nostalgia

Remember that blue can of danish butter cookies?!

Growing up we would sometimes receive a can at Christmas, probably from our relatives on the mainland?!

After looking online, I think it was the "Royal Dansk" brand.

They had a chocolate chip cookie with tiny bits of chocolate in there that I loved.

I saw a small can of danish butter cookies at the store recently, bummer though this one did not have the chocolate chip cookie in it.

Still, the flavor and texture was similar to what I remembered.

Even with a vaccine coming, I hope everyone's case numbers will start to go down.

Stay healthy and have a safe weekend.

 

blast from the past

Found this while looking through a cupboard the other day...Kikaida!

Growing up, my brother, cousins and I used to imitate and pretend we were these Japanese superheroes!

Also came across these comic books.

What a blast from the past!

nostalgia

The other time we visited MIL, she brought out some old baseball shoes...they were Satoshi's.

From like when he played little league...many, MANY moons ago.

Why she still has these things? Don't ask, I think there are some pack-rat issues...sigh.

These were made by Mitsuwa Tiger in Osaka. I don't think they make baseball shoes anymore but still do make some sports items.

Satoshi's favorite part of these shoes were these flip over tongues to protect your laces.

Another thing that was really old was his Spalding shoe bag, it had a nice zipper pull.

I wish my MIL and Satoshi would get rid of more things, and yet I'm glad we were able to take some photos of his things. (but I still want them to get rid of more things...)

hawaii remembers

I went through my clothes the other day and didn't realize I had so many Lion Coffee T-shirts.

When I worked as a demonstrator, this was my "uniform".

These t-shirts are thick, some were even kona coffee dyed.

Since I only use them when I come home, they are still in pretty good condition.

I am kinda glad that I don't demonstrate anymore though, it was hard on the feet and back, having to stand up for about 4 hours every time.

Plus, lugging all that equipment everywhere in my little 2-door Honda Civic.

Though my car did smell nice when the coffee was freshly brewed...and not when some spilt in my car...

I was also sad to hear that my former boss, Jim Delano had passed away earlier this year...too young!

All in all, it was a great experience for me.

I worked as a demonstrator to "work through" my fear of speaking in front of people. Though I still feel that I probably wouldn't be able to give a speech in front of a crowd.

With the job though you get to meet all sorts of people, see all sorts of personalities.

Good times.

hawaii remembers

What kinds of things did you have for breakfast growing up?

We were lucky because on weekends Mom used to make all sorts of things for my brother and I.

One dish in particular was her peanut butter french toast.

Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (Jelly preferably guava.)

Dip into milk and egg mixture as you normally would french toast and cook with butter.

The version we had recently was different from "small kid times" (childhood) because my mom doesn't buy Love's white bread anymore, only whole wheat bread.

Another nostalgic breakfast is portuguese sausage, eggs and rice.

The spiciness and texture of portuguese sausage is something that cannot be found in Japan, though some chorizo can come quite close.

The egg has to be sunny side up or over easy...anything that will ooze over the plate, picking up some of the "juices" from the sausage, and soaking into the rice.

(Don't forget some ketchup on the eggs.)

Nowadays though, mom "fries" the sausage in the oven without having to stand by the stove (gets out a lot of oil too).

Looking back on the foods we eat nowadays, they have changed considerably from when we were growing up, but the tastes and memories have not.

hawaii remembers

The other week, after bringing my Aunty M's car down to my Grandma's, I intended to walk home, but instead walked up to meet my mom at the swimming pool, which took about 20 minutes.

With her busy schedule, she swims several times a week, when she has a chance.

It had been ages since I walked around this area.

To get to the pool from my Grandma's, you need to cross a busy road, and this foot bridge helps you cross safely. (top left photo)

I had some time before my mom would come to swim, so I checked out my old Intermediate school. There were some changes to the surroundings, but for the most part, the buildings were the same. (bottom left photo)

This is the pool in which I learned how to swim. There were free swimming programs when I was growing up which taught us how to dive, tread water, etc. I cannot believe that in Japan they have to pay to use the pools, we are truly lucky in Hawaii. (top right photo)

These steps are where I would wait for my mom to pick me up...they seemed W-A-Y bigger back then. (bottom right photo)

Good memories...

kyoto

Last Sunday was the end of Obon, we went early to visit with my MIL before going to an evening service.

Before lunch though, my MIL wanted help carrying some items to a nearby church, so we walked to a church near Satoshi's elementary to drop the items off. (photo of the classrooms)

Afterwards, we checked out his elementary (or what we could from the locked gates).

First off, part of the school had been turned into a day care for seniors. Since the population of children in the area has dropped drastically, the school wanted to make use of their facilities and rents (I think) it out to this senior care. (photo of the gym)

I was shocked to see how drab the buildings looked. Satoshi pointed out each building, of course, I was shocked to see their playground was just hardened sand/dirt, no grass.

I was also shocked to find out that they don't have a cafeteria to eat in, they have lunch served in their classrooms. Satoshi said that some days their lunch consisted of two slices of white bread and some curry. (He was very envious of my school lunch stories.) (photo of the administration/office)

Around the corner from his school is a tiny park, he said that afterschool until 16:30, they were allowed to play on campus, but after 16:30, they ran over to this park and played until dark.

I still cannot get over having these bars around the swing set, I mean, how could you jump off the swings to see who could jump off the farthest without hurting yourself on these bars??

Or this stone slide...that must do some damage on your clothes.

Satoshi was amazed that this "tunnel" was still around, he had lots of good memories here, his eyes lit up as he talked about them.

Though his school and park were different from what I grew up with, it was nice to be able to see them and hear all his stories.

Hope you had a great weekend!

hawaii re-visits

After seeing Deb's post, and remembering several conversations with Satoshi about our elementary schools, I went back to check mine out on one of my morning walks.

There was more fencing around the school than I remembered...lots more grass and trees too.

The jungle gyms and monkey bars were gone and replaced by these huge plastic castle looking things.

I remember in kindergarten climbing on the jungle gym at recess only to be pushed off by an older boy...a 6th grade boy came to my rescue.

The steps weren't as high as I remembered...the cafeteria was all lit up, brought back memories of the delicious school lunches we used to eat for only a quarter (is that dating myself? maybe)...shoyu chicken, meatloaf, cole slaw and those addicting shortbread cookies.

I remember once an obnoxious guy put his hand on the shortbread cookie on my tray and said, "you gonna eat that?" figuring that I would hand the cookie over to him because he was already touching it, but I told him, "yeah, I am!" (though I think I threw it out after because...he touched it...)

With the cost of things these days, they are talking about raising the price of the school lunch from $1-something to $2-something...way more than what I remember paying in school, but still pretty reasonable....I wonder if the quality of the lunch is still as good too? hope so.

Seeing the field brought back memories of running barefoot for track practice...playing kick ball....May Day performances. Growing up having grass under my feet during recess, I was really shocked when I saw the kids in Japan running on hardened sand...not one blade of grass.

Down the hill from my elementary school was the recreation center, run by the City Parks and Recreation. It was here that my dad taught after school classes...stitchery, ukulele, archery, tumbling, seed craft. I think most of these classes were free of charge. My mom used to sign me up for these classes (cheap baby sitting, yeah? maybe). It was a good way for me to spend time with my dad and not have to go home to an empty house.

When my brother started school, my dad was moved to another park, so we used to walk home together with some of the other neighborhood kids and were "latch-key" kids then.

After finishing our homework, we were allowed to go outside to play. My brother usually dilly-dallied with his homework, so it was rare if he got outside (which is why he got really good grades). Me, I rushed to do my homework so I could get out of the house (I got so-so grades).

To this day, I still remember my first day of kindergarten, maybe because it was so traumatizing. I remember somehow spilling my milk into my pork and beans and the lunch mother (a volunteer mother who came to watch us while the teachers ate) Mrs. Fermin, told me to "fish out" the wieners and eat them for lunch...it was traumatizing then but now a good memory.

I don't remember what was taught in the classes, and have forgotten some of the other student's names (sorry!) but what I do remember about elementary was that it was mostly stressless times...good times.

nostalgia

As I took my walk this morning, I was trying to remember the names of my classmates as I passed their houses in my neighborhood.

Some were easy to remember, some were not. I wondered where they were, what they were up to, hoping each of them were well.

Here's hoping your week will be a good one.

blast from the past

Was cleaning up my room...I had cleaned my room somewhat before moving to Japan, but there were a lot of things from our wedding that had never been used nor opened.

So after 9 years, I finally went through these things, putting things to be kept into boxes, throwing things out, getting things ready to be given away to various organizations, asking family members if they need/want some items...and came upon this framed embroidered fabric of things in Paris.

(I think I got it when we travelled to Europe for our honeymoon.) Hope we get a chance to go to Paris again...(crossing fingers!) I am keeping this one.

Also while cleaning, I came upon my old recipe binder. I think I was in elementary when I attended some afterschool classes at a nearby recreation center...I remember these recipes too! My favorite were these holiday fruit drops. I think this is where I picked up "fast, easy and delicious".

Happy 4th of July!

blast from the past

The other night had dinner with my friend, BFF. After dinner we went to PriceBusters.

We checked out their candies and OMG! they had so many candies from our childhood...what a blast from the past!

Flicks, sixlets, munch, junior mints, goobers and big league chew. Even horlicks malt candy and much more.

Thank goodness I stopped at what I bought (I actually wanted many more)....ah! high fructose corn syrup at its finest.