Chef Tony Liu at Macy's - 10/6/2008

Chef Tony Liu held a cooking demonstration at Macy's.

Chef prepping ahead of time with the help of some KCC students.

My sister, Didi, with the introductions.

Starting with hand-made ear-shaped pasta to go with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage.

Then slicing zucchini for his Raw Summer Squash Salad.

Greek Marina - 10/5/2008

I met girlfriend Fay at the Greek Marina in Hawaii Kai yesterday.

I had my usual chicken salad. For some reason the chicken was a little dryer than usual, but it was still good. Fay had the gyros and she let me taste a slice of the meat. I usually flee at the sound of the word "lamb", so I've never ordered a gyros before. I was so surprised . . . it was good, better than my chicken salad.

Kazuki and Naoko Kato - 2/16/2007

In February of last year, me and Susie were at Ala Moana Beach Park trying to shoot pictures to enter into some contest. We came across this scene.We made a beeline toward the couple and I snapped this shot, which of course gave me the right to talk to them. I asked them in broken Japanese on the whereabouts of their photographer. They replied in broken English that they had none. NO PHOTOGRAPHER!!! HOLY MOLY!! Can we be their photographers? They agreed. We were excited!

We led them to Magic Island. For one of my first shots Naoko posed with this stance, and I knew we were in for some fun.

She had made her own bouquet

and Kazuki's boutonniere.

Here Kazuki is helping Naoko with her hairpiece.

They could afford either a trip to Hawaii or rings, so neither of them sported a wedding band.

Kazuki tries to lift Naoko.

We had a blast.

Susie and I had no clue on how to pose the couple, but they did fine on their own.

They were leaving to go back to Japan in two days which gave me just enough time to print the pictures as well as burn a CD for them. About two weeks later I got this box from them
with these gifts, a set for Susie and a set for me. I will always remember that amazing, magical day when from across the sea our paths crossed, ever so briefly yet creating memories to last a lifetime.

Spanish Rice

Last night's dinner. Ho da ono. You make it with uncooked rice. After you sautee everything together, you cover and simmer for 40 minutes. I act like I know, but Wendell made it. The recipe is from Hawaii's Best Local Dishes.

Saturday Grandma's Brand Mochi

As promised, Anne made sure I got the balance of my birthday present yesterday. These are from the Large Assorted Daifuku set. I haven't tasted them all yet, but the ones I have were oh-so-ono. Thanks Anne!!

Peanut Butter Liliko Cheesecake
Sweet Potato Haupia

Haupia
Fresh Strawberry
Chocolate Cream Haupia
Chocolate Cream
Truffle

Christmas Card Contest

My working place is having a contest to see who can design the best Christmas card for us to use this year. I had the afternoon off and spent it working on the card.

Here's my I-Decorated-A-Box-and Don't-Know-What-Else-To-Do-With-It card. Here's my I-Spent-So-Much-Time-On-It-And-It's-So-Plain-Looking card.

and finally here's my It-Seemed-Like-A-Good-Idea-At-The-Time card.

Same Birthday

My cousin Renee e-mailed me today to wish me a belated happy birthday. It brought back a memory I had long forgotten. I was in the first grade. Renee and I were in the same Japanese School class. It was Parent Day and a lot of the parents were there in the back of the class observing. My mom wasn't there, but Renee's mom, my Aunty Doris was there. The teacher had each of us stand up and say our name and our birthdate in Japanese. Each of the students dutifully stood up one by one and did just that. I was totally panicking . . . I sooooo didn't know how to say my birthdate in Japanese. It was soon gonna be my turn. I turned to Renee who was sitting next to me and asked, "When is your birthday?" I don't remember her answer but I think it was sometime in November. I said, "Oh my God, that's MY BIRTHDAY too!!! . . . So, how do you say it in Japanese?" So for that day, me and my cousin had the same birthday.

Hi Ho Hi Ho - 10/1/2008

It's back to work I go.

Lorna's mom made two pans of butter mochi for my birthday "cake"!

Runa gave me a bunch of my favorite candies.

Melody bought me some beautiful flowers.

And Anne got me chocolate covered strawberry mochi! Soooo luscious . . . reminds me of a story. She said the mochi is from some warehouse in Pearl City. She tried to describe how to get there, but I had no clue. She ordered a variety of mochi from there and said she's gonna pick them up on Friday. I'll keep you posted.