shin okubo

On a television program they featured the Shin Okubo area.

Apparently, this where a lot of foreigners reside.

Interested in seeing what types of shops they had, I went yesterday.

Dang it was humid!

On one side of the Yamanote train track is the Indian, and other foreigner country shops.

The other side of the Yamanote train track is the Korean side...

If you think Japanese is tough to read, you should try when they mix Korean, Arabic, and other foreign languages!

One shop I wanted to check out was Shun Yaoya.

This fruit and veggie shop also sells pre-made foods.

I picked up these huge samosas.

And some tandoori chicken.

I also checked out Green Nasco.

This shop sells spices, dry goods as well as frozen halal meats.

I picked up some Indian snacks...this salt and pepper banana chips sounded intriguing and these fried peanuts too.

It was my first time trying samosas, are they supposed to be this huge?!

These were filled with chunks of potato, peas and carrots and flavored with curry.

I loved the crunchy dough ends and the flavor of the filling.

The chicken was very spicy but super tender and moist.

Satoshi mentioned that he wanted to check out this area, so I'm sure we'll be back.

Have a nice weekend!

Shun Yaoya
1-17-8 Hyakunin-cho
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5358.9511

Green Nasco
2-9-3 Hyakunin-cho
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Phone: 080.4086.8631
Hours: 11:00-24:00

shopping

Just a heads up for those of you who come to Japan to shop.

At the 100 yen stores, food items are 8%..."things" are 10%.

When I went to the 100 yen store today, I bought some spacers for my shoe cabinet...these were 10% tax.

I also bought some ume candy...these were 8% tax.

Also, if you use your credit card at the convenience store, there is a little "discount" (I think 2%) off your bill.

Not sure how long this discount will be given though.

Just somethings to keep in mind when you shop here.

made it

Oh em gee...after my brother dropped me off at the airport, it took me an hour to check-in then go through security...

The time on my boarding pass said 15:20 and it was 15:15 when I got out of security...panic!

When I arrived at the gate they mentioned that the gate had changed..so while we all were freaking out, it turned out that we were at the right gate but they would be boarding us later than 15:20...WT?

It was my first time flying on Hawaiian (HA) who was code sharing with Japan Airlines (JAL) (I usually fly JAL).

The seats were definitely smaller than JAL.

Our flight ended up leaving 30 minutes late...

Here and there we had turbulence..blah!

Dinner was a choice of teriyaki meatballs or some kind of pork.

The highlight was a chocolate coconut ice cream by Samurai...except it was hard.as.rock....everyone, including me, catapulted spoonfuls here and there as we tried to scrape some ice cream with our spoons.

I watched one movie "Little" which reminded me of the movie "13 going on 30".

I also watched episodes of Season 2 of "Family Ingredients".

How was this "rainbow" that I spotted in the plane?!

After arriving Tokyo, our bags took forever to come out on the carousel.

By the time we got home it was 22:00 (3:00 Hawaii time!)

And since my furry niece had trained me to wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning...I was up at 3:30 Japan time...

Today is the start of 10% sales tax. There are some items that will still be 8%, but I need to find out what they are.

The weather is still summery here, I am thankful we have a/c in our apartment.

Lots to clean and clear, plus I went to rehab, this time for my shoulder.

Bento making for Satoshi to start tomorrow.

Hoping my jet lag won't be too hard to shake.

Have a nice week.

thoughts

Just some random thoughts on the past weeks (months)...

If you look through our blog, you'll see that we've had quite difficult summers over the years...this one was especially hard.

My mom renovated the house maybe 10 years ago and at the time instead of purging, she had them make "more places" for her to store things...

So when we were de-cluttering, it was a "treasure trove" full of stuff in boxes.

You just don't realize how much stuff can fit in a closet until you have to actually empty it.

The rule of "if you haven't opened a box, looked at the contents in a couple of years, you probably do not need it" is true.

My mom kept everything...receipts, documents, you name it, she had it neatly filed away.

And while it was interesting looking at documents from my parents first couple years of marriage! their grades from elementary school and such, shredding all those documents was not fun.

I overheated and overloaded the shredder too many times to count.

A quote that I heard on a "Super Soul" podcast by Abraham Joshua Heschel kind of stuck out in my mind, "Things when magnified are forgeries of happiness" (It's not that we shouldn't have "things" we should just appreciate what we do have and make the most use of them.)

When deadlines arose, (I think) personalities of people really showed.

It kind of reminded me of the different ways my brother and I did homework...I was the type to "just get it done", so I would have more time to get out and play.

My brother, on the other hand, seemed to be the opposite, he would (procrastinate or maybe he was just more thorough) stay up late the night before something was due...

The echo in a room after most of the things in it are taken out...eerie and sad.

This is my last summer with my furry niece.

She probably won't miss me, but I will truly miss "hugging" (terrorizing) her and having our "conversations".

I know she was stressed seeing everything being brought out of closets, her hiding places taken away.

She let us know she was stressed (maybe even depressed) by peeing everywhere EXCEPT where she was supposed to.

I got first hand of this when I sat in one of her "puddles" when she had peed in a chair, stepped in one when she peed on my slipper and once when she did so in or near my suitcase (actually she probably is getting back at me for all the terrorizing...)

She is not the cuddly type and I was totally not a cat person before meeting her but I am thankful for her keeping me "zen".

I am also thankful for my Aunties (blood and not), BFF, V and the many friends who took the time out of their busy schedules to spend some time with me, for keeping me "zen" and on track.

Very thankful that I don't have to work, so I can do these all these "chapters" in life.

Also appreciate the virtual and real life friends who reached out and shared their "purging" stories as well as their hurdles in selling their family homes.

It reassured me that I was not alone going through these things and was definitely not the first to do so.

Very thankful for Satoshi for letting me be away from him this long...thankful for technology so we could facetime (so that I could help him find stuff around the house as well as be his "alarm clock"...)

You should know that while I was here, MIL fell and was hospitalized (BIL says she is on the mend and should be discharged soon) and Satoshi's nephew's wife had a baby (when I get back to Japan, we are sending them LOTS of diapers!)...

Hoping that the closing will go smoothly at the end of October.

I also hope the family that is purchasing this house will enjoy living in this neighborhood and enjoy the house.

It has been a long yet short 90-plus days here.

As always, it was delicious (maybe too delicious?! I need to go on a diet!!)

This summer was krazy super hot and humid.

And if you are worried that I won't be back to Hawaii, I will, my stay may not be as long, but next year, some time after the (Tokyo) Olympics...I need to renew my license (hoping "that" adventure won't be too painful)

Thank you Mom and Dad, I will treasure the memories of this house and you.

Take care and be well.

Talk to you from the other side of the world.

this week

Friday afternoon we had the house inspected and the buyer was scheduled to walk through the property.

We came back after the time that it was all supposed to end, but the family was still there!

It was kind of a weird feeling sitting out front, watching others leave "your" home...

Hopefully the inspection results will be good.

Dinner was later than usual...I bought a pizza from Pieology (the line was krazy!) and tried the porter from Big Island Brewhaus (super chocolatey!)

Saturday, lunch out with BFF W at Taqueria El Ranchero.

First time trying chilaquiles...super spicy and delicious.

I hope W enjoyed her nachos.

Afterwards we made our last run to Paalaa Kai Bakery for the summer.

I picked up a malasada for my Sunday breakfast.

Sunday was super humid (again!)

I ran up to Aunty Kalei's for a cowgirl (POG (passion orange guava), pineapple, strawberry) shave ice and again added lemon peel...so good!

Sunday dinner (our last one for this summer) was at Vein in Kakaako.

Aunty M1 and W1 had their pork chop, which apparently is brined...unfortunately, this was way too salty for them (they think the cook added more salt when grilling).

My brother had their lamb chops...which he said was delicious but just had too little food.

Aunty M and I ordered the catch of the day which was Onaga (red snapper) with a yuzu (citron) beurre blanc (literally white butter) sauce.

Bummer that this fish was overcooked and hard.as.rock.

Since we had "complained" about this and that, dessert was on the house...their bread pudding.

Meh, I've had better...it could have been more custardy...

I'm glad we tried this place and thankful that Aunty M1 and W1 treated all of us...we all hope this restaurant will be able to survive...

Monday...rain, lots of rain...then sun and humidity!

BFF W had taken the day off, so after she did her errands, we had lunch at Big City Diner...$2 for cheese?!

It was still nice to get out even though it was raining.

Tuesday, I went to McCully Stamps & Coin, the owner bought some of the old coins that my parents had collected over the years.

He was so nice and a little TMI (too much info), showing me his lung cancer scar (gasp!)...still, I think he was fair and I'm glad we were able to sell these old coins.

Afterwards, I had intended to go to Target, but when I arrived, everyone in the parking lot warned me that their network was down so they were only taking cash.

Well, network down means that you can't access their app too, so no discounts either...boo! (1st world problems yeah?!)

Oh em gee I am addicted to shave ice with lemon peel...thank goodness Aunty Kalei's is open Tuesday-Thursday and the weekends.

Aloha Salads...hummus pita wrap for lunch

and the Goddess (mixed greens, almonds, papaya, avocado, green goddess dressing) plus I added chicken for dinner.

Wednesday...more rain!

Lunch from Flamingo's Express...I tried their mini teri chicken bento.

Teriyaki sauce a bit too sweet and goopy.

Glad I tried it but probably wouldn't get this again though...

Thursday, lunch with V at Senia.

V loves this place and was kind to take me there.

The chef from the original Vintage Cave, Chris Kajioka and Anthony Rush (from French Laundry) serve creative dishes for lunch and dinner.

We had the 3 course...

Appetizer course...I chose the ham hock terrine...meaty! with a quail egg and puckery tomato sauce delicious!

V had their ahi tataki...she ate a couple of pieces but decided that the texture wasn't for her, so I was lucky to get to finish this for her.

Main course I chose the scallops with risotto and pickled daikon...delicious! nice sear on the scallops, not over cooked...this was nice with the harissa it was served with.

Creamy risotto and nicely pickled daikon.

V had their ahi burger...looks good yeah?!

Dessert course...I chose the carrot cake brown butter mochi...good especially with the cream cheese frosting!

V had the Senia cookie...a warmed peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie topped with vanilla gelato.

It was nice to watch everyone (especially the prep staff) in the kitchen.

Friday, started out with a schnecken from Baker Dudes.

Schneckens (I like saying this word!) are literally snails in German...this was filled with lots of nuts and flaky! Bummed I found out about this place so late but look forward to checking them out the next time I am back.

After a trip to the bank to see if we could cash my parents travelers cheques we found stashed (we need to wait until they get authenticated as the bank they purchased the cheques from do not do business with the company anymore (boo! and they are located in the UK?!))...hopefully this will get sorted out by the time my brother moves (or we may just have to cut our losses)...

I then went to visit my mom and dad at their respective resting places...

Lunch from Mama Woo's...I've been wanting to try this place for some time...

The parking is nuts!

Luckily I found a stall on the street.

I had the kimbap, mandoo and fried chicken wing for lunch...the fried chicken wing was so good! crispy, sweet and savory.

The kimbap was good too.

For the next couple meals I'll be eating Mama Woo's Special...4 side dishes, kalbi, bbq beef, chicken (mandoo & chicken wing).

Because I didn't want rice, they gave me one more side dish.

Friday dinner we met Aunty M for pupus (caesar salad, octopus with arugula, garlic fries, crab artichoke dip)

And lilikoi mango cheesecake.

Saturday morning, we met up with relatives for breakfast at Liliha Nimitz...

I ordered the two eggs (over medium), portuguese sausage and potatoes.

The weather is still gross (humid)...I may need to make a shave ice run...

Flying out tomorrow....hope you have a nice weekend!

Senia
75 North King Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.200.5412
Closed Sundays
Lunch: Tuesdays-Fridays 11:00-14:00
Dinner: Mondays-Saturdays 17:30-21:30

Baker Dudes
923 Alakea Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.597.4717
Closed Saturdays-Sundays
Hours: 6:30-16:00

Mama Woo's
2080 South King Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.941.6262
Hours: 10:00-20:30

we're 14!

wow.

Not sure how many readers we still have out there...comments here have dwindled significantly...not sure why the spammers are stronger than ever though.

In a world where everything is based on "instant", if you are still a reader of this blog...Thank you!

Hoping to keep this blog going for a while longer.

more movies

A list of more movies I saw after I posted here:
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“The Hundred Foot Journey”
“Salt Fat Acid Heat” 

(Netflix)
“About Last Night”(2014)
“Coco” (finally watched the whole movie)
“Incredibles 2”
"Always Be My Maybe" (Netflix)

Forgot to add these to movies I saw more than once too:
“10 Things I Hate About You”
“The Devil Wears Prada”
"Hitch"