I continued the annual tradition of crafting Kadomatsu again. In the past, the pine had to be purchased, but this year I finally made the trek out to look for some pine to harvest. The trail took Deryck and I on a 7 mile roundtrip up to Peacock Flats.
One of the things I love about hiking in Hawaii: finding some fresh fruit (guava in this case) and getting a sweet snack.
I won’t say exactly where on the trail (so as not to divulge my secret source), but we found some! So that now means we harvest the two main components of our handcrafted Kadomatsu rather than having to buy them!
After that big hike, we needed to refuel with a big lunch. I had a garlic chicken and chilli frank plate from Fat Boy’s. Just looking at this picture makes me hungry.
This year’s family Xmas dinner party featured this unholy creation: Turducken. So much meat.
Despite the rain the next day, Deryck and I went out to Nu’uanu to harvest the second component for this year’s Kadomatsu: Bamboo.
Lunch after the Bamboo harvest? Zippy’s. Dish of choice? Mochiko chicken!
Then we went to work with the Kadomatsu making (thanks to the Fukunagas for loaning us the miter saw). Cutting the bamboo, tying it together, then decorating with the pine and blossoms.
A smaller batch this year, but quite special to finally put a batch together of self-harvested bamboo and pine!
Unfortunately when Liz and I went on our Poke spree, we missed out on Alicia’s Market. The following week, I decided to make a stop and try their Shoyu Poke (and, hey, why not a lau lau too).
I then went to check out the Pacific Aviation Museum. They have quite a cool collection of planes, including this Mitsubishi Zero.
The iconic tower at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor marks the location of the museum. Pretty cool to see an F-15 out front as well.
There’s also a whole hanger full of planes from different eras. If you like this sort of thing, particularly military aircraft, I would highly recommend visiting this museum.
After fighting through the crowds at Pearl Harbor, I made it back to the east side to do a quick hike up Koko Head with Phil and Deryck. We left it kinda late in the day, but the view looks awesome no matter the time of day.
Continuing the outdoor adventures, I headed out to Lanikai for the Pill Box hike with Gigi & Elise.
Of course we had to get some ono food afterwards and we ended up at The Hibachi for (what else) poke (five different kinds no less).
Glad that Ryan could join us for lunch and that we could catch up!
Traditional New Year’s Eve fare at the Kosaki’s, including maki, inari, somen and ozoni. Thanks again for welcoming me over to partake in the festivities!
Continuing on with the traditions, we participated in the Fukunaga Mochitsuki. Freshly pounded, with a bit of peanut butter and kinako.
And as always, they put out a mighty impressive spread to feed the workers.
After not getting in the ocean at all after moving to NZ, I finally got a surf session in at Ala Moana Beach. Thanks for the loaner board Amber!
I stopped by the Moanalua Gardens for the first time since small kid time to have a quick look at all the wonderful plant life, including this massive monkey pod tree known as the Hitachi Tree (due to its use as a symbol for the company).
McDonald’s Saimin. Local kine fast food because I can’t get this in NZ (or anywhere outside of HI really).
Gigi and I hiked the Makapu’u Tide Pools in the late afternoon/evening.
Managed to squeeze in a quick catch up with Harrison at Kona Brewing Co. at the end of the trip as well. Good times!
That brings an end to an eventful and long vacation back to the States. Really great having had the chance to spend time with everyone.
Bless Hawaiian Airlines for still serving food to their passengers.
Back in Auckland, I finally got to try Toto's Pizza by the metre. Broccolini & sausage on the left and Chicken, Spinach & mushroom on the right. Four of us managed to make a pretty good go at that. We didn't finish, but we got pretty close...
First trip to Waiheke in the new year. We did a wine tasting tour of a few vineyards for Liz' B-day.
Then we had a nice mult-course lunch at Casita Miro. Started with this lovely gazpacho and sautéed prawn.
Next up, we had a tapas platter featuring a small salad, chorizo, prawns/squid, olives, spread and bread.
We got to sample three different main dishes: seafood paella, braised ox cheek and a local mesclun salad.
Last, but not least, a lovely honey-almond tart with vanilla ice cream. What a fantastic meal in an fantastic location.
Happy Birthday Liz!
After a year over here, it took a visit from Ron to finally get me out to surf. Luckily for us, the waves and weather made for a beautiful day out at Manu Bay in Raglan.
The Design QSE team at work got together for a team building exercise at Escape Masters. Well, we split into two mini-teams to tackle the Superhero room and compete to see which team could get out first. So much for unity. I'm thankful to report my team won and we definitely had our fair share of gloating afterwards!
First long weekend of the new year meant an adventure out of town. Off to conquer Mt Taranaki!
Day one of our trip didn't start out that great as bad weather covered the mountain and we decided not to attempt to summit. Instead, we hung out in New Plymouth where we had better luck with the weather. Here, we stopped by the waterfront to check out the Wind Wand kinetic sculpture.
After walking around town, we also visited Mike's to try some Organic Beer.
Sunset from Paritutu Park. Beautiful.
We then checked out the annual Festival of Lights which setup an amazing light show in Pukekura Park. And then we had to get back to the motel for an early bedtime (we had an early start the next morning).
6am at the trailhead. Mt Taranaki looking daunting in the early dawn light.
After an hour plus slog uphill, up a well maintained gravel path, we got to the hut. It didn't look like we made much progress just yet.
Then some intermittent cloud cover rolled in as we tackled the scree slopes. Two steps up, sliding down one step. Such a energy sapping section.
A few more hours of scree, then we got up to the icy crater. Only a bit more to the summit!
Made it to the summit in about 4 hours or so. What a lovely view!
Then we had to tackle the long journey back down the mountain.
Giapo's gelato with Ron after an awesome dinner at Depot.
The next day, just before work ended, I got a call from Ron asking about surfing. I thought, why not. And this view of Piha in the late afternoon confirms that we made the right choice to come out here.
Post-surfing dinner at the Federal Street Deli: fried cauliflower and turkey meatloaf.
Finally dessert: Banoffee pie. Really yum.
More pictures to come. Hope I can update you guys again soon!
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