to write first but I am still gonna write it. I AM SO BEHIND ON MY BLOGGING! Whew, that was a relief. I had what my friend called it, Bloggers Block, or something to that effect. BTW, Happy Turkey Day my dear readers. HappyOblivion went to LA for a wedding so I was left alone in my lonely apartment doing some lonely stuff :( No, I wasn't lonely. I spend all day cleaning the apartment. See, I bought some new dishes (post to come) and I needed to fit these plates into my kitchen cabinents, which were all full. First, I was gonna to rearrange the two cabinents that had dishes in them. One thing led to another, and I ended up rearranging stuff in all the cabinents. Afterwards, I felt sad for the orchid that I had planned to repot a couple months ago but never had time. She was growing out of her pot and the roots were no longer growing in the media. So, I spend a good hour repotting the orchid and another half hour cleaning up the mess I made.

Here's something to brighten up your day if you are feeling the Black Friday Blues because you are stuck at work while everyone is out shopping. I present to you, Nemo from the Waikiki Aquarium. Enjoy!

Pub Mix Don't Lie

Look at the photo below. Do you see what's different about this particular container of Pub Mix? Do you see what's missing? Do you see what's there? Do you? Do you??? I'll tell ya - LOTS of Worcestershire Rye Chips and very little pretzels. The rye chips are the brown bagel chips. They are tasty and full of salt. We took awhile to "inspect" the stash of Pub Mix at Costco and found this one, full of the rye chips.

"A Savory Blend of Crunchy Snacks." That's what's on the box of my favorite snack. So true! PUB MIX DON'T LIE. Have you heard of the song, "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie? Well, replace the lyrics "Big Girls Don't Cry" with "Pub Mix Don't Lie", and then think Pub Mix when the word "you" comes up in the song. Now you have a song made even more famous by ME!