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| On silver wings we flew. |
Had I been a child hanging my stocking, the delay might have done me in. As it was, we just teased the flight attendants about whether or not they had glimpsed the jolly old elf from their perspective.
We left Tokyo on Christmas Eve and flew to Hawaii, where we had another Christmas Eve awaiting, due to Ye Olde International Date Line.
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| We did spot him after we landed, and a new song jingled forth: "I saw Santa on a mo-tor-bike; riding down to Wakiki just now." |
(Yes, we stayed over in Hawaii for a few days, since this was the last time I expected it to be on our way home.) Good choice, even though there was rain toward the end of our visit. We actually got caught in a deluge and sprung for two designer garbage bags ($1.29 ea. rain jackets) which kept us relatively dry from the knees up as we forged our way back to the hotel our final night there.
What were we doing out and about? Where did we go for that final evening in "paradise". We dined at Duke's in Wakiki, and had a beach side table with one of those thatch umbrellas, which actually came in handy, as the rain did begin (though pre-deluge) while we were seated there.
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| My entree was white fish with tomato, red onion, and cilantro. The rice had wheat berries in it, which added a nut-free nutty flavor and nice body to the rice. |
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| The man just "gots to have" his beef, so he went with the surf and turf selection. Oh! Look! He also got his "taters"! Yes, he is definitely a "meat and potatoes" fellow at the core of his being. |
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This chocolate cookie/pie thing was dessert. No, we did not really NEED a dessert, but forced ourselves to split this. We pretty much fought over the last bite: "You eat it." "No. YOU eat it!"
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Our final meal when out and about in Tokyo was shabu shabu...restaurant style. This food choice always makes me want to break into song: "Shabu, Shabu. Na na na na na na na na na na. Shabu. Shabu. Na na na na na na na na na na. Life would be a dream..." ;o) For those not familiar with
Shabu Shabu, here is my posted home style version of it:
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| Na na na na na na na na na....! |
One of the first "food" things we did on our return was to bake a birthday cake for my daughter. She always liked Devil's Food cake with
7 Minute Frosting topped with strawberries. So, DH brought home some winter strawberries that looked a bit odd, and when I began to frost the cake, the top layer began to slide, so I grabbed wooden skewers to secure it. A bit of overkill, but since I had strawberries, I just stacked them up on the skewers, which resulted in a Dr. Seuss-like confection in appearance. We had a good laugh, and a tasty slice of cake. Gotta love that 7 Minute Frosting.
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| Strawberries on Ours |
A little history on DD's cake choice... In Japanese, "strawberry" is "ichigo". Also, in Japanese "one" is "ichi" and "five" is "go", so they refer to the 15th birthday as the "ichigo" or "strawberry" birthday. When DD turned 15 we had a sleepover party and bought the beautifully heart-shaped strawberries to adorn her Devil's Food and 7 Minute Frosting cake. That was the year that settled her birthday cake preference.
And I should mention that even before the "day of the cake"... DD and DS-Inlaw hosted us with a fondue dinner at their place. For your viewing pleasure:
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| Cheese Fondue served with Granny Smith apples, cocktail weiners, and some kind of brown bread. |
So, Happy New Year to all!
