The Hotties...

These little yellow chilies started popping up in our garden, they are expected to turn to red to be the really hot ones eventually...., to be the true hotties. Hhhhhsshhhh....

33°C And Blue...

It's a hot and sunny day today. The sky was so clear and blue. Ironically, MSN forecast thunderstorms here around now. Not happening!?

Just Puffs...

For many days, we all here have been having trouble with deciding what to eat. We do not even know what we want anymore. It is so difficult to come up with something that everyone has appetite to eat. Maybe it's the heat in this country..............

These are the easier version of cheese puff pastry, instead of twisting the pastry I decided to go easy on myself by cutting the pastry into small pieces. Not only it was faster, because it was a lot less challenging to make. It also allowed me to put more cheese on the top. That's the best part.

I Want Teppanyaki...

It 's only a few minutes after four in the afternoon. The sky was dark, there were lightnings and thunders and the rain started to fall....

The day like this reminds me of our recent time in Tokyo. We managed to have Teppanyaki for our dinner in the city and we could not be more excited about that. We had been looking for some good looking Teppanyaki place and we found one above Daimaru in Tokyo Station.

I am drooling... looking at hese pictures.... the beef and the scallops are soooooo....scrumptious...

I could have these tonite. In fact I want them so bad for dinner.....!!! I wish.

With a glass of Sangria while waiting.....

Red Petunias

The little Petunia plant that we have, has started blossoming....

Happiness Is...

It was a rough week last week and I am glad to start another new week. A sick kid, a back pain, mildew, worms and snails in the garden... I had about enough of physical work. I probably will have some sort of the same old things this week, but it is another week of living. Here's a yellow Zinnia in our garden, taken a few days ago one sunny afternoon. Looking stellar, bright and gives hope.

I saw an episode of Mr. Monk last night, the one that he went camping with Randy and some kids. Mr. Monk asked Randy of the secret of his happiness. He said he saw a bumper sticker that said "Happiness is a choice.."and that was kind of an "aha" moment for him. I remember reading Andrew Matthews book on Happiness too. I remember what he wrote there, basically, if you want to be happy, just be happy. Don't wait until have three million dollars or your kids are all finish school and go to college. Or after your kids start working and get married and so forth... that will go on and on and on... Be happy now. I understand that. But yet, it is hard to put it in practice.

I was not happy last night and I try to put the meaning of Happiness is a choice into my head. I said to myself, "I want to be happy, I choose to be happy. So I am happy!", but I still was not happy. I tried to think of things that make me happy... like the plants.... nah... my enemies are destroying what I build in the garden and I could not be happy thinking of my poor plants. I think of the food that I could make. Nothing, zip, no positive effect, no smile. I tried a few other things like ..... my children, my family, my good health, my home. Nothing. It is always easier to say than to do, I know that.

But. Just. Be. Happy. Have a good week!

Hey, Soul Sister - Cover By 8-Year Old Boy

I woke up really early, which is not good for a Saturday, I really did not expect not to be able to have more sleep on Saturday. Bad. Anyway, after the rain last night, the garden looked wonderful, I saw many colorful flowers and some leaves eaten by some insects, but the beauty of the blossoming flowers just overcome the unauthorized party there. I will get something to get rid of them....

Then this, the video that melts my heart. A little 8-year old boy layed ukulele and sang Hey, Soul Sister by Train. I am still smiling..... WATCH IT!

More Lantanas...

Our Lantanas are blossoming again, more flowers than before ....

Eyjafjallajökull

This word, Eyjafjallajökull, or more easily termed as Iceland Volcano has given headaches to travelers, airports, airlines, great material for news people and million dollars of loss to many. It also, just couldn't help it, can give people laughter and joy when one attempts to pronounce. Here is a hilarious video from Huff posts on this. Enjoy.

Four O'Clock

DH got 10 seeds of Mirabilis Jalapa (Four O'Clock) from his caddy sometime ago early in January. I can't possibly imagine how playing golf and carrying the gold clubs ended up with 10 seeds of a plant. That does not matter anyway.

The seeds are large, so it was not hard to plant. I used to have this in the house where I grew up and just took it for granted that they were there. By looking at the seeds, I knew what they are. So there I was, planting them because DH wanted them to be planted. I was not hopeful that they would grow. I was wrong. Seven of them grew and they grew really well. They produce lovely flowers daily and they are so easy to look after. So far I only have the pink ones, but I hope to get the white and yellow ones too. Anybody?