What's this Brent? Yet another Blog post in so many weeks? Suspend your disbelief and let's get the show on the road!
Days before hopping on a plane to fly home for the holidays, I got to meet this little bundle of joy. Welcome to the world Kaylee! Julie, Richard, Devin, Daniel and Karen couldn't be happier to have you join the family!
Phil, Nick and I jogged up Koko Head Krater one of those first couple afternoons for a bit of exercise and a brilliant view. I've been up there quite a few times over the past few years and I can say it hasn't gotten appreciably easier at any time...
Had to visit the old stomping grounds at least once and I'm glad the school graciously allowed alumni the use of the athletic facilities during the holiday break. Nothing makes 100 burpee-pullups feel good, but I appreciated being able to relax beside the Lily Pond shortly thereafter to catch my breath.
Got some lunch at Kaka'ako Kitchen with Phil and Brent and afterwards, we were joined by Noelle. Here, Noelle experimented with a panoramic shot of us. We learned that some humorous results can occur if you don't hold still during the shot.
Grant, Kevin and I met up with Mari for a bit of hiking up Tantalus and while she had to turn back part way through, the guys and I got to the end of the Pauoa Flats Trail to see this lovely view of Nu'uanu. We also got to see the memorial bench for Daniel Levey (a fellow Punahou student who sadly passed away while hiking in the area).
The three of us at the trail end. We took this pic and also took a break to enjoy the view and some spam musubi that Mrs. Kosaki made for us (Thanks!).
We had a holiday/housewarming party at Darren's place and got a group of folks together to celebrate. Nothing like good food, good friends, good times and HD nature videos!
Went fishing with Kurt and his Dad out at a "secret spot". We didn't have a lot of luck that particular day, but we had a good time casting, hanging out, eating plate lunches and relaxing.
Continuing with more hiking, Grant, Kevin and I hiked up the Kuliou'ou Ridge trail. Part way up, we ran into a familiar face and I got a picture with Karissa at the lookout. Funny story, we had both independently asked Darren to join us on the hike and he said no to us both. Oh well, we got to enjoy the great weather and the awesome hike.
Since Deryck is now a big shot in the (amateur) Yau Yee League in HK (his 25 goals being more than double the next closest scorer), he felt he needed some fancier shoes than the plain black ones he had now. And I, not wanting to continue wearing hand me down shoes that were several sizes too big decided to get some new ones too. Behold our new shoes: my conservative black pair and Deryck's silver orange pair. I doubt the competitors in the Yau Yee League will forget seeing those flash by them on the way to the goal.
Before Deryck had to head back to HK for the end of his holiday, we had a family New Year's dinner at 3660 on the Rise. Pretty tasty food I must say.
While some days were a bit windy and wet, there were some other really outstanding days. Kevin, Grant and I spent an afternoon out at Magic Island with the sun, sand and a football. Can't ask for much more than all that and this beautiful sight of Diamond Head in the background.
After the beach, we met up with Harrison for dinner at Koko Marina. This delicious rack of lamb was pretty good from Fatboy's. We also got dessert from Bubbie's Ice cream afterwards. I'd like to think that all the hiking we did kinda/sorta justifies all this gratuitous eating...
I was looking for lunch on New Year's eve and I hadn't had one of these Boston pizzas in a while. I must say this spinach, mushroom and garlic slice of theirs was delicious.
Having spent last New Year's over in HK, I was sad I missed out on the Kosaki New Year's celebration of firecrackers and ozoni. I'm very thankful that they allowed me back into their home for New Year's 2013 to enjoy their company and traditional activities. Happy New Year!
Dinner one night from Nico's. Fresh opah in a cream sauce with rigatoni and veggies. Nothing like some ono, local seafood!
It's quite surprising that in the many years I've lived and visited Honolulu, I had never yet been to Spalding House (the former Contemporary Museum). The museum showcases some great contemporary art in a beautiful home in Makiki Heights that also features a lovely pool and sculpture garden. Thanks Mari for showing me around your old stomping grounds.
This is one of the works displayed near the entrance. I always enjoy good usage of mirrors a la this and Anish Kapoor's work I saw at the Met in NYC some years back.
Thanks to Scot for introducing me to Hank's Haute Dog (shout out to Darren who I saw running nearby while I drove to meet Scot) and their duck fat fries (a bit too salty/greasy) and the Fat Boy hot dog (i.e. bacon wrapped, fatty deliciousness).
Speaking of Darren, we visited Bishop Museum for the first time since probably some elementary school field trip we took ages ago. As always, the main hall still had some great Native Hawaiian artifacts and, of course, the giant, hanging whale skeleton that every Oahu school kid remembers.
We also popped into the new building (you know, the one right along the H-1 freeway) which housed a lot of hands-on exhibits on the natural sciences that are relevant to Hawaii like the lava exhibit pictured and some cool tsunami/wave ones too.
After spending an awesome two weeks or so back at home, it was time to head back to the mainland and to work. I connected through Lihue where I spent all of about 15 minutes walking through the small airport and seeing some of the cool exhibits they had. I hope I'll be back in the not too distant future to tackle the Kalalau Trail on the magnificent Na Pali coast!
Alrighty folks. So I'm finally caught up with all the events of 2012 and the very beginning of 2013. Onward!
What...? I'm posting again less than 10 days since the last post?! You betcha.
So I missed a photo from the last time. Shortly after my trip to NYC (and well before my trip home to Hawaii) Phil came out to Nor Cal for a visit and had dinner with us. Here we are just after grabbing dessert at Fraiche in Palo Alto. Elise, Phil, Nick, Nyssa and I.
At the end of October, Grant came to town for a visit which coincided with his birthday. We took advantage of an unusually awesome day to hike Mt Tam. That's him posing atop one of the lookouts near the summit.
The view from (near) the top, looking out towards the San Francisco Bay.
On one of those random days, we thought it'd be a great idea to make Portuguese Bean Soup. Verdict: a delicious taste of home!
Someone (hint: not me) came up with the brilliant idea to run the 10K Silicon Valley Turkey Trot bright and early on Thanksgiving morning. If you can't tell, it's pretty cold.
I briefly saw Daniel, but Jen, me & Mari lined up towards the back since we would be going at a much slower pace. Here we are just before the start.
Nothing like a post-race, jumping Snuggy picture. I think I look like a pink crab. Anyways, the whole exercise turned out to be a lot of fun. Anyone want to join us next year?
Speaking of Thanksgiving, Abbott this year cut costs and didn't give us employees our expected annual free turkey. Instead I had to buy one from the store and prep it for our Friendsgiving event, which again would be hosted at Chez Adrian.
The finished product! Again, a job well done. It turned out even better this year because the turkey actually came out nice and evenly cooked!
Again, I had the wonderful services of Sous chef Nick.
We put together a ridiculously impressive spread that, per usual, resulted in lots of leftovers. To name some of the highlights: Turkey, mashed cauliflower, mac nut stuffing (including one gluten-free variety), salad, sausage & wild rice casserole and spinach-artichoke dip. We also had pies and ice cream for dessert. All of this just for Mari, Elise, Evelyn, Jessie, Nick and I!
A close up of my first plate. Another successful Friendsgiving!!!
Over the course of the following week and a half, Gigi and Darren (separately) stopped through the Bay Area to hang out too. I'm a little surprised I don't have any pics with them, but this pic of the Christmas Tree at Union Square came when we took Darren up to spend the day in SF.
Then, one random day, Daniel called me up and told me that he finally figured out how he would propose to Karen. He had a plan and he needed my help. I asked him when and where. Here's a brief retelling (using pics I stole from Daniel) of The Proposal. We begin at Sunol Regional Park ready to start our hike.
While Karen and her family would take the longer, casual Indian Joe Trail, Daniel and I would lug a bunch of supplies up the steeper, shorter Flag Hill Trail. In a funny bit of fate, we hiked passed a group of Boy Scouts on the trail too.
Both groups were heading towards this special bench at the top of the hill which stands in memory of Karen's dad who passed away. Daniel and I were able to get there first so that we could clean the bench, place a picture book of Daniel & Karen's relationship, change into more formal attire, hide a GoPro to film everything (see if you can spot it) and then sneak off to the side to wait for the family to arrive.
When the family finally arrived (and they, being privy to the plans, were able to direct Karen to continue alone), Karen saw the bench and the book (which Daniel and I didn't know had blown onto the ground).
Daniel came out of hiding and sat down with Karen to read through the book that told their story as a couple.
At the end of the book, Daniel got down on one knee and asked Karen to marry him (p.s. she said yes). We then popped some sparkling wine (which Daniel and I carried up in a mini cooler) to celebrate!
Then we took a picture with Daniel, Karen, Karen's brothers and their significant others, Karen's mom and I at her dad's bench. Congratulations Daniel and Karen!
So there we go folks! A bunch more pics and a few more stories! At this rate, I just might get through the 2012 Xmas holiday season before the end of March 2013. Woo hoo! Stay tuned loyal readers!
Okay, so I've been absent a while...long enough for even Brent to call me out for leaving his RSS feed a bit too quiet. I'm still behind on 2012 so I apologize that while these events may be new to the blog, they occurred several months ago...
On one of those unbelievably beautiful late summer days at the end of September, Daniel got a group of us together to ride over the Santa Cruz mountains and down into Capitola. I don't have any pics of the trip over the hill, but I do have this lovely afternoon pic of the Capitola boardwalk, which we enjoyed after a leisurely lunch and stroll.
Okay, moving into the month of October, we had the blessing of more beautiful, warm weather and it turned into a wonderful day for some boat racing. In the pic above, you can see the 45' ETNZ catamaran cruising along in SF Bay with Alcatraz in the background. I can't wait for later this year (2013) to see the big brother, 72' cat flying around and, hopefully, bringing the Auld Mug back to NZ!
Fleet racing in the 45' cats past Alcatraz. A lot of enthusiastic folks came out and got to experience the racing. Quite impressive that you can enjoy a fair bit of action and excitement even from shore!
Shortly thereafter, I had the privilege of another flight home, (a bit sadly) on the plane in the foreground, rather than the one in the background, for some family time.
A trip home would not be complete with a gratuitous foodie pic! Here you see my Ahi Katsu plate from Jurison's Inn (Waikele) with a piece of bonus bbq chicken courtesy of my Aunty Karen (I think).
Nothing like a lovely rainbow pic (double actually!) while driving on the H1. Bonus points to those of you who can tell exactly where I am without reading the freeway signs.
I came home to watch my Mum (left most wearing yellow) perform some hula! The culmination of years of learning (dance & chanting), this "graduation" of sorts represents a big event in her hula career.
Here, in front of family, friends and fellow dancers, she accepts the representation of her newest level of achievement from her "kumu hula".
Gung Gung, Po Po, Mum, Kumu, Me, Aunty Karen and Dad after the awesome performance. Congrats Mum!!!
It wouldn't be a proper shindig if they didn't get some ono local food! Chicken long rice, lomi lomi salmon, pipikaula, ahi poke, haupia, kalua pig and pork lau lau. Broke da mout'! Shout out to Ryan C for dropping by, getting a plate and talking story for a bit.
They even had some great live music during lunch! Luckily for them, they had some cover from the intermittent showers that often bless the islands.
And many of the dancers who attended got together for an impromptu hula after lunch in honor of kumu.
Can't have a proper family gathering without having a proper BBQ one night. While we didn't have traditional Kiwi sausages and NZ, grass-fed beef, we did make do with Aidell's chicken, pineapple, bacon sausages and USDA Prime NY Strip steaks!
Sadly, I didn't get to spend too many days with my family before jetting back to Cali. I did get an upgrade to First class on the flight back and, in order to take full advantage, had to stay up for the midflight snack. Coupled with spending a while talking to Aunty Benita (family friend) on the flight, I didn't get very much sleep and had a pretty horrible day at work as a result of my fatigue.
Mum and my grandparents came up to spend the following weekend with me in the Bay Area and I'm glad I got to host them in my small, humble home. It just feels a little more home-like when I've got family in town!
On that note, we've finally caught up to mid-October. Stay tuned and hopefully I can get around to finishing off the 2012 pics and events in a decent amount of time! Adieu!
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