Browse Category: outta here

Late Q1 Visit

One of our New Year’s Resolutions is to visit the parents once per quarter.  We were a little late but April is better than not at all.  The first thing I noticed when we arrived in Cerritos was the warmth.  I was outside with shorts, a t-shirt, and no hoodie.  Aaaahhh…we lucked out on being home during a sunny 83-degree weekend.  Even the dog enjoyed it.  I took him out to the backyard and we lounged out in the sun.

On Saturday, we had lunch with Jes’ parents.  We met up at a Chinese restaurant in Garden Grove and had a tasty tasty Chinese beef burrito that was fried.  Mmm…

On Sunday, I took Jes back to Mitsuwa for his favorite bowl of ramen.  He was afraid that it had been so long that the hype in his head was just that, hype.  But it wasn’t!  It’s still ranked #1.

After lunch we stopped at the Irvine house to check on it.  It was really weird driving through the neighborhood and stepping into our little birdhouse again 4 years later.  I was so happy to see my Japanese maple tree alive and HUGE!  We cleaned up the pond and the neighbors came by to hang out like old times.  Hopefully we’ll have renters soon.

On Sunday afternoon, we met up with the family for a big Thai feast.  It was so nice to hang out with the cousins and their kids again.  Makes me miss being away from them even more after I leave.

On Monday morning I had to get up really early to get to the BMW dealership to get our brakes checked.  We got a big red warning light on the way down and it seemed pretty serious.  It’s a good thing we got it checked out because we had to replace the brake pads AND rotors.  Ouch.  I guess it was a good thing we took Monday off.

The drive up and down I-5 was long and boring but totally worth it.  2nd Quarter ends in June and we’re due for another visit.  Hm…when can we drive down again?  I’ll keep you posted.

Here are photos from the weekend (and the Janet concert).

On the Beach

Our last full day in Hawaii (3/14) was a very relaxing one. We got up, had breakfast at Lulu’s with a nice view from our seats. We snagged an umbrella spot at the hotel and enjoyed a couple naps, had some tasty fruity drinks, and read our books until the sun went down. We were literally the last ones to leave. The pool girl even asked to put away our chairs and we just kept the towels and laid out under the umbrella until the sun was too low.

After a little rest break in the hotel room, Yoon picked us up for some grub at Home Bar. It’s a Sports Bar but has a very Korean Bar vibe. We shared tater tot nachos, kimchee fried rice, wasabi poke, and spicy fried wings. Awesome. What a great way to end a long weekend in paradise.

The next morning (3/15) we had our usual Spam, Rice, and Eggs Platter with a side of pinapple at McDonald’s and then headed out to the airport.  The flight home was smooth and Jason and Jia were in town so they picked us up.  Woohoo!

It was another awesome weekend in Hawaii and I’m already looking forward to the next one.  Thanks for everything, Yoon!  It’s always fun to visit you on the rock!

Here are the photos from our 5 days in Hawaii.

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.

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.

Business As Usual

On Friday morning (3/11/11), I got a call from my mom telling me that there was a tsunami warning in Hawaii.  We checked our flight and it was still scheduled to leave so there were no worries.  Once we got to the airport that morning, I tried to check in at the kiosk and for some reason, my name was no longer on the itinerary.  Thankfully it wasn’t too busy at the ticket counter and the ladies helped us get it all squared away.

The flight was bumpy but I managed to take a little nap.  Yoon picked us up at the airport and said that we lucked out with out timing. Apparently HNL was closed all morning until noon.  We landed at about 12:20.  Nice.

Once in Waikiki, there were no signs of danger anywhere.  Only thing was that the beach outside of the hotel was not as crowded but otherwise all was well.  Our first stop after checking in was Ramen Nakamura, Jes’ favorite ramen place in Hawaii.  It was delicious but Jes was saying that maybe it wasn’t as good as he remembered.  Oh  noes…

After our late lunch, we sat out at Beach Bar sipping fruity drinks and reading.  The weather was warm but not too hot.

Dinner was at Sushi Izakaya Gaku and we ordered omakase.  Chef prepared a bunch of cool items including chawanmushi, oysters, and seaweed salad.  It was delicious.