Cutest Watercolor Paint Tin Ever

This is my Holbein watercolor paint set tin, and it is the cutest tin ever.



Right?! I just had to show you.



I just did the names for my Surplus Supplies Giveaway drawing. Sorry, the cutest-tin-ever is not included, but if you neva enter yet, you still got until Thursday evening. That's when Wendell will draw a name. Only got 16 people entered so far, so you got good chance!

Hey, Wait a Minute . . .

Somehow I forgot to mention my favorite buy at the swap meet.  

It was this 25-cent sticker that I immediately stuck onto my water bottle right after I bought it . . .  Baymax and Hiro wearing seatbelts!

Swap Meet Finds

These are some finds from yesterday.  

Sweetie found this rock hidden inside of a box. So cool, yah! We think it might be a moonstone. She paid $3.


Didi was successful in finding Sweetie's search-for-the-day . . . a kaffir lime plant. It was $5.


Sweetie got this free from a friend who was selling things.


I got this handmade journal for $1.


Did you know that each of these groups of pages is called a signature? 


The paper is also handmade.


I paid $1 for these brushes. 


I bought these clips for $1 each pack. They'll be used as prizes for a baby shower.


This was also $1.  Gonna put watercolor paint in um. 


I like this Melaleuca moisturizing lotion. They were 3/$2.


This Vera Bradley cosmetic pouch was 50 cents. 


I love this Japanese napkin. Thinking of using it in a collage.  It was also 50 cents.


These were my finds of the day. $1 each set. So cheap, I couldn't resist.


These were 2/$5. 


For Kona. $7.


This was $1.  I'm hoping it contains a Svengali deck of cards. Try google it.


Bag of 3 cucumbers was $2.


Mochi rice with coconut milk and azuki beans. It was $3 . . . kind of a mercy purchase because everybody was declining their offers for sample tastes and I felt sorry.  But it was good.

Surplus Supplies

As promised I am giving away some of my extra/outgrown art/craft/stationery supplies. And because I want to take full advantage of the "any weight" medium flat rate price, I've totally stuffed the box. 

The box contains about 35 mostly new and a few gently used items with an estimated cost of around $100. A lot of the items were bought bargain shopping (you know me) and a few are from Japan. Some of the items, though new, have been removed from their packaging so that they could fit into the box. 

According to my accurate weighing method of without-box and with-box, it weighs 7.2 pounds!!

Sorry, Totoro Garden is not included in the giveaway. I'm just using it to hold down the cover for the photo. My friend Cleta made it for me! So cute, yah!



To enter the drawing just leave a comment here or you can email me at JalnaA@aol.com. 

I believe that a big part of the appeal of art subscription boxes is that you don't know what you're getting until the box arrives. So I'm keeping the items a secret . . . except for these two . . . to entice you to enter. Hoo hoo!!!


Winner will be announced in a week . . . next Friday morning, February 1. Good luck!

Table Numbers

Been spending the past few days painting these table number plaques to be used at a big fundraising luau that Lunalilo Home is having in a couple of weeks.

Also, while waiting for the paint to dry, I've been tidying up my craft room and have gathered up some of my extra art/craft/stationery supplies (new and gently used stuff) and am planning to have a giveaway soon.

Stay tuned!!

Moon

Here's my moon shot from tonight. The neighbor's roof is what's on the bottom of the picture.

6400 ISO, 1/30, f4

Shrimp Chip with Tartar Sauce

Landon said that someone shared this at work. It's from Japan. I've never seen it before. He said that it was REALLY good.

I think it's time to plan the next trip, yah!

My First Easter Egg Hunt

It might not have been my first Easter egg hunt, but it's the first one that I can remember. 

It was Up Puunui at my grandparents' house, and I remember being told to wait in the house while the eggs were being hidden. I was excited with anticipation.  I was determined to get a lot of eggs.

Finally, the hunt began. I saw my first egg. But just as I reached to grab it one of my older boy cousins snatched it up.


The same thing happened to the second egg that I saw. And the next. Soon I was the only one with an empty basket, and I wanted to cry.


Finally, my mom came and took my hand and helped me find some eggs. But, by then I was all sad. Egg hunting was not the experience that I thought it would be. 


Here's me with some of my cousins from that day. In front sitting is Dennis, one of the cousins who got to the eggs before me. 

Cat Video

We had a cat once. I named him Troubles. He was free to roam the neighborhood, but he always came home. He would usually be on the porch cruising when I returned from school. 

He kinda looked like the cat in this touching video.

Salmon Skin Roll

I ordered this Salmon Skin Roll at Hana Sushi in Hawaii Kai sometime last month. 

Sorry, Hana Sushi, but it was baaaaaaaaad.  The salmon skin was thickly battered and deep fried . . . totally not what I was expecting.

At least now I know.

Royal Saving Stamps

Does anybody remember these? Was it given out by some supermarket?  I forget.

I used to love it when my mom would give me a bunch of the stamps to put in the books. There were "1" stamps and the bigger "10" stamps.

After the pages were filled you could take the books to some redemption center and redeem them for all kinds of items.

Anuhea's Furikake Salmon

Wendell made this salmon last night. I wasn't gonna blog about it 'cause I was on a roll working on a big project for the Day Care, and I didn't wanna get sidetracked.

Except that it was so ono that I did get sidetracked and ended up busting out my camera to take pictures of the already half-eaten fish.

Wendell saw the recipe in the recent Star-Advertiser's Crave section and can be found online at Cooking Hawaiian Style here. 





Ingredients: 

• Large piece of salmon 1-2 lbs.
• 1/2 cup furikake 
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons prepared wasabi

Sauce

• 2 cups Aloha shoyu
• 1/4 cup brown or white sugar
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger

Cooking Process: 

Lightly grease a baking pan with cooking oil or cooking spray.  Lay salmon skin-side down.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of furikake.  In a bowl, combine wasabi and mayonnaise and mix well.  Spread mayonnaise wasabi mixture over the salmon - enough to cover the entire fish.

In a small pot, add Aloha Shoyu, sugar and ginger and cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Place salmon on serving dish and drench with sauce or serve on the side.  Garnish with fresh cilantro sprigs.

Riced Cauliflower

Wendell and Landon pretty much don't eat rice at home anymore. Usually they'll have cooked vegetables instead.

Once in awhile they'll add in some riced cauliflower. I like it. 


Wendell gets it at Costco. He said it's around $7 or $8. He thinks.

The Tokkuri Tei Story

Back in October while I was in Japan with da sistahs, Wendell and Landon decided to go check out Tokkuri Tei. They hadn't been there since it moved to the old Hee Hing site. 

When they got there, there was a long line snaking down the stairs.

Wendell and Lan bypassed everybody in line and went straight inside because . . .  unlike everybody else . . .  they were SMAHT and had made reservations. 

The host greeted them, and Wendell told him that they had reservations. The host gave Wendell a quizzical look and said, "We don't take reservations." 

Wendell cocked his head and said, "Whaddya mean you don't take reservations. I MADE A RESERVATION!"

The host insisted, Wendell relented, and both Wendell and Landon left the restaurant feeling totally bummed and all huhū. 

Fast forward 2 months to Christmas Day at our family gathering. Wendell tells the story to brother-in-law Teren, and in an instant Teren starts laughing. He thinks he knows exactly what happened and explains.

Two days later, me, Wendell and Landon go to Tokkuri Tei to see if Teren was right.

He was.

It turns out that back in October what happened was . . . Wendell and Landon had walked into the adjacent, very popular, no-take-reservations Tonkatsu Tamafuji instead of the also popular, do-take-reservations Tokkuri Tei.

Tokkuri Tei

Landon's Christmas present to Wendell was lunch at Tokkuri Tei. Maybe you already know this, but . . . it was really good.



We were the first ones there on a weekday. By the time we left, the place was all filled up.


This enoki mushroom skewer was on the house. Nice!


This was also on the house. !!!


My salmon skin salad was maybe the best I've ever had. There's tofu buried underneath, and the dressing was super ono.


Scallop Mayo


Uni


Hamachi, Mirugai, Salmon


Cali Roll (you know who's)


Otoro


Sashimi Platter








This on-the-house azuki ice cream was gooooood. 


Women's bathroom key neva work . . . just so you know.  Went to Zippy's . . . just so you know.

Also, I have a story to tell you about how Wendell got all mad when he and Lan tried to go to Tokkuri Tei back in October.  Next post.