Sue who? Sushi

Aloha!

Guess who's back??? 

It's only right to start of my welcome back blog with a food review and for this it will be my favorite....SUSHI!!! Last weekend, my husband and I decided to go to Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar.  Sansei is located at the Marriott hotel in Waikiki and to some who might not know, all sushi are half off on friday and saturdays after 10 pm with karaoke. and this is just another reason for us to love it, right?  

A lot of time, Sansei's is packed for their friday and saturday half off, so I suggest coming early or coming really late or you are willing to wait for awhile or if you don't mind sitting in the bar to eat or wait to be seated.

We knew the drill, so of course, we were already parked at the hotel by 9:45, which by the way it's a 4-hour free parking with validation. We only had to wait for about 7 minutes since there were people in line before us.  Luckily, we were seated outside, which we'd actually prefer, since we get a little more privacy and less loud from the live karaoke inside.  

The usual menu on our list are:

Panko-Crusted fresh ahi sashimi (ahi sashima, arugula, and spinach in a crisp fried panko-crusted sushi roll, served with mild Soy Wasabi Butter sauce) - right pic

Japanese Calamari on wonton basket and bed of Nalo greens - left pic

 Simple yet delicious rolls, Unagi (eel) roll and Spicy Ahi (tuna) roll

 Matsuhisa Style Miso Butterfish - fresh tender butterfish marinated and seared in Sake and Sweet Miso (**His Fave**)

 Yaki-Maki Sushi Roll  - California Roll wrapped with Smoked Salmon, based with Sansei's Special Dynamite Sauce - a must have

 alrighty folks! All of these, which we ordered 2 each of the butterfish and panko-crusted ahi and drinks with 17% gratuity included  came out to $70+, which is not bad at all. Great quality sushi, great atmosphere and great price. What more can you ask for? We did try some of the menu before but don't have any picture for them.
Of course, they don't only have sushi at Sansei's, they have other main entrees, salad, sushi rolls, noodles, beer, cocktail and what's a Japanese restaurant without Sake?
As for dessert, we've tried the Tempura Fried macadamia Nut Ice Cream which is pretty good as well.
I will be posting more posts on restaurants like Sansei...so stay tuned :)

What a wonderful world

Aloha!

It's been awhile. I've been caught up with sewing and taking a break by biking to the beach, running and walking as I listen to my iPod in one ear and the sound of crashing waves on the other.  Today, I went to the beach again, but with my older sister and my niece.  There was way too much tourists, not like how it used to be. I just sat back and realized how wonderful it was when it was peaceful, safe for kids and not having to worry about drunk people on the beach. Goodness..this is Hawaii!! But who are we kidding, right?

my niece with her 'kisses'

Other than that, it was a wonderful day. 

Went to Ben Franklin craft store after and made my niece headbands.

my niece's headbands - getting ready for Easter

I have been looking at cake pops and other than wanting to eat some, I've been wanting to make some. Here are some from Starbucks.

Starbucks Cakepops

Here is the bag I made the other day, an order for a baby shower.

And lastly, I went bowling with my side of the family for my cousin's birthday. Here is a crazy pic of my younger sister, my niece and I, while waiting for everyone.

By the way, I was horrible, as always. My highest was 99. So my husband bragged about his score of 140. Ha ha

Whatever it is you're doing this weekend or coming week, whether it would be with crazy family, crazy friends or crazy self, have a crazy fun time! Or even the NCAA tournament, whether UConn or Butler, cheer for someone. ha ha. 

And remember...

What a wonderful world.

Mahalo,

-R2

Macaroons, Scrubs and More

Aloha!

Ever had a macaroon?

This past two days, my husband and I went on an eating excursion on new restaurants in town. First stop, La tour cafe. We had panini, chicken pesto flat bread and these to-die-for macaroons..

Guava macaroon - their best seller

Mango, Black Strawberry and Guava macaroons 

Macha green tea, Melona, Mango, Strawberry and Guava macaroons

 Then..We went to Yogurstory yesterday, they had really nice interior designing. We had Red velvet waffles with taro cream cheese and chocolate drizze, Dolce de leche waffles with caramelized bananas and santa monica eggs benedict. It was delish!

Dulce de leche waffles

Red velvet waffles with taro cream cheese, red velvet croutons and chocolate drizzle

Santa Monica eggs benedict

Our friend couldn't get enough of the macaroons so we went to get more the next day...

Mango, Chocolate, Melona and Macha green tea macaroons

Went home and back to sewing, I had 2 orders of scrubs.  The prints are so cute. One is brown with Hawaii-ish all over it such as 'Da Bus', Diamond Head crater, beach, Trolley, streets such as Waikiki and Nimitz, Ala Moana mall, its so cute. The blue print has cute tokidoki-ish design, also a little local style with 'Spam Musubi' and rainbows and such all over it. 

Nursing scrubs size small

Now back to sewing, or thinking of my next project...or maybe I should run and workout before I get diabetes from all those macaroons. haha

Enjoy your day.

Mahalo!

Zoom Zoom Zoom

Aloha!

Have you ever had a dream car? Ever played with matchbox as a child?

This weekend, we went to an auto show at the Hawaii Convention Center. It was like being a kid all over again, except they weren't matchbox, but real cars that half of America can't afford to purchase. Especially, with today's economy and gas prices increasing almost everyday. 

Walking around for 3 hours with high heels on, I sat down to wait for my husband finish his car to car viewing (3 hours wasn't enough for him, haha).  It's interesting what you see when you're just still in the middle of a whole bunch of people.  Some went inside the cars, checked out what features it has, some just looked at the price tag to see the price and how much the MPG is, which by the way, electric cars are the next hybrids, but overall, people like me were there because most of us are a bunch of dreamers.  Dreaming that one day we'll get that car we've always wanted. 

What is your dream car? 

Here are some of the cars I took pictures of...

 Love this Ferrari's interior...

Ferrari 

Lamborghini

Another Ferrari

This bad boy on the bottom? It's only $273K. That's how much a mansion cost in some states. Most of these luxury cars were locked and blocked.

Bentley 

This Audi R8 is something I always look forward to, every car show. Love the LED lights and it just looks so classy and fast at the same time. 

Audi R8

So those are really nice luxury cars, huh? Well, guess which car I like?

Yup! This very unique, Nissan Cube. haha. It's a more realistic dream. Something that can actually happen within the next 5 years. haha. I just love how it's different, so futuristic, not too small but not too big in space, perfect to drive for someone who's under 5" like me. haha. And it's just so...for lack of a better word, cool.

Well, there's nothing wrong with dreaming. So whether it'd be a Bentley, Ferrari, Mercedes, or even a Cube that you dream about, keep on dreaming and make sure to reach for your dreams. If it's meant to be...then you'll get it. If not, be content with what you have anyway. 

Love and Mahalo

-R2

Bite no more

Happy Aloha Friday!!!

(there's a song here in Hawaii that goes "it's aloha friday, no work til monday.." so every friday, people usually say happy aloha friday)

In my 25 years of existence I encountered a bad habit...biting my nails. Yuck, I know. Weeks ago, I was doing my mom's nails and she saw my nails and asked me if I have fake nails. I said "no", she replied with "how?". haha. I said "ugh, I just stopped biting it", I guess they were just so used to me having 'no' nails in the past. Its been two years since I last bit my nails. I figured, besides being able to paint and do those fun nail art thingy, getting acrylics are too pricey if you go every 3 weeks or so, so I forced myself to stop biting my nails even if I had to slap my other hand to do so. haha

I just started growing it out. haha 

zebra toes with rhinestones

little sister and cousin's little nails

Fading PinkRed with Plumeria - my fave

I thought I took a lot of pictures of every nails I did, from my mom's, cousins' to in-laws, but I guess not. haha. My favorite are the fading ones, although they require the most work and does not last for so long because of the thickness layer of clear nail polish that it require, it chips faster. My next fave would be white with black zebra stripes. 

It takes a little bit of time but its fun and unique. 

Since yesterday was St. Patrick's day, I colored my nails green, well turquoise, but close enough. haha

Happy nail painting...

Cuddles and such

Aloha & Happy St. Patrick's day!

I whipped up some blankets for the babies in our family. The minky was so comfy, I want to make one for myself. :)

Hawaiian print and Pink Minky baby blanket

Embroidered her name

She loves her sesame street with Yellow Minky blanket

Baby blanket with matching bib

When I get a chance, I'll make more blankets, even for adults, only if fabrics here in Hawaii aren't so pricey. :/ but then again everything is so pricey nowadays.

Did I mention Hawaii has the highest average gas in the nation? $4.10. Can I get an 'OMG'? haha

Hope everyone has a great St. Patty's day and enjoy your corned beef.

*btw, check out my WORDPRESS :) ArenarDesigns

Mahalo

Count your blessings

Aloha!

The other day, I made another post, not knowing its different from a blog, so that post isn't on my regular blog.  I wrote about the disaster that hit Japan and how thankful we are back home in Hawaii that our tsunami watch turned out to be nothing crazy.  I just want to encourage everyone to count their blessings because you never know when you're gonna 'go'. I always tell myself, "I don't wanna waste my time on unnecessary grudge and hate 'cause if I go tomorrow, I don't want 'hate' to be the last thing I did in my lifetime".  

Mostly every weekend my husband and I spend it with either one of our families.  This past sunday, we hiked Diamond Head crater with my parents, sisters and niece.  It was such a beautiful and perfect day to spend it with family.  

My dad, his friend, and my niece..leading the hike

My mom, going down the 270 something stairs.

The view from the top of the stairs.

husband, towards the end

My family after the hike

Living in Hawaii, it's hard to not think about being blessed. From the view, weather and nice people, there's never a second you can't stop to be thankful.

Lookout view. Going home to the windward side

You can never have too much fun...my husband and I stopped by party city to check out candies before the movies and guess what we found?

candy grillz

...candy grillz!

Mahalo for viewing.

and remember to count your blessings.