Now with Da Baby in our lives and her first "real" Christmas (she was only three months in Christmas 2010), Da Wife and I went out and got a Christmas tree - something we haven't done in a few years.

There's something about a Christmas tree's smell that makes everything about Christmas seem right. It's one of those smell by association kine things I suppose but take a whiff of those oily pines and for some reason all is good in da world.

When you think about it, having a Christmas tree is hard work - you actually have to earn it... and it takes time. If you've been to a tree lot - not a tree farm - you first have to spock out da area. Da very first thing is to find out wat kine tree you want, noble or douglas fir, flocking or not, colored or not - I'm unsure there are others but das all I know. And plastic (fake) is fine, but wat's da fun in dat?

Then you gotta find out how big (tall) you like 'em. You bettah know your ceiling height cause it would suck if you brought it home and da buggah no fit. And it would really suck if there wasn't any trunk left to trim.

Then comes da "selection" process. If you've been to da lot wen da shipment just came in you know wat I'm talking about. In da first row or two there are open trees and anything beyond that they are still wrapped in twine to conserve space. Dis is how I see it. If you're at da lot and there are trees open, it's obvious dat it must not be "da one" to have been left on da floor.

Da Wife and I went through a handful of open trees by grabbing 'em, spinning 'em around and jus' trying to get a vibe for it. Some were "empty" looking, some were crooked, some were too narrow and some were just not to our liking.

A word of advice, if you do go and plan on handling the trees, bring a pair of disposable gloves so that you don't get sap and oil all over your hands and possibly a t-shirt you know you can get dirty.

Aftah picking an area wit da "height" we wanted, I started digging into da rows and undoing some twine. A workah joined in eventually and held one up.

A'ole. Next. A'ole. Next.

Then Da Wife spocked one a couple more rows back and aftah holding it out open for us to look at, it didn't take more than a second for both of us say, "Winnahs!"... jus' like a wedding dress so I hear. When you know, you know.

All dat work was just to pick one out.

And to keep da mo'olelo short, we brought it home measured a little more and trimmed da trunk to da height we wanted. Then put da tree in, make 'em straight, put watah, put plant food, look at da tree, look at da tree.... huh? How come get puka?

Wassup Wit Dat!

Ok, ok. It wasn't a puka but it was a bare looking area so now we had to turn da tree, look at da tree, turn a little more.... perfect.

It was a full, green, straight, healthy looking tree.... and we didn't even start decorating it.









Once we got our shatter proof ornaments and led lights up high enough so Da Baby can't tug at it, dis is wat it looked like.







Da Wife, Da Baby and I have our "personalized" ornament and now dat we're an ohana, we're going to get one every year to add to da tree.







Do you have a fond memory of your Christmas tree? Do you get a real tree or a fake one? Is your tree filled with ornaments? Does it change every year or do keep using da same ones? Do you string up popcorn? Do you have a tradition with the tree? Send me your Christmas tree pic (keep faces out if you don't want 'em posted) and you get to choose your present of either a free custom t-shirt designed by me or kim chee made by me.

And just like everything else in life, da clean up sucks. Pines smelling sour and falling left and right all the while pulling your ornaments off wondering why da heck they aren't fitting back into box properly..... wasn't it worth it?

Get your mind out of da gutter.

Now onto da blog.

I'm surah 99.9% of us love to eat - especially during the holiday season - and being da metropolitan of asian-euro-pacific-watevah kine cuisines we have a very diverse range of palettes. Can everyone be satisfied? Surah, but nevah at once.

Just a little background on WWD! Grind Reviews (sorry, have to "default" to dis wit every review).

Da reviews itself are a bit off (obviously). Personally, I appreciate a balance of quantity and quality but in da same token prefer to pay a little more if either da grindz is out of dis world ono or simply, get choke fo' eat. I don't expect outstanding service, just da basic, but one of da most important factors I consider wen going out to eat is da bang for da buck. Wit dat said, you can obviously conclude I'm not a "gourmet" fan but if it's in front of me, garans bombarans I going grind 'em.

So on wit da show.

Let me first start by saying dat I was working on an earlier grindz review then had a WWD! moment, then thought of anoddah grindz review because of it and now da result, a grindz showdown... of sorts.

Which of these three is a deal? Which of these three is tastiest? Which of these three would you choose?

Each of these three is missing something else as well... do you know wat it is?

Stay tuned for da breakdown of each and of course da winnah of da showdown.




btw, anybody do any Cyber-Monday shopping?

It is "officially".... Christmas.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and I'm just guesstimating hea but a lot of leftovahs are in da fridge huh? And for those who dare brave da madness of Black Friday, I hope you prepared yourself and carbed up for the marathon of shopping.

Since time is of the essence today, I'll keep this short. (WWD!)

Who's a Black Friday participant? Did you score your deal or was it gone before you even got through da door? Did you try any online shopping before hitting da pavement? I tried. No luck of course.

As part of Da WWD! Hui (Lurkahs included) it is your obligation, no, duty to inform us of any great deals going on from now throughout this festive season. You are required to inform us via posting the great deal you snagged so that we may rush down and possibly get a deal too oddahwise, you must state dat da item has run out to prevent us from wasting our time and energy wen we could have been snagging a deal elsewea.

Dat is part is part of Da WWD! Hui code and must be honored throughout your time as a Kwonic, Lanceformer and Lurkah status.

Ok, so dat was made up but it sounded good no?

But seriously, please share all your shopping triumphs and failures cause while dis may be da holiday season, it is also da gala of WWD! moments.

Happy Feel Good Friday to Da WWD! Hui!

btw, who da heck is working today besides me?

Happy Gobble Gobble Day!

Hope you and your ohana have a great day filled with onolicious grindz, wonderful moments and ever-lasting memories.

Party hard and party safe.

Shoots!
k-den

Da season for onolicous grindz has begun.

With Thanksgiving just a couple days away, holiday office pah-tay's and family gatherings, you just can't help yourself to over indulge in foods - most times homemade - that you normally don't eat often.

Go on and admit it. It's da foods you don't cook often if even at all.

I for one enjoy seeing all the different dishes as well as those I want to see at these gatherings cause while there's a chance I may be able to make it myself, it always tastes bettah wen someone else makes it..... at da very least someone else is doing da dishes.

In Hawai'i, we live in a chop suey culture wea our side dishes could be - and often times has been - a main meal itself. At da pot luck table, there's always da varying degrees of chicken or beef but da sides are wea people get creative and elaborate.

We must be da only state wea at potlucks we have an "option" to make like a gazillion different kine salads and no one bats an eye. Of course, there are about a dozen ways to make da island staple of mac salad. But then we get things like somen salad, pasta salad, tossed salad, potato salad and we've all eaten just a salad as a meal before.

Then naturally of course gotta have rice. Musubi's (with or without a surprise center), nori wrapped, furikake, sushi and fried rice just to name a few.

Can't forget about da oodles of noodles from chow mein to fried udon to chop chae.

And you most definitely can't call an island style pot luck complete without poke. Das po-kay. Not po-key. Anoddah local word not being pronounced correctly.....

Wassup Wit Dat!

We've all been to da local fish department in grocery stores, or fish markets in general, and get about two dozen or so poke dishes to choose from. Get shoyu, shoyu onion, masago, limu and of course, spicy kine naming just a few ways it's prepared. Poke is made with any kine - most times - raw fish so da combinations of "sauces" are endless.

Those are just da tip of da iceberg wen we think about side dishes. We all look forward to these fantabulous "meals" especially wen we not making 'em and I dunno about you but wen I know "somebody" going be at a pah-tay, I look forward to "their" dish. And we ALL have a few people we "want" at da pah-tay.

I look forward to Da Wife's broiled sushi (although I gotta do da dishes - WWD!), da relatives soba/spinach salad, someone always brings tako poke and my absolute absolute favorite (rogah, das absolute TWICE!), spicy ahi.

If I nevah have to share, I'd pound every single bit of dat spicy ahi and still look for more.

So for those who "always make da same thing", please no feel like it gets boring or tiring cause wen you no bring 'em, those "expecting" 'em are disappointed. It's just one of those things you're "expected" to bring no mattah wat so just suck it up and take one for da team.

Wat's your favorite pupu or side dish at pot lucks? Do you look forward to a friend or relative's dish? Are you an "expected" cook?

Go on and share..... I'll be "expecting".