Welcome to Tuesday my happy peoples! Waking up was less than delightful this morning since I couldn't get to sleep till after 1:30 sometime. However, I finally got my butt from the bed and got ready and went into work. It was definitely a coffee morning. Now, coffee is a bit optimistic for what I end up with. I usually use splenda but since it is so CRAZY expensive here I just use cheap regular white sugar. About 3 teaspoons of sugar and half a mug full of almond milk (or regular milk but almond milk is cheaper here and very tasty) then top off the mug with the kona coffee. Stir and it is a cool and refreshing sweet, creamy CAFFEINATED morning beverage. Even calling it cafe au lait is generous. It is truthfully slightly coffee flavored caffeinated sweet milk. Even so, it is more than enough caffeine for me.
Susan came in a bit later and brought me goodies. The first picture is of lychee. You peel the outer reddish leathery type skin and it reveals a plump whitish fruit with a big smooth black seed inside. You eat the white and don't eat the seed. It is VERY sweet and has a strong flowery scent, with a bit of a flowery taste. There is a slight tart aftertaste so it is a complex flavor. It is very juicy and easy to make a mess with. These are eaten fresh because they lose that floral perfume like scent and taste when canned. The inner flesh and seed are similar to my next set of photos.
Susan also brought me dragon eyes, also known as longans. These are similar to the lychee. the outer shell, fruit and seed can all be eaten but most people peel the outer leathery layer off, eat the fleshy white part and discard the seed. They are not as overwhelmingly sweet as the lychee and don't have the flowery perfume scent. I like them better than the lychees actually because it is not so incredibly sweet and perfume-like. The white flesh was a bit firmer than the lychee, but they are a bit smaller also. It was like a cross between a grape and a lychee. I really liked these.
So I met with Ann and we coded all of the qualitative data for the Hawaii State Domestic Violence Fatality Review (HSDVFR). This was a bit of a chore. We got that all done and also tweaked the Hawaii Sexual Health Survey (HSHS), my project, and sent it to the family planning and STD folks for their input on any changes or additions to those sections. Then it as lunch!
For lunch Ann and I walked into Kaimuki. Ann got a vietnamese sandwich and I wet to BC Burrito. I got a super burrito with rice, black beans, chile verde (shredded pork cooked with green chilis), and medium salsa. We walked back and enjoyed our lunch outside on the back lanai with Lisa and Lori. No pictures of lunch since I've had this before. After lunch I took a picture of Ann standing next to her red palm plant :)
Back to work! It was very productive. We had received a response from Family Planning so I tweaked those questions on the HSHS and saved that to work on more tomorrow. I entered the qualitative coded data for the HSDVFR and that data is ALL ENTERED. WOOHOO! Now comes the challenging part - alnalyzing that data. Ann showed me how to run the frequencies just as a general starting point and we'll start with that tomorrow. I think I killed a tree printing it off (LOTS of pages). So, a lot done and moving right along. Tomorrow I'll also start working on my next deliverable for my stipend.
It was getting towards quitting time so Lisa, Ann and I decided to go get shave ice. Shave ice (and I am not forgetting the d in shaved, they call it shave ice here) is very very finely shaved ice with juices or other flavors poured on. Sometimes there is condensed milk or ice cream underneath. This is a small mango shave ice made with real mango juice. SUPER YUM. I want to try a bunch more flavors.The place was a little Japanese Mom and Pop shop called Your Kitchen. Also in this place they had this in the cooler: melting pudding, served with caramel sauce on top. I have NO IDEA what this is but it made me smile so I took a picture.
Next we went to Tamura's which is a liquor store but with a great smoked ahi spread and poke (per Ann, I haven't tried it YET) and a great deli selection. I didn't buy anything because I already have plenty at home to eat, but I had to take pictures of the deli case - it is so very different from home!
Next we dropped off Ann and on the way to bring me home we stopped by Leonard's Bakery for malasadas. A malasada is a Portuguese donut with no hole. It is a ball of yeasty type dough, slightly sweet but not too sweet, deep fried. They make them with a variety of fillings or coatings. I got the white sugar (non-filled) malasada at Lisa's suggestion. The outside was a crispy crust but not at all tough, the inside was fully cooked but light and yeasty like a roll. The combination of the sugar crystals on the crispy crust and soft not overly sweet interior was amazing. There was absolutely no oily or greasy remainder on your fingers or the paper after eating it. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! I want more. I only got one and didn't get more because I was fully after my big burrito for lunch, shave ice and one malasada. I want to return and get more, and maybe even try the filled ones just to try them. SO VERY GOOD.
Lisa dropped me off at home but I wanted to go walk a bit. There was a lovely breeze blowing and it had cooled off nicely. So me and my happy feet went walking to KCC. Starting today they have a small farmer's market Tuesday evenings from 4-7 as well as the big Saturday market. So I walked over to check it out. They had some yummy looking food being prepared but I was full. I didn't buy anything but I enjoyed watching the Inferno Pizza folks cooking pizzas in their wood fired oven they bring right to the market and cook in in front of your very eyes. Very neat.
I wandered around there for a bit then walked back home. I really loved this view so I took a picture.
I came on home, showered, went to hang up some hand wash only clothes and there was a guy downstairs! So I met Paul. He is a culinary student here for 2 years to get his degree from KCC. He lives in the guy's house on the property. We are having a big potluck meet everyone type party June 24th so he was stopping by to see what type of foods the female population on the property likes. Nice guy. We talked for a bit about how we don't really cook when it is just us, we just throw ramen or something easy together. I told him about dinner club and he loved the idea. We discussed the farmer's market and what all they have on Tuesdays and Saturdays. He apparently just moved in just a bit ago. Nice guy, hope to run into him around the place again.
So now it is time for bed. Busy day of data tomorrow. Now we start the really interesting part! BTW, my feet are doing much better. The blisters are starting to heal. The new shoes feel WONDERFUL. Not only do I not get more blisters but they make the ones i have not hurt while I walk and doesn't make them worse. I am SO HAPPY I bought them. Jeff gave me my Hawaiian name this morning: eha wawae (sore foot). HMPH. I'll just have to get them better quickly!
Malama pono, (take care)
~Melissa
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