Last Day for This Trip

Once again, I am starting this post while sitting at the airport, waiting for a plane. This morning the clouds had a reddish pink hue as the sun was rising. I could easily see it while lying down, now that I have relocated the bed. The photo just couldn't capture the color of the clouds.

My view out the window as I lie in bed.

Here's the quilt I added to the bed last night. I'm sure it helped but I'm not sure how much since it was warmer last night; it only got down to 61 degrees F. This quilt was made by my Okinawan (paternal) grandmother. It's a lot brighter than Japanese quilts.


I'm glad I decided to change the translucent white plastic sheeting along the edge of the roof over the steps. This morning the sun came streaming in; since Chris has finished the roofing in this area, this is what I can expect for the future.

On Saturday the post office is only open from 9 to 10 in the morning. And boy was it busy! After I finished sending off my package, I headed to breakfast. While talking with Arlene yesterday she mentioned L & L Hawaiian Barbecue for breakfast, so I tried it this morning. I had the breakfast special with pineapple sausage. It's like apple sausage but with pineapple instead.

This is only the breakfast menu, they also have a lunch/dinner menu.

Breakfast Special with Pineapple Sausage.

L & L is on Akoni Pule Highway near the road to the cemetery, so I went there after breakfast. I wanted to make sure the poinsettia had water to get it through this sunny weather. Wrapping the plastic bag around the pot helped keep it moist; however if it should start raining a lot it will become waterlogged. I need to find a 4" plastic pot with an attached saucer; the saucer will catch excess water and keep it available but it won't be so much that it will kill the roots.

There's only one; it was the last 4" pot that Sunshine had available.

I went to clean out the vases at the other Takatani family gravesite; the anthuriums had blown out and were dying or dead. When I pulled the vases out a whole bunch of crickets started jumping around & leaping out of the holder; at the bottom was a house gecko. I guess its usually a nice safe, quiet place.

House gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) and crickets.

Back at the house I did a final watering of the orchid keiki I had brought from Mom's last orchid that we could find. I also picked a couple more Meyer lemons; I'm going to see how they keep in the refrigerator. Of course, a lot will depend on when I get back here again.

This hapu'u is full of orchids; I wonder what they look like?

We'll see how well they do in refrigeration.

Besides changing sheets & collecting all the used towels, I also drank all the remaining quinoa milk. Like the nut milks it only has 1 g of protein per 8 ounce serving but with a taste on the sweeter side; its okay. I also prepped the bacon for the freezer. The America's Test Kitchen book on recipes for 2 recommended rolling the individual strips, placing them in a ziploc bag, and freezing them to make them easier to use for smaller recipes.

It was on sale! Half off! Best by date is December 27th so freezing is a great option.

Here are the rolled strips, ready for the freezer.

In the meanwhile I started getting texts from Mary Ellen about making a Japanese New Years dish for the Diversity Diner which is (was) tonight. I suggested kimpira, a dish made with gobo (burdock root) and stands for deeply set family roots. What is also good about this dish is that you can find it pre-cut in the frozen food section at Uwajimaya and you can cook it earlier in the day and serve it cold; besides it is one of Mary Ellen's favorites. For this Diner, Mary Ellen asked people to, "... please bring stories, objects, songs, whatever you'd like to share to give us a little information about the many holidays and holydays that are commemorated during or very close to December. Whatever you want to share please don't feel like you have to do a presentation. We'll have an informal evening with plenty of time to talk, learn, celebrate, and focus on holidays." And as always, food is a big part of the Diner.

Kimpira before cooking. (Photo by Mary Ellen)

Kimpira, after the dinner. (Photo by Mary Ellen)

The rest of the Diner spread. (Photo by Mary Ellen)

Sam also sent me a photo this afternoon, "Trying to find good pizza in Boise!" When we went to breakfast with her the other week, one of the things she said she missed while living in Hawai'i was good New York style pizza; we got the details on what that means and a promise to take us for good pizza when we visit her.

(Photo by Sam)

I had dinner at the airport again. But this time I remembered that they had Garden Burgers! It was a lot better than the hummus & flat pretzels that I usually get.


I still had my regular coconut water, which they keep on the very top shelf. So I asked a nearby stranger for some assistance. It turns out Veronique & Eric are visiting; Veronique is from Paris & Eric is from Montreal. They are going to visit Honolulu for 2 days. I helped them find information on-line about tour tickets to the Arizona Memorial. They left for Honolulu on the plane before mine.


Happy Birthday to my goddaughter Marlena & Shabbir!