It’s just the beginning…

About a month ago, Teresa and I were talking about running the Oakland Twilight 5K.  It’s a fun run that occurs the night before the Marathon on Sunday.  After deciding to sign up, we recruited the rest of the Rehab crew to play along and they all agreed!  None of them were regular runners but they had enough time to train.  So, on Saturday evening, I took BART to Oakland 12th St. Station and picked up my bib at the Expo.  That’s where we met up and took the school bus to to race at Jack London Square.  The race was a “scenic” Oakland race through the ghetto and along the water and it was super flat.  We all had a blast and were rewarded at the end with free PopChips and MGD 64s.  Woo!  To celebrate, we had margaritas and tapas at Cocina Poblana.  Good times…good times.  Since everyone had such as good time, we decided to start a casual running club.  It starts Tuesday and we’re heading out to Lake Merritt for our first 3-mile run around the lake.

Here are the rest of the photos.  They’re all kinda blurry since I brought my waterproof camera.

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.

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.