This recipe deserves a shout out to my friend Andrea Nguyen for teaching me how to make these delicious fruit tarts 10 years ago. And every since then, they have been one of my go to dessert staples. Cute and tasty, these bite-sized tarts are absolutely perfect for any party. With summer rapidly approaching, this is an easy recipe to whip up for your next BBQ, pool party, picnic etc.
After two wonderful days of temple hopping and exploring the old capitol of Japan and one day eating until we dropped in Osaka, it was time to head onwards to Tokyo, the largest city in Japan. While we experienced some of the city life in Osaka, Tokyo was a whole different ball park. It reminded me of New York City with its multiple prefectures, tons of sky scrapers, high end fashion sense, and bustling people and nightlife. The city itself was far too big for us to be able to even skim the surface of in the two days we had available to spend there so we had to pick and choose what we wanted to see most.
Only 3.5 hours away from Guam, Japan was an ideal vacation destination, especially as we only had 7 days and didn't want to spend a large part of it on a plane. After three amazing weeks on the beautiful island, we hopped on a flight to Tokyo bright and early. From Narita airport we took the bullet train to Shinagawa station in Tokyo to meet my parents and my brother. Now I have not been on a family vacation in YEARS. Between studying for MCATs or boards, I have unfortunately missed out on the last few international trips. So imagine how excited I was to travel with my family again. Worst part? My sister was now in the same boat I was in and could not join us, even though Japan was always "her thing," and probably one of the top items on her bucket list. Vicky, we missed you dearly on this trip but don't worry, we'll be back there again some day.
While it is considered a US territory, Guam's history dates back centuries before Magellan ever landed on the island. It's culinary scene is both native Chamorro food and a mix of Asian cuisines (given it's proximity to Southeast Asia) in addition to your classic "American food," aka McDonalds, Papa John's and other fast food joints along those lines. Produce in Guam is unfortunately horrendously expensive as most of it is imported. Agriculture is not a big part of island life. The first day we arrived in Guam, we headed for the supermarket to buy groceries for the week and boy, was the sticker shock just that--shocking. Used to cheap produce from Southern California, we could not believe our eyes when we saw a bag of salad for $6 that we were used to paying $3 for at home. However, on the flip side, meat is cheap and easily accessible so the local diet consists mainly of beef and pork with red rice (white rice dyed red with achote seeds along with some seasonings).
Chicken BBQ Skewer
Last month, the boy and I were privileged with the opportunity to visit the beautiful island of Guam. A tiny island, but largest in Micronesia, Guam sits in the Pacific ocean just 3.5 hours away from Japan. With tropical weather in the 80s year round and warm blue seas, it was the perfect place to be after a two month stint of wards and ICU. We spent three wonderful weeks at the Seventh Day Adventist Guam Clinic in Tamuning on a Wellness Rotation, working with dedicated doctors, nurses, and volunteers to study the effects of education classes and intensive lifestyle changes on diabetes and obesity, two conditions with very high prevalence in Guam. We even got to run our own diabetes education class one of the evenings and performed wellness consultations, both truly educational experiences. Thanks to Drs.Arakawa, Clark, and Ursales, we had a productive three weeks.
