Here we are biking the Angeles Crest National Highway. It was a ridiculous climb that we started at about 1900 ft. above sea level. Note, in the photo, we're at 5000 ft!!!
After 25 miles of brutal uphill, we made it to Newcomb's ranch where we enjoyed some great food before the return journey downhill (which was, might I add, extremely fun). For the record, Newcomb's was at about 5350 ft.
We started out the late lunch with some steak nachos. We began the bike ride around 11 am and we arrived at Newcomb's at about 4:30 pm. That climb really was brutal!
I opted for the Seared Ahi Tuna sandwich as my main course which was really tasty. The food tasted twice as good after that ridiculous bike ride. We washed down the food with some gatorade as well.
Unsatisfied with just one crazy bicycling trip, Grant & I went mountain biking down in Irvine (Orange County) a week later (and a couple of days before I headed home). This is us at the end of a crazy ride where I probably could've got seriously injured many times.
So, after finally making it back to HI (with a stopover in Kona) in good time, I made it to the 2007 Commencement ceremony. Here's the Class of '07 standing for a song. My brother is the 2nd from the right in the first row.
My brother Deryck & our proud grandparents who made the trip to HI all the way from NZ. They're smiling because not only has one of their grandsons just graduated from high school, the other one got his master's degree!
Aunty Karen & Deryck. Another proud relative. She made the journey from Hong Kong to see her nephew graduate. More on Hong Kong a bit later...
And here's the immediate family. Mum, Deryck, Me & Dad. What a proud moment. Brought back a number of good memories.
Here's the sign that my Aunty Karen & I spent a whole afternoon working on. We got a number of laughs and a handful of compliments for our creativity & humour.
And that was graduation. A couple days after, I had lunch with Joel at Kaka'ako Kitchen (that's a very small portion of my catfish tempura and a bite of Joel's meatloaf). After lunch, we ran a couple of errands around which included a trip to Ala Moana where I managed to score a Nintendo Wii. What perfect timing. I definitely owe you something, Joel, for the luck you brought to this successful attempt at Wii purchasing!
While I was home, I had the fortune of hanging out with Cat as well since she had come home for a spell too. We were originally going to have lunch in downtown but Cat switched up the plan and we decided, instead to head over to the North Shore side and grab some ono garlic shrimp from Giovanni's (yes, the one I posted about a couple of posts ago...it's really that good). Cat, thank you for making the right call because this was a great idea!
Me, garlic shrimp & Cat. It was great catching up with Cat and also hanging out with her again after such a long time on opposite sides of the Pacific. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Also, not pictured is "CAT TOO", Cat's old VW Bug Convertible. That really is the best way to drive around the island!
After stuffing ourselves full of shrimp & butter, we headed over to Waimea Bay for a dip in the cool waters, a bit of rock climbing (that's my b/w boardshorts you see on the right-hand side above the yellow bucket) and a loooooong, relaxing nap on the beach. I <3 beach.
The night after, a bunch of us met up at Dave & Busters for some good old fashioned video gaming. I dominated a round of the trivia game (pictured in the back) before taking this pic with some Freshman year friends: Cat & Melissa. Other's who were in attendance that evening included Tania, Kurt and Kim. It also couldn't have been a proper night at D&B's without running into other friends there and I did see Neil & Marissa among a number of other acquaintances & high school classmates.
The next morning, I decided to share my love of macadamia nut pancakes with a few more friends. Gotta keep spreading the word about Boots & Kimo!!!
Melissa & I with our (banana) mac nut pancakes.
Cat & Kyle with their (original) mac nut pancakes.
And here are the four of us ready to tear into some ridiculously tasty food. Soooooooo good.
Just before jetting off to my next destination, I was lucky enough to hang out with Noelle for an evening. We got some Bubbies Ice Cream and, afterwards, gave into our craving for chili by stopping off at Zippy's. Here's a pic of my chili cheese fries. Quite fortunate that we were able to hang out even if it was only for a little while since she had just returned from NYC that night while I was about to leave for Hong Kong in the morning.
My mum, bro & I left Honolulu that next morning and arrived in Narita, Japan where we had to wait 5 hours in transit. That meant that my brother and I got very bored and had to figure out someway to entertain ourselves. The following is the result of that goal...
We took a picture in front of a bathroom. I was in the process of drinking some fizzy juice drink.
English & Japanese! I'm in an airport!
Not our plane, but a plane that looked just like it. Also, another photo that proves we were in an airport.
Deryck presents the Cafe Leo5 menu!!!
The Cafe Leo5 sign, a soft serve ice cream cone and myself.
Hooray Beer! Deryck & another Cafe Leo5 sign.
We felt bad for taking so many pics and not ordering something. So, here we are with some food (spaghetti for Deryck, beef curry for me). We were also extremely hungry at that time (maybe 3 hours into our transit time?).
As tasty as the food was at Cafe Leo5, it didn't really fill us up. So, we went to McD's for some fries. While in line, we saw the Mega Teriyaki burger. That thing looked epic...
We were, however, in the mood for french fries so that's what we ordered.
Next photo is of me getting my head eaten by a foam crocodile/alligator in the airport kiddie land.
Deryck & I were astounded to find a real-life, full blown Claire's in the airport. They're international...?!?!
Mercifully, that wait eventually ended and we made our way to Hong Kong, safely. Here's the line of planes we were in while taxi-ing out of Narita.
And here we are in the plane waiting to leave Japan.
Exhausted, we slept for a good long time before waking the next day for a bit of shopping, etc. In a quaint little bookstore that my mum & I ventured into, we saw the most beautiful & enchanting cat that I've ever seen in my life. He/she had piercing green eyes and a beautiful, soft coat of fur. In addition to that, he/she was extremely friendly and I enjoyed petting him/her for a bit while I was in there. A much better pet than Sophie if you ask me...
Here we are, the next day, walking the streets of Hong Kong in search of a new cellphone for Deryck (that's him behind my mum on the left).
I also had the fortune of continuing my international Krispy Kreme experience by adding this Strawberry Shortcake doughnut to those that I've had in London, Sydney and LA.
Mum getting in on some photo hijinx here in Mark's & Spencer (an English department store). I said I'd photoshop this to make it look better but I haven't gotten around to it just yet...
Lunch was simply some rice, char siu & choy sum. Boy was it tasty. Hong Kong really is the place to go for delicious, fast Chinese food. That had to be some of the tastiest char siu I've ever had. Crispy, sweet on the outside and soft, salty pork on the inside.
Deryck, Grandma, Aunty Karen & I in the restaurant.
Aunty Karen & I with our drinks (and a mouthful of food). I had the famous HK milk tea there on the right.
After a seriously yummy lunch, it was time for some serious shopping (of the electronic variety). My brother is holding his new Nokia in that bag on the left while I'm holding mum's new Sony Ericsson on the right. We also went around looking for the Wii and we found several all around. Too bad the US ones (which were not in short supply) were too expensive!
In the subway station on the way home from shopping.
Deryck mocking the "do not spit" sign.
Two bros on the train. Don't mess with us.
No better way to start the day than with a bit of Chin-grish...sort of.
Deryck & I on the mini-bus en route to some dim sum!
Aunty Karen & Mum a row behind us.
Deryck & his orange fanta in a bottle at Maxim's where we ate the best dim sum I've had in years. No surprise since I am in HK.
Mum & Aunty Karen with their cups of tea.
Not content with just a few pictures of us goofing around in Japan, my brother and I decided to do the exact same thing here in HK at the mall where we had lunch! Here I am with my boy Chef Mario!
Here's Deryck (trying to look cool) with some crazy kid mannequins.
This could possibly be the funniest pic I took during this whole trip. We couldn't stop laughing when we saw this crazy mannequin. Where do they get these things?!
We noticed that the security guard in the store was eyeing us out after seeing us take all these pics so I had to try and be a bit more discrete with this next photo. I took it by palming the camera behind my back and snapping the photo from a low angle and out of the view of the guard. Deryck really just wanted the pic of him and some of the England National Soccer team's big stars (Gerrard, Owen, Terry & Rooney).
I don't know who this dude is but it just deserved a pic. I'm not really sure what to say here...please let me know if you come up with a better comment.
An equally foolish photo, here's Deryck outside of an electronics shop standing next to an ad featuring some (hopefully not true-to-life sized) asian celebrities.
Another photo of the streets. This one shows the busy nature of the area near Ladie's Market where you can find many (cheap) knock-offs!
Last but not least, here's a photo of my dinner on the last night. It's also my chance to plug this restaurant, Cru Wine & Grill, that serves some amazing food (and western styled if you're looking for a change of pace while in HK). I can't recall the type of white fish I had (should've blogged this all sooner) but it came wrapped in parma ham with sundried tomatoes. Another tasty meal on a trip full of awesome food! So, if you're ever in Sai Kung, I highly recommend a trip to this restaurant!
And that about does it. Nothing like another trip home (and abroad) to make me truly value the friends and family I have. Many thanks go out to all of you who I had the pleasure and fortune to spend some time with. Let's hope we can all get together in the not too distant future! Now that you're all up to speed with what I've been up to, if you're curious as to what else I've done in the last bit of June since coming back to LA, I've simply been searching for jobs & playing the Nintendo Wii. What a simple life. But, hopefully I'll be getting a job soon and all will be right in the world. Keep your fingers crossed everyone. Until next time (which hopefully won't be too long from now), Au Revoir!
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1 comment:
pictures are out of control. you truly outdid yourself this time.
1.reading your blogs make me hungry
2. deryck would make a great model
3. i knew claries was international
4. hope you had a good time on that trip. i only wish i actually had TIME for a trip.
work work work.
now i know how you adults feel.
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