A SIMPLE LIFE

Life these days is pretty simple, mostly in my cocoon called 15 Craigside.  Every so often I go golfing, as I will tomorrow, and once a week I venture into town, mostly to purchase meal enhancement items.  

But this latest outing bordered on an adventure.  First I needed to get a safety check, so off I drove to Pacific Honda.  My car had not been been looked at for a whole year, so they talked me into also changing three fluids.  The bill?  $500.  

As I had to wait, I called Rainbow Hair Styling to get my first haircut in months.  I was thinking of holding back another month, which would have then been two weeks after my second Moderna vaccination, but I just couldn't stand having hair touching my ear.  As it is, I've been cutting it every two weeks as best I could, but at this stage, it was just impossible.  I have never in my life gone as long as I have without a visit to the barber, and here is how I look now, after $15, including a generous tip.

It felt like I had lost five pounds of hair, which made a mess of the floor.   As I was in town anyway, and it was around lunchtime, I took another minor gamble.   Marukame was open, that seemed like a reasonable option.  As Long's was across the street, first went there for a can of beer.  A blackberry Steel Reserve at 8% was $1.99.  I ordered a bowl of udon, topped with an egg (Ontama).

When I was finished, I noticed lines inside and outside:

While out there I noticed an orchid tree:

Next to it was something you don't see anymore, a public phone, the kind into which you put coins.  As I was in the process of taking this photo, some lady walked right into the picture.  One of the concerns about downtown Honolulu is that there are suspicious looking people all over the place:

As I was in the vicinity, I picked up some Shanghai Soup Dumplings, which I could microwave for dinner.  Walking back for my car I noticed a new one of the same color:

Not only has the styling not changed, but my previous Fit of a decade ago also looked the same.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get the safety check because the paperwork I gave them had no watermark on the insurance form.  So, when you go, make sure you bring the original.  When I returned home, I checked, and in my file was the one with the watermark.  My current flora of basil and green onions, anthuriums and hibiscus:

In the middle shot is a protest showing my toe nails.  Medicare changed their policy and beginning this year only allows you to get your toenails cut by a doctor every two months.  But this has to be done every five weeks, so I'll need to get a bit creative. On the bottom photo is a flourishing arugula patch under the flower.  

For dinner:

My splurge of the week was duck foie gras pate', which I had with an artichoke, watercress salad, boiled soybeans, a glass of red wine and beer.

There was a second extravagance of o-toro sashimi:

Have you ever seen such marbling in fish?  And only for $89/pound.  That veggie on the bottom is something called myoga.

O-toro sashimi with chopped steak, miso soup and an assortment of drinks.

Tossed in this week was a luau:

I also found a Hawaii gin:

If you can't read the wording, it says:

In the 19th Century, the arrival of English ships in Honolulu Harbor led to a strong Victorian influence.  Named after a sailor's word for "drink," "Fid" Street, now known as lower Nu'uanu Avenue in Honolulu, became the place where thirsty and sea-weary reveled.

I live on upper Nuuanu Avenue.  Instead of the usual enhancement, I used a Japanese pickle, rakkyo, for the resultant Hawaiian martini, with a light drizzle of okolehau, a local spirit made from the root of the ti leaf plant.

I'm now into healthier foods, and the beef is a requirement because my only blood test minor negative was that the red cell count was a tad low.  A lot of vegetables, for that was the solution to keep me satiated until the next meal, because I now don't walk on a golf course twice/week, and I need to maintain a desired weight.  My biggest disappointment of the week was after cutting all that hair off, I still gained two pounds.

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