***!!! A Licensed Contractor should always be used to perform renovations!!!***
| 9/13-9/14
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|  I live in a Waikiki 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo. It is in a great location, that offers channel views of the oceans and iconic buildings in Waikiki. (Hilton Hawaiian Village, Outrigger Reef and soon, Trump Tower, etc.) The original kitchen design practically blocks all nice views from the actual living area of the living room while displaying the not so nice views of the neighboring buildings. My renovations should alter this and make the nice views highlighted while blocking the "ugly" views instead. Big job!
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|  These are the new cabinets, boxed, unassembled. They are custom designed and imported. They took about 2 months to arrive.
|  9/18...
This morning, the cabinet manufacturer came to assemble the cabinets that are in the boxes pictured above. Upon inspection, we realize that the colors of certain base boards and other places of the cabinet do not match the doors. This photo shows the 2 colors and materials. The exposed areas are supposed to the the lighter colored, thermofoil finish (doors, baseboards, etc.) and the insides are supposed to be a cheaper laminate finish that doesn't quite match the thermofoil coloring (back of cabinets, shelves, bottom, etc.), but "close". Now, if this is as close as it gets for the inside to match the outside, it might be okay to pass off because nobody would normally be seeing the insides. The problem is there are glass doors therefore allowing the inside to show out and the exposed baseboards are also done in the inexpensive finish so it's very visible!!
|  It seems the supplier is going to try a 2nd attempt at this custom order and bring it in again. Now the kitchen will be looking as shown in this picture for another month and a half! Of course, we'll work on the flooring and the mid-height wall in the time being, but that would probably be done in a week or less. At least there is no rush for that now.
**Note: Made in China...**
| To be continued...
| Related Links: My Kitchen Renovations, Google "Dorm Room Cooking".
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We were at Home Depot on Saturday night. (Yes! Home Depot! Not a night club, restaurant, etc.) Anyway, there was this 1 "Everstar 3 in 1 Griddle" left on sale for $12.99. It was an open box special. We bought it to add another appliance to the temporary cooking set-up. It has a griddle plate, waffle plate and those triangular smashing ones.
Panini Style Grilled Chicken Salad Sandwich
Before the US AF Thunderbirds Air Show, we had some lunch at Matsugen, a small, nice soba restaurant on Beachwalk Street in Waikiki. I had the Gomadare Cold Soba and Kelli had the Mori Cold Soba. We were seated at a counter type seating that surrounded an area that they use to make the hand made soba noodles. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see anyone make some fresh noodles while we were seated there. 
As you can see, we enjoyed it and ate it all! Kelli's Mori Soba came with a pitcher of hot soba water (water used to boil the soba noodle) about mid-way through eating. I wasn't quite sure what it was, I thought it was hot tea, but we didn't have any tea cups. I looked inside and realised it was the soba water. Kelli was wondering what to do with it. I had an idea that it was to pour into the dipping sauce for the soba and then drink it as a soup. But then I thought it was odd to drink HOT soup after eating a cold soba dish because it was a hot day. Anyway, that seemed like the only option so I asked the waiter what it was for and he explained that it was the traditional way to finish the Mori Soba meal. So we did. It was good. I guess it was similar to drinking some hot tea at the end of the meal to help you feel refreshed after eating. 