update

Remember I put a plastic sheet on top of the washer so that things would not fall behind the washer?!

Well, Satoshi never noticed it, and I finally told him.

 

Recently though, while making the "foam" to wash my face with, the soap flew out of my hands and went behind the washer.

So I used a tension rod shelf to block the back of the washer from under the plastic sheet.

"someone" suggested to wrap the shelf in plastic, so things wouldn't go in between the rods of the shelf

Hopefully now things will not go behind the washer...

And remember this house?

They started building another house on the lot in front of it one morning

By the end of the day, they already had a building up

These guys even worked during part of the typhoon we just had!

And the house they cleared next door.

they already have plans to build a 4 story building starting at the end of the month.

Should be noisy for the next couple of months....

mcgyver

I was wondering why the drawer in the kitchen would kinda sag whenever I pushed the drawer in.

Well, when I took the drawer out, I found out that the piece of wood attached to the “rail” for the drawer was not connected to anything! 

Just balancing on that piece of wood attached to the “wall”, so every time you push in the drawer it would waiver to the left or right…

AND the “wall” that the tiny piece of wood is attached to, moved when pressed upon too…sheesh

Since I am not sure what is behind the “wall”, I didn’t want to chance pounding any nails or putting screws through it…

So, instead I mcgyvered it with 2 thumbtacks, one on the left and one on the right…

At least now the “rail” doesn’t move and the drawer doesn’t feel like it is sagging.

this and that

Had some photos that I haven't posted about, so I am doing another this and that post....

We tried the latest frappuccino...yakiimo (roasted sweet potato)…

I sent Satoshi to Starbucks with a note as to how to order it.

I think it is a caramel based frappuccino with yakiimo paste, bits of yakiimo and crunchy sweet potato chips on top.

I also had him add a shot of espresso which helped cut the sweetness of the drink.

I'm glad we got to try this…thanks Satoshi!

Tokyo people...the guys who maintain the train tracks.

Sumo wrestlers in our neighborhood.

Dunno what happened but there was a fire truck near the social service center.

Found these French chocolate biscuits at Kaldi...the biscuit is more like a cracker with some chocolate in between.

It could have been more chocolatey.

Thought the biscuits were cute...each biscuit has a different country on it.

The flip sides were also different, glad we got to try these!

Had to Mcgyver Satoshi's watch band.

Youtube had lots of how-to material....my "helper" pounded my fingers a couple of times too...ow!

In the end we were able to make the band shorter.

This is the 2nd or 3rd time Satoshi has made coffee with it spilling over.

Once he filled the filter up to the top and the filter toppled over...coffee grains and coffee running down the front of the counter onto the floor!

This shot was of him not checking how much coffee was already in his cup, adding more hot water and having it overflow…

Never a dull moment yeah?!…sigh

Have a good week!

mcgyver

If you look through this blog, you'll see several "mcgyver" posts.

Well, the other day on the way to the market, my slipper broke.

I asked Satoshi to run to the 100 yen shop (which was kind of nearby) to buy some hair elastic or string, he tells me, "I don't know what to get, so you wear my slippers" and go buy some....gah.

So, instead, I took the hair elastic I was already using and fixed my slipper temporarily.

I didn't want to throw this slipper out because it was still relatively "good" but looking back on my blog archive, this slipper is actually 11 years old! 

Since I only use my slippers during the summer months, I guess it lasted longer than if I used them all year around.

 

Will have to look for another pair, but at least I know that if I'm in a pinch, I'd be able to fix it.

update

Friday, checked out Tamura's Fine Wine...they moved from their Kamehameha Highway location to the Old Down to Earth spot near Anna Miller's Pearlridge.

I picked up some of their ahi poke...the price of ahi (tuna) has gone up over the past couple of weeks due to low fishing yields.

The Tamura Special is a little spicy, a little sweet and perfect with some rose.

Also picked up these two sodas made by Maui Brewing Company.

Root Beer...made with cane sugar, local honey and Hawaiian vanilla.

The vanilla sort of overpowers, but I like that this uses local ingredients.

Ginger Beer...made with cane sugar, local honey and Hawaiian ginger.

I enjoyed the kick that this had from the ginger.

I'm glad I got to try these locally made sodas...perfect for the humid and hot days we've had all summer!

Saturday, dinner from The Elephant Shack.

This time around I tried their Goong Nam Prik Pao : shrimp marinated in their homemade sauce, red onions, long beans and jasmine rice.

I got this mild spicy and it was too hot for me...but, I enjoyed how flavorful this dish is and how much shrimp they give in this portion....enough food for 2 meals!

Sunday, we celebrated Aunty M's birthday.

Aunty M1 cooked up a storm (chicken long rice, kalua pig, spicy eggplant, watermelon and salad).

We brought a cake by Ted's Bakery...pineapple mac nut cheesecake.

A slightly spiced cake (I think) topped with whipped cream cheese and pineapples, mac nuts coating the sides of the cake...so good!

The taste and texture reminded me of a cake my mom used to make called Hawaiian Delite Cake...found a recipe online here.

Monday, Labor Day...BFF and I went back to Lanikai Juice in Kapolei.

This time around I tried their pitaya (dragon fruit) smoothie...super refreshing...the heat and humidity have been kind of bad this summer.

Tuesday, I went back to Roast Duck Kitchen.

This time I tried their combo, choice of two items...I chose the Oyster Sauce Chicken, Char Siu on cake noodle.

$13-something...so much food!

They also give you a gau gee...the sauce up top is the oyster sauce (I think).

The chicken is already so flavorful, that you could probably use the sauce for the cake noodle...I ended up not using the sauce at all.

The Char Siu is super tender and flavorful...a little sweet...love!

Wednesday, my folder's elastic thingy went kaput....so I went down to Daiso to pick up these long elastic hair bands...in essence, untied elastic strands...

Glad I was able to McGyver my folder.

Thursday, I had an appointment in town, so afterwards, I went to Manoa to pick up a roast turkey sandwich from Andy's for lunch.

I have been wanting to try this place for a long time, I am glad I finally did and their sandwich is so good!

The roast turkey is tender and moist.

I also added avocado, tomato and cheese.

The sandwich comes with lots of sprouts, lettuce and carrots.

And the bread (which I believe is made in house, was super soft and delicious!)

It was kind of weird figuring out what I needed to do...(order at the counter, then pay at the entrance, then go back to the counter to pick you your order), but everyone was super helpful.

Two doors down is Off the Hook Poke Market, which I've seen on social media.

I got their mini poke bowl...chose white rice and one poke (the Hawaiian Style).

then got all their toppings (tobiko (flying fish roe), green onions, bubu arare (little rice puffs) and furikake)

Next time I'll get their poke on green salad, since they put the cold poke on warm rice...

Their Hawaiian Style poke was spicier than what I envisioned...I'm glad I got to try them!

So that was my week...need to clean for the upcoming Sunday Open house, send us some good mojo...

Hope your week was a good one and have a nice weekend.

Andy's Sandwiches & Smoothies
2904 E Manoa Road
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.988.6161
Closed Saturdays
Hours: 7:00-17:00 (Mondays-Thursdays), 7:00-16:00 (Fridays), 7:00-14:30 (Sundays)

Off the Hook Poke Market
2908 E Manoa Road
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.800.6865
Closed Sundays
Hours: 11:00-18:00

cold brew

Recently, I saw this at the convenience store.

I usually don't buy coffee that comes in a can (unless I have to do some mc-gyver-ing) because I feel it has a "metal" taste to it.

Being it was a cold brew version, I wanted to try it.

It was good, smooth flavor.

I'd buy this one again.

mcgyver

Remember I told you about the new light fixture we put in?

Well, I was looking around at the 100 yen store to find an inexpensive lamp shade but wasn't successful.

So I decided to make my own...

I bought a tiny hose clamp from the 100 yen store.

It wasn't doing what I envisioned it to do, so I looked on Youtube and found a way to fix the clamp (love technology!).

Then I used an empty coffee can and made my shade.

The hardest part was cutting into the thick aluminum/steel seal at the bottom of the can.

I thought I would be able to use a can opener but it didn't really do much.

I ended up using wire nippers and scissors to cut through the can.

voilà!

This was fun to make.

daily stuff

Today is a holiday, Coming of Age day, celebrating all those turning 20.

This morning's sunrise was beautiful, too bad this picture doesn't do it justice.

Awhile back, Satoshi brought back this can of Tulip luncheon meat from Okinawa.

I decided to try it as "spam musubi".

Well, while trying to open the can with that key thingy, it broke off...I ended up mcgyver-ing the can with some flat nose pliers and a screwdriver.

The width of the luncheon meat was a little smaller than Spam.

I also noticed that Tulip puts coriander and mace into their luncheon meat.

This morning when we had it as "spam musubi", it did taste different from the Spam I grew up with.

Hope you have a nice week.

mcgyver...

I don't know if I've told you, but part of being a housewife means being a handyman as well.

The other day, I was cleaning the washing machine...(just throw a cleanser into the washer and let it do the rest)

Well, I had the "brilliant" idea of taking off the net that catches all the lint in the washer and letting the cleanser clean it too...

Bad idea, the little nub at the top of the net (it holds the net in place in the washer) broke off...

Since I still needed to do laundry, I did what I do best...be resourceful. (I taped it together)

Not bad as it is still holding together.

Luckily, the net is on order and should come in, in a couple of days...whew! (update: over the weekend, I got the call that the net came in! whoo!)

so...

So, it was my birthday the other day...just another day, Satoshi had to work, so we wouldn't be doing anything special.

Since I didn't want to cook on my birthday, the day before (Monday), I made a batch of hoisin sauce chicken and some cole slaw.

It had been awhile since I had opened the hoisin sauce bottle and...it was "welded" shut, not even that rubber thingy I have to get a firmer grip on it would open it.

To be a housewife, I think you sometimes have to be a handyman a.k.a. McGyver, so to remedy the situation, I took out tools...a hammer, a long screwdriver, the can opener...

Well, the can opener didn't work, and I was about to pound a hole into the cover of the jar with the screwdriver, instead I slipped the screwdriver between the bottle and cap and gave the screwdriver a little jiggle, and heard the air release...whew!

I was able to open the jar. (Will I be able to open it next time?! I'll have to wait and see)

Before dinner on my birthday, I decided to open a bottle of wine which I had bought on Monday too.

Weird, the corkscrew was having a hard time going in...little did I know that the cork was dry...bah!

So dry that it broke the opener...

I again took out the hammer and screwdriver...I also remembered we had a waiter's corkscrew (it is the type that has a knife on it) and took that out as well.

Only problem was I didn't know how to use it because I was used to using the one with the "wings/arms". Thank goodness for the internet, they had video of how to use the waiter type.

So now that I knew how to use the waiter type, I tried it but it was all in vain because the cork was not budging.

So, I took that broken corkscrew and the hammer and used it to push the cork down.

There were splats of wine until the cork finally went all the way into the bottle, but I was at least able to get the bottle open.

As I poured some wine into a glass over a filter, the cork blocked the entrance and then there was a point where I got a flood of wine when the cork moved...eep!

Micro-bits of cork in my glass and much stress later...I was finally able to sit down to dinner.

How was the wine? meh, it was a little light for my liking, for all I know, it oxidized a bit with all that "drama"...

By eight, Satoshi wasn't home yet, so I lit a candle and had cake.

The cake I bought was a roll filled with chocolate ganache by Mior. The cake was a honey chocolate cake that was very moist.

Delicious.

Lots of adventure on my birthday to say the least, hopefully the year will be a happy and healthy one.

We had the other half of the cake for breakfast, with the addition of some fruit for some nutrition (ahem)

Satoshi is off for the next couple of days, so hopefully we'll be able to go out for dinner on one of them (minus any drama).