So the first leg of the journey began at SFO and by flying stand-by to boot. Fingers crossed…
Good news: Got a seat on the plane! Bad news: Don’t want to see them cracking open the engine for a look on the tarmac. Long story short, we deplaned while they went to work fixing the engine. Which they didn’t complete in time. So we got shuffled over to a different gate with a different plane.
And when they finally boarded us, I got First Class! But, as luck would have it, the winds picked up and the clock finally ran out on the pilots and we didn’t get the plane in the air in time. Back to the gate we went, then off the plane and back home till the next morning.
Dad & I got on the next day (in Economy) and the plane actually departed. That meant one less day on our trip to HKG. Well, got to make the most of it!
It always starts with good food. On Day 1, we had dim sum in Sai Kung where I had this delicious dish for the first time. Shrimp spring rolls wrapped in rice sheets and topped with green onions and shoyu. So good.
Kinda “London Eye”-esque there Hong Kong…
The family posing with an elephant after dinner. The Megabox sure knows how to do the holidays right.
Day 2 started with an early morning hike up the hill with Aunty and the dogs.
We started off on paved road, then took a turn into the brush and followed little flags straight up the mountain. It sure looked like trail blazing to me, but the flags led us all the way up. And the dogs loved every moment.
We didn’t get to see much in the early part of the hike due to the slightly overgrown vegetation, but once we cleared the heavily forested section, we got some pretty sweet views.
Taking a break to enjoy the scenery and catch our breath.
They picked a pretty amazing place to pitch a tent. I mean, just imagine seeing that view when you unzipped your tent in the morning. Maybe I’ll have to try this sometime in the future.
And what better way to unwind in the afternoon than with a bit of mahjong?
During this trip, we took my grandparents to Tim Ho Wan for delicious char siu bao. I posted a pic of this before, but these tasty little guys hit the spot every time. We should know because we went two days in a row…
Had a bit of time to enjoy this view of the Sai Kung Harbour in the late afternoon. One of these days, I'd sure like to get out there and explore some of the islands in this naturally beautiful area away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Po tat (Macanese egg tarts) from the Sai Kung Bakery (we had to wait in line, but we got a fresh batch straight out of the oven). Glad to know I don’t need to trudge all the way over to Macau to get these (though, if for nothing else, I’d go just to get another stamp in the passport).
That lovely pastry brings an end to the HKG side trip. Next stop, Guam! But just for a couple hours…
Then home, sweet, home. Where else can you get Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice at McDonalds for brekkie?
And a meat jun plate lunch from Yummy's Korean BBQ. More fooooooood!
Definitely needed all those calories for our annual Kadomatsu Day. Just like last year, we started bright and early in Nu’uanu with our bamboo permits and saws in hand.
We dragged back our allotment of bamboo to Aina Haina and (after taking a now traditional time out for breakfast at Jack’s - Restaurant not “in the Box”) got ready to start crafting.
The table saw makes things so much easier than the hand saws we used to use 10+ years ago when we started all this.
The other important ingredients in this exercise: pine and manila rope.
The final product. I took this picture early and it doesn’t show you all 60 odd Kadomatsus that we hand crafted this year. Great job team and onward to next year!
Okay, back to the food. Malasadas from Leonards! Three cinnamon, two regular and one (not pictured) li-hing.
Had a great opportunity to celebrate the union of this wonderful couple with a bunch of high school classmates. Congrats Kim & Kurt!
The KP Crew getting together once again to celebrate the holidays. We seem to quite like Shokudo and you can see remnants of the honey toast dessert we always get.
I got hit by the flu pretty bad so that took a few days to get over. While that took away a couple of precious vacation days, I did recover enough just prior to New Year's so that I could get outside the house again. We had a lovely family lunch with Aunty Janet, Aunty Maggie & Uncle Jim at Assaggio's.
I've heard of this place, the Pig of the Lady, so often from friends. I'm glad I've finally had an opportunity to try it because the food really stands out. I had been keen to try the Pho, but they had a special Bun Bo Hue the day we ate there and they recommended I try that. Thanks for the excellent recommendation because it tasted amazing. Would absolutely go back for more another day and would recommend this to anyone looking for some great Vietnamese food in the islands.
I couldn't have shared that great dining experience with a better group of people than these folks! USC + Hawaii forever!
Had a bit of time left in the day after that delicious lunch so I popped on over to the Honolulu Museum of Art to check out Art Deco Hawaii exhibition.
I quite liked this painting of the night blooming cereus.
Had a nice dinner at the Kona Brewing Co. Noelle tried to brave the heavy rain to join us, but got delayed and when she finally arrived most everyone had left. So that she didn't make the trip all the way out for nought, we stopped by Bubbies for some delicious Mochi Ice Cream (Guava, Lychee and Salted Caramel).
And on my final afternoon home, I had to get some shave ice since I hadn't gotten any so far. Thank you Uncle Clay (at the good, ole HOPA) for this Lilikoi and Kale-Spinach flavoured shave ice!
So that takes us, finally, into 2015 and the new year! Thanks for sticking around with me all these years you loyal readers. With the 10th year of the blog approaching over the next several months, I promise some interesting and fun new adventures to come!
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2 comments:
So much good food - yum!!
Good to see you blogging again. I can't wait to read about your move (?!?) to New Zealand. Cheers!
FINALLY, a new post! Pic heavy to boot! Can't wait to see/read all about your NZ adventure.
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