I (heart) Country Café

There is a ♡ in the name of the place we went to for breakfast this morning, I ♡ Country Café. It is in the NEX Shopping Center, along with a bunch of other eating places that are not open for breakfast. Curtis had the Portuguese Sausage Omelette and I had the Portobello Avocado Spinach Benedict.

Entering the food court lanai.

Some things that aren't on the regular menu.

Portuguese Sausage Omelette. (Photo by Curtis)

Portobello Avocado Spinach Benedict.

I ♡ Country Café is located in the NEX Shopping Center. The dome and 2nd story walls of the atrium are painted like an underwater scene.


I arrived at Maunalani after breakfast. CNA Sharmaine said Dad ate 1/2 fried egg sandwich and drank all his supplements; I don't think she got the memo about only doing the Breeze in the morning. On the way in I found a little gift Popokilani had left for the staff.


There were relatively few birds on my mid-morning walk compared to other sunny walks; there was a lot of roadwork being done on Sierra as well as Lurline. It looks like they are going to be repaving those roads; which will also mean less birds while that is happening.



Lunch was Char siu chicken, Steamed rice, Sesame garlic eggplant, Garden salad, Baked custard, and Egg drop soup. I think they served this type of lunch because it is Chinese New Year today; the custard is like the type you get with dessert dim sum.


Speech therapist Brittany came by after lunch to talk to me. She also gave me a copy of the report by the Queen's Medical Center speech pathologist, which says Dad has, "Mild-moderate oral-pharyngeal phase swallowing with aspiration risk secondary to oropharyngeal weakness compounded by eating behaviors, decreased awareness, poor dentition, and effects of aging upon swallowing mechanism." The report went on to say, "Continued skilled SLP services are indicated for patient and caregiver education re: safe swallowing strategies to minimize aspiration risk." The "continued skilled SLP services" is what Brittany was here for. She had worked with Dad earlier when he was having coughing problems before we removed the straws; she will work with him a few more times based on the recommendations of the speech pathologist.


My afternoon walk was hot but more peaceful than the mid-morning walk since all the equipment was off the road. I think they will be like the water hydrant replacement crew and leave around 3 pm so they are not blocking up the road as people return from school and work.


Last night Anne texted saying she received the package I sent; this morning Suzanne got her package. Things are warming up for Suzanne on the east coast and cooling down for Anne on the west coast. Here are some photos Anne sent of what it looked like around her neighborhood today.

The view from Anne's front porch; there's 7 inches of snow out there! (Photo by Anne)

Looking down the street. (Photo by Anne)

During dinner I watched the State of the Union (live) and also iced my knees; might as well be doing something productive while watching TV! My knees are feeling good!

Foreground: dinner, mid: iced knee, background: State of the Union.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Lunar New Year! Mrs. Loi brought over a plate of her homemade jin dui. It is one of the reasons I can't go on a low carb diet; I love my culturally significant carbs too much! Maybe I could go on a "culturally significant carbs only" diet?  

Hauʻoli lā Hānau to David, Vel, & Rich!