Tourism at Home: An unplanned adventure

As we gear up to move in a couple of weeks, we are taking time to explore some of the sights that we haven't yet had the chance to. We have a list that we are slowly checking off, and we are even accidentally discovering other fun places that we didn't mean to go.

Saturday we visited the Punchbowl Cemetery (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific) and  then the Honolulu Museum of Art.

I wasn't expecting to have the emotional response to the memorial that I did. I'm not a history buff, nor do I have any strong military ties, but I have to admit, I found myself standing in front of the dedication stone at the foot of the memorial, surrounded by the Courts of the Missing, and I was moved to tears.

IN THESE GARDENS ARE RECORDED

THE NAMES OF AMERICANS

WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES

IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY

AND WHOSE EARTHLY RESTING PLACE

IS KNOWN ONLY TO GOD

rest in peace

 After the cemetery we intended to go to the Hawaii State Art Museum, but due to a typing incident ended up at the Honolulu Museum of Art instead (you have to look more carefully after you type in "art museum honolulu"). So we went in anyway, and I'm so glad we did. I loved wandering through the exhibits from Asia, especially those from China, Indonesia and India. Here were some of the highlights for me:

Nandi's (Shiva's mount or vehicle) Head--Kerala (late 18th Century)

Jain Temple Niche--Western India (ca. 12th Century)

The detail work on the marble is stunning

Handle of a ceremonial kris (dagger)--Bali (18th Century)

Oh, the masks! I was so excited when I walked in and saw these! Collection from Bali, Java and Madura (18th-20th Century). It feels good to walk into a museum and know more about some of the items than is on the signage. Thanks, UHM.

Chariot Panel--South Kerala (late 17th Century)

Depicts scenes from the Ramayana

There was also a video installation titled "The Empty City" by a Chinese artist named Chen Qiulin, which really captivated me. Part of the blurb on th museum's website reads:

"Chen grew up in the small city of Wanzhou, which was submerged under the Yangtze      River by the controversial Three Gorges Dam project in 2003. Wanzhou’s entire population was relocated, and the remaining parts of the region that are still above water have been absorbed into the Municipality of Chongqing. In Chen’s most recent video series, The Empty City, she returns to the remnants of Wanzhou, while at the same time coming to terms with her new life in Chongqing."

You can read more from the artist on the museum's blog. 

We followed up our museum visit with a late lunch at the Rainbow Drive in because Joe had never been there (!!!) even though we live just down the street from it.

 

After lunch we decided to keep exploring since we were on a roll. We drove around the Diamond Head neighborhood, and then Joe took me to the one place I've wanted to go since we moved here: Fisher Office Supply. Heaven.We waited until 30 minutes to closing so that I couldn't bankrupt us. 

But look how happy I am! They had Sharpies in 4 different shades of purple, for individual sale. I may have to go back, just so I can make the other stage managers jealous ;)

And if we hadn't seen enough art already, no worries:

We stumbled upon this amazing painting on the side of a building

And this. I'm just realizing how much amazing street art there is in Honolulu

Then we came home and packed 7 boxes for our move. I declare Saturday a success!

Breakfast

Ever just dump all of the leftovers in your refrigerator into one bowl, heat it up, and call it breakfast? Yeah, me too.

My Life in Hawaii: A Retrospective, Part IV

The final chapter...for now...

From April 2012...

Calling the show that was challenging to me for so many reasons, none of them related to calling cues

Surviving the show experience through the support of good friends

We also produced Late Night's Ubu Cocu, which was wonderful and a welcome break from working on Ocean's Motion.

...To April 2013

Joe performing rakugo at the Buddhist temple in our neighborhood with Bento Rakugo

Creating and performing gombeyata puppets for our Southeast Asian theatre class (with Ray and Matthew)

From May 2012

My brother marrying the beautiful Kristen Kellar!

Visiting Three Coins Diner in Tampa after a year away. Oh, and we also got to see friends and family while in Florida...

...To May 2013

Shopping with Rachael

Spending time at the beach after finals week

And on into June 2012...

Conquering Koko Head for the first (and last...at least for me) time

Getting my library card!

And what are we doing now?

Still going to the beach

Still being ridiculous

Still being stupidly cute in love with each other

Aloha, from paradise. Can't wait to get off the island! This time next year we will be preparing to move to--well, we don't know where. The adventure continues!

Being Healthy

Rachael has issued a health challenge for the summer. Each participant had to declare an amount of weight to lose or a size of clothing that they wanted to fit into. My goal is 10lbs or my size 6 skinny jeans. Because I am not a size 6 anything, skinny or not, which was not the case before we moved here. We have ten weeks (from June 1) to accomplish our goal. Losers buy dinner for winners.

I've been using a pedometer app on my phone, Striiv, which has been great, because it is also a game and you earn new things in game by exercising. It auto-syncs with my calorie counter app, My Fitness Pal. Anyone using either of those who wants to become friends in-app, let me know! The calorie counter is easy to use because it has a barcode scanner. I can scan foods in my fridge and then just input the servings that I ate. It's making me so aware of how much I eat, that I've done this:

If you eat out of a measuring cup, you know exactly how much you've had!

Also, my calves and abs are killing me. Joe says it's because those muscles are remembering they exist. I say it's because exercise is evil.

A Day Off!

At the beach studying with Ray and doing taiji with Rachael. Pretty good day off. Also: buffalo wings and dinosaurs.

Romance: Part 2

Joe: If you are making lunch could you make enough for two?
Me: Sure. *looks inside desolate refrigerator*...How does a cheese and tomato sandwich sound...?
Joe: Grilled cheese sounds great!
Me: You know that's not what I was offering, right?
Joe: Yup!



I then proceeded to burn two grilled cheese sandwiches beyond recognition.

July 4th, 2012: A Retrospective

We had a nice, mellow 4th of July this year, and like the good Americans we are, we spent it with our Canadian friends. It's like a cultural exchange, right?

Ray and I spent most of the day at the beach. And yes, this time I really do mean at the beach. Our usual shady grass was overrun by a tent city of families celebrating. No shade to be found so we hit the sand.

Tents, tents everywhere!

This is Waikiki, folks. I have no idea why we keep spending time here, but the ocean sure is pretty.

Proof that I have again spent time in the sand...sort of. Thanks, USF stadium blanket.

This is us attempting to get a little shade later in the day...look how shady Ray's arm is!

Later in the day Nicole joined us for some sunning, while Joe, wisely, avoided the crowds and did some reading and video gaming at home.

In the evening we headed to Border Patrol (read: Nicole and Ray's apartment) to put together the epic dinner that was planned for us. While Nicole shredded a block and a half of cheese, Ray cooked up some chicken, beef and veggies for Macho Nachos. Joe and I contributed by providing company to the cooks with our stunning wit and charming personalities.

Ray put together a lethal pan of nachos. The amount of cheese in there should have qualified the thing to have a surgeon general's warning stamped on the side. Sometimes Ray has the best ideas! Sometimes. My portion (which I couldn't finish, by the way) looked like this:

This was seriously delicious. Amazing, even.

Seriously.

Follow up a dinner like that with a cheese coma and some fireworks and you've got yourself a Fourth of July!

The Joys of Midday Dessert

A week ago I had the pleasure of having lunch with my friend, Yvette (Hi, Yvette!). We ate at the Hawaii State Museum of Art . Their cafe is delightful, and the museum is always free to the public, though we didn't stay to see it. That will be another trip for another time. We were on a dessert mission.

After lunch we headed back to my neck of the woods and walked down to a cute little French pastry cafe that Joe and I have been eying but hadn't tried yet: JJ's Bistro

The pastry case is full of sinful and delightful items to torture yourself with. I guess I'll just have to keep coming back to try new things!

Yvette making her final choice

I chose mocha cheesecake

We each had different coffee cups with cute saucers

Yvette got the rum walnut tart

Individual pastries range from $1.50 for small items like cream puffs up to $5.50 for fancier fare. Tarts and cheesecakes were about $3.75 each. Coffee was cheap and refillable. All in all, a delightful experience. I will definitely be going back to indulge my sweet tooth.

Cucumber Salad Recipe

Here is the recipe for the delicious cucumber salad I made mention of last week. This is my recipe; modify as needed.


Ingredients
2 japanese cucumbers
1 vine ripe tomato
1/2 green bell pepper
3-4 tablespoons goat cheese (or as much as you like for taste)
3 mini sweet red peppers
garlic wine vinegar
oregano
basil
ground black pepper

Directions

1. Peel cucumbers and cut into chunks. I quartered them and then sliced up the quarters.
2. Cut green pepper and tomato into chunks.
3. Slice red pepper and halve each slice (red bell pepper will work as well, cut into chunks just like the other veggies).
4. Place goat cheese in a microwave safe bowl and heat just enough to soften; about 10-15 seconds.
5. Sprinkle oregano, basil and ground pepper into the goat cheese. I didn't measure, I just taste-tested as I went.
6. Add a splash of the vinegar to the cheese mixture and stir immediately to avoid curdling.
7. Combine the cucumber, bell pepper and tomato in a bowl and stir in the cheese mixture until everything is coated. Use more cheese or vinegar if you desire a stronger taste.
8. Enjoy!

Mango Pear Salad

This salad was absolutely delicious, super simple, and perfect for a hot summer evening. I was able to make it with what I had laying around (mangoes are in season and falling off the tree in our yard. Yes, it's ok to be jealous.

I wish I could take credit for this salad's creation, but alas, I cannot. I'm just going to post the link to the recipe. My only modifications were that I left out the grapes because it was so delicious without them, and I used salt even though my pears weren't super sweet. I also added a little extra mango juice and pulp left over from the slicing.

Recipe: Mango Pear Salad

And for those who don't normally work with mangoes, a tip.

None of the pictures came out very well, but the salad did

Grilled Cheese!

I don't have any photos to back this up, but we had an epic grilled cheese experience on Sunday evening. When I show you the menu you will understand why this was so exciting. After a day of sunning poolside (thanks, Maria!) we negotiated with Ray an exchange of his grilled cheese ingredients for ours. That's where it all began.

Here is what the options were on the menu:

Bread Choices
Wheat
Sourdough


Meat Choices
Chicken
Ham
BACON


Cheese Selection
Sharp Cheddar
Goat cheese
Colby jack
Mozzarella
Brie

Also available: tomato slices, macaroni salad (though not on the sandwich)

After taking orders, I had them clipped to the hood of the stove, short-order cook style, and the cooking began! Here are what a couple of the creations consisted of:

• Sourdough, bacon, goat cheese, sharp cheddar, tomato
• Wheat, sharp cheddar, tomato, bacon
• Sourdough, tomato, brie
• Wheat, chicken, bacon, goat cheese, mozzarella
• Sourdough, sharp cheddar, mozzarella

That's not a complete list, but the four of us (Joe, Meg, Ray and me) had a great time building our creations. Go ahead, try one for yourself.

Light Summer Salads

Not every night in Hawaii is as temperate as I'd like it to be, especially if down in our little valley we aren't getting a breeze though our apartment. Last night was one of those nights, and we were having company (Hi, Elise!) so I decided that a sampling of cool summer salads would be a good idea. I haven't done a recipe post in a while, so I thought I'd share some of the goodies with you over my next few posts (don't worry, I'll get a hiking post in there somewhere, too, for you view junkies out there).

Here is what our dinner and dessert spread looked like:

Mmm...cheesecake and cookies for dessert with iced coffee!

The menu was Caesar salad, potato salad and garlic bread from Elise, and I made edamame salad, macaroni salad (my Grandma's recipe), cucumber goat cheese salad, and a pear and mango salad. I'm back on a new recipe kick, so I'll try to share as I find or create fun new food combinations. Happy cooking!

Food trip!

Joe and I went back to Florida for a week at the beginning of this month for Shawn and Kristin's wedding. What a whirlwind of a trip that was! More important though, is the food that we ate while in Florida. I never thought I'd miss Tampa restaurants so much.

First stop: Three Coins Diner! Tampa people, if you don't eat there regularly, shame on you! When we first stepped in the door we were greeted with a huge hug, asked how long we were visiting, and they remembered our usual drink order. It's nice to still be a "regular" even when you live on the other side of the country.

Please ignore my hair. I'd been on a plane for 19hrs and went straight from the airport to the diner.

The chicken souvlaki never disappoints

Other delicious food opportunities: Publix Subs, crappy chinese food (they try to serve you the real stuff in Hawaii), Chick-fil-a and Liang's Bistro.

While visiting with Chris, Abby and Bennett, we hit up Origami Sushi, a favorite of yours (and better than most sushi we've found on-island, but don't tell the locals I said that).

There are now more Moores than when we left Florida the first time...and the littlest isn't interested in sushi.

My last night in town we went to Beef O'Brady's and instead of wings, Joe and I got pizza. Let me explain about pizza. It costs an arm and a leg and your first born child to get pizza in Hawaii. A demonstration: Pizza Hut, Anywhere, USA.....Pizza Hut, Honolulu. At the time I am writing this post, the large cheesy bites pizza is $11.99 anywhere on the US mainland, and $16.99 on my island. Which is why we looked this excited eating pizza in Tampa:

This didn't cost $200!

Food exploits aside, we had a lovely though exhausting trip. More FL fun in upcoming posts!

Mmm...bananas!

This stunning photograph is of banana pancakes and fresh fruit, which I served with honey. Delicious! The pancake mix was a Christmas gift from Meg and Kei, the bananas were fresh from Grandad's yard, and the starfruit was from the tree in our front yard. Thanks, Hawaii, for ono fresh food!