Following my sister’s Hawaiian-style wedding on the grounds of the Ko’olau Golf Club, we went to the Club’s main ballroom for the Hawaiian-style reception. I say “Hawaiian-style” because we include facets from the many different ethnicities that make up Hawaii, yet in a uniquely Hawaiian way. Case in point is the framed 1001 cranes artwork that was commissioned for her wedding:
The design is made up entirely of 1001 hand-folded, gold foil origami cranes. Ancient Japanese tradition was that a bride-to-be would fold 1000 cranes in order for a wish (such as long life or good fortune) to be granted. Japanese in Hawaii do it one better for extra luck!
(more…)
You may think that our recent trip to Hawaii was just to eat but no; my baby sister was getting married and we had to be there to celebrate with her.
(more…)
You’ll swoon over these lamb shanks in buttery braised garlic sauce.
For some reason, it’s really hard to find good beef here in Kuching. Last year when Nate was hankering for some steak for his birthday, I went to the store and got some ribeyes to grill up for him.
They were not good.
They were tough and did not have enough marbling. I had bought a big hunk of ribeye frozen and when we thawed them out, we had a feeling they weren’t going to be good. So, we’ve pretty much given up on getting good steaks here. The rest of that hunk ended up being sliced up and used for Niku-jaga which was a better application of that quality beef.
Anyway, why am I going on about beef when the title of this post says lamb shanks? Well, it’s because I want to let you know that even though we can’t get good beef here, we can certainly find good lamb!
The same place I got my beef, I also found some vacuum-packed lamb shanks that were super meaty. I got myself two shanks the first time; made this recipe and regretted not buying more. So the second time around, I made sure to get four shanks.
(more…)
I’ve always enjoyed reading fantasy (Lord of the Rings being one of my favorites!) and when I was a teenager, I enjoyed reading David Eddings’ fantasy series—with his Belgariad series being another favorite. Lately, I have found it hard to get into fantasies. Several series start really promising and then get frustrating as you continue on.
I remember starting on Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series (even introducing it to other friends) and then getting really frustrated as it slowed down and never seemed to end—the main character got really whiney and the female characterization was making me unhappy. I stopped at Book Four and never looked back. Turns out, he died before he even finished, though I hear that his son is finishing the series for him.
I’ve been really put off by fantasy series that start off really well, but don’t follow through. For instance, I enjoyed reading Eragon, only to struggle with the second book Eldest. The story dragged and I could not get past page 100. I don’t know if I am willing to invest the time in reading it if the third and fourth turn out to be just as problematic.
Then one day, as I was browsing in Amazon, I came across a fantasy book that had been given really good reviews—The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I borrowed the book from the library and ploughed through it in no time at all. I recommended it to many fantasy-loving friends. I was thrilled to find a new author I could get into. Then, I had to wait for the second in the series to arrive.
(more…)
