Leslie and the Sheep

If you read Leslie's blog you know that she is on a trip to Japan and Korea right now. 

This selfie that she took with a sheep at a cafe in Korea cracked me up. I couldn't stop laughing. I think she told the sheep to "Say Kim-Chee!" because he is totally smiling for the camera! Soooo funny!!!  You can check out more on her blog here. 

Owl Lunch Bag

I have a thing for insulated lunch bags, especially when I can get them for just a few dollars.  The one I use myself is a Vera Bradley bag that I got for $1.

When I saw this cute Skip Hop Zoo Owl bag at the Kam Swap Meet, I just couldn't resist it. Amazon sells it for about $15. You can check it out here. I got it for $2!!

I decided to give it away. Wouldn't your daughter/granddaughter love to carry her snacks or lunch in it? 



It looks new and unused, but I washed it anyway.


Leaf zipper pull . . . so cute, yah!


Leave a comment here or send me an email at JalnaA@aol.com and your name will be put into a pile. I'll announce the winner this coming Sunday morning (April 3, 2016).

Mercado De La Raza Tamale

I went to Asian Market on Beretania last Saturday to pick up ingredients to make summer rolls on Easter Sunday. I saw these guys waiting outside next door for Mercado De La Raza market to open.  I found out that they were waiting to buy tamales which are only made on the second and last Saturdays of each month.  

I texted my sisters to see if they knew about it, and Didi said that they usually sell out in an hour.  I decided to wait and see for myself. Sure enough, as soon as the doors opened everybody rushed inside and grabbed one or two bags each.



As more people came in and left with their tamales, I kinda got caught up in the frenzy and decided to buy some to share at our gathering.  They were $15.50 for a bag of 6 (gulp). I bought two pork, one chicken and one beef . . . and a container of salsa. They were tasty and filled with lots of meat, but I doubt I'd buy it on a regular basis . . . too expensive.


I WAS gonna have leftover tamales covered with cheese and salsa for lunch yesterday, but this is what happened after I zapped it in the microwave.  So tragic. 

Cool Cat

by Colin via Facetime

My nephew Colin Facetimes me every once in awhile. He recently shared this cat that he drew. So cute, yah.



BTW, in case you're wondering about the results of our Weight Loss Competition, I lost 16 pounds which came out to a 10.54% loss. My brother in law, Teren, won the contest with a 25-pound loss which was 13.06% of his original weight.

Yesterday was Emancipation Day for me, and I totally pigged out. 

Wendell's Roasted Pumpkin

Wendell made this on the same night that he made the crown roast. Not sure if pumpkin is considered low-carb or not, but I ate three pieces 'cause was ono.

Wendell said that he drizzled and rubbed the pumpkin pieces with some olive oil, sprinkled with seasoned salt and pepper and then baked at 400 degrees for around 1/2 hour.

I'm Irritable

I don't feel like being positive and cheery. 

If I run into someone who is positive and cheery, I will say, "Oh come on, no act."

Some days are like that, yah. 

Painting

I got this painting at the swap meet for $3 from a cute ojiisan man who only spoke in Japanese.  The canvas is small . . . about 8 x 10 inches.  I was totally intrigued by the colors and the technique, probably done with spatulas and not paintbrushes. 















Please let me know if you can figure out who this artist is. I asked Mr. Ojiisan, but he didn't know.


Here's a really cool video "Knife Painting by Christian Jequel" that shows the painting technique:

Searching the Past

It seems that the older I get the curiouser I am about my ancestors.  I keep wondering what life was like for them, and I feel sad that all of their history is lost.  

Here is a photo of me and my mom's mom. I actually blogged about her before here. 

Couple nights ago, I decided to google my grandma's maiden name, Kikue Horiuchi. 



I was so surprised when I was actually able to find something. Her family appeared in several census reports! Names and birthdates were sometimes inaccurate, but still how unreal to find a record, yah.

The 1910 census report was the most revealing.


From what I can figure out, in 1902 (8 years prior to the survey)  grandma's dad Tohei (then age 28) and my grandma's mom Tsuye (age 27) left Japan with their daughter Hatsume (age 5) and their son Kenji (age 2). They settled in Koloa, Kauai. My grandma was born 2 years later in 1904. Then came another daughter Ayame  in 1906 and a son Yoshitaka in 1910. My great grandfather is listed as a laborer at the sugar plantation.


The census for 1920 shows that the family had moved to Lihue, Kauai and Hatsume and Kenji are no longer a part of the household.


There is an additional daughter Shizuko who was born in 1917.


The 1930 census report showed my great grandparents to be in their mid 50's with no children left in the household. My great grandpa is now listed as a house painter.


The report from 1940 shows both great grandparents to be alive and in their 60's. I wasn't able to find out more. Hopefully, my mom will be able to fill me in.


This is the website that I ended up at that provided most of my information:  Mocavo

Taho

It was busy at this food vendor's stall at the Kam Swap Meet this past Saturday. A popular item there was this dessert-looking thing that was right up front on the table. People grabbed them up as soon as they were put out.



It was $3.50/cup. It's a filipino dessert called Taho. The girl putting together the concoction said that it's made with tofu, tapioca and sugar syrup. I found a recipe here.


Our diet challenge will be OVA in a few days. Maybe I can try this the next time I go to Kam.

Daiso Sushi Shaker

Daiso 100-yen Store product!!  OMIYAGE!!

Wendell's Crown Roast

Weigh-in for our diet challenge is in one week . . . and Wendell makes this. The aroma alone was torture. I didn't eat as much as I would've liked to but . . . you know . . . I had to eat enough so that I could let you know how deeeeelicious it was.

The recipe is courtesy Anne Burrell of the Food Network and can be found here. Wendell said that he didn't have fresh rosemary or sage so used the dried versions instead.

Hello Kitty Charm Winner!

VIVIAN K., my first entrant, you finally won a giveaway!!  Can you email me and I'll try to get the prizes to you sometime soon. Congrats!!

And JOY, my last-minute entrant, you win second prize, a small Hello Kitty charm! So lucky I ran into you at Marukai yesterday!

Aaaaaaahh!!!

Coworker Bien is on vacation so I have laundry duty for 2 weeks. 

This string stuck on a blanket made me scream.  I thought it was a roach. Good thing nobody else was in the room. 

Fishcake Salad

Here's a salad that a threw together with fishcake and nori.



This is the fishcake that I used. It's on sale at Marukai until next Monday for $1.85.

And here's the sesame dressing that I used. Coworker Penny gave it to me. As you can tell I like it. It's also on sale at Marukai this week for $5.99.

Oceanic Remote

I found this at a garage sale this past weekend and bought it for $1. I already programmed it to use with our TV and have it hidden in a drawer under my sewing machine. Why?

I'm gonna use it to switch channels whenever Wendell falls asleep with the remote in his hand . . . and trust me . . . it happens All.The.Time.

PayPal Email

I got this email the other day. Hmmmm . . . somebody from Russia managed to hack into my PayPal account. Veeeery suspicious email . . . mostly because . . . I DON'T EVEN HAVE A PAYPAL ACCOUNT. PayPal account

Unusual sign-in activity

We detected something unusual about a recent sign-in to the PayPal account . To help keep you safe, we required an extra security challenge.

Sign-in details:

Country/region: Russian Federation

IP address: 5.228.16.5

Date: 3/12/2016 4:12 (EST)

If this was you, then you can safely ignore this email.

If you're not sure this was you, a malicious user might have your password. Please review your recent activity and we'll help you take corrective action. Review recent activity

To opt out or change where you receive security notifications, click here.

Thanks,

The PayPal account team

OK Poultry

I did go searching for the poultry farm that produces the Waimana TKG eggs this past Saturday. After zigzagging all over half of Waimanalo looking for OK Poultry I finally found it. 

If you're a techie person (unlike me) and use a GPS, the address is 41-656 Kakaina Street.




I totally loved the country-style store. The girl inside was super, super nice. She said that Waimana TKG has only been around since September.


So cute.
















The best best thing about my finding the store was that I got to meet Kuni and her son Justin. Kuni is originally from Yokohama and has lived here for 20 years. Me and Kuni totally clicked. I just loved her to death. We talked and talked and talked as choke customers came and went. Kuni said that the best way to eat these eggs is raw over hot rice with a bit of shoyu on top. 


Here's Kuni's tray and my dozen. Supposedly they're B-grade, but they look like A to me. I can't tell the difference.


At home Landon decided to bust out some leftover chop steak that he had made the night before and try it raw-egg Japanese-sukiyaki style. 

He took his first bite. Actually, it was more of a slurp.
I searched for his reaction and said, "Yes? Yes?"
His eyes got big. A smile spread across his face. He said, "HO DA UMAMI!!!"
Not really believing it, he tried another piece without dipping it into the egg. 
He said, "Nope, it's totally the egg!"



For sure I'm going back for more eggs later. Hopefully I'll run into Kuni again.

If you do get to go to Waimanalo for yourself, let the girl know that you plan to eat it raw. She will give you eggs that are the freshest of the fresh.

Hello Kitty Charm Giveaway

As promised I'm giving away this Hello Kitty Swarovski crystal bead charm. Isn't she so so so so cute!!



I'm also including this smaller one made with seed beads.


And a bunch of greeting cards.


And remember that David and Goliath pajama pants that I got at the swap meet?  I did make a hobo bag with it, and I'm including it in this giveaway too. Sorry, the dekopan orange is not included. It's my last one. I just used it for scale.


As usual, just leave a comment here or email me at JalnaA@aol.com and I'll enter your name into a drawing.  I will announce the winner on Sunday (3/20/16) morning. 

Good luck!!