Eat,eat with M, pt.2 and Penny

More visiting favorite restaurants with M.  (After all, she is on her vacation)
Rokkaku Hamakatsu.  Their special that day was Madai Gashira (Red Snapper head nitsuke style).  Delicious!

Penny, on the other hand, wasn't interested in any of the restaurants that we took her to.
Nico's is a dog friendly place!

Penny not being interested in the Prime Rib.
She sits quietly more interested in her surroundings than the food.

Visiting Manoa Valley is a must, especially driving around the Treetop Cafe area, which used to be Paradise Park, which closed in 1994.  It was an exotic bird and plant park, and you can still hear the various parrots when visiting nearby Lyon's Arboretum.

We are hopefully awaiting its reopening soon.

Fendu Bakery in the Manoa Shopping Center is a great stop for a Wagyu hamburger sandwich.
Delicious, although Penny is unconcerned.

She even leaves the birds that hop around looking for crumbs, alone.  Only another dog will get her hackles up.

The Little Sheep Mongolian hot pot restaurant in Ward's Center is also a favorite.
Taking home the left over broth, rich with herbs and flavors from the meats, tofus and vegetables, is wonderful!

Last minute shopping at the Ala Moana Mall.
Bloomingdale's Year of the Monkey tree display.

Even good things must come to an end, and we dropped M off at the airport early Tuesday morning.

The Vog was contributing nicely to a hazy sunrise over Diamond Head on the way back.

A stop at Liliha Bakery for breakfast.

Penny is missing M a lot, but she'll be back soon.
The crocus is blooming in my pots bringing back memories of crocuses emerging from the ground in Tokyo as winter warms into spring.

M's visit...eating and Penny, part 1

M was here for a nice vacation from Maui.
Of course, we did all the things on her must do list, like visiting the favorite and new eateries!
 First of all, though, she found a very nice carrier for Penny, which became an instant favorite with her.  A bit small but Penny sits quietly and patiently in it.

Magnolia Cafe for breakfast.

Scrambled eggs were creamy and M loved her pulled pork sandwich.

The pancakes looked doughy, but were surprisingly tasty-light despite the heavier consistency.

Another place our family always visits when in Honolulu is Tonkatsu Bairin for their Fillet Katsu.

Lots of airy, finely sliced cabbage go well with the crispy and  tender pork katsu.  Grind your own sesame seeds sauce is good too.
The rice is served in a kama after 5:30 pm so we had individual bowls (we were too early), but it was well cooked anyway.

For dessert, we walked down to the little store on the corner and had ice cream and macaroons.
Liz and CL started this tradition and they don't even live in Hawaii.

Another favorite "have to" eatery is Gazen.

Hamachi sushi, Crisp Mahimahi.

Grilled salmon and ikura sushi.

Cheese on mochi and nori.

Of course, Penny had lots of attention.

Wondering what's on her head now.

What the...

Nooooo...

Penny's new bandana, Rokkaku, JJ Bakery

Chewbacca is cool, but I don't want to be him.

No matter how many Chewie dolls I have.
(Favorite is the round noisy green one and the squeeky tennis ball.)

Lunch at Rokkaku.

The Bukkake Udon.  Tempura chips, wakame, grated daikon, flaked dried bonito, and  poached egg over cold udon with wasabi.

M had the Nabeyaki Udon.
Usually the shrimp tempura is in the bowl with the hot noodles and other ingredients, but it's nice to have the tempura on a separate plate to keep it crisp.

Today we tried a new bakery, called JJ Bakery on Keeaumoku St. by the Mall.
There is one in California also.

Lots of varied pastries, from danishes to cakes and puddings with a Chinese twist.  

Counter space to have coffee or teas, also with a Chinese flavor, to  enjoy with the pastries.
I also heard someone ordering curry.
Just the type of cafe we needed by the Mall.

Nitrogenie, Ward's SC

The new Nitrogenie store that opened in the Ewa Wing of the Ala Moana SC was unusually empty today so we ventured in to find out what all the hype was about.

Using liquid nitrogen to quickly freeze the ingredients of the ice cream supposedly makes it tastier.

It was ok but had a sticky texture.

We left Penny at Aloha dog today with all the cute pups.
She gladly goes into the room, barking and being barked at.
Hopefully it's "nice to see you" and not "not you again".

Took her for a walk through the  interesting shops of Ward's Warehouse.  

Too bad it'll be gone in 2017.
Lots of local and unique boutiques here  in a very quiet and leisurely setting, comprared to the neighboring Ala Moana SC.

Time for a bath, Penny.
She has to be squeezed into the little basin, but she doesn't struggle.  

New Years

New Years Eve Day.
M and R had routine checkups at the doctor's so I decided to walk Penny around the Medical Center.
On a chance, we stopped in at Alice and Bob's home nearby and spent a wonderful half hour catching up.
We became friends when R and I joined a walking group at the Mall when we first returned from Japan.
Glad to see they are both healthy and happy!

What a fun dinner we had with Denise and Jay at Kincaid's.
The restaurant was full and lively and the food was good.

Crispy Calamari pupus.

Three of us had the Prime Ribs and Denise had the scallops.
It was a great end to 2015!

Ingrained custom from childhood resulted in eatng Toshikoshi Soba (Year crossing noodles, signifying health and long life).
Nothing fancy, just noodles and soup.

Here in Hawaii, the firecrackers are deafening around midnight.
This too is a custom to chase away evil and bad luck, but one that our families never adhered to.
Poor Penny was so scared she hid under the bed in R's room, which is farthest from street.  But first she guarded M's and our bedrooms for awhile.

A light New Year's Day brunch at home.
This always looks nice because of the pretty dishes that get taken out once a year.  Most of the traditional Japanese foods, like sweetened black beans, chestnuts, rolled egg, herring roe, fish cakes, vinegered daikon, fish and vegetables,  were bought at Nijiya, a Japanese market  here.

          On the second day of the new year, we went to the mall, just to walk around and had an early dinner at Manichi again.  This time we tried the gyoza and watercress salad, which were good.

M and I had the Black Garlic and Sesame oil ramen.

R opted for the yakitori chicken over rice.

We have been eating, but not exercising at the gym these past days.    Uhoh...warning sign for the rest of the year.

Happy Year of the Monkey.