This week has been pretty crazy. I had to rely on my trusty calendar to remember what days I work at which job and with whom – what meetings I have scheduled. I don’t think that sentence made any sense. But anyways, after a few days of being a complete scatterbrain, I realized it’s already Thursday and I should start taking it easy because it’s going to be a pain grading exams all weekend.

Yesterday I took a moment to regroup and clear my head before a work meeting/dinner at Gordon Biersch at Aloha Tower Marketplace. I shot this photo (above) with my iPhone from the parking lot. I decided to use a little “purple haze” filter on this, just because I’ve seen lots of lavender/purple shades around town lately. Or maybe it’s just the color of the month…in my head. I wish I had a moment like this to myself everyday.

This next photo is from the other night. My good friend Ryan took me to this new restaurant on Waialae Avenue. It’s called Asuka Nabe + Shabu Shabu and it’s fairly new and very popular. It was packed with locals of all sorts. The last time I ate Shabu Shabu was at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Saipan more than seven years ago. It’s been ages! It was a perfect meal for that chilly night.

The food was great, very tasty. I suggest the spicy broth (it’s not spicy at all, but it’s a peppery miso base that tastes amazing after you cook all your meat, prawns and veggies) and the Asuka-style cucumber kimchee.

There’s nothing like good friends and good food, especially in Hawaii. The two go hand in hand. I’ll be back to update you on Saturday’s Honolulu Night + Market at Kaka’ako. Chau!