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I’ve injured my left eye again. It seems the scratch I endured //last October did not fully heal. I had felt some discomfort earlier this week, which resulted in a nice two-day headache. On Wednesday I thought the pain had passed, but Thursday night I was in discomfort slash complaining mode. By Friday morning my left eye had swollen.
I made an appointed to be seen that morning. I had an appointment with an Ophthalmologist. This first Ophthalmologist confirmed there was a new scratch, but needed to refer me to someone of more experience on treatment. The treatment was to patch my left eye, but first she needed to scrap a layer of skin away from the eye. Doing this would hopefully yield even healing on the eye. She numbed my eye during the procedure, but after the medication wore off, my eye felt beat up. I needed to take Tylenol for the next two days.
Farrah took me to see the Ophthalmologist on Sunday morning for a follow-up. Good news! She said the eye healed a 100%, meaning the layer she scraped away has grown back to cover they eye. But treatment needs to continue in order to ensure the layer stays intact. So it looks like I’ll be using certain eye drops and lubricants for the next several months so this does not happen again. And believe me, I don’t want it to happen again.
The First Saturday in February
I’m sitting outside Express in //Bay Street shops in Emeryville. Farrah is in one of the many shops, and I just got out of the Apple store. I’m sitting on a bench, and it is a pretty chilly late afternoon (around 5:30 PM). I’m not sure if I will be able to post this entry to the website from here. I’m getting a weak WiFi signal from the Apple store, but I don’t think I’ll be out here long. The day has been pretty much uneventful, though I the week holds promise.
Last week was pretty rough, and seemingly long. An uncle in Hawaii passed away. His death, almost any death, still reminds me of my father. I’m not sure why, even after all these years, but it still does. My uncle, someone as a kid I would call my rich uncle, had become ill in September. From what I understand he was up and around in the beginning of last year, showing no signs of disability, save his age. He was tending his garden still, going out when need be. But I suppose time catches up with everyone. He was 93 when he died.
I saw Uncle Teofilo after our wedding. I visited his home with my mom, where I saw my aunt and cousins. Uncle was bedridden, talking incoherently as we walked into his room. It took about 15 minutes to recognize my mom, 20 minutes to recognize me. When he did recognize me, it was as if a light switch had been turned on. He wished Farrah and I a happy honeymoon, as if we were in the middle of a conversation. His words brought tears to my eyes. After those words, I had to leave. I didn’t want to see him fade away. It’s something about seeing someone who you remember being so strong, now not being able to care for themselves. It hits hard. From what I understand, my uncle was pretty stubborn when he was lucid, wanting to move around and go when the urge took him over.
My mom went to the funeral, and stayed with relatives for a few days. I just contemplated life, thinking of what was, what is, and what will be. Yes, I’m getting a little reflective in my downtime. I need to find a job and keep busy.
So this week is almost over and a new one is about to begin. Let’s hope this week is a little better.
Things To Remember from this December
I wanted to jot down a few things to remember this month, besides the wedding. Most of these events happened in Hawaii, so I guess it still involves the wedding in some way.
Remember…
- the lady on crutches at //Sam Choy Breakfast, Lunch & Crab who offered to take our photo during breakfast? She took Farrah's camera, took a step back, and raised the camera over her head, then quickly fell to the ground. She, the camera, and her crutches came tumbling down. Ouch!
- hearing the song, "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)" for the first time early one morning? //These lyrics are something to hear.
- when everyone got sick? Farrah, Alex, Yen, Fina, Dad, Roger, Jane, Tiana (when we got here), and Dad's friend. Roger had a sinus infection, Farrah was on antibiotics, and Yen was on a couple of different things.
- getting the car towed from Jane and Roger's place? I woke up at 6:00AM to go to Starbucks only to find the car had been towed. I know the sign said don't park there from 2:00 AM to 7:00 AM, but from what I understood that hadn't been enforced often. Guess the Christmas season keeps everyone on their toes.
- Khalil ordering shaved ice for everyone? He was a little worried on how to order, but did a good job. Only problem was that we asked for ice cream and beans, only to find out that there were no beans at the bottom of the cone. Disappointment for all.
- seeing stores open in Waikiki on Christmas night? We drove back to the hotel at around 10:30 PM, passing by people coming out of different shops on the strip. I guess Waikiki stores never close.
Friday Afternoon
I’m sitting in //Starbucks again as Farrah finishes some Christmas shopping. Last night my mom left back to California, arriving safely home early this morning. We head out on Monday, spending Christmas with those remaining behind. Doug headed out to Japan yesterday. I didn’t have a chance to talk to him before leaving.
Today Ann treated everyone to //Sam Choy’s Breakfast, Lunch & Crab off the Nimitz. Farrah had the French Toast Platter while I had the Papa’s Beef Stew Omelet. Hmmmm….good!!! Two different people actually told me to try the Beef Stew Omelet, and the recommendations were sound. I couldn’t finish the omelet portion, but I did finish the stew.
I’ve taken quite a bit of photos, so it will take a bit of time to process and post the photos. This is what I plan to do when I get home. Check my //Flickr account for any updates.
We're Married!!!
It is official! Farrah and I our now husband and wife!
We took our wedding vows on the lagoon lawn at the //JW Marriot Ihilani yesterday afternoon. The weather was very nice, except for the gusting wind - which blew at about 15-20 mph - but that didn’t really make a dent in the day’s events. It’s only worth noting because today is such a calm day at Ihilani. But like I was telling Farrah, “That day was our day”.
Pre-ceremony photos ran a little behind, but it didn’t push our wedding start time back. We actually started on time at 4:30 PM. The wedding started with me walking my mother down the aisle to her seat. I then made my way back to the groomsmen where we walked in order behind the Pastor. We took our positions and waited for the bridal party.
//Cory Oliveros, the acoustic guitarist/singer we hired, started to sing “The Road that Never Ends”. I must admit when I heard this song and saw the bridesmaids line up in the distance, I started to tear up. The bridesmaids started about 30 yards away from the ceremony spot, walking on the lawn through the palm trees. I first saw Kayla, who made me smile so much. Then Kay, Kristel, Fina, Michelle and Yen.
Then off in the distance, from the starting point 30 yards away I saw Farrah and her parents. Cory then started to sing “The Hawaiian Wedding Song”. This really got me going. I couldn’t believe the amount of emotion I was trying to contain, not wanting to breakout in a full cry. I was very very happy.
The whole ceremony went off as planned. Pastor Curtis Fong conducted a wonderful ceremony. The only hiccup was the lei ceremony we wanted to be done. We conducted after the ceremony, at the wedding certificate signing table. So it wasn’t a big deal it didn’t take place in the main ceremony.
Farrah and I took more photos with the bridal party, and by ourselves, after the ceremony. Derek Wong was very meticulous in directing us during the photo shoot. I really liked the fact he was paying attention the everything in the shot - from items or people in the background to lighting. There were times where I wish shots could be taken quicker, but if you really want the photos to come out right you need to take some time. I really appreciate the pressure a wedding photographer must endure. I have faith that all the photos will be great!
The reception started almost on time in the Ocean Ballroom. Rodney Villanueva, our emcee, really had the crowd going. Rodney really had our guests laughing and the reception moved along smoothly with his guidance.
Wonderful dancing was provided by //Iwalani’s School of Dance and The Philippine Dance Group during dinner. Heartfelt toasts were given by Yen and Doug, and Lotte’s words about Farrah and I meeting were very touching.
After the professional looking slideshow was done by //Aloha Friday Productions was completed, we started the cake cutting and dancing. Farrah and her dad danced to “Butterfly Kisses” and Farrah and I danced to “Songbird”. I wanted to dance with my mother for a song, but time seemed to be slipping away.
The evening ended with everyone on the dance floor. We stayed for a while longer, but the full day had taken it’s toll on our energy. But it was a full and lovely day. Everyone who helped make this day happen cannot fully know how thankful we are for their support. I will post photos when I can. I just wanted to write this out while I had the chance.
I don’t think Farrah and I could have imagined a more perfect day.
Meetings
The morning found us having Kim Chee Fried Rice with two eggs over easy for breakfast. We knew today we had two important meetings, so it required a special breakfast.
The first meeting was at Ihiliani with Terri at Ihilani to work out some final details. This went by without any major concerns. We then had a lunchtime meeting with (Pastor) Curtis Fong, who will be performing the wedding ceremony. He was very informative and brought along years of experience to share with us on how we should conduct ourselves before, during and after the ceremony.
I also had a chance to post more photos from yesterday when we went to go get our Marriage License.
There were a couple of photos of us taken by the lady who took our application, but they didn’t turn out. It seems I didn’t have the Nikon on full automatic, so the photos turned out blurry. Oh well.
Thanksgiving Dinner and Surviving the Shopping Weekend
Thanksgiving was the usual affair at my sister’s house. This year was a little different with it being the first year without Bill. It reminded me of the first holiday season without my father. But life goes on. We drank a toast to Bill, had a good meal and good conversation about anything and everything.
I was so stuffed that I almost couldn’t do dessert! But I did manage to partake in the chocolate cake and pumpkin pie (yes, both for dessert). You can see the photos from Thanksgiving in the //photos section. All photos are not visible. To access all photos please log into your //Flickr account, and be on my Friends and Family list. I didn’t take too many photos, but just enough to capture the day.
The following day, Black Friday, I dropped off Farrah at Valley Fair. I did not dare enter the mall on that day. I did however go into Fry’s in San Jose. I managed to find street parking close by, only having to deal with the slight drizzle that filled the day. I didn’t buy anything, but managed to kill an hour before heading home.
Saturday we found ourselves up in the City with hundreds of other people. Union Square was packed!!! I wanted to take pictures of people around me, but I forgot the memory card for my camera. I took it out of the camera to download photos from Thanksgiving dinner and forgot to place it back in the camera. Doh!
Before starting off on our - or actually Farrah’s - shopping quest, we ate a nice lunch at the Nordstrom’s Bistro. After getting the all needed fuel to make the rounds, we headed to Forever 21 - which is one of my favorite stores (he says sarcastically). Next was //H & M which is new to the City.
I initially stepped into H & M with Farrah, after we waited in a 50-person line outside the store. Crowd control was necessary for the store - I guess - so as to not create a fire hazard. I stepped out of the store after ten minutes of waiting. I wandered around Union Square, passing by //Macy’s which had an SPCA display in one of their windows. The display had live cats and dogs playing around cartoonish cutouts. This created a small crowd along the windows. Damn, I wish I had my camera to take photos!
I made my way back to H & M where I stood outside waiting for Farrah to come out. I found it very amusing to look and listen to the crowds of people walking by H & M commenting on the store and the people waiting in line. I heard repeated remarks like: “What store is this?” “Oh, this is like the East Coast one.” “What’s the line for?” and my favorite - “I’m not standing in line just to go into a store.”
The day ended with a few more stores to stop by (Old Navy, the Apple Store) then we headed home. All in all I don’t think I bought much. I was just disappointed in forgetting my memory card to capture any moments of the day.
Hawaii, Pictures, and the Photo Gallery
Farrah and I took a quick trip to Hawaii last week, from the 9th to the 13th. We were meeting vendors and looking at other items to use for the wedding. Boy, it’s only a couple more months away!!!
We took off on Friday night and landed in nice humid Honolulu. The first thing I noticed when we got our rental car were the gas prices they were charging. If you wanted the car rental company to fill up the tank, it was $3.15/gallon. If you didn’t choose that option and they still had to fill it up, it would be $4.63! The average they posted for the island that day was $3.33! Boy, I thought prices were bad here!?!? By the time we left regular gas prices jumped to $3.60/gallon to as high as $3.99/gallon depending on what island you were on. Crazy.
We arrived at auntie’s house greeted by everyone. A yummy dinner of ahi poki and beef stew and I was off to bed. Farrah stayed up with Ann and auntie gossiping, and with the time change only got 3 hours sleep. Funny thing is she wasn’t that tired the next day.
We ran errands here and there, meeting our vendors the following days. Most of the meetings were very positive, so it looks like everything is moving forward very well. We did manage to eat at several good places. We had very good malasadas at “Leonard Jr’s Hot Malasadas & Espresso”; kim chee fried rice with two eggs sunny-side up for breakfast at the “Kapiolani Coffee Shop” (Roger had the Oxtail Soup); and another visit to [Kua’aina] for a burger. Yum! We didn’t make it to the North Shore or to Zippy’s, or even the mall! Later this year will hit those places though.
On Tuesday it was Tiana’s birthday (and Tessie’s as well). We celebrated Tiana’s birthday at auntie’s house that night. The big party was still going on when Farrah and I left. I managed to take about 100+ photos before I left the party though. The excitement didn’t end there as we ran into problems in the check-in line. It seems our frozen goods weren’t packed to the airline’s specifications. A call to the house brought Roger and Francis running to the rescue. We managed to board the plane with about 20 minutes to spare.
The flight back was a little bumpy, but very quick. We parked at [ParkSFO] for the first time, since I had a two-day free coupon. It was pretty convenient and I think cheaper than parking in the long-term lot.
Overall, we accomplished a lot on the trip and got to enjoy a mini-vacation as well.
Taking Pictures
This was my first use of the DSLR on a vacation, along with the [Wolverine FlashPac] to download photos. It was very nice experience using both on the trip. I shot about 3GB worth of photos and downloaded most to the hard drive without problems. I was a little worried if they were actually on the hard drive, since it doesn’t have a screen. But when I loaded it on the computer, I didn’t have a problem accessing the files. Whew!
I got a lot of good shots of Tiana (mostly) and others at the party. I think, no I know, I relied too much on the auto focus again. I need to go to manual focus as some of my shots were off the mark and I wasn’t pleased with the results. Practice. Practice. Practice.
The Photos Gallery
The photo gallery is back up! Yeah!!! Ok, so here’s what you need to do because there was a database problem. First off, the photo gallery is [accessible here] or by the side link that says [Photos @ Janella.com]. You will notice that some of the albums are public. For the private type albums that are public, you cannot view the full photo unless you are logged in. Clicking on the photos will only make it look like the thumbnail. All photos are about 640X480. The login link is at that bottom.
Ok, so the database with passwords got corrupt. This means you will need to go through the steps to reset your password by clicking the recover password link. Enter your username and it will send an email to the email address I have on file. Follow the link in the email sent.
If you have any problems getting a new password, let me know either by email or by phone, ok? As always, if you see a photo of yourself or someone you know and don’t think it should be up, please send me an email and let me know what photo. I’ll take it down. Cool?
Ok, that’s enough writing for now. I’m sure I’ll make more changes to the Photo Gallery in the coming months, as well as the site.
The photos below are posted on my Flickr album. You can see all the photos in the new [Photo Gallery] mentioned above.
I like this shot I taken front of the blowhole of the inflatable whale.
This photo always makes me smile. She’s actually posing for the camera!
Things This Weekend
Farrah and I went to San Francisco this morning, going to [Paper Source] to look at paper products (of course). While there we had breakfast at the local [Noah’s Bagels] on Fillmore. I’m not a big bagel person, but I had the Egg Mit with Turkey Sausage. Not too bad.
After spending time at Paper Source, we headed down the street to Japantown to look at the [Nihonmachi Street Fair]. We arrived just in time to catch the taiko drum performance by the [San Francisco Taiko Dojo Rising Stars]. A quick walk around, then after some malasadas and a chicken rice bowl lunch, we headed back home.
Very nice day.
At It Again
As you can see, I’m at it again. I’m changing site pages here and there, trying to keep up with some technical skills. I am hoping it helps me on my next job.
Next job?
Yeah. If you don’t know already my time at my current position is short. In about three months and a week I will be in the unemployment line. It seems it’s cheaper to have a customer care workforce out of state then it is in state. I understand it was a business decision, but it sucks nonetheless. Suffice it to say I need to brush up on some Internet skills in hopes of landing another technical/Internet job. We shall see.
I’m back to the rotating header bit. Refresh the page to see what’s up! My [LiveJournal] page will still be up, serving as a backup to this site now. As I think I stated before, I enjoy the community aspect of sites like [LiveJournal] and [Yahoo!’s 360]. The only thing that turns me off is the lack of customization, though LiveJournal has more of this than Yahoo!
I may be trying some other new layouts here at [Janella.com]. If the page changes suddenly while you are on site, from one look to another, it’s just me f-ing around.
What Else
Since I haven’t posted much of late I’ll recap some of this weeks events.
Monday I found myself recovering from a long weekend of…shopping?!?! Farrah, Yen and I went to the [San Francisco Giftcenter & Jewerlymart]. Let me just say this: if you aren’t interested in jewelry and other gifts you won’t like the place. Well, let me rephrase that: they don’t have any cool electronic/computer stuff! It was a total of about 8–10 hours of me watching Farrah and Yen look around. It’s ok though. I’m pretty tough (just as long as I had my coffee). I took a couple of pictures and was able to try a new portable hard drive to transfer images to in the field. I think it will come in handy on long trips, like to Hawaii.
Tuesday [Madden 2006] came out. I’m not sure I’m going to buy it this year. I mean are the improvements that great to justify the $49.99 price tag? (Yeah, I ask myself that question every year). Luckily Fry’s has it on sale until the 16th for $36.99 just in case I change my mind.
Two of the guys are work, Evan and Bert, got me watching [24]! I mean really watching 24! I rented, watched and finished season one in less than a week. I’m almost done with season two which I find more interesting than the first. If you don’t know what 24 is about pick up an episode and check it out. BTW - Farrah will tell you how sick she is of hearing the title music from the DVDs for 24.
My other time has been spent working on getting the photo gallery back up. It’s almost there. Hopefully all will be well with it by the end of the month.
July - End of Month Rant
I haven’t written anything of too much substance this month. So let’s see what I can pull out of my butt right here.
First off, I added two new albums to the [Flickr] page. The first is a long over due album from Skylar’s birthday celebration in May. The photos were taken with the Sony T-1, before I got my Nikon:
I’ll need to go down and take some more photos of the kids, as well as Scott and Stefanie. The other album added was during a Yahoo! Music on the Green. The artist who was performing was [Brandi Carlile] She did a fine job. I’m not particularly happy with the photos I took of the event, wishing I was more aggressive, but that is something I need to work on.
This weekend not much happened. Today Farrah and I tried the new [Lori’s Diner] in Cupertino. We had a late lunch. The service was a little slow. Farrah ordered the Chicken Fried Steak (good) and I had the Southern Fried Chicken (good as well). Our waitress did notice that our orders were taking a bit long, as the dreaded ’large party ahead of you’ was getting all the service. So she gave us dessert for free! We enjoyed a nice hot fudge sundae for a nice summer’s day.
I also managed to finish season one of 24, watching it because Bert and Evan couldn’t stop talking about it!?!?!? Overall, season one was a satisfying season. The characters and storyline does make me want to continue onto the next series, so season two of 24 is in my Netflix queue.
What else? Well, a site update when sour when I tried to upgrade the Gallery application used for the site photos page. I’m still recovering from that because I didn’t have a ’latest backup’ of the web site. This should teach me to back up every week! So those photos will be inaccessible for a while.
I guess that is it for now. I’m going to head to bed.
Remembering Rockville
I was feeling nostalgic yesterday afternoon. It most likely started because I was listening to R.E.M.’s (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville, a song we played quite often when I was stationed in Iceland.
The year I spent in Iceland started very rough. When I arrived in March, the snow had yet to begun to melt. I remember falling down a couple of times in my dress blues, not getting used to all the ice and snow. It was difficult to fit in with my roommate on main base as well. Then my uncle died, without my mom or sisters telling me.
I was always afraid that my father would pass away when I was in the service - in some far off place without being able to spend some time with him. When my uncle died - my dad’s brother - it hit me very hard. I had just seen him the week before I left. He had suffered a massive stroke. He could not communicate and was being fed through a tube it his stomach. It was difficult to see this once vital man in this condition. And then I would picture my father in such a state, without me there to help him or be with him.
What hurt more of course was my mom not telling me he passed away. She didn’t want me to worry, didn’t want me to come back to California for the funeral as I just left there. She didn’t think the military would give me leave, but they would have. I got drunk that night. I got very drunk.
So there is that memory to deal with when I think of Iceland, but there many fond memories as well. I won’t get into them, but I wanted to see if there was any information about Rockville, the little radar station I was at, on the Internet. You know what there is!
I found [Ken Walsh’s] pages on pbase, specifically his page on [Rockville, Iceland]. And I also found [this page on Homestead.com] which shows Rockville as a drug rehab facility now.
Things have changed.
Thoughts from Yosemite Lodge
Today’s blog entry was typed in the Yosemite Lodge, room 4109 Aspen building in Yosemite, California. It’s around 10:40 pm right now.
Today is my birthday. It has been a wonderful day. I don’t have access to the Internet here, at least not in the room, so I am typing this blog entry into Microsoft Word and will place it on the site later. And later is now, since you are reading these words at this moment.
We arrived in Yosemite late yesterday. We left Sunnyvale around 11:45 am, but not before Farrah and my mom sang happy birthday to me. Farrah bought me a huge chocolate chip cookie from Mrs. Fields, candles and frosting included! After blowing out the candles, going to Huong Lan and Starbucks, we headed off to Yosemite.
Coming in on the 120 route (West entrance) we were treated to a lot of snow and a view of valleys and waterfalls we haven’t seen before. The trek into Yosemite was through some high altitude and winding roads. Very high, hitting 4000 feet, and very winding—on par with some of the hairy stuff on Highway 1. We were trying to take the Southwest Entrance (which is Highway 140), but mistakenly thought 120 was the route we were thinking about. Oh well, it worked out great. We saw a lot of great snow and even saw two wolves on the way in! They were on the roadway, causing people to stop and stare. Luckily no one was stupid enough to get out of their car, or at least I think they weren’t.
We checked in late afternoon, getting a very nice room on the second floor. The room has two full beds, a bathroom, balcony, and surprisingly a television. Granted, the television only receives 5–6 channels, but we weren’t expecting one at all. We have been watching mostly the National Geographic Channel, which is on a religious kick this weekend, it being Easter weekend and all. The show we’ve been watching is called Quest for Truth. We watched episodes Quest for Noah’s Flood, King Solomon’s Tablet, and the ever-popular Quest for Hogzilla.
Getting to today’s events…
The morning started off slow for me. Farrah woke me up saying happy birthday and trying to get me up. She pried my eyes open by mentioning presents. Presents I got to open on my birthday were:
- Mike and Ikes
- Hershey’s Miniatures (nuts and regular)
- Superman/Batman Hardcover – covering the Supergirl saga
- I’m Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown
- The Batman Handbook
When I post the photos you will be able to see that I still looked a little groggy. Farrah let me sleep a couple more hours.
We had breakfast at the local Yosemite Lodge cafeteria, where the food is so-so and the price is a little high. Convenience has its cost. We then took a trip to the Yosemite Village, where we scored some very good parking in the lot. At Yosemite Village we went to the Ansel Adams Museum, which we never visited. After looking around the Village more, we decided to head back up Highway 120. We noticed several places to stop off and take photos, but didn’t take the opportunity on our drive in.
We stopped by a riverbank and took some photos (see the feet photo), and then made our way up further for a valley-type shot. We were amazed at the number of people here this weekend, as it wasn’t this crowded the last three years we came. At least from what we remember, the park is usually sparse this time of year. Oh well, just have to deal, right?
After our Highway 120 trip, we headed back to Yosemite Village to get lunch at Degnan’s Deli. A couple of weird things happened:
- A dog we ran into twice at Yosemite Village earlier, we ran into on Highway 120 as he was heading out of Yosemite!
- After circling the parking lot once at Yosemite Village, we ended up with the exact same parking spot we had only two hours ago!
Degnan’s Deli was a good choice as the food was good. It was also a bad choice as the line and wait were very long. It took about an hour to get our sandwiches. Having a late lunch pushed our dinner plans back considerably, as we were going to have dinner in the Mountain Room Restaurant.
Dinner at the Mountain Room
The Mountain Room Restaurant is here at Yosemite Lodge, walking distance from our room. The restaurant is somewhat pricey because:
- Their food is good
- The view is good—well, during the daytime
We had a great late birthday dinner. Farrah had the Pork Roast—ever so tender—and I had the Lamb Shank—ever so tender as well. Each bite almost didn’t require thought to chew or even the ability to chew itself. The food just melted in your mouth.
We had to save room for dessert as well: bread pudding for Farrah, and two scoops of chocolate ice cream for me. Man, how many times have I used the word “chocolate” in this entry?
It is almost 11:15 pm right now, as I’m finishing up these last thoughts. Farrah is sleeping soundly. The room is nice and toasty, and the view from the window into the dark night is wonderfully lit by the full moon.
Tomorrow we plan to see a waterfall or two, hopefully around sunrise. As for today—and actually this month, as my birthday was celebrated with Rex’s on March 12th—it has been a great birthday this year.
I love you all and thank you for making my birthday this year memorable.
What's Been Happening Besides Site Updates?
I haven’t posted anything personal lately. I’ve been a bit busy with little things here and there. Plus most of the things I want to vent about deals with work. If you’ve read some of my past posts you’ll know about reasons for my hesitation to vent about work.
Farrah and I have been planning our concerts to see this year. So far on the agenda there is U2, Tori Amos and Jack Johnson. The Tori ticket buy was just as hectic as the U2 buy, as described earlier. Jack Johnson went without a hitch because it is a general admission event.
Last week, March 12th, we went to Santa Cruz to celebrate Rex’s and my birthday. We had some great ribs, and crab for those who didn’t want ribs. I packed away my share of ribs, stopping at 9 - though I could have continued. There are some digital pictures of the dinner, but I want to wait and get the film photos developed as well.
Gordon’s birthday was also this month, the 9th I believe. Sorry for the check mix up Gordon. Guess I was thinking of those [Girl Scout Cookies] that Tessie still needs to send!
onto kauai
the following day, after pali lookout, we went to kauai. our plane left early in the morning. funny thing going to kauai, and coming back, was being thoroughly searched. we did the whole nine yards of getting the metal detector ran over our bodies and having our bags searched. heidi’s back had an extra passenger on the outside, which airport security noticed: a cockroach! we figured one of our names was a trigger for being searched or our group size. other way it was a hilarious experience.
with jane’s help, we booked four days and three nights, staying in the [kauai sands hotel]. the kauai sands is a nice little hotel, which if i remember reading correctly, is one of the few family owned hotels left. our rooms (farrah and i in one, yen, heidi and sandy in the other) where above/below each other.
the first day on the island was a little rough for me. for breakfast (most of the days we were there) we ate a place called [eggberts], which was close to the hotel. i think the jet lag plus the food was catching up to me because i was getting tired pretty quickly driving. we made a drive to the poipu area of kauai, where there are more resorts and the ocean is calmer then most of the island. afterward we ate a [puka dog] with the coconut relish. they were out of the star fruit relish. oh well.
for day two on kauai we had nothing special planned, just more sight seeing. we stopped by the visitor’s center in the hotel and asked about boating tours to the napli coast. we decided to take that trip on thursday (the next day). next, we did the eggbert’s deal again in the morning. on the walk back to the room we ran across a gecko:
everyone, including yen, took turns holding the little visitor. we got in the car and made our way around the eastern part of the island. the first place we stopped at was the kilauea lighthouse. see all the white dots in the picture below? those are birds, eh.
we then went to the guava farm about 1/2 a mile away. boy, can the girls shop! they almost bought one of everything in the store. guava this, guava that. ugh. we then made our way up north to the princeville resort. huge, lovely, expensive place. the last place we hit before heading back was hanalei, where we were able to go to a couple of shops in the local center.
thursday rolled around and the big activity that day was the boat trip up the napali coast. i was going to go with the girls, but after hearing it was going to be rough out there i backed out, preferring to spend four hours by myself at the local mall. the boat trip started around 3pm, and planned to end around sunset. from what they describe the trip going up the coast was rough, as the captain sped up there to spend as much time sight seeing as possible. the trek back down the coast was at a more leisurely pace.
the last day on kauai was short, with our plane taking off early afternoon. we made a quick trip to the poipu area to grab our last puka dog (no star fruit relish still). we got to the airport and were promptly search before going to the gate.
ah, back on oahu. so we waited outside for jane to pick us up from the airport. as we waited i continued to scratch my peeling back. heidi had an idea to use her lint brush, wondering how much skin would come off. well, the results are below:
