Short break

Things are getting more hectic than I imagined. I find myself having to catch my breath. It looks like I might have to take a short break after all. I'll try to pop in if I can, and I'll see you guys soon.

Tis the season

Hi guys, I was going through some of my old files, trying to declutter my hard disk, when I found some of my favorite holiday photos to share with you.

The golden Christmas tree at the Hong Kong airport

What is, to me, the fairytalest of fairytale castle - Disneyland, Anaheim

Great memories of New Year's Eve at Universal Studios, Hollywood

Where on earth is Skitch?

Hey guys, remember me? Yes, I know, I haven't blogged in a while. A week, to be exact. Reason number 1, I've been extremely saddened by the passing of Paul Walker. We're huge fans, we love all his movies, me and the kids. It's totally unlike us to be affected by the passing of a celebrity. But strangely, we've not been able to stop talking about Paul. We would've loved to have met him. He seems like a genuinely amazing person, kind and selfless, characteristics which are oh so rare among celebrities. I admire that he's so down-to-earth and humble and isn't all about the money and the fame. It breaks our hearts that he's gone too soon. We will miss him. A lot.

Reason number 2. I've been ultra busy. Aren't we all? And between everything that's going on, I'm just so tired out by the end of the day, my blogging's taken a back seat. But you know I can't stay away for long. Stay tuned.

Food adventure - Mayo takoyaki

Okay guys, I'll be honest, there's a newly-opened Japanese square at our local mall and we could not just walk by without checking it out. No way, not us! And somewhere in that crazy square of brimming heads and tiny tables, this little fast food joint was calling out to us.

Behind the glass display, they were creating these little tako balls by hand. I gotta admit, I love open kitchens. I could stand there all day and watch them pour in the flour mixture and layer on baby octopus, fish flakes, tempura scraps, finely chopped pickled ginger and green onion. They use 2 metal skewers to keep turning and rolling till everything comes together into a ball. Fascinating.

We'd just had lunch but after that round of grocery shopping, we were ready for a little snack of Mayo Takoyaki. Behind the kiosk are these teeny tiny tables where we could park ourselves to savor our newfound snack.

Seriously guys, the space between the tables are so-oo superduper narrow I literally had to hold my breath as me and my J.Lo butt squeezed, actually scraped the table on my way in. Embarrassing! If I'm going to be eating here more often, Imma have to lose some weight, haha!

Okay, so here we go. I made it, whew! I'm finally balancing myself on that tiny little chair possibly with my butt cheeks overflowing on both sides, I don't know. Not a pretty sight. I couldn't bear to look and I sure hope no one noticed! Man, who knew eating a takoyaki could be such a barrel of laughs!

The Macha Honey Lemon is quite a tasty variation to plain green tea (macha). If the taste had been stronger, I would've liked it better though. But I appreciated that it was cold.

The tako comes heavily drizzled with Japanese mayo and topped with chopped green onions. You also get 2 severely malnourished wooden skewers to eat with. Man, look at those skewers, they're the skinniest I've ever seen.

But who cares, they do the job. You use one skewer to cut the tako ball in half, then use both to lift it to your mouth and pray you don't splatter it on your shirt. My first thought was to use the skewers as chopsticks but I didn't think they could take the weight.

Okay, here you see the pink bit of baby octopus in the one I've cut in half on the lower right. I think they also have the shrimp, and unagi (eel) versions. The tako ball itself is light and fluffy with all these chewy bits inside and the mayo gives it a bit of a sweetish tang. Quite the yums.

So tell me, dear friends. would you try this? What have you tried recently that you've not tasted before? Or what food have you've heard about and would love to try?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey friends, just dropping in with a quick note to say how thankful I am of each and every one of your visits and comments. Although this blog is still fairly new, I've been thrilled to have you all come around and visit with me. I make it a point to visit you all back though I admit sometimes I do get swept away by the whirlwind of motherhood.

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I know I'm just a little late here but it's been a very busy day. I hope you all are having/had a great Thanksgiving over good food and family. Love you all.