LB Says Hi

The view from my parking spot... Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my first apartment in Hawaii. I tried to find photos of it, but couldn’t find any. I asked friends if they had some, but they didn’t either.   I rented this 300SF space off of University Avenue after a nasty fight with my mom. We were arguing about my decision to get back together with a boyfriend she hated, and her conclusion was: “If you decide to go down this path, then I think you should move out.” That really hurt me, but now I can see why she was frustrated. Initially, she had suggested that I live with the guy, in the hopes that I’d see how truly awful he was — experience it firsthand. Since he lived with his grandma, that clearly wasn't an option. For the next few days, I scoured the internet for a decent apartment to rent. One fateful night, after refreshing the listing’s page a number of times, a new post appeared; It was exactly midnight. The humble space cost $900 a month, was clos...

It’s safe to say that I am NOT used to the cold weather yet. All the New Yorkers I know have reminded me that this is nothing compared to past winters, but I don’t care. I am literally freezing my buns off! When you’ve lived your entire life in a near-perfect weather climate, snow storms, snow flurries and snow PERIOD is abnormal. A coworker even informed me today, “LB, it’s snowing in Hawaii!” It actually does snow on Mauna Kea, but never in an area that people actually populate. So, basically, snow is pretty dang foreign to me.   After I grew tired of groaning and griping, I desperately searched for something to warm my body … and my bitter soul. The options were order-in ramen or cupboard ramen (you know, the endless packs of Ichiban ramen that your mom has consistently sent you since you moved). Nothing was striking a chord.   After watching way too many YouTube videos featuring delicious food, I knew what I had to do. We needed hot pot, and we needed it...

In celebration of Chinese New Year, I decided to make wonton. This idea, although seemingly simple, included A LOT of steps.   Step 1: Call Mamabarbs for the recipe. I’ve published a blog on making wonton in the past, but wanted to make sure I was remembering it right, as this was the first time I was making it on my own.   My conversation with my mother went something like this:   Me: So there’s ground pork, Spam, water chestnuts, shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, Chinese parsley and green onions for the filling?   Mom: You don’t need Spam or the shrimp. Actually, you can just have one or the other. Me: Wait, but do you usually put Spam?   Mom: Yes, but you don’t need it. Or leave out the shrimp — whichever. Me: But, you usually put both? Mom: Not Spam. Me: I feel like there’s Spam. Mom: Maybe there’s Spam…but you don’t have to put it. Me: -_____- I’m gonna put Spam AND shrimp. Step 2: Scour New York Cit...