And Now For Something Completely Different

For the sake of trying something new, here's a brief little video blog entry I've filmed for your enjoyment. Let me know what you think and we'll see if I will do any more recorded ramblings in the future. All that's certain is that I'm definitely not the next lonelygirl15...

On the Menu: January

Hello, hello. One of the things I've really been enjoying about life since coming up here is finally having the time to cook my own meals and also having a kitchen that can support that goal. While sometimes I don't have all the time that I'd like to prepare (especially during the weekdays), having a gas stove, a tidy kitchen and the will-to-cook has really helped. So, I'd like to share with you all what's been cooked up in my kitchen this month. We'll see if I can present to you folks some different, exciting dishes each month. Here we go:

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On the left, we have a Cherry Tomato & White Wine Pasta along with some green beans & red capsicums (bell peppers). The pasta was inspired by a recipe that I saw online for a simple sauce with crushed cherry tomatoes and capers. Instead of the capers, I threw in some onions and a splash of wine. I also used fresh tomatoes rather than the ones from the jar that the recipe suggested. Turned out pretty well I think with a very light, palatable flavour. On the right, there's a bowl of corn chowder that I made from a recipe on epicurious.com. I had done this a couple years back (you may or may not remember this Darren) but it came out a bit too watery. This time around, I added a good amount of corn starch to thicken it up to be more chowder-like in consistency without changing the yummy taste. I made a huge pot that, thankfully, has lasted for a very long time. Yum.

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So there you have it. That's one of the meals that I've prepared for myself during this first month of the New Year. Tune in (sometime) next month when I bring you another wonderful dish from my kitchen! Cheers!

Good Bye Sir Ed

Sir Edmund Hillary
1919-2008

A truly sad day in history today as one of the most well-known and respected New Zealanders in the world has passed away. Though he will best be remembered for being the first to conquer Everest, arguably his most important accomplishment of all has been helping the people of Nepal. While he will be missed, his legacy shall continue to live on through his family and the Himalayan Trust he established. May you rest in peace Sir Ed. Your life has been an inspiration to me and many others.

December ('07) in a Nutshell

Hi there! I promised an update to fill you all in on my many activities last month so here goes. There are a fair few holes in the timeline but I've pretty much nicked all the photos off friends (thanks!) so what you see is what you get.

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Just before the Holiday season began, I went out to Castle Rock for some outdoor rock climbing with Daniel, Julie & Richard. Here, Daniel & I have scaled this rock. As sunny as it looked, it was bloody cold!

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The weekend after that, I headed home to HI to enjoy Christmas w/my family & friends. Good times. Here we are, Kurt, Myself & Ryan (Traci took the pic) riding on the Waikele Trolley after enjoying some yummy Jurison's Inn (and their popular Mochiko chicken) on Christmas Eve Day.

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On Boxing Day (day after Xmas for those of you not in the know), we headed out to Waimea Bay to get some climbing done. Brian, Me & Grant (Neil & Jenna were in the front of the car). As you can see by the rain on the back windshield, it wasn't a very dry day.

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Hanging upside down on an overhang route at Waimea Bay. That's Grant's hand on the bottom right. Shortly after taking this photo, he said something that made me laugh and I subsequently fell and knocked my foot against the rock. Ouch.

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Here's Grant climbing the overhang problem that I was just hanging upside down on. In the background, Jenna is trying out another route between the rain showers.

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After the climbing, we headed out to Kahuku to enjoy some Giovanni's Garlic Shrimp. Soooo good. Pictured: Neil, Brian, Me, Jenna.

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Continuing the 'round the island eating tour, here I am a couple days later at Boot's & Kimo. Darren and I are shown here with the sign thanks to Cat's creative framing.

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I went with the corned beef omelette (with fried rice) while Darren opted for the simple but tasty portuguese sausage eggs & rice. Ryan copied my order and Cat got an egg white omelette.

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We all split their super delicious banana pancakes smothered in their famous Mac Nut sauce. Mmmmmm....

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We were pretty full afterwards but Darren, Cat & I had just enough room for some Waiola Shave Ice!

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And on my last day home, what did I choose to do? Why go to Waimea Bay and boulder of course! Here I am back on the rocks on a much prettier/sunnier day.

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Though he's a newbie, Grant did really well.

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We got to the top of this rocky part and took a picture with the beautiful blue sky. I'd just like to point out that I climbed this one w/o my shoes ;-)

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And with that, I had to head back to the Bay Area. I opted to head back in time for New Year's Eve so that I could spend that time with friends up in the city (San Francisco). So, here we are: Travis, Kim, Dorothy & I seeing in the New Year at Kim's party.

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And there we go! Not a whole ton of pics, but certainly enough for you all to get an idea of what I've been up to recently. I definitely was happy to have been able to make it home for the first time since the summer and, seeing as it will probably be my last trip for a while, I tried to see, eat & hang out with as much as I could. Thanks to everyone who made my holidays enjoyable. Family, friends & good times is what it's all about. Cheers to 2008!

Welcome to 2008!

Howdy Everyone! I'm back in the "Bay" after a nice side trip out to HI for Xmas. Pics to come, but I thought it'd be nice to start the year off with a quick little post to touch up on "important" (heh) things like New Year's Resolutions. First, let's recap my resolutions from last year and whether I felt I achieved those goals (feel free to evaluate me in the comments if you feel so inclined). Here goes!

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1)More frequent blogging (+more pics)
Hmm...not so much. Looking at the # of posts for 2007 (23) vs. 2006 (41) or 2005 (50) reveals that I failed. There are a few positives though, as I did notch up 2 posts featuring 95+ pictures EACH! So, every cloud has a silver lining....

2)More trips: Hawaii or International (wishful thinking?)
Wish granted (emphatically). Seven trips home, one to Paris, one to HK and a long overdue journey to China. Plus, a few road trips around California tossed in for good measure. How can I reach these heights yet again now that my flying privileges are no more?!?!

3)Become a better rock climber (new hobby)
I think this one went well. Started climbing in plain old sneakers a year ago at USC to now going to a dedicated climbing gym every week. Stoney Point, Castle Rock & Waimea Bay have been visited and climbed! I've even gotten some friends to give it a go! What an awesome hobby! Definitely more to come!

4)See my friends/family more often (that means YOU)
This pretty much went hand-in-hand with #2. Numerous trips home meant I saw HI friends and my family quite a bit. Road trips in Cali meant I got to visit lots of friends in-state (including a trip out to Fresno). My bro's Punahou grad meant family & friends were in town in addition to my uncle, aunty & cousins dropping by the month before. I even went long distance to see friends in Paris & China! Not to mention moving up to the Bay Area and seeing some peeps I didn't get the chance to spend the last 5 years with on a regular basis!

5)Graduate & get a job I don't hate! (it's time)
Done and done. Masters Degree in hand AND a job at FoxHollow! I'm most relieved that I have accomplished this resolution. It was honestly the hardest of them all and no doubt the one I'm most proud of.

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So, that's all well and good but how can 2007 be topped??? Here are five ways:

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1) Blog More (for real...since I didn't do this last year)

2) Spend more time outdoors (camping, climbing, hiking...all on the to-do list)

3) Top rope (climbing higher...different than bouldering [like a marathon to a sprint], which is what I've mostly done to date)

4) Find out how I can spend a few years overseas (preferably through employment...just need to figure it out, don't need to do it just yet)

5) Learn to do something completely different (I'll figure out what when I do it)

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I wish you all the best for 2008. I hope your New Year has started out well and will be filled with joy and prosperity. Let's hope that fewer cool people die (R.I.P. Kurt Vonnegut, Don Ho, Luciano Pavarotti, Marcel Marceau, Benazir Bhutto, my pet goat...to name a few). Also, on a less serious note, let's hope NZ sport recovers from what can only be called a truly disappointing year (Valerie Vili's accomplishments aside). Take care all and I'll be back soon with a big picture post to fill you in on my December. Cheers!


Santa Monica circa May 2007