More Mochi, Please

a mochi sampler - custom created by us on the big island

I am hooked.  The mochi we had in Hawai'i was really really tasty.  For those of you who are (sadly) unfamiliar with Asian delicacies, mochi is this gummy dessert that can resemble playdoh (if it's purple sweet potato, or ube, flavored) or a hunk of sticky rice.  You can buy it all over the place in Hawai'i: supermarkets, farmer's markets, even a convenient store in the middle of nowhere has fresh made vanilla mochi. 

Once we returned (and realized we had only a stale hunk of it remaining - ew), I started to search for places we could find it around here.  Living in a fairly diverse, largely international city, I figured it should've been an easy task.  Not so much.  According to what others have Yelped, I have to go to some random bakeries in Chinatown and ask the ladies behind the counter if they are hiding any mochi in the back.  Hmm.

However, I did stumble upon a mochi ice cream review by some locals who are systematically trying and writing about each and every Trader Joe's product.  It received a 9.5 out of 10, which sounded good enough to me.  I bought two flavors (mango and chocolate) to try out for dessert tonight and they were a hit.  It's a little ball of ice cream wrapped in mochi (similar to doughy bean cake).  YUM!  Now I am covered in whatever powder they roll them in so they don't stick to everything.

In other news, I spoke to Dr. Henry this evening to investigate further into what results we are still waiting for.  Basically we are trying to rule out infection so that if this stubborn infiltraitor (new word alert!) is just inflammation, it can be treated properly.  However, he still feels as though the tachycardia is a mystery.  I am seeing my cardiologist next week and will ask yet more questions.  Furthermore, Dr. Henry wants to scan me again to get a picture of what my lung is up to now, a month after the infiltrate was discovered.  So don't put away your positive energy just yet, folks, when I said meet me back here in 3 months, what I meant to say was:  Don't forget to check the blog daily to see when I might be having another scan. 

I'll be honest, I was actually hoping he would do a CT/PET combo (just to put all of my fears to rest), but no dice.  He doesn't think insurance will go for it so soon and he doesn't think it's necessary (too much radiation, blah blah blah).  I would really appreciate a daily scanner.  Like those clothes-fitter-scanners at the King of Prussia Mall?  You go into the booth, some weird rays sense your body when you stand on the x's and then, instead of a list of the sizes you'll be in every designer label, you get a print-out saying either "cancer-free" or "ALERT, ALERT, THIS IS ALL SYSTEMS ALERT."  At least this way, nothing sneaks up on you or gets to stage IV before you've found the dastardly creeps and notified them they better come out with their hands UP and in full view.

I am enjoying another FB fast, although I do like to know about really important goings-on with people I care about (so if something's happenin, shoot me a msg, k?).  The past two days I have spent a disproportionate (and ridiculous) amount of time trying to design a button for my blog.  It was successful and I now have a fancy little image (of me and my blog title) that you can click on to link you directly to my blog.  Unfortunately, I have only been able to post this on my blog.  Which means that you can now get from my blog to my blog.  I'm workin on it.  I was not born to be a web designer, that's fo sho.

xxoo

PS. But seriously, isn't the button cute?