All things Japanese!

Hi Hi,

The past week was basically a Japanese filled event week for me? As you all know, Hawaii is a melting pot of cultures and it is nicknamed " the gathering place". The biggest population based on ethnicity are the Asian Americans which makes up 38.5% of the population of Hawaii. Out of that 38.5%, roughly 13% of the Asian American population consists of Japanese people! When you come here, there are many authentic Japanese cuisine, signboards in Waikiki and even menus have Japanese translation and one of the criteria for working in high end brands in Ala Moana or Waikiki, is that you can speak Japanese! Alot of Japanese tourists come here too:)

Well...lucky me, I love Japanese culture and their food, so when I am craving Japanese cuisine, I can go out and take my pick of all the different kinds of Japanese food there is here..yay!!! Anyways...... last weekend, I was at the Utada Hikaru concert, she basically kicked off her American tour in Hawaii. It was super super packed and it was like a standing concert, no seats and I felt so suffocated and the worst part was that we had to wait for her for like an hour!!!!! Sooo...when she came on, Kendra and I didn't feel like a big enough fan to squeeze with the rest of her true fans, so we went to sit down at this cushion area and actually ordered snacks( I know, our other friends laughed at us)! We watched her from the big screen instead.....aiks!!!!!

I have to say, her voice is super powerful and she can sing really well! If you were expecting showmanship, don't bother because she doesn't dance much but she sings very well and it is live! If you are there to hear her sing, you will definitely get your moneys worth:)

Last Tuesday, we had dinner at this Japanses Izakaya place like in Japan! These little bars/restaurants serve food and Japanese people go there to chat, talk, snack on food and drink! They focus more on the drinking and camarederie then on eating basically. So, when I was in Japan and my friend brought me there, I was super hungry after because I did not drink and the food was so little!!!ehehe...I know..piggy me! And to my suprise, there was one of these Izakaya places at Ward center, very secluded and its called Bistro Aun! We went there to spend some time with Lea before she leaves next week:(

Kendra doing her kawaii peace sign!

Lea in her European outfit!super hot!

Agedashi tofu! One of the best I have ever tasted!

Grilled Hokke! Apparently it is in most Izakaya places in Japan

Okonomiyaki! Love this dish! My favourite since I first tried it in Malaysia

Deep fried yakisoba..reminded me of Chinese noodles(gong fu chao)

Dessert, coffee jelly!

One last pic before we leave:)

The food was really good and it really reminds me of Japan! That to me is already a winner, I give it an authenticity chop! The best part was everyone around me was speaking Japanese!! hehe:)

xoxo

Meiz