Kikuya in Kaneohe

Kikuya is one of my mom's favorite Japanese restaurants, but it's in Kaneohe so we rarely go there.  I just found out that there's a Kikuya in Kalihi too.  Does anyone know if they're the same?



I've just been reading reviews on the restaurant and a lot of people say that there's usually a wait.  Whenever we've been there, though, we've never had to wait.  In fact this time, there was only one other guy already eating when we got there.  It was on a Sunday at lunch time.


I love, love, love their miso soup.  No fancy ingredients; it's really plain, but it is soooo oishiiiii.


Let me explain how I ended up with this combination plate even though I'm on a diet.  I was gonna order the Chicken Tofu.  Good choice, right?  But my mom says that for a few dollars more I can get the lunch special Chicken Tofu and Shrimp Tempura combination plate which is a far better deal. Since I always listen to my mom *ahem*, I said okay, but she could have my tempura and I would just eat the chicken tofu.  She ordered the same thing as me.  When our food came and we saw that it wasn't just one shrimp tempura but a whole bunch of tempuras, my mom totally bailed on me and said that she couldn't possibly eat all that. And so I was "forced" to eat the tempura too. But you know what . . . was sooo ono!!  I took a bite of the potato salad too, and even though it just killed me 'cause it was good too, I didn't eat any more of it. 


The next morning as I got on the scale, I closed my eyes and cringed.  When I opened them, I was surprised to see that I had actually lost weight.  Hoo hoo.  I think that me and my mom might just have to go back to Kikuya again!

Jaguar Hog

I hate it when inconsiderate drivers take up two parking stalls, so I just loved this video.

My Easy Miso Soup

For those of you who might not know . . . I don't really cook.  And when I do cook, it's lazy-man style.  I don't work hard at it . . . I just throw stuff together.  This miso soup was no exception.

Look at all these ingredients! 



I put around 8 cups of water into a pot and added 2 packets of this.


I added 1/2 cup of this sake.


I bought the following ingredients at Nijiya Market.  I added around 1/2 cup of this miso. BTW, Nijiya Market had choke mochi of all different varieties on a table right by the door.   I picked several of them up and said to them, "Awww . . . I miss you." and put them back down. There were some more in the refrigerated section, and I did the same thing. I think I might've even stroked some of the containers.


I thought this was cool so I bought it. It says, "miso something wakame".  I ended up putting too much into my soup.  It expanded a lot.


This is hasu.  Was kinda not too crunchy, but it's frozen that's why. Cannot help if you lazy like me.


Lastly, I added in some of this tofu.


My miso soup came out okay . . . not as oishiii as Kikuya Restaurant's, but not bad.  Me and my mom went to Kikuya a few weeks back after we visited her sister's grave.  She forced me to eat a huge combination plate there.  I'll show you a picture later.

Kona Update

It is an understatement to say that I was a wreck yesterday morning.  I sat by my plants watching Kona with his back towards me and I bawled and bawled and bawled.  Kona still hadn't eaten much of anything for 3 days, and I was so worried. He had even stopped eating the canned dog food that I bought.  Then yesterday morning when I took him outside for his first morning shishi, he walked around, lifted his leg, nothing, walked around, lifted his leg, nothing. I thought, "Oh no, his whole system is shutting down."  I immediately called the vet on her cell phone and left a message.  I'm sure I was pretty incoherent.

Later Wendell took Kona for a walk.  They came back after a little while and Wendell said that Kona did go shishi like normal.  I was so relieved.  When the vet returned my call I apologized and explained how distressed I was about the shishi thing, but that I had been premature in my judgement.  I told her that his appetite still hadn't returned, however, and she said that if it's still the same by the next day that I should bring him in again. 



Later in the morning, Leslie texted me and asked how Kona was doing.  I told her that he still wasn't eating and that I couldn't even give him his medicine because of this.  She recommended that I try and put the pill into some cheese.  I dashed off without even answering her and tried it. He ate it!! The pill was supposed to help with his queasy stomach. I hoped that it would work.

Mich and Bobbi mentioned that I should try and give Kona some boiled chicken, so I concocted this boiled chicken and rice dish with a boiled egg for good measure.



HE ATE THE WHOLE THING!!!!  I cannot even tell you how happy I was.



I think Kona's starting to feel like his old self again.  Well, he's starting to steal our slippers again, anyway.  Thank you everybody for all of your help.  Hopefully, the worse is over.

Knee Brace Giveaway

Hah?  "Knee Brace Giveaway"?? Really, who gives away a knee brace, yah? Not sure if anybody out there needs one, but this is what happened.  I bought this knee brace for Wendell, but turns out he already has the exact same one.  I got it at the swap meet for $5. It looks brand new. The lady said she wore it once, but her doctor said that she needed a more heavy-duty one. 



A newer version of Model No. 422R on the McDavid website goes for $54.99.  You can check it out here.  This is an XL size (17" to 20" around the knee).  If more than one person wants it, then I'll have a drawing next Sunday.  Let me know by commenting here or you can email me at JalnaA@aol.com.

Sick Dog

Kona is sick, and I'm worried sick.  Thursday, he barfed up all of his breakfast and he had major diarrhea.  Yesterday, the vomiting stopped but he still had loose stools.  The worse part is he has no appetite. Yesterday, he only ate a few biscuits and two apple slices.  This morning, he wouldn't eat anything.



So we took Kona to the vet.  He got a couple of shots and some medicine.  I also bought a few cans of i/d Low Fat GI Restore canned dog food.  It took Kona a few hours but he did eat around half of the can.  I hope he starts feeling better soon.  

Atkinson Grill

I just love it when Keone from Atkinson Grill asks if I can take photos of his food for him . . . mostly 'cause I get to take the food home.  He contacted me last week and said that he needed some new photos for his website.  I said, "Shoots."  You can check out his site here.

Steak Breakfast Wrap


Steak Loco Moco


Slavonic Steak


Fresh Catch of the Day


The Works Omelet


Early Bird Special with Steak Hash

Late to Work

The other day CQ made me a salad for lunch.  Isn't that awesome!  So nice yah!  Thank you CQ!



It had tofu with furikake, avocado, tomatoes, mandarin oranges, corn, and candied walnuts in it. Just the kind of salad that I like.  It was such a welcome treat, especially after the rough morning I'd just had.  



As you can see from the title of this post, I was late getting to work that day.  It started out as a typical morning . . . nothing unusual. I woke up. Went outside to water my plants. Made myself a cup of coffee. Got Aunty ready. Waited for the Handivan to come and pick her up.  Got myself dressed. When the time came, I gathered up my stuff, said goodbye to Kona, locked the door and headed to the car.   I totally wasn't prepared for what happened next.

As I got into the car, I felt a prick on my upper thigh by my left pants pocket.  It felt like getting poked by one of those prickly burs that sometimes get stuck on your socks. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. Then I reached in again trying to feel for the bur.  I felt another prick, but this time it was on my left index finger . . . and this time it was more than a prick. It felt like a stab. I automatically squeezed my finger 'cause it hurt so much, and a little drop of blood appeared.  Within 2 seconds both my finger and the area on my thigh started to throb. I remember thinking . . . this feels just like a bee sting. WHAAAA???? A . . . BEE . . . STING!!!!  OMG THERE MUST BE A BEE STUCK IN MY PANTS, AND THE ONLY THING BETWEEN ME AND IT IS A LITTLE BIT OF MATERIAL.

One thing I was sure of was that it was that big, black carpenter bee that is always flying around where I hang the laundry.  Another thing I was sure of was that I wanted my pants OFF OFF OFF, NOW NOW NOW!!! 

I fumbled around for my keys, ran back to the house, frantically unlocked the door, flew it open, and in mid run, tore off my pants. I then dashed into the bathroom, and not knowing what else to do, ran some cool water onto my finger which by now was just throbbing.  

You will not believe what happened next . . . as I stood there in my panties, holding my finger under the tap . . . with pain coursing through my finger and my thigh . . . 

The doorbell rang.

For real . . . the doorbell rang. 

I knew that in my haste I had not shut the front door, but I was pretty sure that the screen door had closed behind me. I wondered who in the world it could be.  Kona started barking, barking, barking (good boy Kona).

I grabbed for my stay-at-home shorts, which is actually Wendell's hand-me-down shorts, but I like it 'cause it's big and comfortable, and I put it on.  The guy at the door had mistakenly thought that our neighbor's mango tree was ours, and he asked if we would be willing to sell him some mangoes.  I think I might've been a little less than hospitable when I said, "Whaaa??? We don't even have a mango tree."  He apologized profusely and then left. Looking back, I feel bad at how I reacted, but at that time I really didn't care.

The pain started subsiding, which was good because I still had to deal with that bee. I took my pants outside to the back yard.  Of course I took my camera too . . . 'cause you know . . . you always gotta document these things.  I turned my pants inside out and slowly started to peel away the pocket material.  I saw it.  Sure enough, it was that black fuzzy bee.  It wiggled itself free and suddenly, before I could snap a shot, it flew off.  All I managed to do was scream.

And so that's how come I was late.

Ailey - 3 Years Old

I met Ailey and family at Makai Pier for her 3-year-old photos. Ailey's grown into quite a sweet and charming young lady.  It's so good fun talking story with her. Having had to postpone the photo shoot once due to rain, I was so, so happy that the weather and tide cooperated perfectly this time.

Diet Update

Hi Peoples!!  That was a nice break.  I feel refreshed.  Thanks for your patience. 

This is the 4th week of our Biggest Loser Challenge at work.  And guess what . . . I've lost 8 pounds!  Hard for believe, yeah?  I know!  I've been eating choke salads and soups, and it seems to be working.

This past Sunday, Sweetie bought me some fundraiser BBQ chicken from New Hope Diamond Head.  It was da bomb ono and it turned my salad lunch into something special.


I added this which I bought from Safeway.


And this.


This is my favorite dressing lately.  I'm into my second bottle. For my picture above, I only acting that I use that little bit dressing.  I put a lot more on before I ate it.  Hey! Give me a break, k!


Yummmmmm!!!!


Coworker Lorna who pulled my name in a side bet makes me smoothies every Monday.  Howzdat yah!  I really wanna win the challenge for her. She's been so sweet and supportive.


I've been eating a lot of bananas.  I like this Hamakua Springs brand from Foodland.  It's tastier than the regular Dole kine.


I even made myself some miso soup this past week.  I'll share my recipe on another day.


One side benefit that I discovered when I went for my 3-month doctor check-up last week was that my cholesterol numbers went down 20 whole points since my last visit!!  Unreal yah!

But, I AM missing certain foods A LOT.  As soon as this challenge is pau, here's what I'm gonna eat:

1)  Sekiya saimin
2)  mochi, mochi, mochi
3)  pizza (that thin crust one in the commercial)
4)  shaved ice
5)  potato chips

Hooo hoooo, only 3 more months to go!  Wish me luck!