Browse Author: beakatude

North Shore Outing

I think I’m stalling…trying to prolong my vacation.  I figured if I delay posting, it would make the trip last just a little longer.  Silly, I know.  Anyhoo, here is what we did on the Sunday (3/13) of our trip.  In the morning, we went back to Eggs ‘n Things for my favorite coconut waffle.  It was thin and crispy with a ton of shaved coconut, scoop of butter, and lilikoi syrup on the side.  By the way, I look like hell in this photo.  I think this was when I was at my sickest that weekend…running nose and hacking up my lungs.  Despite all this, I could still taste my food.  It was THAT good.

After breakfast, we went back to the hotel for a cocktail.  Yoon texted us and later picked us up for a day in the sun with the convertible top down.  Woohoo!  Our first stop was the Kukalinoko Hawaiian Birthing Stones, which is a historic site set in the middle of a sugarcane field.  It’s a bunch of really big flat stones in the middle of a grassy field with a bunch of trees shading them.

While there, Jes almost stepped on this little green dude.  He was just chillin’ on a stick minding his own business.  Luckily he was pretty slow so I got a few snaps of him.

Our next stop was Turtle Beach.  It’s a spot on the North Shore where local turtles regularly beach themselves for a little rest and relaxation.

We met Brutus while his friend Olive was floatin’ around in the waves.  It was fun to watch him climb up onto shore negotiating huge rocks and taking regular breaks in between.  Turtles are cool.

We also stopped at Three Tables Beach to watch the crashing waves.

It was also fun watching the little kids playing in sand and water.

For lunch, we stopped at Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck.  I had the garlic shrimp that comes with the yummiest fried garlic and oil that gets poured over two scoops of rice.  It’s a fat mess but oh so tasty.  Jes had the spicy shrimp and it’s S-P-I-C-Y.  It’s so spicy that Jes was sweating and the truck actually says “no refunds” next to the spicy shrimp.  Yoon got the garlic hot dog, which is a scored hot dog that is grilled in garlic oil.  Such a great idea!  I want to make them at home.  I also checked the truck for the last little drawing I made last time.  Unfortunately it had either rubbed off over the past 5 years or it had been drawn over.  Regardless, I added a new drawing in a less conspicuous spot on the truck.

Next time any of you are there, check the side around the corner of the right rear light next to the wash basin.

We also tried stopping for some shave ice from Matsumoto’s Grocery but the line was too long.  Instead, we headed back to Honolulu and stopped at the Dole Plantation for a Dole Whip.  Refreshing…

It’s touristy but I still love it.  Can’t get enough of those baby pineapples and feeding the koi.

On the way to the hotel, we stopped at Leonard’s Bakery for a couple warm malasadas.  Jes got the original sugar one and I got cinnamon.  Perfect.

Once we got back to the hotel, the Honolulu Festival Parade had already started.  It happened to pass right in front of our hotel so I watched from the window.

Dinner was at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants.  This time we sat in the tatami room and I got the house made tofu cut into noodles.

Time Capsule

I’ve had a roll of black and white 120 film sitting on my shelf for a couple years now.  I also had another roll in my Holga, which I finally finished earlier this month.  On my random day off, I took the two rolls to the photo store and have only gotten around to picking up the prints this afternoon on my way home from the gym.  I had the film processed, scanned onto a CD, and the photos printed.  Here are a couple of my favorites.  Times like these remind me of how fun film can be.  There’s no time stamp, there’s no screen to see if your photo came out well or not, and you have prints that you can hold in your hand.

South Lake Tahoe – March 2009

Fort Funston – Fall 2007

Jack in the park – 2008?

Koa – 2007?

Condo with a View

On Saturday afternoon (3/12), Yoon picked us up and we went to Costco to pick up food for her BBQ and found Wasabi Doritos!

We were a little worried about buying such a gigantic bag but it ended up being a huge hit at Yoon’s BBQ.

That evening, we went to Yoon’s new condo and got a fantastic view of Honolulu and then spent the evening poolside.  A bunch of her friends came over and we grubbed on steak, poke, hot sausage, Yoon’s stir-fried noodles, and pineapple.

There was a hot tub at the end of the pool and then we hung out upstairs in her condo with leftovers and beer.

Check out all the slippas in the kitchen.  That’s how you know you’re in Hawaii!

So much to eat…

OK…I know, it’s been almost a week since we returned from Hawaii and I’m overdue for a recap.  I spent yesterday afternoon going through all the photos I took and they’re finally done.  It’s amazing that we go to the same place every year and I still manage to end up with over 150 photos uploaded…and those are only the ones I decided to process!

In this post, I’m going to recap the morning that we went to the KCC Farmer’s Market on Saturday (3/12).  There was so much to see and eat that it deserves its own post.

On Saturday morning, I went for an early-morning run and ate some yogurt since I knew Jes would be sleeping in that day.

While I was out by the water, I saw a pod of whales breaching and spouting out in the distance.  Too bad I didn’t have my lens…no photo to prove it. Sorry.

When he finally woke, he was starving and I was ready to visit the Farmer’s Market that I had been reading about on my Twitter feed.  Nowadays, it doesn’t really sell very much produce – or maybe I wasn’t paying attention.  Instead, it’s become a collection of street food stands.  Yes!

We took the bus to the Kapi’olani Community College (across from the entrance to Diamond Head Crater) where on Saturdays they hold a quite a foodfest.  Check out what we ate:

Fried Green Tomatoes with a dipping sauce ($7) – Good but I don’t know why it was so expensive.

Spicy Sausage on a Stick from Kukui Sausage Co.

Spam, Eggs, and Rice Plate ($6) from Grandma G’s

Gingercooler ($3) – Refreeeeeshing.

Pink Lemon Cream from Onopops ($3) – Deeeeeliciious.

Epic Tax Journey

This morning started like an average Saturday.  I slept past the alarm and walked the dog.  Then, the day took a turn.  Jes had gone to Costco to get new tires for the car but they had to be ordered.  So, our car would have to sit around with flat tire for another week.  In the meantime, we had an appointment with our tax guy that was scheduled months ago. To make matters worse, it was in Milpitas (~47 miles away).

After considering some options, it was decided that we would take Muni to BART to Fremont and take a cab for the remaining 12 miles.  We left the house around 11:30 am and the Muni and BART rides were smooth and took about 60 minutes.  It was easy to get a cab but unfortunately the 12-mile ride costed us $44!!  Ouch.  We arrived at the tax guy’s office on time (1:30 pm) and we were all done by 3:00 pm.  Yes…our tax appointments do take that long.  Luckily, we were prepared for it.  We each brought a book to read and the UCLA game was on the TV.

For our trip back to SF, we decided to take a cheaper route.  It would involve walking, taking a bus, BART, and then Muni.  Knowing it would take a while, we stopped for a Greek lunch before heading out.  Looks tasty, doesn’t it?!

We waited at the bus stop around the corner in the cold wind for about 20 minutes since the bus was running behind schedule. We were starting to second guess our decision until it finally arrived!

The bus ride actually wasn’t too bad.  The bus was pretty empty and didn’t have too many stops.  However, it still took a whoppin’ 45 minutes.  The nice part was that it only costed us $2/person and it was AC Transit so it accepted our Clipper cards.  At the BART station, we waited patiently in the cold rain for our train and were finally on our way 15 minutes later.

Our train car was completely empty at first and it was kinda eerie.  That ride also took another 45 minutes and then our Muni ride was about 15-20 including the wait for the train.

By the time we walked into the lobby of our building, it was 2 hours and 46 minutes later from the time that we walked out of the tax place.  With the amount of time we spent today from start to finish, we could have flown home to Cerritos and back instead.  At least we got a tax refund today to make up for it all.  Yay.

Brother and Jia in SF

After our trip to Hawaii, we arrived at SFO on Tuesday evening.  Jia and Jason had arrived earlier that day and picked us up with our car.  The next day I went to work still a bit sick and was told to stay home the next day because I still sounded terrible.

That evening as the boys were finishing up their WoW game, I took Jia to a Yelp Elite Event for some free cupcakes.

On Thursday, after sleeping in, I took Jason and Jia to the Ferry Plaza where we met up with Jes in front of the Roli Roti truck for a porchetta sammich.

Jes went back to work and we stayed to walk around the Ferry Plaza.

For the afternoon, we took a drive across the GG Bridge to Sausalito.

We got back in time for dinner at La Briciola and then went to the CA Academy of Science for their evening event.  On Thursday nights, they open the Academy for a few hours and feature DJs and serve alcohol.  It was definitely a different feel with no kids around and most of the exhibits didn’t have their lights on.

We made it into the Rainforest before they cut off the line and then spent the rest of the night in the aquarium downstairs.

Here are the rest of the photos from our couple days together.