America and New Zealand share the King’s English, but it’s always interesting how we develop our own colloquialisms and expressions. One of the first expressions we heard was “take-away,” where we’d say “take-out” here for food we want to take home. What are called flip-flops, clickers or zori are called “jandals” in NZ. Yep, it... Continue Reading →
Shopping in New Zealand
The current exchange rate is about NZ$ 0.7 to a US dollar. So, you would expect that things would be somewhat cheaper here for us as Americans. Not so. Our first introduction to this was when our daughter informed us that a new Honda Accord sells for NZ$ 60,000 (about $42,000 US). Here it is,... Continue Reading →
Khu Larb Thai (Port Townsend, WA)
Port Townsend is a nice place to spend a few days to relax, go shopping and eat. We should come here more often, but making time seems to slip by without notice. The Palace Hotel was running a special, so we took the opportunity to go. For a small waterfront commercial district, Port Townsend has... Continue Reading →
Dinner at Aloha Ramen (Seattle, WA)
For dinner, we went to Aloha Ramen in the Greenwood neighborhood. The owners are from Hawaii, though they both are originally from Japan. The waitresses all were Japanese. The husband apparently trained as a chef. Aloha has been getting good reviews in the local rags and on Yelp. My tonkatsu tan tan mein was disappointing.... Continue Reading →
Dinner at Spicy Talk Bistro (Redmond, WA)
After chef Cheng Biao Yang sold Szechwan Chef, foodies in these parts wondered if he was officially retired or would eventually open another restaurant. For whatever reasons, he seems to start new ventures periodically, having started Szechwan Chef in Bellevue after selling the highly-regarded Seven Stars Pepper in Seattle's Little Saigon district. Luckily for his followers, he opened Spicy... Continue Reading →
Dinner at Monsoon East (Bellevue, WA)
Twice before, we had gone to Monsoon East and enjoyed happy hour. Tonight, we got more serious and ordered from the menu. We started out with two superb cocktails. French Pearls Martini - Elderflower liqueur, lillet blanc, champagne, lemon twist and basil seeds that moved up and down with the champagne bubbles Moondance - blueberry... Continue Reading →
Dinner at Noodle Boat (Issaquah, WA)
Noodle Boat is without doubt our favorite Thai restaurant in the greater Seattle area. Luckily for us, it's only a fast drive down I-90 away. Many regard it as one of the truly authentic Thai restaurants in the area. The menu is quite extensive, with many items you won't find anywhere else. We've been customers... Continue Reading →
Lunch at Samurai Noodle (Seattle, WA)
Samurai Noodle is regarded as one of the best ramen houses in Seattle. Rather than the tonkotsu ramen, we thought we'd try the so-called "Shouyu" instead, which is a combination of pork/chicken. Our initial tasting of the broth was good, but we both noticed that it seemed to somehow become more bland as we continued... Continue Reading →
Matsumoto Shave Ice (Hale’iwa, HI)
It was good fortune that we were able to compare not only shrimp trucks but shave ice as well. Earlier on our trip, we sampled shave ice at Waiola store in Honolulu. Matsumoto’s is a destination stop for many fans, including busloads of Japanese tourists. Waiola draws mostly locals. The lines at both can get quite... Continue Reading →
Shrimp Wars: Giovanni’s vs. Fumi’s (Kahuku, HI)
The usual money on the North Shore shrimp trucks is on Giovanni’s, which started the phenomenon back in the 1960s by offering fresh shrimp (from their own farm) cooked in olive oil, butter and garlic and served with two scoops of rice (what else!). Since then, there have been many imitators, some who have their... Continue Reading →
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