meeting jenny

We got to meet Maybe It's Jenny!

Since we'd never met her before, I thought something out in the open and casual would be good.

We met up at the Lanai Terrace near Macy's, Ala Moana.

I thought coffee or boba would be nice to meet up for the first time, but Jenny suggested lunch and then coffee/boba.

Lunch was musubi from Iyasume and I think V had some sandwiches from Mana Sandwich.

Afterwards we had Sharetea's strawberry lychee jelly drinks, so good! the lychee jelly was like lychee fruit pieces.

Jalna had honey lemon tea from Hi Tea.

BFF happened to be at the food court too and met Jenny and Jalna.

Afterwards, BFF said she had tried Sharetea's strawberry lychee jelly with ice cream before and it was super ono!

It was nice to meet Jenny, and she was kind to share these Trader Joe goodies with us.

That Mee Krob snack was so ono! sweet, a little spicy, savory.

I hope Jenny had a nice time too.

V shared more of her avocados and some other goodies with us

Jalna gave us these pickles, so ono!

I  brought this to one of our Sunday dinners and my aunty couldn't stop eating it.

It was nice to meet Jenny, she was easy to talk to and we all look forward to meeting up again next summer.

AND I'm glad Jalna came out too!

Thanks for today, Jenny, V & Jalna! 

oh em gee

Mother Nature has been slamming us around dropping the temps to fahreezing rain one day...blazing the next.

Because it was so warm, I tried Who's Tea Japan's chocolate milk tea boba the other day.

I loved it, you could still taste the tea without the chocolate overpowering everything.

On the other hand, look how teeny the patty was in my teriyaki burger at Burger King.

Where's the beef?!

So...there are 15 confirmed with this corona virus thingy in Japan...

There were 2 who came back from Wuhan and REFUSED to be checked and went home! (gasp!)

After much bashing from the media (and the fact that there were 2 others in the same group that came back from Wuhan that had the virus without showing any symptoms)...the 2 that went without being checked now want to be checked out...grr!

I was hoping that Japan would have closed the country to those from China before their Chinese New Year holiday (I was also hoping that China would stop their residents from travel too)...but that didn't happen...

So now, I am hoping the Japanese government will be able to control this from getting too krazy...stay safe everyone.

Have a nice weekend.

Who's Tea Japan (2021: no longer in business)
Tokyu Plaza Kamata 1F
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6424.7957
Hours: 10:00-21:00
Open when Tokyu Plaza is

max see

Tried a relatively new boba tea place in our area, Max See.

This shop is so teeny!

There were several big orders in front of me, so I had to wait awhile for my drink.

I tried the Uji matcha kokuto tapioca milk tea...whew! say that 10x fast...

Uji matcha (green tea) milk mixture is layered with kokuto tapioca (black sugar tapioca) and milk tea (tea with milk in it).

Choose your drink size (M or L)...I chose M

Choose your sweetness (0-100%)...I chose 25%

Choose the amount of ice (0-100%)...I chose 25%

This was delicious and how cute is the plastic seal on top of the cup?!

I'm glad I tried this place and will be back whenever I am nearby.

Max See (UPDATE:2026 address changed)
7-1-9 Nishikamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6874.9219
Hours: 11:00-23:00

gensouen

Gensouen is a tea shop in Nishi-Ogikubo.

They are run by Harada Tea which has tea fields in Shizuoka.

Apparently they were having a pop-up at Futako Tamagawa, so I checked them out when I was there.

Earlier in the day, I had a dentist appointment...they filled a cavity and took a mold to replace a ceramic cap.

Since they filled a cavity, I had had anesthesia and wasn't supposed to eat for at least 30 minutes.

That's when I bought this tapioca matcha milk drink and caught the train home.

It was slighly sweetened and the matcha (green tea) was super bitter and thick!

After mixing it though, it balanced out with the milk and was delicious!

I'm glad I tried this and look forward to trying more bubble drinks in Japan, they are starting to trend!

If I do get to Nishi-Ogikubo, I want to check out Gensouen's other matcha sweets.

Gensouen
3-14-3 Imagawa
Suginami, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3397.4188

teapresso bar

Met up with Sheri of Happy Little Bento since they are visiting for the summer.

It's been a couple of years since we were in Hawaii at the same time, but it is always nice catching up with her and her family.

We met kinda halfway of where my parents house is and where she was staying....so we met up in Waipahu at Teapresso Bar.

I'm not sure if this is a local company or a mainland one, but they boast all non-gmo, no powder, brewed to order boba teas & coffees with vegan, gluten-free & organic options.

I tried their Iced Tropic Osmanthus sweetened lightly (25%) and large boba (tapioca balls)(because the small ones weren't ready yet).

This was super floral & refreshing, perfect for the sticky humid day it was.

I was trying to pinpoint where I have had this flavor and when I got home looked online.

Osmanthus is the sweet olive or what the Japanese call kinmokusei, my favorite Autumn flower!

Not that I've ever tasted the flower before, but the fragrance while drinking the tea was just that.

Anyway, if you've ever wondered what kinmokusei tastes like, I would suggest you try this.

WARNING though, it is super heady, so I understand why not everyone likes this fragrance.

Her kids made these cute origami of a bird/box and top.

And they also gave me these great snacks.

Look at the size of this Chinese Pretzel, which I think is made by Family Grocery Store in Kaneohe.

Oh em gee...so many good memories of my mom when she used to make these.

Luckily, we haven't gotten rid of all of Mom's kitchen stuff so it was nice to pull it out of hiding and see how teeny it is compared to the pretzel that Sheri had given me.

I hope we'll be able to meet up again next summer.

Thanks for today Sheri & family!

Teapresso Bar
94-366 Pupupani St. #105
Waipahu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.517.4040
Hours: Sundays-Thursdays 10:00-21:00, Fridays-Saturdays 10:00-23:00

nanding's, aloha salads & boba cha

Yesterday started out with a lup cheong roll and pan de coco from Nanding's. The quality is still good and prices relatively the same. Super reasonable.

I then met my friend Davis for coffee. It had been at least 10 years since we'd last seen each other. Good seeing him.

Lunch was with my friend, Len at Aloha Salads. I had the beet salad, sorry no photo.

He's changed jobs since last year and it was also good seeing him too.

The weather here has been super humid and hot, so after lunch, I bought a li hing jasmine boba from Boba Cha.

Although I liked this, I think I'll nix the li hing the next time, just too much!

Another great day with lots of food and lots of catching up.

foodie thursday

Yesterday, I got a chance to meet up with Sheri and her family, they are here on vacation.

We met up at Pearlridge. It had been ages since I've eaten at Phase 2, which is now called "Downtown".

Aloha Salads rather recently opened up a new location there.

I tried their curried quinoa salad...mixed greens, quinoa, mango, carrots, edamame, bean sprouts, avocado, cranberries, almonds, curried pineapple vinaigrette.

Minus the "frozen" mango, I loved this salad.

We also had bubble tea from Boba Cha.

After lunch we walked around and even rode the monorail. It is still running and now a $1 to ride one-way.

Sheri was kind to give me these deep fried manapua (buns) from Honolulu Kitchen in Waipahu. (red dot = strawberry, green dot = custard and red circle = lilikoi (passion fruit))

All the fillings were cream type.

I had them this morning after toasting them. The outside has a nice crisp crust and the insides stay soft (kind of like a malasada but without the sugar on the outside and a little more dense).

My favorite was the custard and I wouldn't mind trying their savory types. (thank you!)

Her mom also gave me this zucchini bread (thank you!)

It was a great day filled with lots of talking, walking and eating.

Thanks for a great day Sheri, it was nice to meet your mom and visit with you and your family!

I hope we can hang out again soon.

Aloha Salads
Pearlridge Center Downtown
98-1008 Moanalua Road
Aiea, Hawaii
Phone: 808.484.7811

Boba Cha
Pearlridge Downtown
98-1005 Moanalua Rd
Aiea, Hawaii
Phone: 808.484.1015

Honolulu Kitchen
94-861 Farrington Highway
Waipahu, Hawaii
Phone:808.671.5241
Hours: 7:00-20:00

tea time taiwan

Yesterday I was able to meet up with blog friend, Sheri of Happy Little Bento.

She and her family are on vacation here and she was nice to invite me along to have some boba tea with them.

Unlike Taste Tea, Tea Time Taiwan doesn't allow you to sample your order before they hand it over to you.

By the way, this is their milk tea with coffee jelly in it. The coffee jelly is sweetened so you don't need to sweeten up your tea too much. I ordered it light sugar.

Disappointing was their honey toast...totally hollowed out toast and not even a full or half loaf...

It was so sweet of Sheri to give me a jar of this...I can't wait to try it! (Thank you!)

I hope they enjoy the rest of their stay and I hope we'll be able to meet up again in the future!

Tea Time Taiwan
98-1254 Kaahumanu Street #172 (facing Kaahumanu, street level)
Aiea, Hawaii
Phone: 808.488.8898

taste tea

You gotta love the name of this place...Taste Tea.

Met my friend, Gaye and it was our first time here.

Choose your tea, they have all sorts of variations...I went with the medium sized Milk Oolong Tea.

Do you want tapioca in it? Big? Mini? Both?...I chose both.

Then how sweet do you want it? Choose from 0% to 100% (they have a chart) I chose light sugar (30%)

You could also add different types of jellies (coconut, grass, to name a few)

Then pay...after paying they give you a little sample of your drink to make sure that is how sweet you want it to be.

It was a great place to sit and chat, though the parking is shared with a used car lot, which doesn't give it a great atmosphere.

Still, I'll be back...Thanks Gaye!

Taste Tea
1391 Kapiolani Boulevard
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.951.8288

odds & ends

Just a random post on some of things I've been eating...Okahijiki (saltwort) is the thin green stuff in this photo, as I looked online for info on this, apparently this is a relative of the plant that turns into tumbleweeds....okay.

This particular plant reminded me of spinach and was mixed with other veggies and seasoned with sesame seeds, shoyu and mirin.

With Ferdinand's chocolate chiffon bread, think chocolate brioche, I made some bread pudding for our breakfast one morning. I added some chocolate chips, almonds and dried cherries.

Also at Ferdinand, I like their bbq pork sandwich.

It sort of reminds me of banh mi with a Japanese twist to it as they use an oriental spicy sauce for their pork.

Black bean burrito. Using Ellie Krieger's Black Bean Dip recipe, I wrapped two tablespoons of black bean dip, some cheese, lettuce and cilantro in a flour tortilla.

On the side I added some cherry tomatoes and olives.

At Burdigala a couple of weeks back, I enjoyed their Fava Bean and Red Bell Pepper Quiche. I was surprised at how generous they were with the fava beans. This was perfect for lunch.

On one of my walks, I could actually hear this bullfrog through the earphones of my iPhone.

They make a really low pitched sound which reminds me of belching (sorry if you were eating).

Tropicana's Seasons Best, a blend of pineapple, grapefruit, mango and papaya. Super refreshing.

Mariage Frères' Summer Snow, a flavored tea. Red and black berry with a hint of lemon, this one smells like Japanese bubble gum.

A women's magazine (Hanako) paired up with Ohayo, a beverage company and came out with this smoothie. Only 33% fruit and the 2nd ingredient in the list is sugar (boo!) but I loved all the bits of fruit (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, peach and apple)

Made my own boba coffee. Iced coffee with a couple tablespoons of sweetened coconut milk (lite) and a heaping spoonful of colorful tapioca...yum!

A variation on the coffee adzuki dessert I love...instead of condensed milk, I used sweetened coconut milk (lite)....yum!(again!)

I thought the gradation was neat. Satoshi really liked the taste of this too.

Hope you are having a great week, we had rain for 2 days straight....and now we have gross humidity.

before it gets too cold

Thought I'd post about these before it gets too cold to talk about...

Boba tea. I made my own with tapioca pearls and earl grey tea. I think I should have sweetened the tea a little more, still it was a delicious treat during the Summer. Next time I see tapioca pearls at the gourmet store, I should pick some up.

Red Rooster Amber...meh, a bit on the watery side for me, I think I like their dark beer the best.

Chimay Red. This Belgian beer had a little bite to it, but we enjoyed this.

Lion Stout. This Sri Lanka beer was smoky and easy to drink. I would get this one again.

With my leftover roasted chicken breasts from Thanksgiving, I threw together Ellie Krieger's "Waldorf Chicken Wrap", from "So Easy".

I didn't have the wrap breads that her recipe called for, so we had this with sesame rolls. Also, I didn't have walnuts and subbed pecans. This recipe also called for lettuce, but I didn't have any in the house, so left it out.

This was delicious. Loved the crunch from the pecans and sweetness from the apples (I used Fuji). I put it together after Thanksgiving dinner and let it meld overnight. It was great for breakfast.

I think the next time I make this, I may add some dried cranberries and some celery.

Have a good week!

UPDATE: Since her recipe isn't online yet, I'll just give you what I did and you can ad-lib from there...this made about 2 servings
handful of walnuts
2 Tbsp greek yogurt (I just thickened 2 Tbsp plain on cheesecloth)
1 tablespoon mayo
2 tsp lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup cubed cooked chicken breast
1/4 large apple, seeded and diced
black pepper to taste
lettuce
whole wheat wrap breads (I used rolls)
Mix all together and serve with wrap/rolls.

Enjoy!

odds & ends

Cleaning out some photos from my computer...there are just not enough days in a month to blog about everything...

Soy milk cheesecake by Yamaki in Ikeda. The patissier studied under Gerard Mulot. This was fluffy, light...delicious.

A stroopwafel covered with milk chocolate by Cake Box Cafe...ooey gooey goodness.

The rice flour donut from Mister Donut. Covered with arare (rice cracker) bits. The bits were stale and the donut very chewy, like mochi (rice cake), I think I'll stick to the regular donuts.

Goulibeur's Broye du Poitou Gallete, a rich butter cookie.

Berry's pudding roll. A slice of flan inside of a swiss roll...very different, Satoshi said it was delicious.

Sushi party platter from Carrefour...the rice was a bit dry but the fish was good. And for 1380 yen (about US$13.80) it was a great buy. I think there were 12 pieces or 14 pieces.

Prunotto's Italian chestnuts with strawberries and some yogurt. I put some yogurt onto a paper towel to take out some of the moisture then spooned some of the chestnuts which were soaked in lemon and honey, and added some sliced strawberries. It was a nice dessert.

Tofu chige, using the kim chee chige recipe substituting the meat with tofu..I used a grilled tofu. It was spicy and delicious.

Loacker, an Italian brand, Noir tortina, a hazelnut cookie covered with gianduja & dark chocolate.

Haagen Dazs' newest flavor, blueberry cheesecake...blueberry compote, vanilla ice cream, cream cheese and cookie...I was hoping it would taste more like cheesecake but it was more vanilla ice cream with a hint of cream cheese.

Earl grey croissant. I loved the earl grey flavor, it wasn't bitter and there was a sweet glaze.

Byron Bay's fig and pecan cookies. These are addicting and reduced fat too.

Kobutaman by Four-rue. Kobuta means piglet and butaman is a type of pork bun. The butaman that I usually find at the convenience stores use a lot of dried shiitake in their filling. But I really liked this version. It used a lot of kikurage (wood ear) and 5 spice. Plus it was really cute. The eyes were black beans.

Boba tea by Azumi. It said naicha on the side but it also said it was an autumnal darjeeling assam blend. I liked the tapioca too, nice and chewy.