cleaning

When we were in Kyoto, I noticed these guys cleaning the windows with a very long squeegee.

What shocked me was that they were cleaning the windows in the rain!

Most people I know wouldn't even be out there, let alone cleaning the windows.

Dedication, yeah?!

new...

I got some new household cleaning items, which I recently read about on Treehugger. This company doesn't use a lot of chemicals to create their products, just water along with essential oils. I checked out the Mrs Meyer's Clean Day website and they have all kinds of products. Their products come in 3 fragrances: lavender, lemon verbena and geranium. I checked out their store locator and found out that they were selling their products at Foodland in Market City on Oahu, but it turned out to be old information... I happened to be walking through Ala Moana Shopping Center and came across them at a kitchen gadget store called, the Complete Kitchen...but they were selling these products for twice the price on the web!

I checked back on the site and found out that the info was changed to the S. Beretania store, so, I called and put some products on hold...I got the ironing spray and dish soap all were $6.49 each, can't wait to try these out!

Here's my new gadget...a pastry brush made by Pyrex (and I thought they only made glassware...) Can you believe that they have a 25 year warranty on their products? I don't think this brush will last that long...

One thing that is different about Japan and Hawaii are the food portions. I went out for lunch with my grandma yesterday. We went to a restaurant called Tadashi. (I think it opened about a year ago?) It is in the Pearl Kai Shopping Center. This shopping center is right across the street from Pearlridge Shopping Center. I had the teriyaki chicken teishoku (complete meal) and my grandma had their butterfish teishoku. Her fish was SO big! And look how much chicken I had...could have fed 2 people with that amount! And we ate it ALL...

After lunch, we went to meet my aunties to see an exhibit being held at the Convention center. The Convention center opened about 5 years ago. Isn't the architecture neat? Palm tree pillars. The Maitreya Project is a non-profit organization which is bringing the relics of buddhist priest all around the country. When some of these priests passed away, they were cremated and in their ashes, these tiny white bead-like stones were found. When the Buddha was cremated red bead-like stones were found. It was a very interesting and sacred exhibit.

This is my new friend, Debi (I'm only showing you part of her face for privacy purposes...) We met through blogging. She also lives in Hawaii and emailed me to get together for coffee. Since we didn't know much about each other or what the other looked like, the idea was a bit off the wall, but I'm glad we were able to meet. She is a very nice person and we were able to chat about all kinds of things! I'm glad I was able to make a new friend.

Hope you have a great week!

Tadashi
Pearl Kai Shopping Center
98-199 Kamehameha Hwy. Suite C-5
Aiea, Hawaii 96701
Phone: 808-485-8535
Lunch: 11:00-14:30
Dinner: 17:00-21:30

trying to help save the planet

One thing I've done more of while living in Japan, is try to think of ways to help save the planet. 

We separate our garbage (burnable goes out on certain days and recycle items & non-burnable items on other days), we bring recycle items such as styrofoam trays and plastic bottles to the supermarket. 

We try not to use ziploc bags and paper towels too much and we've even started to cut down on the use of our air conditioner/heater and microwave oven. 

And, if we can walk instead of using transportation, then we do.

Recently, I found two more ways. 

One is to use a "nel drip" filter for brewing coffee. 

Nel (short for flannel in Japanese) drip coffee filters were used in 18th century France. 

The fine texture of the flannel helps to cut down on sediment and acids when brewing coffee. 

To start your filter, you need to boil it in water then after use, rinse it (no soap) and keep it in water in the refrigerator. 

Without the paper filter, getting rid of the grains can be a bit tricky, but once you get the hang of it, you'll definitely be saving some trees. 

We got our Nel drip filter from our local cafe, Hiro. But it is made by Hario.

The second way, is to use a bio-cleaner.

In mid-September, "Toreru No. 1" was featured on a local show. 

The next day, it flew off the shelves! I had to wait about a month to receive my order. 

Toreru No. 1 is made from vegetable oils such as natane(rapeseed), daizu(soybean), goma(sesame seed) and combined with enzymes from komenuka(rice bran) and fusuma(wheat bran). 

It is safe to use for cleaning appliances, the bathroom areas, washing dishes and even taking out stains on clothing. 

So far, I've used it to clean the bathroom, kitchen and have taken a few stains off of some clothing.

Hopefully, we're making a difference. :)