piggy smalls

Met up with long time friend, Len for lunch at Piggy Smalls.

It is the second restaurant by The Pig & the Lady and is located in the old space of Kua'Aina in Ward Centre.

Man, the whole Kaka'ako area has changed...more parking near the Ward Centre, more condos...super unrecognizable.

In fact, July 30th, Ward Warehouse closed its door for good...sad, yeah?!

I ordered the LFC, which stands for Laotion Fried Chicken.

The chicken is double fried, doused with their money sauce, and sits on kaffir, fried shallots and peanut slaw

Messy eats but really good...spicy, sweet, salty and sour.

Len had their J. LUDOVICO CHICKEN PHO...spiced local chicken broth, ginger, calamansi, aromatic herbs, fresh rice noodles.

It is always nice to catch up with him and I am glad we have continued our friendship over the years.

I noticed they do take out too...I'll be back.

Thanks Len!

Piggy Smalls (UPDATE:2023 closed)
1200 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.777.3588
Hours: Mondays-Saturdays: 11:00 - 21:30*
(*15:00-17:00 take out & limited menu outdoor dining only)
Sundays: 11:00-16:00

la tour cafe

I think I tried this sandwich back in December when I came back for a family emergency...

I love all the "stuff" in this sandwich from La Tour Cafe...

Albacore tuna salad with cranberries, fennel seeds, capers, almonds, avocado & hummus...their housemade chips are super crispy too.

Gotta try to recreate this one.

What did you have for lunch?

good to be home

It's like 10 degrees cooler than Japan here...bonus: I got to see this beautiful sunrise glow from the right side of the plane.

I'll be posting from here for awhile, but the dates and time will reflect Japan time.

Have a good week!

eek

Warning: this post is about semi (cicada)...

When I was in Tarumi the other day, I noticed several trees loaded with semi (cicada).

If you are looking at this post on a smartphone, pinch the photo to expand...you'll see all of them.

I also lightened the photo, so it is a little easier to spot them all...

Midori and I were sort of screaming as we took the photo...eek!

If you are interested in seeing the video I shot of them a few years back you can click here, to hear just how noisy they are.

Tidbit from Satoshi: only the male cicadas chirp...

Hope it is cooler and quieter where you are...have a nice weekend.

cafe ria ria

Yesterday I got to meet up with Midori and Naomi.

It had been 4 years since the last time I had met up with Midori and many many moons since I had met up with Naomi.

We met up at a little cafe called Cafe Ria Ria.

The owner is a friend of Midori's.

She grows most of the veggies that she uses.

Our lunch had all sorts of different flavors...and also came with some grilled eggplant soup and brown rice...1500 yen (tax included).

Dessert was a melon shortcake.

In Japan, shortcake is a layered cake with fruit--different from the shortcake found in the States, which I think is made from biscuits.

The melon had just been picked that morning.

Lunch also came with a beverage...Naomi & I chose seasonal fruit sodas (kiwi and ume respectively) and Midori tried a sea buckthorn drink (which looked like coffee with lots of milk in it...she said it was very different, a bit sour).

The food was delicious and I liked the laid back feel to the cafe.

It was nice to get together and hopefully our schedules will jive to meet up again later this year.

Thanks Midori & Naomi!

Cafe Ria Ria
1-2-7 Kasumigaoka
Tarumi, Hyogo
Phone: 078.771.0863
Hours: 9:00-18:00
Closed Mondays

minoo candle road

Saturday night we checked out the Minoo Candle Road event.

Candles lit the way to the Minoo Falls.

So many people out and about.

The walkway through the shopping arcade was packed with vendors and people!

Of course, the humidity was killer.

Ramune, a drink seen a lot during Summer in Japan and Yuzu Cider were definitely needed...

(Even though both were labelled with Minoo's logos, both were not made in Minoo (bummer), though the Yuzu Cider did use yuzu (citron) from Minoo.)

My archives do not show this event so I think this was a rare time that we were able to check this event out.

(I think most times we are in Hawaii or remember after the event is over)

Even though it was super grossly humid (and we didn't go all the way up to the Falls), I'm glad we checked it out.

gate 2

Recently a baseball themed salad shop opened in Grand Front Osaka called Gate 2.

To understand the humour behind the name of the shop, you need a little background...Gate 2, pronounced in Japanese is "get two"...translated to baseball speak is a double play.

The main shop is called Fielder's Choice which apparently means this.

The shops interior circles around the Yankees, with the seating area looking like their locker room...all their salads are named after baseball players.

Satoshi chose "Babe"...mixed lettuce, smoked salmon, egg, avocado, corn, cucumber, red onion with onion dressing...1200 yen (plus tax).

He also chose the soup set...300 yen (plus tax).

I chose "Mantle"...mixed lettuce, chicken, quinoa, granola, apple, red cabbage, broccoli with honey mustard dressing...980 yen (plus tax)

The salad is then chopped to your liking...I chose fine, while Satoshi chose the standard, you could also do chunky.

All salads can be turned into wraps or added to rice bowls for additional costs.

The one peeve Satoshi had was that "Jackie" named after Jackie Robinson was not a Yankee...

A bit pricey, this was actually a nice portion of salad.

They do also have a breakfast menu, but only on weekdays.

I dunno if we'll be back but I do want to try to recreate some of the other salads at home.

Also, it is nice to see more and more salads appearing as mains here.

Gate 2
Grand Front Osaka South Building 1F
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.4256.6766
Hours: 8:00-21:00 (Monday-Friday), 10:00-21:00 (Weekends, Holidays)