Monday, May 16, 2011

Whoops

Got lazy. Fell asleep at 9:30 last night. Post to come later tonight. Sorry.

Monday, May 9, 2011

If the rain comes, they run and hide their heads

How is everyone today? Alright? Good. Glad to hear it. Me? Well, I'm carved from one flawless slab of sheer awesome, as per usual. So that's cool. All is right with the world. Speaking of how badass I am, shall we recount my exploits?

YES. LET'S.

So this week has been... wet. Really wet. We are still working our way out of the rainy season over here, and it seems intent upon holding sway for as long as meteorologically possible. It could be a while. Not that rain is bad. It's keeps the island green and gorgeous, but it does begin to wear thin after a bit. I want to go out! I need SUN! 

All that being said, Oahu rainstorms really aren't the worst thing to be in. It's still slippah weather, people just use umbrellas. It's the funniest thing to see. Flip-flops, shorts, Aloha shirt, and a big clear umbrella. I really didn't expect to see this much umbrella utilization here. Hawaiians must really not know what rain is like on the Mainland. It blows, in case you guys have tried to forget that. It's cold, angry, and all the time. Hawaiian rain is like having a girlfriend get really mad at you for twenty minutes and then forget completely what the argument was over, only to have it restart an hour later.

Being inside, we've been getting crafty in the kitchen:

Monday night's dinner was a delicious Thai green curry with scallops, squash, peppers, eggplant, and all kinds of delicious on a bed of jasmine rice. Incidentally, it was so delicious and scrumptious, and I so hungry, that no photographic evidence exists. Confound it all!

But you are in luck, because this is what Tuesday had in store:


No, your eyes do not deceive you. Yes, that is the return of Taco Tuesday. We brought it back in a new locale with a slightly retooled, but still just as stellar, cast. It's like May sweeps! By the way, there were six other tacos just like the ones you see there, all bursting with avocado. What is different about Hawaiian Taco Tuesday, however, is all that avocado came from half of a single avocado. This may seem crazy, until you see what avocados are like over here.

Yes, that is one avocado.

Tuesday still strong in our bellies, how would Wednesday match up?


With sushi, of course. At the Haleiwa farmer's market, we picked up some fantastic ahi for a song. It was stupid cheap. I don't want to tell you the price, because you'll hate me. Just know that it was awesome.


Awesome enough to make that much sushi. And then a batch of spicy poke for the next night. We eat like kings over here. Seither Ali'i!

Now, for the journey:

This week's travels brought us yet again to North Shore. It's definitely becoming our Sunday thing. We woke up, had some DAMN good coffee (sorry, we're watching Twin Peaks right now), fitted the Jeep with windows, and headed up Kunia Road toward Haleiwa. We got some great stuff at the market this week (five avocados!) and then headed over to Matsumoto's for some shave ice. I know I sound like a broken record over here, but it's really hard to beat perfection. Slow kine life is best kine life.

Shave ice in hand (melona and coconut with snow cap - fucking ONO), I walked around town for a bit. Leandra and Gabriel sat in the Jeep to get out of the rain, but I had things to do. Also, I needed to stretch my legs. I'm really glad I did, because I got to check out this really cool church/graveyard.


I expected interesting just from that entryway. It just really screams Hawaii to me. Overgrown and covered in red dirt. It was a super cool graveyard. It was mostly filled with native Hawaiians, many dying in the time before statehood. It's always humbling to "read" headstones. There's no other situation where dates can tell such a story. No verbs needed.


This one broke my heart. Just looking at the numbers, you know exactly what happened. I ached when I saw this. Cherish the people around you. They matter.

A full day on North Shore complete, we headed back for the domicile. But what is this we had waiting for us?

Oh, shit, guys. That looks like a ping pong table.

It totally was a ping pong table waiting for us! And when I say waiting, I mean I stayed up to 2AM the night before putting it together and then woke up at 8:30 to finish it up. So it was waiting in the sense that is wasn't doing anything while we were gone. 

But everybody, ping pong is awesome. SO COOL. This is the new thing. You should all have one. It's a great addition to the lanai.

Alright, I think that makes a solid post. I better get to sleep, I have to cover for somebody at work tomorrow. As always, please kokua one to another.

Aloha.

Monday, May 2, 2011

One more for the road

They've stolen my powers!


Mission Accomplished?

I won't talk about bin Laden being killed. We've all heard the news. The commentary is already in full swing, and I'll leave that to go where it will. Rest assured, the nuance of the actual assassination event isn't what I'm concerned. We'll just leave it be.

I cannot, however, leave the press conference alone.


Really? You couldn't get your teleprompter and camera in the same spot? Not even remotely close? Come on, you're the President of the United States of America. Public access channels can get this right!

Though sometimes we really wish they didn't.

And what is up with 'Ol Honest Abe being at a perfect right angle to him? It feels like they're posing for an 80s album cover.

The next Mount Rushmore

Some other feeds I've seen have him looking dead on, so couldn't the official White House release have looked like something other than a community college video news update?

Kay den: to the fun stuff!

Another week has come and gone on Oahu. I got a bit of a promotion at work, so that's nice. Yay for inch by inch! Aside from that, we continue to settle in to our new apartment. It's awesome. I can nap whenever I want! You never appreciate that until it's taken away from you. Delicious naps. Mmmm.

As for food, it's been ONO! We're getting used to using the prevalent Hawaiian ingredients more and more. They are so good. If you do not already, start using furikake. It's a Japanese condiment used for rice. It's comes in a few different styles, but my favorite, and the most popular, is roasted nori and sesame seed: nori komi furikake. It is the best thing that has happened to rice since water. Get on that

Seriously. Rice, furikake, fried egg, sriracha, and shoyu.

Chopsticks are rapidly rising through the ranks of my favorite utensil. They are perfect for how lazy I like to be at the table.

We've been finding all kinds of fun stuff for pau hana (after work), too. Like poker.

Which Gabe cheats at.

This week's big adventure is... wait for the HUGE surprise... North Shore! I know, I know... "You go to North Shore all the time, don't you do anything else, etc..."

1: True.
2: Can you blame me?

It's just wonderful out there. Today Leandra and I (Gabe's been in the Bay for work) drove up Kunia Road to the Haleiwa Farmer's Market. What a time we had!


We found huge, delicious, and perfectly ripe avocados. And from the Islands, no less. I would have more pictures of the market, but my hands were too full of delicious produce and goodies. I can't wait to dig in to my bounty this week! The market is pretty cool, though. Aside from the avocados, we got some tomatoes, herbs, sweet potatoes, local whole wheat bread, salad greens, and some nice ahi steaks. Truly Gaea is showing her aloha side. Mahalo nui loa!

After the market, we decided to walk around Haleiwa. It's really a gorgeous, quaint little spot. Our first stop, naturally, was Matsumoto's Grocery.


Shave ice time! Lilikoi, melona, and mango, with a snowcap. Absolutely baller! Matsumoto's is probably the most famous shave ice spot in Hawaii. It started off as an actual grocery ages ago, but the shave ice became so famous and profitable that now it's really just an ice stand and a store of trinkets about said ice. More than a tad touristy for me, but you gotta pay the bills.

From Matsumoto's, a quick stroll down Kamehameha Highway will land you at the Ron Artis family gallery. Ron Artis is a local artist that does big outdoor paint pieces. Murals, old houses, barns, vehicles, that sort of thing.






As you can see, he specializes in awesome. There's a little gallery/music venue/bar inside, but pictures are not allowed inside. Just come and see it yourself. You'll have a blast.

And, yes, those fruits and veggies we picked up are being put to good use.



Locally-baked organic whole wheat bread, pan toasted and drizzled with olive oil. Prepared as an open face sandwich of avocado, tomato, basil, and spring onion. Finished with olive oil, sea salt, and balsamic drizzle. Served with peppery spring mix in vinaigrette. Pair with sweet mint noni tea and you've got a perfect evening meal.

Finally, we have new additions for the "stuff that is had" list:

Dining set:

Living room set:

Guitar:


It's coming together, yeah? Well, I figure that wraps up another good post. Please kokua one to another.

Aloha!