Pliers

I packed up these cheap hand-me-down/swap meet pliers and put them away.




Because I bought myself these brand spankin' new ones from Ben Franklin for around $20! 


Hoo hooo . . . what a joy to use!


Thanks for the tip, Bobbi!

Faucet Extender

Sometimes washing my face hurts my back. I remember my friend Kat mentioning that leaning into the basin can do that.




This faucet extender was offered as a Lightening Deal on Amazon last week. It's actually meant for kids. It was cheap (2/$6.98) so I thought I'd order it and see if it would help. 

It hasn't shipped yet . . . they might've run out. I'll let you know how it works after I get it. You can check it out here. 

Watch Tip

Almost all of the cheap watches that I get at the swap meet don't work. And nearly all of them don't work simply because they need a new battery.  

This unused older Timex was an exception. It didn't need a new battery.


And the reason it didn't need a new battery was because of this plastic tab. The tab kept the crown from being pushed in which kept the watch from running which would've drained the battery.

I've been doing the same with my watches, especially since I have a bunch now.  When not in use, I pull the crown out. I do have to set the time before I use a watch, but to me it's a minor inconvenience.


And now, my second tip. Be careful when pulling out the crown on an old watch. 


You might end up breaking it off.  Aiyaaaa!

Landon's Sake Shoyu Halibut

Wendell bought some halibut the other day and planned to use Honolulu Aunty's daughter's favorite black cod recipe to make it. You can find the recipe here. 

He was busy with a project as dinnertime approached so Landon took over the job.

I liked it a lot, although I ate more tofu than fish (actually not much of a fish-eater here). Wendell said cod woulda worked out better, especially since the recipe was designed for it. Still the taste was oishiiiii to me.  

Thanks Aunty!

Morimoto’s Black Cod with Sake, Soy Sauce and Sugar

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (12 fl. oz./375 ml) dashi (dried fish and kelp stock), kombu dashi (kelp stock) or water
• 1/2 cup (4 fl. oz./125 ml) sake
• 1/2 cup (4 fl. oz./125 ml) mirin
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. Japanese soy sauce
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 4 coins peeled ginger, each about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick
• 4 skin-on black cod fillets, each about 4 oz. (125 g)
• 1/4 lb. (125 g) drained medium-firm tofu, cut into 4 equal pieces

Directions

1. In a fry pan or Dutch oven over high heat, combine the dashi, sake, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and ginger and bring to a boil. Add the fish to the pan, skin side up, in a single layer and cover with a piece of foil crimped into a round about 2 inches (5 cm) smaller in diameter than the pan. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 12 minutes. The fish will be fully cooked after about 8 minutes; the longer cooking time is meant to infuse the fish with the flavor of the cooking liquid.

2. Remove the foil, transfer the fish to a plate and increase the heat to bring the liquid to a boil. Add the tofu to the pan and cook, turning once, until the liquid reduces slightly and its flavor intensifies, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Return the fish to the pan and continue cooking, basting constantly with a spoon, for 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Serve immediately in shallow bowls with some of the cooking liquid. Or, even better, remove from the heat, cover with the crimped foil and let the fish sit for 10 to 15 minutes, so the fish absorbs even more flavor from the sauce. Serves 4.

Red Nose Day

This past Thursday was Red Nose Day. I found the following info about it: 

The non-profit Comic Relief, which uses comedy to raise money for disadvantaged people, launched Red Nose Day in the United Kingdom in 1988. Since then, the day has raised more than $1 billion globally. 

Red Nose Day launched in the U.S. in 2015 and has since raised $60 million. That money has benefited children and young people in all 50 states, as well as 25 countries.

Coworker Susan bought red noses for everybody. Below is CQ, Les and me trying to imitate a Moogle, a Final Fantasy character.




King Tide Update:  The level was just a bit higher at high tide yesterday. It overflowed only a little. Phew!

King Tide

We're experiencing king tide right now.  This is what the marina near my house looked like yesterday afternoon. Usually the level is a few feet lower.

Wikipedia says that king tides are "simply the very highest tides" and are naturally occurring predictable events. 

Landon said it's supposed to get even higher tomorrow. 

Nail Clippers

Can you guess which is my favorite nail clipper?  

I bought the top one new at the swap meet years ago. It cuts good but it's so big and forceful it's scary. The third one is a German-made Henckels clipper that I got at a rummage sale recently for 25 cents. The Revlon one is from Longs and is made in China. The bottom one is the worst one and came in a manicure kit.



This is my favorite one. Until I brought it home recently, it was the one I kept at work. 


It's made in the USA and is still sharp despite being very old. Unfortunately, W. E. Bassett Co. closed in 2012. I read that Trim clippers are now made in either China or Korea. 


After realizing how precious this clipper is I brought it home for safekeeping . . . on my craft table. No worry. I know exactly where it is. 

Local Japanese Slang Words

My friend Harri sent me this in an email.  Thanks Harri!


Some of these words are actual Japanese words – but kinda slang in the way we use(d) them.  

benjo = bathroom or toilet.  “I come back, I going benjo“.

bocha = bath or bathe.  “I going bocha now!”

Habuteru or habut = pouty or grumpy. “Eh, how come your kid stay so quiet?  She usually talk, talk, talk”. “She stay all habuts because I told her we not going Castle Park after”.

Bobora – This is a tricky one.  We grew up calling the Japanese tourist boboras – back in the day when they had daikon legs (yet another one!) and wore slippers with the big plastic flower on them.  But our parents referred to pumpkin as bobora.  But go to Japan and ask for bobora and I don’t know what you’ll get – besides a funny look.

Skosh = Little bit.  “I’ll just have a skosh“.  Now, this word is derived from the actual Japanese word “sukoshi” which means little bit – usually as in measurement.  The weird part is that this slang has been picked up by the English language.  It’s even in the Webster dictionary meaning a small amount.

Kukai = doo-doo.  “Aww man!  I went step in dog kukai“.

Butsu-butsu = a small sore.  “I got a butsu-butsu on my leg”.

Kakio = many sores. “Poor thing, she get all kakio leg”.

Shibiri = pins and needles such as when your leg falls asleep.  “Aiya, I get shibiri leg”.

Totan = corrugated metal. “That house get totan roof – noisy when it rains!”.

Kamaboko House = Quonset hut.  “Wow, check out that kamaboko house“.

Hanabata = wet, slimy boogers.  “Eh, your hanabata is about to drip”.

Hanakuso = dried, hard boogers.  “Stop flicking your hanakuso!”.

Hold chochin = When someone tags along with a couple who are on a date.  “So what, you going hold chochin for them?”  Chochin is a lantern.  Way back in the day, a person would walk behind someone holding up a lantern on a long pole over the person’s head to give them light.

Buddhahead and Kotonk = Interesting story about these 2 slang words.  We refer to a kotonk as a Japanese person born on the mainland.  However, when I was looking up the origin of Buddhahead, found out that the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was made up of Japanese Americans (JA’s) from both the mainland and Hawaii.  Well, the Hawaii JA’s called the mainland ones Katonks.  So the mainland JA’s called the Hawaii ones Buddhaheads.  The word Buddhahead may have started out at “butahead” (pig-head) but somehow evolved into Buddhahead.  This, being the Nisei generation.

I think our generation considers a Buddhahead as an old-fashioned Japanese man who expects the wife to wait on him hand and foot.  The Buddhahead will sit at the table and wait for all the food to be served to him.  When he wants more rice, he’ll just tap his chawan with his hashi to let his wife know that he wants more rice.  The same goes for wanting more tea.  And when he’s done, he’ll just get up and walk away from the table – while the wife cleans up after him.  Other similar names for this kine of person is “Samurai” or “Shogun”.

Ono Pickles

If you like Kosher Dill pickles you should try these Trü Pickles. 



Our story is this: Geri bought a jar. She liked them and went back to buy more to give away for Christmas. She gave Didi a jar. Didi brought some to share on Mother's Day. Wendell liked them and went and bought a jar. This past weekend Didi bought another jar.

From where, you ask?


Apparently somebody at Ace Hardware thinks they're good too. Looks like the pickles are available at all of the Ace stores nationwide.

You can find out more about the pickles here. 

Watchband Pins

Some of the watches that I get at the swap meet are missing their bands and/or pins. I got these watchband spring bar pins from Amazon . . . 360 pins for less than $8 . . . 8 mm to 25 mm, all neatly compartmentalized in a cute container. 

I opened up the container for the first time a couple week ago and then I dropped it. Can you imagine? 

I put the spilled pins back any-kine-way, closed up the container and just left it like that . . . didn't wanna deal with it.

A few days ago, I went back and fixed it up as best I could. It's all good (enough) now. 

So . . . if you ever need a watchband pin, you know who to ask.

The Latest in Coffee Art

Thanks for sharing, Steven!

Under-the-Weather Kona

Kona had surgery to remove a growth on his butt on Thursday. I was worried because he had to be put under, but he took the anesthesia well and came out of it okay.

His appetite is still poor. But main thing . . . he did eat his antibiotic and pain killer that I hid in pieces of Costco chicken. 

Hopefully, he'll be good as new soon. 

Weak Me

Yesterday I brought this kale salad with me to work for lunch. 

At lunchtime, I went into CQ's office and asked to borrow her microwavable bowl. 

I gave her the salad. 


And made myself a ramen instead.


A Nissin Raoh Tonkotsu Ramen to be exact. Marukai had it on sale for $1.47 the other week. You can also get it at Costco.

Avatar

I have an extra copy of Avatar. Anybody want it? First person to email me at JalnaA@aol.com can have it. 

Untidy Me

Here's my messy hobby, craft desk. I wish I was neater, but I'm just not.

Mr. Donut's & Bakery

This has got to be the softest, most melt in da mouth donut I've ever eaten . . . even more so than Krispy Kreme! I had to force myself to not eat the whole thing. Thanks for the tip, Myko!



Me and Wendell were in Chinatown looking for fish this past Saturday, and Wendell said that since we were kinda in the area, he wanted to go looking for Mr. Donut's. I had mentioned to him earlier that Myko had recommended it and he was curious.

It's on Hotel across from Long's and Ross.


Everything looked good, but we settled for just a few plain glazed donuts. 

Wendell's Lemon-Caper Black Cod

I normally don't really care for fish, but this was really, really yummy.  Wendell saw the recipe in a magazine in a doctor's office.



He took a picture of the recipe. Cool yah . . . can take picture nowadays. No need "borrow" the magazine anymore. 

Nice Me

Wendell had a colonoscopy a few days ago. His appointment was at 9:00 a.m., check in at 8:00. We pulled up to the entrance of the building at Kuakini at around 7:30 a.m. 

Wendell:  You can just drop me off.

Me:  No, I wanna go inside with you.

Wendell:  Hah?

Me: Yuh, we're too early. Marukai doesn't open until 8:00.

Wendell:  Ohhhhh, no wonda. I thought you were being nice. 


HAPPY MUDDAH'S DAY to you Muddahs!!

Breadbox Hawaii

Last weekend me and da sistahs were in Manoa and ended up at Breadbox Hawaii, a made-from-scratch, Ohana-run bakery in Manoa Marketplace.  

We met Chef Mike Price and his cute family, and even though we had just picked up lunch to bring home, we couldn't resist getting a few more goodies from this place.




























This is my Apple/Darjeeling Tea ($4.95) drink.  It was very refreshing.


Tomato/Basil, Mushroom/Olive and Pepperoni Pizza Pan ($3.25). So ono (per Sweetie)!


BBQ Bacon Roll and Portobello Mushroom Roll ($3.25).  Blueberry Scone ($3.00). Didi loved the scone . . . she said, "best I've ever had". 


I like go back again.