Thanksgiving in MSP!

Hey hey!

I told you that I will catch up on my back logged posts. I am at my super nervous stage right now as next week is where everything is happening, thesis defense and final exams all rolled in one day! What can I say????? But expressing my thoughts in the blog is a pretty good stress reliever and it's fun...hehe....so I will post another one up today about my trip to Minneapolis over Thanksgiving. The previous post and this one is all about food!!! If you know me, then you will know I eat alot and love love love to eat, one of my favourite pastimes is discovering new and good restaurants to include in my repertoire of "to go-to food places".

It was cold in Minneapolis as it is winter now but this trip down, Jason manage to squeeze in time to take me to a few popular restaurants in town. The first one being Moto-I which was a place where they brewed their own sake........I thought it would be owned by a Japenese guy but it was owned by a Caucasian American. Not to mean anything but the authenticity scale went down a notch when I found out. Nevertheless, here are some pictures and my reviews:

Sake 101, they teach you how to drink the sake based on this menu and the grade and taste of each glass is included on the sheet. It was pretty cool although the sake sampler was actually Jason's roommate's order...I stole this picture for you guys to judge for yourself:)

Part of our food, they had okonomiyaki which was the best dish of the night although nothing compared to the Hiroshimay style one. The "sashimi" was such a dissapointment because it wasn't pure but contaminated with sauce and with a mushroomy taste!!!???!!!

The next night itself was Thanksgiving already and we ordered a meal from Whole food, everything organic because we wanted to be healthy!!! I spend hours slaving or more like worrying how the turkey would turn out, and of course trying to cook everything simultaneously!!! Super hard......don't ever try cooking a Thanksgiving meal from scratch, I can imagine it to be even harder!!aiks!!!

Our meal which includes mash potatoes, stuffing, cranberry relish, green peas and Turkey!!! The meal made me really sleepy and full, the mash potatoes and stuffing was the best!!!!! The turkey was a lil dry, maybe cause we put it in the oven for too long????????

We had dinner at Namaste cafe the dollowing night, an Indian restaurant. We had this fried fish dish, rather American but we were so hungry, we thought it was like the best fried fish dish ever!!!!!! haha....this is what hunger does to you...

Us outside in the cold cold weather trying to take a pic before leaving

I really love this tree and the lights....it's so beautiful! The leaves were pink!

My last night, we went to Tanpopo noodle house....I tried the special....it tasted really good especially when it was cold outside!

Jason's set meal. They gave a generous portion of the fish and the salad was super tasty:) Overall, I really liked this restaurant and I would recommend people seeking Japanese food to go there when you are in Minneapolis!

My trip was a relaxing one but rather short( it was really good to get out of the cold though). It was a great Thanksgiving, love those quiet ones at home with loved ones which I did this year!!!!!! And of course, thank you Jason for making my Thanksgiving fun in Minneapolis:)

Hope you guys had a good one too!!!!

xoxo
Meiz

International food night???

Hi Guys!!!

People have been asking me why I have not posted anything up since like 3 weeks ago?????? Sorry about that, I know being busy is sooooo not an excuse but will try to catch up these next few weeks alright??!!??

I thought I would highlight an event I attended before Thanksgiving in Hale Manoa(one of the dorms on campus). As you all know, Hawaii is an ideal place where the east meets the west and it is definitely a blend of cultures from the people to the food here. My good friend Erenst invited Kendra and I once again for their ever delicious international night where all the residents from the dorm who come from different countries cook food from their own cultures. It is my favourite food event of the year I tell you!!!!!

I have taken some pictures for you guys to see, not all the booths but some....do not salivate on your computer!!!

I had to take a picture of the person that invited me for the event!!! He was handling the Indonesian booth, the decor and food there was amazing...they had satay which I have been craving for!!!

More indonesian cuisine....look at how much effort they put in!! Kudos to you guys:)

Indian food..yumm......curry....

Taiwanese booth!!!

Vietnamese cuisine...authentic I tell ya

I am not sure....but I think this was the Nepalese booth....their food was extremely cute and unique

Of course, our own Malaysian cuisine....I had to take this picture because the three women cooking it were the right mix of the Malaysian culture(Malay, Chinese and Indian). They were so hardworking....cooking the whole day..making nasi lemak wrapped in pandan leave...do you know how excited I was to hear they were making nasi lemak???You wouldn't believe how much I was jumping!!!Good job guys!!!

They made teh tarik too....although they made it with tea bags..it was still goooooddddd!!!

There were many other cuisines too such as Pakistani, Chinese, Cambodian, Samoan and the list goes on. Kendra and I were so full after one hour...we literally stuffed our faces, it was actually rather embarrassing......hehe..... but really worth it. I will definitely be back for another round of food next year...woo hoo!!!!!! For those who missed out, you guys can join me next year...I will give a heads up on this blog first!

Hope all of you are having a great week...for those taking their finals next week..good luck!!!!!

xoxo
Meiz

Tiffany Vega project

Hey everyone....

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Hope all of you are having fun during this short break:) It's been a whirlwind week for me...rushing here and there to finish stuff... realizing that there is more to life than just work work work!!!!! I should follow my own motto.....live life to the fullest...I wish it was that easy...ehehehe....but I helped prepared a Thanksgiving meal yesterday.....always hard work..but pays off when you eat it...

I just thought I take a break from my birthday posts to talk about my friends charity project entitled the "Tiffany Vega Project". It is about military families and what they go through when their husbands, wives or family members get deployed. It was held in Pearl and it was an interesting event..good job Tiff!!!!

Each table had decorations done by Tiffany!

Us gals that went.....

Gen came too:)

A picture with the star of the night!

There was a slide show depicting sad sad pictures of love, sorrow, reunion. hope....

Tiff's speech:)

Tiff and her husband Vega...they are really sweet together...I am sure one of the persons giving her inspiration is her husband too:)

Although I left early, I am glad I went as the music was good, decorations were beautiful and of course, the event itself was a success...Congrats Tiff!!!!! And...I feel awareness was created through this project as to what military members go through when their loved ones are away.....Hence, Thanksgiving was a meaningful theme along with this post! A blessed weekend to all of you:)

xoxo

Meiz

Birthday dinner-Part two!

I know I know...you are wondering when her birthday posts would stop cominig up but guess what this is my 2nd last post....it's just so tough to shirnk all the pictures to fit the blog, or if anyone knows an easier way, please tell me!

We all went for dinner in this restaurant called Imanasu-tei which is quite secluded but thanks to my resourceful housemate, he found this izakaya place, he said that all Japanese tourists that come here go to Imanasu-tei....after I heard that, I knew I had to have my birthday dinner there, it's authentic, and he even got us sorta of like a private room with the traditional tables where you put your legs beneath you..thanks Gen!

The early birds.....

The staff at the restaurant wanted to give me the flower..so cute:)

Jeani, Kyle and Naomi

Lea, Lisa and Erenst

The food was extremely delicious!!! and the price wasn't too bad either..Let me tell you we ordered so much food that I couldn't take pictures of all of them!!! But if you come here or you are from here, you have to check this place out!

My birthday cake....so many candles! Gen bought it and jason put the candles and cut it for me:)

Thanks Gen!

Shows you how good the cake was!!!

The whole group!

One last pic outside the restaurant!

That was a tasty and fun dinner!!!! Loved it! I always say, the way to my heart is to feed me food( Japanese food is my no.1 choice) ehehehe..... THank you all who came and for the lovely lovely pressies!!!!!!! You made my night special:) There is more to come, the last part......my fav lounge!!!

xoxo

Meiz

Birthday- Part one!

This is a long overdue post!!! Sorry!!!!! Like I said, November is a crazy busy hectic month for me.....but it has been an overall great month so far.....many many good things have happened for me, some really unexpected and I believe there will be more good stuff happening!!!:)

Of course, my housemate thinks that I view this month to be especailly good because it is my birthday month...but I doubt so..I feel it might actually be a good year for me too.....so wish me luck! Anyways, so I was really excited because a special someone came to visit me just for my birthday.....really sweet......

On the morning of my birthday, I woke up to a few surprises waiting up for me on my dining table....here are the pics...Thanks Gen and of course some pressies from the special someone too.....~yay~

Lying on the table was a picnic bag with lil treats inside and of course shall we dance? japanese version......(did you know that the movie was originally from Japan???) and of course got a VS gift card and a new book from one of my fav authors Mitch Albom.....loving this day already...

Then the special someone took me to my favourite breakfast place Cream pots, have been meaning to blog about it but didn't have a good chance, now I finally get pics for you guys to see:)

The interior is beautiful...very victorian yet like a fairy house....you will definitely feel like you are in another world, guranteed....Love it!

Overlooks the Ala wai, you feel like you eating by the river

Food is great too....we got the salmon benedict( my all time favourites) and omelette with rice and salad...healthy!

Finish off with apple crepe...yum yum yum;) my mouth is watering as I am writing this

That was the start of my birthday for me. Great isn't it? I went shopping after at Ward and got a super cute dress!!! Really my lucky day because I have been looking to buy a dress for ages and have not found the right one till that day....:) I get happy over little things...eheheh...

There is more to come in my next post of the night events on my birthday of course..stay tuned.....

xoxo

Meiz

Halloweeeennn

It's been awhile since I posted something up but I have been busy!!!! The month of November is going to be super hectic for me....people visiting, birthday, me going to the mainland....all squeezed in one fun filled month!!!!

Halloween in the States is awesome, it's really different and I actually for once experience making my own costume...more like I got the idea to be an APPLE core coz i looovee to eat apples(*yum*) and my sweet sweet friend Michelle actually sewed it for me..I know I cheated....next year..I promise..I will make it, hand sew and all....:) BUt I have to give props to two gals which made their own costume and spent so much time on it especially my really good friend Kendra!!! She was in my apartment for two straight days sewing by hand everything!!!!AAAmmmmazzzzzziiinnngggg...this tradition of making it your own is unheard of for me........

Jen even had a sewing machine!

Guess what she was??? a sushi!!!!so cool and creative!!

At my place, preparing for a night out:) and kendra is a squirtle from pokemon!!!

For people visiting during this time, you should definitely dress up and go to waikiki because you get to see many many costumes, like a parade of people...buttt....... we were actually suppose to be at Nobu in Waikiki but erm.....we got stuck in traffic for one hour and decided to turn around and went to restaurant row instead(and hence I missed many of my friends in their outfits*sob*)...so get there early!!!!!

Five of us outside Bonsai, before our costumes fall apart!

From Left to right: sushi, bee keeper, apple core, policewoman, and squirtle

Lisa looking hot!and who is the masked guy?????

Oceans was super cool, their whole club was a water theme, even their bar tables have water running through them..very classy!

I thought his outfit was super creative..

Basically, there were more creative outfits I saw but was too shy to ask for a picture...except for this one...ehehe....I will try to take more pics next time of Oceans and it was sooo packed that I manage to get these ones only....sorry!!!!!!

Hope you had a happy halloween guys:)

xoxo
Meiz