Cheer Up With Food

For my 30th birthday, I decided to celebrate it for the entire month of November.   Since I've reached this milestone in my life, why not spread out the celebration?  Here are highlights of my birthday month: Cake, Cake, Cake My coworker got me this lovely Guava Cake from Andrea's World of Cakes , thank you Fran! Hawaii Trip '16 My family and I were in Hawaii for a bit.  Being there for my birthday was not the primary reason though :p We had this 'ono (delicious) and authentic Hawaiian meal from Waiahole Poi Factory : Don't forget the chili water and Shoyu! There's been many poke bowl shops poppin' up in Vegas.  But none yet that I've been to can beat the OG poke bowls from Hawaii!  Pictured here are poke bowls with simply marinated raw fish and rice.  We also had some sashimi and musubis from Foodland Farms : Li Hing Mui Frost from Frostcity :                   Th...

Continuing on from my last post, Japan Trip '16: Osaka , when we left Osaka, we travelled up north to Kanazawa then travelled to Tokyo where we stayed for the remainder of our trip. We made a stop at Kyoto to do some sightseeing and snacked from bento boxes before we went on our trek: The Japanese make cute stuff out of everything.  Yes, even food.  Kawaii desu ne: After a long walk seeing the Arashiyama Bamboo Groove , we saw Taiyaki for the first time!  This fluffy fish-shaped cake is made out pancake or waffle batter and is usually filled with green tea, custard, or red bean paste (from sweetened adzuki beans ) as seen here: Hacchoya was the first restaurant we ate at when we arrived in Kanazawa .  This was a very nice and chic izakaya (Japanese tavern).  When we arrived it was crowded with business people dining and had a smoky atmosphere.  I hate smoke, but it won't stop me from trying new foods!  Ot...