Now that R works the graveyard shift, we don't eat dinner together unless he has the day off. So cooking for one isn't all that fun unless I have a certain craving to satisfy. Tonight I came home a little later than usual from school and for some reason I was also more hungry than I usually am, although I did have a hearty korean spicy squid with rice and kim chee meal for lunch...and I'll admit on other days I either have a light lunch or skip it all together. See, I'm rambling away and not making any sense! Anyhoo...I checked the refrigerator...no leftovers, I ate the remaining Kare Ayam last night. Bummers! Next, I checked the pantry...I didn't want ramen or saimin, I did have the right ingredients for fried rice (spam, leftover rice, mix vegetables, kim chee and eggs) but I was too lazy to get the wok out and have to prepare and cook. I look some more and found something rather appealing: Knorr Pasta Sides ~ Fettuccini in a sour cream and chives sauce. Reading the instructions...bring 2 cups of water and 1 tbsp. margarine to boil, stir in contents of package and continue boiling for 7 minutes or until pasta is tender. Seems easy to do, right? And I'll have a somewhat yummy meal in 7 minutes. Not bad...it's quite good to be honest and this is the first time I'm trying this particular flavor. Okay, let's not forget that I was hungry too and I finish every last noodle, 2 serving bowls (sorry R as I ate your share too)! Now that I'm all full and satisfied, I'm off to watch my Korean drama (Daughters-in-Law) on the DVR. Nighty-nite!!!
Yup...the annual New Year's festival presented by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii (JCCH) was celebrated today the Japanese way with lots of good eats such okonomiyaki, mochi, andagi, bentos and local plate lunches, roasted corn, and KC Drive Inn's famous Waffle Dog. Wait...it is not all just about food, but it does also showcase much of the Japanese culture; for instance ~ mochi pounding demonstration, bon dance, taiko (Japanese drumming), Japanese/Okinawan dances, traditional tea ceremony, bonsai displays and more. We had our share of fun and some really good food, which by the way was so good, I forgot picture them before gobbling it down like a hungry fool. Ohh well...there's always next year! My only disappointment was the 3 for $20 Japanese trinkets which I had purchased where I found later was defective and I guess it's my bad since I did not inspect it before buying and by the time I did finally open the box, it was too late to drive down there because the festival was just about to be over. Boo! Click the following to view more random shots , taiko video, Japanese dance video, and another Japanese dance video. Ain't they just so kawai'i?
There's always something happening on the weekends here on the islands. This past weekend, one of Hawaii's most popular cultural events; the annual Okinawan Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Just for your information, the first Okinawans arrived in Hawaii from Japan's southernmost prefecture in January 1900. Another wave arrived World War II, and today there about 20,000 people of Okinawan ancestry in Hawaii. The ties between Hawaii and Okinawa remain strong, with a sister-state relationship between the state and the Okinawan prefecture formalized in 1985.
Unfortunately, I missed most of the festivities and food at Kapiolani Park but was lucky to see some of the performances at Ala Moana Shopping Center on Friday afternoon before heading out to Waikiki for the parade. Check them out by clicking on this, this, this and this. I enjoyed the last performance the most but sad to say I wasn't able to record the whole thing on my camera as my card ran out of memory. I guess I'm to blame partially for it because I didn't erase my previous photos and videos as I usually do after downloading it onto my laptop. Ohhh well!
The other things that I managed to do either myself or with R includes watching WAR at Dole, baking chocolate fudge brownies together, a day of sun-tanning and swimming at Waikiki Beach, sleeping in, piggin' out on a delicious garlic chicken bento from Mitsuken and watching The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo on DVD. What do you know...it's another weekend already! Happy Aloha Friday to all *grins*
I would have if I knew how or if I wasn't by myself. On Saturday, I drove like a madwoman back into town from Hawaii Kai so I could experience my first Bon Odori otherwise known as Bon dance at the Jodo Mission of Hawaii. It was scheduled to begin at 7.30pm and I got there around 6.45pm after securing a sorta good parking spot nearby. The colorful lanterns were up and as soon as I sat down on one of the many folding chairs, all of the lanterns lights came on. Pretty! It wasn't as packed as I'd imagined it would be but it did get crowded as the night goes on. Some were dressed in their colorful yukata or an informal kimono for summer wear, while others choose to wear happi, or a workman's livery coat. The dancers that were performing dressed up in their full kimono garb. I would love to own one someday :) Below are some photos that I took. Enjoy!
Dancers movements are driven by the beat of the drum. Using live or recorded music, dancers encircle a wooden tower called a yagura and dance in the storytelling step dances that relay simple tales of rural Japan and early plantation days in Hawaii. Also, the live or recorded music varies with slower songs to fast upbeat favorites such as a dance using a towel. This one lady sitting next to me starts to tell me stories of how she's been dancing all these years and her favorite is "Tanko Bushi," a song that tells the story of coal miners. Click on this, this, this, this, this and this to view videos I got to capture on my camera. The one thing that really bothered me was this one kid who kept jumping like a monkey in front of me everytime I tried to record the dance on my camera (you'll see him!). I gave him stern looks but had no effect on him watsoever. I even felt like slapping the little bugga but I didn't want to create a scene (I should have!). And his parents who were standing behind me did nothing! Stupid!
The "Bon season" is an important part of the present-day culture and life of Hawaii. As the festive dance and ono food might be the main attraction, the o-bon season's purpose is remembering the deceased. O-bon literally means "lantern festival." The mellow, old-fashioned lights are intended to illuminate the path of the spirits of ancestors as they return in this season. The spirits are honored with offerings of flowers, food, prayers and incense in temple rituals and on family altars. But the popular expression of remembering the dead is the bon dance. This form of sacred dance dates back 2,500 years to the founder of Buddhism, Shakyamuni Buddha.
I'm really glad I got to experience this happy celebration with other island residents! Next year, I want to check out several bon dances around Oahu and hopefully by then I'll know how to dance. R tells me that of all them, the one to go is Haleiwa Jodo Mission because it completes its Obon observance with a Toro Nagashi, lantern floating ceremony.
As for the food...the menu offers a variety of pupus, salads, fish-and-meats, rice-and-soups, sushi, sashimi, nabe, ishiyaki, noodles and desserts. I could not decide on 2 dishes but in the end ordered their seasonal special "Ishiyaki Crispy Rice with Seafood Sauce" as my entree and "Tempura Ice Cream with Pineapple Sauce" as dessert where I shared some with my boss. The rice was a little too crispy and the seafood sauce was a little bland for my liking. I guess I should have ordered the "Garlic Shrimp with Rice" as it was much better tasting than my dish! Other dishes that was ordered and I got to get a lil taste of include the "California Roll", "Unagi Rice", "Chicken Karaage with Spicy Tartar Sauce", "Rock Shrimp", "Seafood Dynamite" and "Green Tea Cheesecake". They were all really good and hope to go back again to try the other choices! Thank you boss...and can I ask already when is our next luncheon?
About two weeks back, I met up with Ritsuko for lunch in Chinatown. Initially, we'd planned to dine on DIM SUM but then changed our minds when we met up around noon. We decided to have Indian food, so we went to Zaffron for their lunch buffet. It was my first time eating there for lunch as previously I've only tried their dinner buffets and that was like probably seven years ago! It was not crowded when we got there. We did ask the hostess if we could check the dishes first before deciding to order. There wasn't much of a variety offered but since we were both craving for something spicy, we caved in. The hostess had us seat at a table closest to the buffet line, poured us 2 glasses of water and informed us that we could start eating.
There were three types of chutney to try (tomato, tamarind & apple), fresh salad, stir-fry mixed vegetables, chicken curry, basmati rice, stir-fry okra (lady's fingers), and a coule more dishes that I do not remember their names (sorry!). We also ordered a side order of naan bread. Feasting on the food hit the spot...although it was not as spicy as I would have liked it to be. I'm guessing it's toned down so others who enjoy the food without draining the taste with ice cold water every few spoonfuls (hehe). To end the meal, one can enjoy a sweet and creamy hot chai tea.
According to the restaurant's menu: "Zaffron was named after the spice Saffron. Blooming only three weeks out of the year, it is quickly harvested by hand. Each flower will yield only three female threads (stigmas). This is Saffron with it's unique flavor and beautiful color, one of the rarest and perhaps the most expensive spices." The lunch buffet costs us $9.60 per person. One can also dine at Zaffron's for dinner. A buffet that includes a variety of dishes will run for $19.20 for adults and $7.20 for children under six.
So now that I'm in graduate school, almost all of my classes involve some sort of team work. Initially when I first started, I simply dreaded the idea! Why you ask? Well just trying to get everyone on board is one problem. Another is trying to compromise to find a suitable day and time to meet outside of class for discussion. And then there the part where in the end, you end up doing the bulk of work eventhough there's like five or six of us in a team.
Now that I've completed almost three semesters of school (gosh how time flies...), I must admit I'm in one of the best teams ever for my Finance class. There's six of us total ~ all of different ethinicity, culture and background ~ Malaysian, Indonesian, Taiwanese, German, Korean (we had 5 in the beginning and then the last Sweedish girl join our group because she was sick for the other presentations). When we say we'll meet at a certain place at a certain time...everyone is present (although there's the occasion of someone being late) but then again, it all works out in the end because we are all working together. We had our final group presentation last Friday. The case was about personal investment ~ hired as consultants by this couple to help them decide if they should in invest in real-estate by puchasing a townhome in Ko Olina or to take that money and invest it is stocks, bonds and a CD. Unlike all the other teams in class where they only had a week to prepare, we had three weeks...because of Spring Break and then Good Friday holidays. In those three weeks, we met four times to first discuss the case, next to decide what goes on the powerpoint, then to finalize everything before meeting again to practice how we will present it to the class. On the day we scheduled for our third meeting, we decided to meet for breakfast/brunch first. In the end, only us girls showed up as the boys wanted to sleep in. TYPICAL! So we went to Legends Restaurant in Chinatown for dim sum! It was good fun with great company! Plus I was able to satisfy my cravings for some delicious shrimp dumplings (ha gau), shrimp rice noodle rolls (cheong fun) with soy sauce and sweet mango pudding :)
We had our last meeting two weeks ago on Thursday and then the presentation on Friday afternoon ~ as you can see with the photo above when it was taken in class with our professor in the middle. Now we're planning to go out after finals which is in two weeks (as you can see, meeting up and going out is of higher priority rather than studying for the final ~ haha)
Yeah! It's long overdue! I figured it would be best to blog about it now before the end of April and also before I totally FORGET! I admit, I'm getting old and really forgetful :)
So, R and I took a short trip over to the Valley Isle; otherwise known as Maui. It was really short indeed as we flew on Friday evening after work only to return in the early afternoon on Sunday. (Btw, check out the new style and color theme for Aloha Airlines...orange...ewwww). We didn't really get to much but it was a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu city and school. I did bring one textbook thinking I'll be able to do some studying but who was I kidding...when we were at the house, all I did was either lounge on the couch watching TV or playing with Tiger...the cat.
We woke up early on Saturday and while waiting for R's parents to come home with the van so we can go out cruising, we manage to watch Poseidon on HBO. R's mom was nice enough to buy us lunch from Cupie's Diner before our little mini excursion. He had his usual cheeseburger with fries and I enjoyed my usual breaded teri steak on rice and macaroni salad. When one is hungry...I tell you...it's all delicious ;)
We head upcountry and end up in Makawao ~ one of the state's last paniolo towns. The paniolos were the first cowboys in the United States. Long before there were cowboys in the old west, paniolos came to Hawaii in the early 1800's from Mexico to teach the Hawaiians how to herd cattle. Makawao retains much of that paniolo flavor in the facades of its buildings, but on the inside you'll find lots of art galleries, boutiques, craft stores and eateries sitting right next to stores where the locals shop. Makawao is not just for the tourists. It is the nearest town for many locals for groceries, haircuts and even paniolo gear. We'd planned to stop by Komoda Store to pick up some fresh pastry but they were closing up when we finally found parking and walked to the store entrance. Ohh well, so I made myself useful and when clicking away on my camera. Check the slide below for more photos :)
Before heading home, we drove through Pukalani and then, we made a quick pit stop at Kaahumanu Mall as R needed to do some shopping and I was craving for some Mango-A-Go-Go from Jamba Juice. *sweet* When we finally got home around 6-ish, R's mom had dinner ready. Quickly, we changed into comfortable clothes, came downstairs to enjoy and devour the yummilicious roast with potato salad and rice! I wasn't shy either as I had three servings!
After dinner, we lounged in the living room area, chit-chatting to kill time before getting ready to go church for Mass. It was a lovely service but a tad bit long (...3 hours and it was getting hot and stuffy in the area where we sat as there was no air ventilation) because they included a baptism and the Holy Communion ceremony during Mass. When it was all done, we came home, changed into comfortable clothes again and this time devour on ice cream and pastries before hitting the sack.
It's Sunday already! A couple more hours to go before flying back to Honolulu. R's parents had made Easter brunch reservations at Raffles in the Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort in beautiful Wailea, Kihei. Aparantly they only open for brunch for two special occasions ~ Easter and Mother's Day. I felt lucky to be there to enjoy all that good food such as an assortment of sushi, salads, seafood and desserts with champagne! Gosh, don't I sound like a little piglet...all we did was eat, eat and eat some more! (haha) But then again, what else do you do when on vacation? So there you have it...
Woke up around 10-ish on Saturday morning and I had a sick craving for Malaysian Nasi Goreng. Checked out the pantry to see what I had in stock to cook for breakfast and found almost all the right ingredients to cook for the both of us some local fried rice, portuguese sausages and pancakes. I even brewed a pot of coffee so I can sip it slowly while gorging down on breakfast. Before I knew it, it was noon-ish, time to bid R goodbye as he heads out to work. I spend the next few hours lazing away on our not-so-comfortable couch ~ watching cable TV and almost falling asleep! Luckily I did not or else I would miss my date with 2 gorgeous ladies. Just as it gets closer to 4-ish, I start to get ready, trying to decide what to waer before finally heading out the door to meet with Ritsuko. Next, we were heading over to the newly built Embassy Suites at Waikiki Beach Walk to meet her co-worker, T, who was staying there for the weekend with her family. At first, I thought we were just passing some time with a drink or two before our dinner date at a nearby restaurant. With all the chit-chatting and all, we ended up drinking more than we should have because we were all drunk before 7pm! We started with a dirty Martini, then another, and another, before switching to a tall, cool Mai Tai, a glass of red wine, a cup of Captain Morgan® Parrot Bay coconut rum mixed with coke, and before refusing another drink, T fixed us a glass of Crown Royal mixed with apple juice! Gosh, I was amazed that I was able to walk up to her room and then after back down to the restaurant for dinner without feeling sick. It's been awhile since I've drank alcohol this much (too much!) but I was glad we were finally heading over to Yard House for some grubs. I needed to eat so that I would sober up and able to drive home afterwards. It was really crowded when we got there, but luckily T knew one of the managers there so we did not have to wait the full 45 minutes for a table *phew*. We finally get seated and her manager friend was nice enough to buy another round of drinks; which I decline but told T to go ahead and order something on my behalf for herself. I would have hurled if I had another drop of alcohol! Checking out the menu, we then proceed to order our entrees ~ grilled korean BBQ beef for Ritsuko; lobster, crab & artichoke dip for T and miso chilean sea bass for myself. The food was simply divine, cooked to perfection and in plentiful quantities...however I didn't really get to enjoy it in my drunk state of mind. So in the end, I barely touch my meal and had our cute server get me a doggie bag so I can enjoy my sea bass at a later time. We walked around a little bit, checking out the new Beach Walk before finaly heading home. The next morning, I woke up with a nasty hangover and dreadful headache! All in all, I had a fantastic time and hopefully we can do it again soon...*grins*
I survived the rest of Friday as I had something to look forward to after work. So i put my mind to it and finished up what I could before finally leaving the office sharp at 5pm (okay, maybe a lil before 5pm...don't tell my boss, k)! I went to get R (lucky bugga had the day off) and we went to Ala Moana Shopping Center for his regular haircut at Thoms. When he was done, we walked over to Magic Island to check out the Honolulu Family Festival. Yes, it was another carnival/festival and yours truly could not pass up the opportunity of not going. As we were walking there, we decided to take watch the sunset first, so we found a bench to sit and took multiple pictures of the scenery, us and the sunset before finally going over to the carnival area. We had to get scrips for both the food and rides and me being a "scaredy cat", I choose to forgo the Zipper ride again! So after spending a good hour walking around, taking pictures after pictures and eating two huge bowls of spicy fries, we head back to the car that's parked at the mall. We drive through Waikiki for a little bit before making a pitstop at KFC for takeout and finally home to enjoy dinner and a movie; Little Miss Sunshine
Another week has come and gone...and I must say it has been a busy week with shopping, assignments, work and school. My bad habit of procrastination has gone from bad to worst because I am always putting off to completing stuff until the very last minute, especially my weekly school assignments . Then, I make no time for anything else because I'm on a deadline to have everything done for submission online before midnite. It's been bad before but for no reason...this semester has just been like that. Ohh well...I'm sure I'll beat this habit soon...I hope!
Last night, R and I finally made it to Ninnikuya for our post-Valentine dinner. The restaurant, the atmosphere...it was very nice, serene and romantic! If you're a garlic lover, then you must, must eat here because everything is cooked with or contains garlic in it. After reading through many garlic surprises and specials in the menu, we decided to start off with the garlic toast (yum!), and as for our entrees; R ordered the filet mignon (double yum!) while I ordered the rack of lamb (triple yum!). We were catching up on our daily "how was your day, sweetie?" when the food finally arrive. It was served on a sizzling hot stone and as it continued to cook, our server goes on to cut the meat. It was perfect...cooked to perfection as the meat was simply tasty and ohhh so tender. The service was great and our server was so friendly and efficient! We ended dinner with a sweet, cool pineapple sorbet. Before heading home, we drove through Waikiki and ended up taking a stroll at Kahala Mall.
Today, I woke up early so I could take my car in to Midas for my safety check. It was a pain but had to be done. I figured today was the best day for it since it's a Saturday, it's my day off, and basically I had t get it done since it will expire at the end of February. When done, I headed over to Ala Moana Shopping Center because it was their turn to put on a big celebration for Chinese New Year. About 10 lion dance clubs were there to perform at the centerstage and then, will make their way to visit each individual store at the mall. Even the Narcissus Queen and her court were there to make an appearance (except for the 1st princess as she was feeling under the weather.
I stayed as long as I could to take pictures but with the crowds and all, I was getting a little impatient. So in the end...I decided to check out a nearby hair salon and guess what? Instead of my usual trim of my bangs and ends to get rid of the split ends, I had a hair cut. So much lighter and boy...a lot of hair was cut off and I was a little sad then. I feel like I'm back in primary school because that's how short it will always be. I'm still getting used to it but hey...it will grow out again eventually! Yikes, you can even see my chubby cheeks so much better now...ugh! So..what cha think...do you like?
and...I do mean Welcome! Selamat Datang! Aloha! I extend a warm welcome and am glad that you could stop by and read my blog. It simply contains general musings and ramblings about things that concern and/or interest me.
So kick back, click away and don't forget...enjoy your visit!
"So you want to know me? Romantic and logical ~ Loyal and always true ~ Funloving crazy and very quiet when needed ~
Sensible and down to earth...to sum it up, I guess I'm pretty much a "nice girl", hopefully in a good way, who's also a bit of a geek"
Here I am as perfect as I'm ever going to be.
You'll see, love me for me.
Stick around, I'm not the kind of girl you wanna leave.
You'll see, love me for me.
"With a birthday on the 5th of the month you are inclined to work well with people and enjoy them. You are talented and versatile, very good at presenting ideas. You may have a tendency to get itchy feet at times and need change and travel. You tend to be very progressive, imaginative and adaptable. Your mind is quick, clever and analytical. A restlessness in your nature may make you a bit impatient and easily bored with routine. You may have a tendency to shirk responsibility".
Yup...the annual New Year's festival presented by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii (JCCH) was celebrated today the Japanese way with lots of good eats such okonomiyaki, mochi, andagi, bentos and local plate lunches, roasted corn, and KC Drive Inn's famous Waffle Dog. Wait...it is not all just about food, but it does also showcase much of the Japanese culture; for instance ~ mochi pounding demonstration, bon dance, taiko (Japanese drumming), Japanese/Okinawan dances, traditional tea ceremony, bonsai displays and more. We had our share of fun and some really good food, which by the way was so good, I forgot picture them before gobbling it down like a hungry fool. Ohh well...there's always next year! My only disappointment was the 3 for $20 Japanese trinkets which I had purchased where I found later was defective and I guess it's my bad since I did not inspect it before buying and by the time I did finally open the box, it was too late to drive down there because the festival was just about to be over. Boo! Click the following to view more random shots , taiko video, Japanese dance video, and another Japanese dance video. Ain't they just so kawai'i?
Thanksgiving Day Turkey Song:
About a month ago, my boss treated everyone at the office for lunch at Shokudo; located at 1585 Kapiolani Blvd. (on the ground level of Ala Moana Pacific Center) for some Japanese gourmet treats! We got there a tad bit early so we had to wait outside before they officially opened for lunch. As soon as we entered...I gasped! It was just too pretty to be a restaurant. I love its interior setting and we were seated in their box-seat dining area. So cool! It's known to be a casual kinda dining restaurant but I personally felt it had that upscale ambience because of its state-of-the art décor and hanging Japanese paper lantern lights. I wonder how it looks like at night during dinner time...and also secretly wished that I could hire the interior decorator for free to come by and make my apartment look that nice *smirks* Even the bathroom was pretty so much so that I stayed in there longer than I should have just taking pictures. Luckily no one walked in while I was doing it. It would have been really e m b a r a s s i n g!
Now that I've completed almost three semesters of school (gosh how time flies...), I must admit I'm in one of the best teams ever for my Finance class. There's six of us total ~ all of different ethinicity, culture and background ~ Malaysian, Indonesian, Taiwanese, German, Korean (we had 5 in the beginning and then the last Sweedish girl join our group because she was sick for the other presentations). When we say we'll meet at a certain place at a certain time...everyone is present (although there's the occasion of someone being late) but then again, it all works out in the end because we are all working together. We had our final group presentation last Friday. The case was about personal investment ~ hired as consultants by this couple to help them decide if they should in invest in real-estate by puchasing a townhome in Ko Olina or to take that money and invest it is stocks, bonds and a CD. Unlike all the other teams in class where they only had a week to prepare, we had three weeks...because of Spring Break and then Good Friday holidays. In those three weeks, we met four times to first discuss the case, next to decide what goes on the powerpoint, then to finalize everything before meeting again to practice how we will present it to the class. On the day we scheduled for our third meeting, we decided to meet for breakfast/brunch first. In the end, only us girls showed up as the boys wanted to sleep in. TYPICAL! So we went to Legends Restaurant in Chinatown for dim sum! It was good fun with great company! Plus I was able to satisfy my cravings for some delicious shrimp dumplings (ha gau), shrimp rice noodle rolls (cheong fun) with soy sauce and sweet mango pudding :)
Yeah! It's long overdue! I figured it would be best to blog about it now before the end of April and also before I totally FORGET! I admit, I'm getting old and really forgetful :)
We head upcountry and end up in Makawao ~ one of the state's last paniolo towns. The paniolos were the first cowboys in the United States. Long before there were cowboys in the old west, paniolos came to Hawaii in the early 1800's from Mexico to teach the Hawaiians how to herd cattle. Makawao retains much of that paniolo flavor in the facades of its buildings, but on the inside you'll find lots of art galleries, boutiques, craft stores and eateries sitting right next to stores where the locals shop. Makawao is not just for the tourists. It is the nearest town for many locals for groceries, haircuts and even paniolo gear. We'd planned to stop by Komoda Store to pick up some fresh pastry but they were closing up when we finally found parking and walked to the store entrance. Ohh well, so I made myself useful and when clicking away on my camera. Check the slide below for more photos :)
Before heading home, we drove through Pukalani and then, we made a quick pit stop at Kaahumanu Mall as R needed to do some shopping and I was craving for some Mango-A-Go-Go from Jamba Juice. *sweet* When we finally got home around 6-ish, R's mom had dinner ready. Quickly, we changed into comfortable clothes, came downstairs to enjoy and devour the yummilicious roast with potato salad and rice! I wasn't shy either as I had three servings! 
After dinner, we lounged in the living room area, chit-chatting to kill time before getting ready to go church for Mass. It was a lovely service but a tad bit long (...3 hours and it was getting hot and stuffy in the area where we sat as there was no air ventilation) because they included a baptism and the Holy Communion ceremony during Mass. When it was all done, we came home, changed into comfortable clothes again and this time devour on ice cream and pastries before hitting the sack. 
I survived the rest of Friday as I had something to look forward to after work. So i put my mind to it and finished up what I could before finally leaving the office sharp at 5pm (okay, maybe a lil before 5pm...don't tell my boss, k)! I went to get R (lucky bugga had the day off) and we went to Ala Moana Shopping Center for his regular haircut at Thoms. When he was done, we walked over to Magic Island to check out the Honolulu Family Festival. Yes, it was another carnival/festival and yours truly could not pass up the opportunity of not going. As we were walking there, we decided to take watch the sunset first, so we found a bench to sit and took multiple pictures of the scenery, us and the sunset before finally going over to the carnival area. We had to get scrips for both the food and rides and me being a "scaredy cat", I choose to forgo the Zipper ride again! So after spending a good hour walking around, taking pictures after pictures and eating two huge bowls of spicy fries, we head back to the car that's parked at the mall. We drive through Waikiki for a little bit before making a pitstop at KFC for takeout and finally home to enjoy dinner and a movie; Little Miss Sunshine
Last night, R and I finally made it to Ninnikuya for our post-Valentine dinner. The restaurant, the atmosphere...it was very nice, serene and romantic! If you're a garlic lover, then you must, must eat here because everything is cooked with or contains garlic in it. After reading through many garlic surprises and specials in the menu, we decided to start off with the garlic toast (yum!), and as for our entrees; R ordered the filet mignon (double yum!) while I ordered the rack of lamb (triple yum!). We were catching up on our daily "how was your day, sweetie?" when the food finally arrive. It was served on a sizzling hot stone and as it continued to cook, our server goes on to cut the meat. It was perfect...cooked to perfection as the meat was simply tasty and ohhh so tender. The service was great and our server was so friendly and efficient! We ended dinner with a sweet, cool pineapple sorbet. Before heading home, we drove through Waikiki and ended up taking a stroll at Kahala Mall. 
Today, I woke up early so I could take my car in to Midas for my safety check. It was a pain but had to be done. I figured today was the best day for it since it's a Saturday, it's my day off, and basically I had t get it done since it will expire at the end of February. When done, I headed over to Ala Moana Shopping Center because it was their turn to put on a big celebration for Chinese New Year. About 10 lion dance clubs were there to perform at the centerstage and then, will make their way to visit each individual store at the mall. Even the Narcissus Queen and her court were there to make an appearance (except for the 1st princess as she was feeling under the weather.
I stayed as long as I could to take pictures but with the crowds and all, I was getting a little impatient. So in the end...I decided to check out a nearby hair salon and guess what? Instead of my usual trim of my bangs and ends to get rid of the split ends, I had a hair cut. So much lighter and boy...a lot of hair was cut off and I was a little sad then. I feel like I'm back in primary school because that's how short it will always be. I'm still getting used to it but hey...it will grow out again eventually! Yikes, you can even see my chubby cheeks so much better now...ugh! So..what cha think...do you like?
is how I feel now
