Beautiful Oahu

I was in Hawaii for 6 days and it was such an amazing trip that I want to go back there as soon as possible. I got to spend some quality time with my sister and my nephew, just the three of us. I also got to see a friend after a long 3 years. The concierge of the hotel we stayed at gave us a map of the island and my sister and I decided on the activities we wanted to accomplish during our stay. We decided that renting a car is necessary to explore the rest of the island. We stayed in Waikiki but we also wanted to see the famous North Shore. I'm still on a bit of high so I will try my best to remember the story behind each picture. Enjoy!

My friend picked me up from the airport bright and early and toured me around Waikiki. For lunch, we decided that it's time for our Mai Tais.

On the way back to the beach, we saw the shooting for Hawaii Five-O.

I just had to take a picture of the beautiful skies.

My sister made sure that I get to try the 5-Napkin Burger from Cheeseburgerland.

I also got hooked on this...

The sccenic drive on the way to the North Shore.

And probably the best part of our trip was our visit to Hanauma Bay. We tried snorkeling for the first time and loved it. For first time visitors, they show a video about Hanauma Bay which I thought was very appealing. You can rent your gears and lockers from there. Make sure you get there very early in the morning as the line to the admission gets very long and they run out of parking slots. I'm glad they preserved the sanctuary. I just couldn't get enough of the view.

 Top view of Hanauma Bay

 corals

It usually takes about an hour and a half to get to the North Shore from Waikiki. But since we stopped several times to explore other tourist spots, we finally reached the North Shore mid-afternoon.

We visited the Turtle Beach and were lucky to find two Hawaiian green turtles on the shore.

We passed by the Dole plantation and drank lots and lots of pineapple juice and bought many other goodies.

Of course our Hawaiian trip wouldn't be complete without Ahi Poke. Yum!
 

And rainbows. Everyday.

And more fresh fruit juices.

Saw my first Hawaiian sunset.

And was reminded again on what it means to be a part of the Hawaiian family.

I will be back. For now, mahalo!

rainbows in Hawai'i

This is what greeted me on my first day in Oahu...

They constantly show up in the sky reminding you of how beautiful the island is.

Double rainbow brings double luck, right?:-)

On my last day, the sky bade its goodbye.





Mahalo!

I just got back from an awesome vacation in Hawaii. It was a week well spent in paradise. My very generous benefactor aka my sister made sure that my nephew and I enjoyed the trip to the very end. Though it was hard being away from the husband, the island of Oahu did not disappoint. What a lovely place! Pictures to follow soon. Hope you had a great week as well!

Madeleines

The first time I ate madeleines a few years ago, I fell in love with it right away.  My Japanese friend baked some and brought it to our Thanksgiving party.  After tasting it, I vowed to try to make some myself as soon as I can. It finally happened last week when after months of pondering, I gave in and bought my first ever madeleine pan. I was a bit scared at first to try it after reading some complicated recipes. I guess the hardcore bakers in France, where it's originally from, really use the more complicated method. But for a novice like me, the simplest recipe is the best fit. The cakes came out great, and tasted awesome. My mother-in-law even said that by far, it's the best desert I've ever made. And that if I were to bake just one kind of desert for our Sunday dinners, it would have to be the madeleines.

Here's the recipe.  Please try it and enjoy!

Madeleines (adapted from Laura Rebecca's Kitchen)

2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375-degrees F. Generously butter and flour a Madeleine pan. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl just to blend. Beat in vanilla, lemon zest and salt. Add flour; beat just until blended. Gradually add cooled melted butter in steady stream, beating just until blended.

Spoon 1 tablespoon batter into each indentation in pan. Bake until puffed and brown, about 10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently remove from pan. Repeat process, buttering and flouring pan before each batch. (Can be made 1 day ahead.) Dust cooled cookies with powdered sugar.

I noticed that the cakes rise well when the batter is prepared in advance and chilled overnight. Also, you may add some variations to the cakes by dipping them in lemon glaze or dark chocolate ganache. Trust me, your guests will go crazy!

Moleskine

I'm loving my new Moleskine recipe journal. It is divided into categories like appetizer, main course, desert, cocktails etc. In each page, you can write how much servings each recipe yields and how many persons it can serve. You can also take note of the calorie intake. The first few pages contain conversions and measurement units. It also shows what food you can store throughout the year depending on which continent you live. The last half of the book are blank pages which gives the writer more freedom on what to write. The book also has a flap that contains extra labels for the blank pages. It's time for me to take cooking to another level!

Happy Fourth!

Hope you had a good one!

there's a new desert in town

Where have you been all this time???

Macadamia and Green Tea Oreos

I've tried almost all the flavors of Kit Kat when I was living in Japan. But Oreo bars? Never seen them before! The macadamia bar tastes like any other chocolate bars with macadamia but with an Oreo consistency.  The green tea flavor though is a sure winner.  It tastes like authentic macha.  I wonder how much they sell for in Japan.  I paid almost three bucks a pop for these.  Totally worth it though.

next stop

I just booked my next travel destination.  See you in two weeks...

via wikipedia

Save Japan by Uniqlo

June 25th was an exciting day for me and probably for all Uniqlo fans all over the world.  It was the day the brand launched its Save Japan collaboration with ten world famous artists.  I was finally able to help even in my own little way.  Since there is no Uniqlo store where I live, I asked my brother and my Japanese best friend to buy some of the shirts for me.  They were both lucky as there were no long lines in their respective Uniqlo branches.  A month before, I have already been reminding them to line up before the stores open.  My best friend and her boyfriend were in Yokohama on the day of and went to the store five minutes before opening.  They were the first ones in the store. Haha!  This was the line in Soho, NYC.

via thegspotnyc

I can't wait to get my hands on my tees!!  Here are the designs that I chose:

images via uniqlo.com

Thank you Uniqlo for this wonderful project!