Today, thanks to the Department of Transportation and Alana, we got to ride Skyline, Honolulu’s new rail system.
It was really neat! We went from the Aloha Stadium to Kapolei in 21 minutes and back in a smooth comfortable ride. We had birdseye views of places that could not be seen otherwise.
I was one of the constant grumblers about the system from the start but I ate crow today and thoroughly enjoyed the round trip. I plan to load up a senior Holo card for one way trips that cost $1, or opt for a $35 annual senior pass and use it to ride to Kapolei, catch an Uber to the shopping center or theatres there, eat ono Filipino food at Julie’s, and return to town (currently the Aloha Stadium).
Here is a short video of the segment from Leeward Community College to Pearl Highlands. I hope that you enjoy the ride!
Everyone has heard of eBay and Amazon. Those two are the internet giants of online shopping (or maybe just Amazon is the giant). Free shipping, great deals, and finding items to fill our needs and wants.
However, my daughter’s mother-in-law gave me a real nifty pair of bling rubber slippers – but they were one size too small. Fortunately, it still had the info tag, which I searched on Amazon and eBay. No luck. A google search turned up a site called Mercari.com.
Hmmm. This was uncharted territory but it looked like eBay without the traffic. The bling slippers were listed at $3 with $6 shipping from a seller named Mixit. I took the chance, signed up with a user name, password, etc. and ordered it. Lo and behold, it came in brand new, tags on, perfect condition, and fast!
Temu
And then, while sitting in the dentist chair getting my teeth cleaned, my dental hygienist, the loquacious and beautiful Liane told me about Temu.com. She said that it is just like Amazon, but cheaper. And shipping is free for the first 3 orders so take time filling up the cart before finalizing and paying for an order. Temu.com took over Alibaba, the Chinese version of Amazon and thus it sells discounted items with more discounts.
Granted, this was a one-way conversation because my mouth was open and Liane’s fingers and probes were restricting my speaking, but I did manage to ask “what kind of stuff they sell?” And she said “Everything”.
So, I went home and checked it out.
At first, it looked like cheap stuff – like what we used to find at the Dollar Store (when we had that one in Hawaii Kai). But then, they had stuff like solar lights (which is my favorite) and flexible garden hoses (which I like), and Dremel blade and sanding attachments, skin tag remover stickers, sewing clips, gardening stuff, and after awhile, I was so tired of looking, I stopped adding things to my cart, took out some stuff, and hit the pay button. I had 10 items which totaled $36 with free shipping. I wasn’t expecting much, and it did take awhile to get to me, (10 days) but the other day I had a big package delivered with all of them in good condition and felt like I did a big score!
Score!
I was VERY happy with this order – but I did notice that some of the prices went up (if I wanted to re-order) but I actually don’t need to re-order anything. Temu also likes to send me emails and today, I had a “gift” email which was a choose it game, so I played it and chose window #1. This opened up another window of choose a box and I won a 25% discount on one item of my choice, which they immediately doubled to 50%! So of course I scrolled until I found an “expensive” item which was a human sensing solar wall light that was already discounted 46% ($17) and with my 50% discount, I paid $8.74! I might be hooked. And I hope free shipping is NOT just only for the first 3 orders.
It has been fun. But I need to take a break from online shopping. My garden needs weeding and house needs cleaning. And I know, as I go about my daily tasks, I will find that I need this or that. And if Amazon or eBay doesn’t have it, I can also look at Mercari.com and Temu.com. If they don’t have it, then it is not meant to be. Or I have to pay full price – B@(%?*&#!
A shout out to Liane, my favorite dental hygienist at the awesome Dr. Hideki Kurokawa’s office.
The name of this take out restaurant is understated. It should be DANG Good Chicken, because it really is dang good.
I went there 3 times this week. That’s how ono it was.
The first time I ordered kimchee mandoo only ($13.95) because I had already ordered oxtail soup and chopped steak from Asahi Grill on Ward Avenue. Asahi Grill told me 20 minutes so I took a stroll down Kawaiahao Street and saw the chicken shop (which used to be a Vietnamese restaurant before). It is between Asahi Grill and the Rice Factory on Kawaiahao Street. Limited parking in the front with more parking available in the back.
The kimchee mandoo was dang good! A tad too spicy but super ono since it was made fresh and fried the way I like it. And they were stuffed big and juicy with a vinegary onion & radish sauce on the side.
The next time I went I ordered the Whole Chicken Set ($20.95) which was a deep fried split chicken with french fries and a drink. It is what that kid on the video display was eating with delightful crunchy abandon. Super crispy skin and moist and hot inside. SO good! I also ordered the regular Pork Mandoo fried ($12.95) and loved it. At Jay’s (the owner) suggestion, I added the Pork Mandoo Soup ($12.95) and thought it was very comforting but a bit mild. If I do order soup again, it will be the Kim Chee Mandoo Soup. Here are pictures – which I took after I started chowing down because I just couldn’t wait.
fried mandoo with one piece missing
pork mandoo soup
whole chicken set with wing missing
Then, yesterday, Pal Wandaful and I stopped in before we went to the Hawaii Collector’s Expo at the Blaisdell (was a REALLY good show this year!) and we split an order of the fantastic fried Pork Mandoo ($12.95) and a Garlic Chili Chicken Wing plate ($12.95) which was just right spicy, steaming hot out of the kitchen and finger licking good!
Just thinking about it makes me want to order the Garlic Chili Chicken Wings ($16.95 for 10 pieces) or maybe try the Dak Gangjeong with rice cake ($16.95). Or maybe Tteok Bokki (mochi logs) with Yaki Mandoo ($20.95) or their new Kimari seaweed rolls ($5.95). There is a way to order using this QR code but that is too techie for me. I rather just go down, order, and wait. It is really fun to watch that kid in the video eat and eat and eat. EVERYTHING is good there. Dang good!
Update: I went back today because I was out and about (senior discount day at Ross and Savers) and just had to order the 10 pieces of garlic chili chicken wings ($16.95), another whole chicken set ($20.95), half order of Dak Gangjeong ($16.95), more pork mandoo, and the Tteokbokki Rice Cake with Kimari ($13.95 + $10.95). Yes, I was hungry and my forever hungry daughter was coming for dinner and she LOVED the crispy fried chicken and kimari (deep fried seaweed roll).
The Dak Gangjeong was a bit too hot for me – it had a good taste like Chinese style sweet and sour but more heat and rice cake rolls added in for interesting texture. The Kimari had to be ordered with Tteokbokki because it is dipped in and eaten with the radish pickles. Another interesting one. The half order of garlic chili chicken wings was more chicken than a plate lunch and so satisfying, as was the always wonderful pork mandoo. I had cooked a pot of rice and we really did feast tonight – and there was a LOT of leftovers.
I wonder if I’ll ever get tired of their food. I have a feeling this is going to be one of my regular stops. But not tomorrow, I think.
I am super busy in moving my things from upstairs to downstairs and in between. I know I need to do a post on making jook, and continuing the Korean Natural Farming techniques but even my plants and soil are on hold.
A quick note about coffee grounds: I would save my coffee grounds every morning after making my cup of coffee (and adding a teaspoon of MCT oil for brain and body health). Then, after I have an ample quantity, I would sprinkle it around the mango tree, on the grass, and occasionally on potted plants such as roses, bougainvillea, etc. I also started sprinkling it on my bed of struggling asparagus.
Lately, I lost 2 wonderful plants in large pots. One was a small tree with willow like branches and flowers with large white petals – my West Indian pea plant. Another was a rather large spreading bush/tree with glorious purple sprays of flowers like wisteria – Golden dewdrop. I couldn’t figure out what was happening because these were strong healthy plants for years.
Then it hit me – it was the coffee grounds which I was getting more generous in these pots because I thought it was good for them. They could handle a little boost but not chunks of used up coffee grounds. The rose bushes were fine but other more delicate plants such as asparagus could not tolerate it. Even my bougainvillea struggled a bit, but they are such hardy plants that I have turned into bonsai-like trees in restrictive pots, they would lose all their leaves and then get new foliage. Ginger plants started dying. Heliconias shriveled up and disappeared.
So, lesson learned the hard way – I don’t save my coffee grounds anymore. I just toss them in the trash and NOT in the disposal (which I USED to think was good for the disposal).
Do you use coffee grounds successfully? I sure haven’t, poor plants.
An aside:
One of my favorite Seattle blog sites that I visit is Linda’s Letters, who is a wonder in the kitchen and her garden is show worthy. She does wonderful flower arrangements around her house with vintage vases which she picks from her garden planted with species that we can’t have here, such as her canopy of Wisteria that is glorious in bloom. Our common plants here in Hawaii need protection from the cold up there. Linda seems to like tropical plants a lot and takes photos of them whenever she visits plant nurseries in the Pacific Northwest.
I end this quickie post with a lovely centerpiece that I won at our latest HSFAG (Hawaii Stitchery and Fibre Arts Guild) party that past president Aileen Kaneshiro made for all the tables. It is really lovely and made with common plants we have here and probably growing in her back yard. Mahalo, Aileen, for letting me show off a beautiful arrangement of our Hawaii bounty. I wish I could say I did it, but not today.
Every Thanksgiving, Aunty makes this mochi rice stuffing for friends and family. The very first year, we used it to stuff the turkey that Uncle and Cousin Mike were in charge of – using a large hibachi grill with dome cover. Because the turkey was stuffed, it took way longer to cook and the 2 “boys” came in sunburned, quite drunk with too many beers, and the stuffing oozing out and charred.
It was really really delicious, though, but the following years, we stopped stuffing it into turkeys in order to save on cooking and drinking time.
We use Mow Lee & Co. lup cheong from a hole in the wall place at 774 Commercial Street in San Francisco . Any brand will do, but Aunty really likes the freshness and taste of this one.
2 1/2 cups mochi rice
2 1/2 cups water
6 large dried mushrooms, soaked (start the soaking first or use fresh)
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 lb diced lup cheong (Chinese sausage)
1 cup chopped water chestnuts
2 tablespoons chopped Chinese parsley
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Dash of pepper
Soak the 6 large dried shiitake mushrooms, following package directions. The Korean shiitake mushrooms from Costco require soaking it in just boiled water for quite a while. Do this part early because sometimes those mushrooms seems to take forever to soften, or use fresh ones.
Cook the 2 1/2 cups of mochi (sweet) rice in your rice cooker. I usually do 5 cups so we have more stuffing. Sometimes I soak before cooking, but many times I don’t remember to prep the rice so I just cook it like regular.
Chop, chop, chop all the ingredients. This is the junk part but if you prep it all ahead of time, it becomes a pleasure to cook rather than a chore. Chop the non greasy stuff first, i.e. onions, green onions, mushrooms, water chestnuts, Chinese parsley. Then chop the lup cheong, then the bacon. I put the chopped onions, green onions, lup cheong, and mushrooms in a big bowl together, and the water chestnuts and Chinese parsley in a smaller bowl together. The bacon goes right into the pan.
Using the biggest non stick pan you have and a large wooden paddle, stir fry the bacon until crisp. Then, stir fry in the big bowl of chopped stuff – onions, green onions, lup cheong, and mushrooms. Cook until onions are clear.
Add the cooked mochi rice in dollops or chunks and stir fry, breaking up the clumps of rice and then add the water chestnuts, Chinese parsley, soy sauce, salt, sugar, and dash of pepper.
Stir fry until you are happy. Your arms might be tired from all that stirring, but the aromas and deliciousness are your reward. Serve and enjoy!
I used to think that Lam’s Kitchen had the best noodles in town. Located on the corner of Maunakea and N. Pauahi, their noodles are the bomb – freshly made, silky soft and delightful in soup, with gravy topping, or great stir fried.
However, Pal Wandaful is always game for good noodles and I told her about MaybeItsJenny’s recommendation of a true hole-in-the-wall a few blocks away from there that had really good Beef Brisket Lo Mein – Kukui Cafe. Jenny is a true foodie, as is my Pal Wandaful, and so we went and enjoyed their Beef Brisket Lo Mein along with an order of moist and perfectly cooked salt and pepper chicken wings. Really good – and we didn’t have to worry about dishes or cups being dirty because everything was on paper or plastic plates and cups.
Since we were Downtown we stopped in to see the new and much smaller Robyn Buntin Gallery to ask about a new noodle maker they told us about before – Byong byong, or something like that. I lucked out and found an illegal parking space right in front of Robyn’s place and asked what and where the noodle people were and lo and behold – there were the noodle people – right behind my illegally parked car loading up their truck for the Blaisdell Farmers Market!
Talk about food fate! Wandaful and I HAD to check them out and boy are we glad we did. Their name is Youpo Noodles Hawaii and people follow them on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youponoodleshi/?hl=en. They make Biang Biang Mein (the sound of the noodles stretching).
We had their Cumin Lamb with cabbage, choy sum, bean sprouts, soy & black vinegar ($17), Duck with mustard greens, cabbage, choy sum, bean sprouts, soy & black vinegar ($17), and their Mushroom Tofu with cabbage, choy sum, bean sprouts, soy & black vinegar ($15).
All of them were SOOOOO good! My favorite was the Mushroom Tofu which was quite spicy – but then, I do like spicy. The sauce is indescribable – so I won’t try to describe it. Okay, maybe I will try. Savory, rich, fragrant, sexy. The noodles were unbelievable. Soft yet chewy, thick and frilly, long and continuous. The sauce, toppings and noodles were like a symphony. A masterpiece that has to be eaten fresh.
Youpo Noodles are at Blaisdell on Wednesday afternoons, Kailua Farmers market on Thursday mornings, and the super busy Kakaako Farmers market on Saturday mornings. We going again next Wednesday, right, Wandaful?
Here is a first time iMovie I did with my iphone and posted it on YouTube showing how it is made. That was a rather excruciating process that was also kind of surprisingly easy!
Update: I went again to the Wednesday Farmer’s Market today because I didn’t get to go with Wandaful last week. She cooked up her leftovers with more veggies such as bok choy, which made it less spicy. According to her, it was still good a few days later. Today I ordered the mushroom tofu again – and found out from 2 ladies that were thinking about ordering – that the mushroom tofu had 4 chili peppers – so it is the hottest. Yup, it was, but oh so ono! And like Wandaful, I will save the leftovers (instead of letting my son-in-law eat the rest) and stir fry it another day with veggies. Or, I wonder how it would be in broth like saimin. Maybe next time I’ll see if I can just order plain noodles for my little grandson to try. He will probably love the thick chewy-ness. Such a treat!
I remember the first time I encountered a Ring doorbell. I went to visit my brother in Palolo but no one was home after I went to their front door. Then I had to jump back because my brother’s voice came out of the woodwork and said “Hi! We’re at Costco right now.” and I could hear my sister-in-law laughing in the background because she could see my shocked reaction via the Ring camera.
A few years after that, I decided to buy one for my front door and it has been one of the best techie gadgets ever. It is super easy to install – especially if it is the battery model. My grandson loves to ring it and hear the chimes and I can see whoever is there whether they press the door bell or just pass by. $39 per year will save videos so I can scroll backwards and see who came by (as well as seeing myself going in and out). There are several different models that can be found on the Ring.com website and once you sign up and buy one, you get special deals and discounts (so now I have a second ring for my back door). At first I balked at paying $39/year but it comes out to a bit more than $3/month and being able to scroll back is a wonderful feature vs. only getting live views that are not recorded.
The Neighborhoodapp
Just the doorbell and video features are great, but what is even niftier is the sister app to Ring called Neighbors. I signed up for notifications about crime, lost animals, community events all within a certain range from where I live. I get notifications about break ins, weird people walking into yards – captured and shared videos posted by other Ring users in my vicinity. There are some unlawful incidents and the perpetrators are caught on camera to alert us and help the police catch them.
Tonight, the Ring Neighborhood app brought home my daughter’s doggie.
Toshi wandered out of the yard around noon because the side gate was left open. Usually he hangs around since he is 14 years old, slow, and deaf but this time I didn’t notice that he was missing until a couple of hours had passed. I drove around and around and then put on my walking shoes after killing my feet with rubber slippers and walked for blocks in the hot sun asking people if they saw a loose dog. I gave up in the evening, called the Humane Society to report a lost dog, posted on Facebook’s Paw Posse Ohana (which takes a few hours to be moderated and approved), and then decided to try the Ring Neighborhood app.
Toshi
I described the situation and posted pictures of Toshi. The app shows the general vicinity of where I live and immediately I started getting feedback and support from others in my neighborhood, asking what cross streets I lived on, kind sympathetic messages of hope, people saying that they would go driving around, etc. Within 10 minutes, a message showed up with a phone number and that they found Toshi! He was on a leash at a man’s house and when they saw him and asked the man about it, he said he found a dog roaming around on the street, fed him, and was taking him out to poop, hoping someone would show up looking for their dog.
I called the number and was given an address. I zoomed over and found a nice young couple (Tessa and James) in front of their house holding Toshi in their arms. The kindness of strangers. A community of caring individuals. How wonderful is that.
It makes me want to cheer: “I’m from Kaimuki and no one could be prouder. And if you cannot hear me, I’ll yell a little louder! …..”
I love this neighborhood and Ring helps us to be better neighbors. A big mahalo to Ring and its Neighborhood app. It makes me want to cheer for Ring but it’s hard to figure one out for a name that is just one syllable. “Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!”
I am a take out queen. It is a terrible admission but that is who and what I am. I KNOW I should be cooking healthy dishes and I do thoroughly enjoy a good home cooked meal (mahalo Wandaful!) but all those preparation logistics such as rinsing and starting the rice pot and defrosting frozen meats make me dizzy. And so, I do take out and fast food.
This month, I downloaded the Zipster app. This is a new app by Zippy’s Restaurants to replace the old one. I had paid my $20 annual dues to be in the Senior discount club saving me 10% on my purchases there but that program was going to be discontinued SO they offered me a refund check of $20 or a credit of $100 if I joined the Zipster app. Of course I opted for the $100 and followed the instructions on their fun “how to” video. So now I have $100 in food credit! My first purchase with the app with be a glazed donut. I love Zippy’s glazed donuts. After any first purchase by September 30, I earn a Zip Pack meal – woohoo, such a deal!
The next app I downloaded was the McDonald’s app. Why? Because I made a bet with a friend and lost. The bet was for lunch and he wanted a Big Mac meal. I hadn’t eaten at McDonalds for decades – other than getting their 99¢ large Coca Cola in drive through. I took a bite of my Big Mac. Surprise! It was delicious! Juicy, with dill pickles and shredded lettuce on a soft bun. Probably totally unhealthy but REALLY tasty and satisfying. (Good for the soul but not for the body.)
So he heard from pal Cookie about the deals on the app. Buy one Big Mac, get one free – and our mutual friend downloaded the app and we kept making Big Mac bets, happily winning or losing, going through the drive through windows and getting 2 Big Macs and our 99¢ Coca Colas. Easy to do – order through the deal through the app and tell the drive through teller the 4 digit code that pops up. We order our sodas after we supply the app codes. Only one deal can be done at a time (so we didn’t order french fries.)
But today, my daughter said the deal is a Big Mac and fries for $4.01. Ayeeyah! So I downloaded the McDonald’s app (very fast) and sure enough – that was the deal today. A thank you for signing up deal is a free large fries expiring on August 31, which I will use in the coming weeks. Yum yum yum.
I will soon be old enough to collect the maximum amount of Social Security benefits. Seven decades old.
I walk past windows and if there is a mirror, I sometimes see a senior citizen dressed rather nicely and then I realize that it is me in the reflection. Ouch! Am I THAT old woman?
Yep, I am. And I am growing up and learning to accept it and embrace it. Getting older is quite wonderful. The hidden “rules” of youth such as not farting in public are relaxed and we learn to chuckle at those gastric escapes when they occur.
And old songs that we forgot come into our ear space with the wonders of the internet, such as this oldie by The Seekers that brings back penguin feelings that Uncle and I shared, “I’ll Never Find Another You.”
Every Thanksgiving, Aunty makes this mochi rice stuffing for friends and family. The very first year, we used it to stuff the turkey that Uncle and Cousin Mike were in charge of – using a large hibachi grill with dome cover. Because the turkey was stuffed, it took way longer to cook and the 2 “boys” came in sunburned, quite drunk with too many beers, and the stuffing oozing out and charred.