no rain no rainbow

Monday it rained for most of the day

As the sun started to set, we were treated to this...huge rainbow!
 

Satoshi saw it too from his work area (photo by Satoshi)

Yesterday was the start of Golden Week, we plan to lay low since everything will be expensive and there will be gazillions of people everywhere...

Be well.

beautiful

So happy I woke up to see this, this morning.

Hope you can view this too.

this and that

Sunday, with 3 blood oranges I made a small batch of marmalade.

After taking this picture, I put it back in the pot to cook down, since I thought it still had too much liquid.

Monday, it rained all day long.

We had some marmalade on toasted baguette with some butter.

Satoshi thought it was carrots...ha!

Monday dinner was marmalade chicken...this sauce was so easy and tasty!

From the Kewpie website: serves 2

2 tablespoons of marmalade

1 tablespoon of shoyu 

1 tablespoon of sake 

300 gram piece of chicken

Some olive oil

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces

Heat the oil and cook the chicken.

After the chicken is cooked, pour the sauce over the chicken and let it caramelize a little.

NOTES: I used boneless chicken thigh, cut it up and cooked it skin side down to crisp.

Then before adding the sauce, I wiped up the oil from the chicken.

I'd definitely make this again.

Back up to Monday afternoon, the rain stopped and I got to see a pretty big rainbow.

And then back up to Valentine's Day...Satoshi had to work.

I gave him these Italian chocolate hearts that I found at Flying Tiger, a knick-knack shop from Copenhagen that has shops all around Japan.

Whenever he works on Sundays, it throws me off and I get confused as to what day is what.

He's also been off on Wednesdays so that throws me off too...

Oh well...hope your week is going well.

yesterday

Usually, when I wake up, I go to the other room to check on the sunrise, which I can see from the window that faces Haneda Airport....this is how it looked yesterday.

And then from the kitchen, I looked out the window that faces Mount Fuji and caught a glimpse of a rainbow.

Excited to see part of a rainbow, especially early in the morning, I put on my slippers and went out onto the lanai.

And saw this instead...

It was my first time to see a rainbow in Japan so close and so arced!

Amazing yeah?!

this and that

Was excited to spot my first rainbow in Japan yesterday.

This was from our lanai that faces Haneda airport.

It was also neat to see the rainbow move with that big rain cloud...like they say, "no rain no rainbow".

This was from the lanai that faces Mount Fuji on the opposite side of our apartment.

Can you see how blazing it was?!

The days are getting shorter though.

Love the clouds though and the sunrises and sunsets have been orange-y. 

Have a safe weekend.

no rain = no rainbows

What would Hawaii be without rainbows?!

I couldn't imagine it without!

A little drizzle or passing shower and usually you'll get to see one.

It is one of the best parts of coming home.

p.s. Just a heads up...Satoshi is here for a short vacay, his schedule is packed (thanks to me!) so it may be quiet here. Have a nice week!

hawaii sights

Major rain this past Sunday.

Somehow I don't mind rain in Hawaii because it almost always brings one of these...rainbows. (A definite rarity in Japan, well, in Osaka where we live, it is.)

This one was a double one...nice!

saying goodbye

HUGE rainbow the other day.

I want to send this rainbow to a dear blogger friend, Barbara of Winos and Foodies, who I heard had passed away yesterday.

She was one of my first blog friends when I started this blog and had been battling cancer. In one of her posts, she taught me not to use phrases like "to die for", "so delicious I thought I died", phrases of that nature.

And because of her treatments, she couldn't enjoy the foods that she loved or cooking them. She also loved wine & bubbly but couldn't enjoy them as often.

We were Twitter friends as well as FB friends and competed on Bejeweled Blitz quite often, as well as Angry Birds.

Recently, I had heard she was having surgery to repair a collapsed lung.

Thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends and though I've never met her in person, I know she's in no pain now and she will truly be missed.

quiet days

The rainbows are somethings that I miss about Hawaii.

Hope you have a nice week.

daydream

It's been awhile since we had a daydream.

Here's a daydream spotted in the early evening when we usually get a sprinkling...it is actually a double rainbow, click on the photo to see it up close.

Happy Wednesday!

things I am liking (and disliking)...

This post is kind of a copycat of Deb's post, things she's liking this week, except I'm adding a spin on mine with a disliking portion.

First off, the things I'm liking....

Big Island Candies' lemon shortbread. I received these from my Aunty M, lemon shortbread with lemon bits in it, some covered in white chocolate, some in dark, some plain.

Not really a fan of white chocolate, I was surprised that the lemon shortbread actually matched the white chocolate more than the dark. (Thank you Aunty!)

With this awful humidity, I'm also liking cold drinks...Blueberry Bliss tea from Teavana. I received this from Deb when I met her. This tea is refreshing and delicious! I love the mixture of blueberry, rooibos and rosehip. (Thank you Deb!)

Last summer I read of a great way to make iced tea without having to heat up the water on the stove. Just pour 1 liter of water into a jug and add 3 tea scoops (about 3 tablespoons) of tea. Put the jug into your refrigerator overnight. Of course, if you want to make your tea stronger, add more tea leaves.

And iced coffee...when I make espresso or brew some coffee, I try to make extra to chill for the following day.

When drinking it, I add some milk to my coffee and then add more ice...mmm. If you use sweetener, you may want to make a simple syrup to put in the chilled coffee or put sugar into the coffee/espresso while it is hot. I drink my coffee black so I don't put any sweeteners in.

I am liking eating from the rainbow. Dinners have been mostly veggie type. For this particular meal I had eringi with kim chee, carrot salad, couscous pesto salad, 2 bean salad and fig with gorgonzola honey and pecan.

It was my first time making fresh figs with gorgonzola, a drizzle of honey and some pecans...mmm!

So, what is the part that I am disliking? After making the fabulous dinner mentioned above, Satoshi calling me last minute to say that he will be eating out...too bad, more for me!

What are you liking/disliking?

remembering

It is amazing how time flies, maybe you aren't always necessarily having fun while it flies by, but it does.

Remember I talked about loving rainbows? It is true that they are very scarce where I live, I think out of the 8 years of living in Japan, I've seen it ONCE in Osaka and that was for 5 seconds.

Okay, maybe 5 seconds is exaggerating (but not by much), I didn't even have time to take out my camera to take a shot at it.

Rainbows are also special to me because it reminds me of an uncle, my Uncle R.

It was 19 years ago today that he died in a fishing accident. I still remember driving over to my Aunty's tears in my eyes, being careful not to get into an accident myself.

I'm not sure if it was the day of his funeral or maybe some time afterwards, but everytime I would think of him, a rainbow would appear. To me, it was his way of letting me know that he was there, watching from above.

Though Satoshi never got to meet Uncle R, we talk about him, especially when I tell Satoshi little stories about my childhood.

Uncle R was the "yell first ask questions later" type of guy when something went wrong, but if you were "in the good" with him, he really took good care of you. I was honored to be considered one of his "friends" (he said money was his other friend, so you know it was an honor to be friends with him). He loved to fish, hunt and if I am not mistaken, loved to eat!

I think he would dry fish inside the rear window of his car and once dug an imu (pit) in his yard to roast pig for a birthday party. As a kid, I remember watching all the adults in our family make lau lau and smoked char siu in a huge, used oil drum.

They would also peel pounds and pounds of green mango to make pickled mango. He loved making pork togan (at least I think he made it), though as a kid, I was finicky and usually would give it away to the dog (sorry Uncle!).

Now, whenever I see togan (winter melon) in the store, I pick up a little to make some pork togan. (Interestingly that post for pork togan was also on his memorial day.)

He would make a dish using leftover sashimi (sliced raw fish), marinating it in shoyu and ginger, sandwiching it between rice in a deep bowl, then poured hot barley tea over the whole thing and put a cover on it to steep. Though I never tasted this dish, my cousins (his children) loved this.

Oh, growing up, sashimi in our house was maguro (tuna), nothing more, and only eaten on special occasions. So, you can imagine my surprise when someone asked me in Japan if I eat sashimi and I said "yes", then this whole platter of assorted raw fish came out. At first, I freaked but now can eat almost any type.

It is hard to believe that 19 years has passed, but I think by talking about him, it is a good way to keep his memory alive. (We miss you Uncle!)

hawaii sights & revolution tea

This cute little zebra dove (I found out what it was called on wikipedia) I spotted while sitting in the car waiting for my mom...love the zoom on my point-and-shoot!

I think this is the Waianae range (please correct me if I am wrong). As seen from the bus stop near my parent's home while waiting for the bus. On a really bad voggy (volcanic fog) day, you can't see these mountains...at all.

My neighbor has a papaya tree...with lots of papaya, but up too high to reach...sigh.

In the early evenings and early mornings, we usually get a misting, sometimes a passing shower (or two), love to see these rainbows. When you live in an area where rainbows are scarce, you tend to treasure them more.

And to blog a bit about food...Revolution tea, not sure where I read about them, but was happy to find them in Japan (of all places), bought their earl grey lavender and brought it with me, it is a great balanced flavored tea. I've been sticking a tea bag into a cup of cold water and letting it sit for an hour and enjoying this iced.

What have you been enjoying this summer?

hawaii sights and shops

On Friday, I bought a tiny tin of Diva Chocolate's Mocha Java Grilling Rub (US$8+tax). Awhile back I had seen this on another blog and was interested in getting some. I looked online and found out that a local shop, It's Chili in Hawaii sells them.

I knew that they were on King Street but hadn't realized that they had moved to Waialae Avenue. It was a good thing I had called to find out where they were located and also to make sure they had some.

When I went to purchase the rub, the owner remembered my call and also mentioned that this rub smells awesome when grilling. I hope it tastes good too...will update when I try this.

Lastly, the reason I love coming home (besides seeing family and friends)...to see these...rainbows. Stretching across the sky. Smiling back at you. Hope you have a great week.

It's Chili in Hawaii
3133 Waialae Avenue (inside of Shipping Shack)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.945.7070
Open Tuesday-Saturday 9:00-16:00

UPDATE: 09/06/09 the website for Diva Chocolate states that they are no longer in business (due to the economy), but notes an email in case you need to contact them. (sad to see them go!)

09/23/09: just read that It's Chili in Hawaii will be moving out of the Shipping Shack (because the Shipping Shack will be moving) and will mostly be at the swap meet and trade shows, if you want to be added to their mailing list, email them at chiliinhawaii@gmail.com

happy easter

I've seen "whole" rainbows before, but this is the first time to for me to see a "whole" rainbow, so close-up.

Another orchid started blooming the other day. This one is quite tiny, and hardly any fragrance.

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday.

more local stuff

I've ordered from Ali'i Kula Lavender before and love their products.

So, while I am back in the Islands, I ordered some of their soaps (Lavender soap & Lavender Coconut with goat milk) and their (lavender, lime and mango) lip balm (sounds good enough to eat, yeah?) to take back with me. (UPDATE: the lip balm is really good even in cold weather, it stays soft and easy to apply with a brush, plus the lime fragrance is really delicious.)

Check out this rainbow that I saw from my Aunty's place, can you see the reflection in the window too?

It's Aloha Friday here, hope your weekend will be a good one.

hey, look back!

Some people may think that looking back on things is not a good thing...I think after a drizzle in Hawaii, it is.

Don't try this while driving and I hope you are having a great weekend.

"new" waikiki

If you haven't been to Hawaii lately, Waikiki is getting a MAJOR face lift. Older hotels have been torn down, new ones are coming up. There is even a condo produced by Donald Trump which I've heard sold out within the first few hours of coming onto the market! It is kind of chaotic with all the construction going on.

Today, I was in Waikiki lunching with my friend, Carroll. She took me to Atlantis Seafood & Steak. This restaurant and other retail shops and eateries sits on the grounds of the old Waikiki 3 movie theater.

The restaurant has a lanai area with tables and ceiling fans. Perfect for hot Hawaiian days.

For starters, I had a salad. I still can't get over the portions here in the U.S.! but, I loved the thinly sliced beets on top.

My main dish was fish moco--a variation of loco moco. They grilled mahimahi (dolphin fish) and topped it off with an over-easy egg and their original gravy. I think it could have be served without the benishoga (red ginger) on top, though.

And for dessert, coconut haupia pie. Haupia is a local dessert that is the consistency of hardened gelatin but tastes like coconut. This was served with raspberry and caramel drizzles.

Everything was delicious and of course, the company and conversation was great!


And in the early evening, while riding on the freeway, we were able to catch a bit of paradise...a rainbow.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Atlantis Seafood & Steak
2284 Kalakaua Avenue Suite 201
Honolulu
Phone: 808.922.6868