Winner! And Polka-Dot Grocery Tote

Tammy! You won the My Melody pouches! Can you email me your mailing address?  Congratulations!



And now, here's a pink and brown polka-dot eco grocery bag that I made. Cute, hah? I love that color combination. It's not particularly big . . . 19 x 14 inches. I used almost every bit of the polka-dot fabric which I got at a rummage sale.


It's reversible, and it's up for grabs! First person to email me at JalnaA@aol.com can have it. I'll update this post if/when the bag goes. Update:  Got one taker already! But stay tuned. I have more bags to give away.

Wendells' Slow-Cooker Kalua Pig

MARK! MARK!  Wendell made the kalua pig! THANK YOU for sending me the link to the recipe! It was the best kalua pig I ever ate!

Here's the link:  La Fuji Mama



Here are some remnants left in the slow cooker. I was small-kine late in getting my picture, and you know Wendell . . . he ain't waiting around for me to get my shot. Right from the pot, it might've been a little bit on the salty side.


But Wendell added it to some cabbage anyway, so it ended up being perfect.

iPad Mini Pouch

I bought a well-used My Melody quilted-material tote at a garage sale for 25 cents. I forgot to take a "before" picture so you gotta imagine how the tote looked before I cut it up. The pouch I made using it is on the left and the remnants of the tote is on the right. The material is small-kine faded and a bit worn, the handles were bust-up, and got some smudges on the pocket that didn't come out even after a washing. But for 25 cents . . . why not, yah?



I had trouble due to the thickness of the materials, and I broke the needle on my sewing machine trying to go through one particularly thick segment. Then I made the mistake of using an adhesive-backed velcro for the top closure thinking that I could also stitch it for double security. Nope. The adhesive gummed up my new needle and the thread too, so the velcro is just stuck on with no stitching.

I kept the already-made pocket intact and just had to reposition it. I'm thinking that you could even put your iPad in the outside pocket and put other stuff inside of the pouch if you like.


And then, got bonus. I made a small zippered pouch with an attaching lanyard using the leftover material that you saw in the first photo. It's about 7 x 4.5 inches and very lightweight. I ended up using all of the material from the tote except for the bust-up handles and a small patch from a corner.



Did you guess that this is a giveaway? Anybody want the pouches?


If you're interested, just leave a comment here or email me at JalnaA@aol.com and I'll put your name in a drawing. I have a few more bags that I want to give away, but because they're really nothing special and made with old, sometimes recycled material, I'm having a hard time deciding if I should just do a "first to email me" kind of thing or do a drawing. 

For now, for this one, I decided to make it a short-deadline drawing, and see how it goes. Winner of this drawing will be announced next Wednesday (9/16/15) morning. 

Milfrutts Candy Winnah

This past week seemed to drag. There were a lot of you who entered this drawing, and I couldn't wait to see who the winner was gonna be already.  

I wrote out all the names the night before, and first thing in the morning I asked Wendell to pull one.



And the winner is  . . . 


Yes, it's YOU, Karen!!!


I asked Wendell to pull three more names. If your name is here, you are runner-up winners, and I'll send you a few pieces of the candy so that you can at least taste how ono it is, although you better not like it too much because . . . you know . . . pretty soon not gonna have anymore. 


Can you guys email me your mailing address (JalnaA@aol.com), and I'll send you your candy the next chance I have to go to the post office. Congratulations!

Climbing Mt. Fuji

Cousins Gary and Phyllis and da kids did the Mt. Fuji hike/climb! What an adventure, yah!








Here's Gary's story:

Well we did the climb, well sort of. All the training I did did not prepare me for this climb. This was brutal. It's not a hike but a climb.

We all made it to the 8th station where we had a nice curry rice meal. At 2 am they wake you to continue the climb to the summit to see the sunrise. 

Houston, we have a problem. We start to hear rain at night, and the rain is getting harder. So when the hut man comes around at 2 to wake us, he also announced that there's a typhoon approaching. It's very dangerous, and you won't be able to see the sunrise because of that. Well, we didn't pick up all that when he said that and neither did the rest of the foreign tourists, so we and the tourists all got up. Hmmm, why are the Japanese not getting up? Only after we got up and started talking in broken English and Japanese did we understand why.

Phyllis and I stayed back, but the kids were gung ho and decided to make the 2-hour trek to the summit despite the hut man's recommendation not to. So 2 hours later they not only made it to the top but back to the hut!

Swap Meet Shopping

You know you're serious swap meet shoppers when all of your purchases don't fit into your rolly things, and you have to resort to tying bags onto their handles. 

My cart is the one on the right. It's stuffed with fabric and a mahogany bowl. The bubble mailers cost me $10 for 10 big and 20 small envelopes. Good deal, yah!



Sweetie bought guppies and water plants for $1.


Geri paid around $7 for this orchid plant.


These mangoes were $1/pound.


This was $2. Didi bought it for Geri's granddaughter.


Lately, I been lazy to take pictures while at the swap meet, but I'll try to do better in the future.  

Taking in a Baseball Game in Japan

My cousins, Gary, Patty and Phyllis and my Uncle Ronald (my dad's brother) are in Japan right now. Gary sent me some videos via iPhone text message. Isn't technology so wonderful!! I asked him if I could share the videos and his commentary with you (well, sorta asked), and he said okay. Thanks Gary!!!



And here's Patty's clip of the umbrella dance. Thanks Patty!



The baseball game was totally worth it as the crowds are so lively! Never mind that it's an old stadium, only one level, no private luxury suites. Food is great, they don't gouge you, fans are so into the game. They do this umbrella thing during the 7th inning stretch, and whichever team is batting their fans cheer wildly.

This is after the Hiroshima Carp scored to take the lead in the top of the 9th against the home team Yakul Swallows.

And the beer girls!!! OMG there are numerous beer girls selling beer in the stands and they sell obscene amounts of beer! Good fun and a great experience.

All the red you see in the stands are Hiroshima Carp fans who took the train up.  Easily half the stadium were Carp fans then they spend the night in Tokyo. Fans from both sides are great. No cussing, people take their garbage with them. I know Wendell would enjoy this.

I Am Sad

Here is a response that I received from Kanro regarding an email that I sent them about their Milfrutts candy.

Hi Jalna,

Thank you for your inquiry about our product.
(So nice that they're responding, yah!)

Unfortunately, the product you asked about is available only in Japan because of FDA restriction on coloring ingredients.
(Oooh, it's the coloring ingredients that the FDA doesn't like. I was wondering.)

We also regret to inform you that the product will be discontinued this month because of its declining performance in Japan. You will not have a lot of chances to purchase it even in Japan.
(Whaaaaat?? NOOOOOO!!! Say it isn't so!!!)

Have you tried Pure gummy which is one of the best gummy candies in Japan? Those are available in US. Please try them!
(I replied that I would try them, but I actually don't really care for gummies.)

Your blog is very interesting. I enjoy it very much.
(Awwww, so kind.)

Thank you again for your interest in our product.
(Waaaaaaahhhh!)

S. Yamamoto

Giveaway!!

Guess what just came in the mail . . . 



MILFRUTTS CANDY!!!!!  If you're not up-to-speed on my Milfrutts candy addiction, you can check out my post here. 

It's a hard candy that's both fruity and creamy. It tastes like ice cream in hard-candy form. There are four flavors: Strawberry, melon, peach and mango. All of the flavors are good. I love them all! 

And, I'm giving away one bag.



If you're curious and wanna try, just leave a comment here or email me at JalnaA@aol.com, and I'll enter your name into a drawing. Winner will be announced next Friday (9/11) morning.

Wendell's Lechon Special

This recipe is courtesy of Elena's Filipino Foods and can be found here.  Basically, you're supposed to boil some pork belly for about 1 1/2 hours. Then you place the pork in a strainer for about 1/2 hour to drain the water and then you deep fry for another 1/2 hour or so.

I lucked out and was able to get some action shots for you.





Whoa!!


Chop up and add onions, tomatoes, patis and salt. I've been thinking about adopting a more vegetarian lifestyle, but it's foods like this that make that totally impossible.