Last lunch of the year

I think I might have posted about these before, but it's worth mentioning again. Chewy black Korean noodles in an icy broth with a side of kalbi... SO good!

The company was good too... Taryn joined but Lauren ditched us for Maui... Whatever, Lauren!
Yu Chun on Kapiolani, next to Mckinley Car Wash.

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Geekfest part 2

As a follow up to how silly I thought it was for us to stand in line 1 hour and 20 mintues to see Avatar... OMG, IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!

Official Avatar Movie

Such a good movie... and 3D has certainly come a LONG way since I remember buying the red and blue glasses in the supermarkets! All of Avatar, the story, the graphics - AHmahzing. Loved it. See it again? Most definitely!

Mmmm, malasadas!

A fried doughnut like no other! From Leonard's Bakery on Kapahulu Ave or from one of their many mobile malasadas trucks. Thankfully, one such truck parks at Windward Mall, near my house in Kaneohe, almost daily! I've searched for these gems from the gods in LA with no luck... But today heard a rumor the King's Hawaiian Bakery in Gardena has them on the weekends?!?
And introducing malasadas with li hing powder! They were pretty good! And apparently there is a new version made from taro that's purple on the inside and supposedly broke-da-mouth (aka delicious). I'm on the lookout!

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Geekfest

Heh? Good thing we listened to rob... HO da LINE for Avatar 3D IMAX snakes around Dole Cannery 1 hour 20 min before the start!

Better be good!

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Kaneohe Christmas

Merry Christmas!
Here's our tree on Xmas eve with more presents than we've seen under it in years. I think it's because my bro and his new wife are spending the night and brought their gifts here to open together in the morning. He was up a 7:30 and like always did his best to ensure we were all up shortly thereafter. lots of loot! And Santa was good to all of us.
Here's our traditional Christmas morning brunch! My mom makes my grandma's recipie for "David Eyre's pancakes" (like moist pop-overs) eaten with syrup! (I prefer the coconut and passion fruit syrups, myslef.) And we had an array of fried breakfast meats - lil smokies, spam and 3 kinds of Portuguese sausage (regular, pineapple filled, and kim chee filled) yum! Now I'm ready for a nap!!

Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday!

Christmas Eve Hawaiian Style

The ulua head is defrosting in th kitchen sink (it will be grilled and the meat in the cheeks and the kama, neck area, is wonderful!) and so is the meat from costco (for tataki - seared rare beef).

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Finally heading home, quietly.

I was expecting mass chaos, but after an easy breezy check-in (where I'm convinced some of the angriest people in Lax are yelling and haggling with the agents cuz thier bags a too heavy... Don't you know to be nice to them and they usually let it slide? Be an ass and then your at their mercy) no line at the security check where I had to tear my goods off since there wasn't even waiting time to undo shoe laces, I strolled in a nearly silent terminal to get my dirty airport treat - mcdonalds.
So I'm totally hours early chowing down and da da da da da I'm lovin' it.
I even had time to order some soft tacos at Baja Fresh where this lady felt the need to order her's en gringo espanol... I was so embarrassed for her.
Ole mamasita.

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Pet peeves: Santa hats

Let me start by saying that I love Christmas. Love everything about it from the spirit in the air to fighting the bustling crowds at the mall to the tacky and gaudy decor. But the thing that I just cannot stand are "people who are not Santa but wearing Santa hats." Ugh. I just dont get it and the whle thing totally bugs me! Do they think they are the man himself? One if his helpers? Or perhaps they feel it's just festive season fashion? Let me tell you, it's not.
I will give, however, all pets, babies and most kids (12 and under) the ok to don the hat cuz that's just cute. Oh and Salvation Army bell ringers have a pass too.

Anyway, I know I'm not alone. There are lots of you haters out there. Can i get a what-what? And on a somewhat related note, have you all seen the car that have the clip on reindeer antlers, one for each side of the car?! Oh! Don't get me started. And when they go as far as fashioning a red nose to the front grill?! double oh! It makes me want to cut you off and steal the parking spot you've been waiting for. Oddly enough, I'm ok with mini-wreaths on the grill. Now that's cute and festive!

Anyhow, back to the hats... I once met up with friends for dinner and one of my friend's husbands showed up in an overly large and furry version that he proceeded to sport throughtout the meal, adjusting the fur ball at the end on and off as not to get any pad thai on it. I was mortified.

And I guess will continue to be mortified until Saturday when the hats will stored away in closets accross the county only to return and torment me next year.
Not quite the same, but along the same lines: ho ho hos in the baggage claim at HNL.

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I've got a ticket to ride... Away

Well more like Flyaway.
So my secert parking spot that had day rates of only $6 is apparently no secret any more... They were all booked up for the holidays so I'm trying something new! Just recently in service is the LAX Flyaway bus from Irvine train staion (near the Irvine Spectrum Center). Its a meer 20 min from my house, which I cut close for my own good this time, and only $25 one way. I thought it was going to be jammed but there are only 4 people on this huge boat of a bus. AC, free Wifi... And yes your forced into their schedule, but so very convenient otherwise. It be PERFECT if only I didn't have to pee. 60 min and counting, more like holding.

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happy Bday KK!

It was our friend KitKat's Birthday last week. And after more than 4 years of planning and putting-off, she had herself a roller rink party!

(note: new photo posted above!)

Yay for KitKat. She had a ball. But boo for us... we can't skate!

Although that didn't keep us from getting dragged out.


Jessica said, "I'll go out, but I don't want to get stranded in the middle..." She got stranded.

World On Wheels is a little further south and east that most travel... just minutes away from Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles! But surprisingly quaint and full of friendly folk like Santa and his helper (on the ukulele below) who chatted us up while we were lacing up.

Santa told us that he was there to pick himself up some "Ho, Ho, Ho's..." (I'm not kidding! and I died.)

The one tragedy of the evening was... while being towed too fast, I went down... hard... on my ass. And brought KitKat down on me... and we crushed Jessica's camera that was in my back pocket. So long dear pink Cannon!

We are now THOSE people

So today was our first day out of the house since we got Ollie. It also happens to be the day the cleaning people come to clean our apartment. And because we are not THOSE PEOPLE who treat their cats like their kids, we totally DID NOT make a sign to tape to our front door to forewarn the cleaning people to be cautious not to let our new cat escape.

At around 11:30, I received a frantic phone call from Kelly stating, "THEY CALLED, THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE THE CAT IS. I AM ON MY WAY HOME." And because I'm not that person either, I responded, "WHAT?! I AM ON MY WAY HOME TOO," and quickly ran out of the office (even leaving my computer on).

I sped home, driving 50 mph on Olympic. I got home first, and was frantic, calling Ollie, looking under the bed, in cabinets, everywhere. (I had learned that the cleaning people SWORE they didn't see him run out of the apartment, so I hoped he was still in there, hiding somewhere.) Then I heard a small "meow" from behind the dryer, and there was Ollie, just as calm as can be. I couldn't reach him and he wasn't jumping up, so I called Kelly, "HE'S HERE BEHIND THE DRYER, I CAN'T READ HIM." He responded, "I'M PARKING RIGHT NOW, I WILL BE RIGHT THERE." I pulled the dryer away from the wall and waited for Kelly, who got home shortly thereafter and pulled him out.

When we caught our breath, we laughed about how we have turned into THOSE CAT PEOPLE, and then we gave Ollie some cat treats.

Meet Oliver

Newly rescued from the dangerous suburban streets. He's still a little confused as to why he can't go outside, but he's a lovely, mellow, affectionate cat with the loudest purr in the world.

It was nice, twice!

Well, it was more than nice, it was amazing!



Right before I was off to the airport I made a return trip to the Momofuku Milk Bar (that's 3 times in a weekend people!) for some cookies, pork buns and soft serve (caramel apple!) to go. And on that last pic, THAT'S CHRISTINA TOSI (the head pastry chef) who served me! I wanted her to sign my cookies... but thought better of it. My box of cookies, but thought better of it.

The buns were the perfect "I'm home now snack" and the cookies were as delicios as ever! And made for good gifts to those who were deserving enough to receive one. Hopefully I've created some momo-converts with the peeps I've shared them with. Luckily I didn't show the the box that had been reduced to a ball of butter and lard drenched cardboard by the time it made it back to Cali.

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nah nah nah nah nah huh?

Taylor Dayne is still rocking it like it was 1994? Apparently!


So this chilly Tuesday was a big night at SCP...
First up - Mean-a Irina, winner of Project Runway Season 6 was at with Model of The Runway, 4th runner up Katie (oddly not Kayln, the winner and model that was paired with Irina. Not even the second or third place winner. I wonder what the story is there?) meeting and Q&A-ing at Macy's.
-Katie is surprisingly tall, and overly chatty
-Katie, despite professing her deep "connection" with her designer Christopher on the show, has not a clue to what he's up to these days. She follows his moves on facebook as not to look like a totally phony at things like this.
-Irina is pretty and quite tall too. She's so the gal from the show.

We were much closer that it appears in this photo...

And then it was off to Anqi by Crustacean (in Bloomingdale's) that was having it's pre-grand opening night party.
-Cool space and pretty restaurant
-Not a lot of food, but good chicken spring rolls and an open bar.
-The An's know how to do it - lots of people (looked like much of their family was in attendance), fashion show by Bloomingdale's, musical performances by Taylor Dayne and Tyler Hilton. (I know, it's no JT or Fergie, but pretty darn considering it's in a mall in the OC)
-Taylor rocked the house... and looks good.
-Tyler I'm-still-around Hilton was a bit of a flop. He sounded good, but acoustic guitar ballads can't follow a pop-rocker who we can all singalong with. And the crowd was much too old to know One Tree Hill, let alone know that he's not Paris' brother.


And the Grandmothers An were front and center having a banahnahs ahmazing time...


And it ended with a gift bag! A soapy candle and Bloomingdale's gift card!

Cold night, hot pot

Luckily I had preplanned to have nabe or Japanese hot pot for dinner this week. It was the perfect warming meal for the chilly 40 degree night we're having down this way!


Usually made in a big pot over a burner on the table and eaten family style, I've adopted my own nabe-for-one technique (for which, there is actually a Japanese word for, hitorinabe, which kind of has a pitiful undertone to it...sigh!) There are regional flavors and ingredients, but basically you throw a bunch of vegetables and meats into a boiling soup and then dip in various sauces.

This time, I made a miso based soup and for the meat, made ground turkey balls (an adaptation of I learned from a friend's ex while in Japan). For then dipping sauces, I had ponzu, a citrus soy, and a non-traditional garlic chili sauce. Not the prettiest picture, but warm, hearty and healthy!

Who saw Launch My Line?

Oh, Bravo... I know you're trying REAL hard to find a new fashion show to replace Project Runway. It sure as hell was NOT The Fashion Show. And I'm pretty sure after seeing the first episode of Launch My Line, that it's not going to be it either.


I do love DSquared and I love Dean and Dan... But it's a BAD sign when NONE of the "designers" recognized them. (I mean, come on!) And really what makes a show (aside from decent fashion, which there was none of because all of the people are aspiring designers) is the likability or hate-ability of the contestants. Like we saw with this season of Project Runway - everyone on it was all kinda meh... they were so boring that we neither cheered or hissed for anyone.

And such is the case for Launch My Line... except so far I hate them all of them already. And of course, (*warning - spoiler alert) the one guy that was somewhat likable got the boot. AND the fashions were just ok. But anyway, I'm going to watch it (of course!) and we'll discuss it again next week!!

Omg the best doughnut ever

I died!


So if ever you find yourself on down town LA, you must go to the Nickel Diner! I totally want to. A friend of mine went and raved about the down home cooking and the desserts. They are known for their doughnuts and were aparently on the food network for it. And... I know why.

The above was doughy and delicious, glazed and covered in crispy bacon! (and came with special instructions not to microwave but to heat up in the oven). It was magical. Like pancakes with maple syrup and bacon..... Mmmmmm doughnuts!
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