A daily mode of blended passion
From the monthly archives:
If you are ever at the north shore near the Kahuku shrimp bus stand (Giovanni’s), there is a beautiful beach near the town of Haaula called Kahana Valley. It’s worth the trip to see this place.
The landscape is beautiful and the sands soft. Although this beach is also known as the ghost beach, we didn’t feel anything, just pretty and different from the other beaches of Oahu.
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Couple of weeks ago, we ventured to the north shore of Oahu. This side of the island is different from the busy Honolulu and is referred as the ‘country’. There is a saying “keep country, country.” which frantically means keep this place as is where plantations and world class surfing event take place; no big buildings, no commercial activities, etc. Anyway, we first stopped to eat lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Rosie’s Cantina in North Shore Marketplace, it’s almost across the famous Kua Aina burger in Haleiwa.
We enjoyed the Mexican food here and recommend if you are craving for Mexican at the north shore. After lunch we stopped at the Haleiwa Beach Park where it was very calm and blue skies greeted the beach goers.
After enjoying the view here, we went to Waimea Valley. Since the last visit, it was disturbing to see many vegetation not being adequately maintained. The plants were dried up and the signs also needed repairs. Personally, it was embarrassing to show what we have here on Oahu. The visitors/tourists must be upset paying to see a dump and not the true beauty of Waimea.
There were many of these yellow tapes cautioning not to enter.
Trees needed trimming and the path was really welcoming?
Doesn’t this look nice?
Now this photo gives me the creeps. Sigh.
The path finally ends at Waimea Fall where swimmers can dip into the water and probably the only attraction at Waimea Valley. This is definitely a no place to spend your nature afternoon. Office of Hawaiian Affairs needs serious rethinking about how to improve this scenic embarrassment. Thumbs Down!
And this peacock was hungry as ever. The birds need help here too.
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It has been more than 6 months since we posted a photo of Mamo. This one shows him making a mess.
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Today, we celebrated Thanksgiving at John and Wai’s residence. This is a yearly event where most of us gather together for a nice turkey and the international cuisine.
A big shout out goes to them for hosting the friendly Thanksgiving dinner. Thank you John and Wai!
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This is one of the nicest beach to relax on Oahu.
Best time to chill here – morning and early afternoon. (Google Aerial)
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Who wants to open a Cuban and African food restaurant?
The owners of Soul de Cuba, a 2-year-old Cuban restaurant in downtown Honolulu, are seeking to expand the business into a chain through franchising.
The Honolulu restaurant at 1121 Bethel St. is actually one of two locations for Soul de Cuba, which was founded in New Haven, Conn., in 2005 by brothers Jesus and Robert Puerto, and restaurateur Yoon Kim.
Soul de Cuba, which features traditional Cuban and African food in an atmosphere with Afro-Cuban music and art, was assisted by franchise industry consultant Francorp in developing a franchise program.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200881124041
I’ve been to this restaurant in Downtown long time ago and enjoyed their oxtail dish. Right across from them is Indigo where they offer really good brunch during the weekdays and one of my favorites in Downtown Honolulu.
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Last Friday, the Honolulu City Council moved forward to ban text messaging while operating a motor vehicle on Oahu.
The ban, which also covers playing video games while driving, was under consideration by the council’s Transportation and Public Works Committee. If the bill passes, it would be the first restriction on using mobile phones while driving in the state, excluding military bases.
The bill would ban writing, sending or reading text-based communication while driving — including text messaging, instant messaging and e-mail.
Honolulu police Maj. Thomas T. Nitta said the department neither supports nor opposes the proposed legislation, but said it would be difficult for officers to differentiate between a driver dialing a phone number and a driver sending a text or e-mail.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081121/NEWS01/811210383
Yeah, how would they differentiate checking a phone number and just checking how many minutes you have left in your plan? Officers would be inches away from you to justify what you are actually doing. And yesterday, there was an article about Honolulu as one of the top markets for text messaging. Interesting…
Honolulu ranks as one of the top metropolitan markets for text messaging, according to a new ranking by Scarborough Research.
AdvertisementHalf of cell phone subscribers who are 18 or older use their phones to send text messages, a distinction that’s also shared by Phoenix, San Diego, Houston, Philadelphia, Albuquerque, New York City and San Antonio.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200881124043
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Mai, Koa and I visited Kyoto to see the red leaves.
It was a bit early, but was nice looking at red leaves in the old temples.
This is Nanzenji’s water channel. (南禅寺水楼閣）
Nanzenji’s famous yudofu 湯豆腐, hot tofu.
Koa tried to stick his head into the fence whenever he saw it.
Kyoto’s renovated shopping mall, shinpukan 新風館.
Christmas decoration went along with the renovated old building.
Also we visited a zoo in Kyoto.
This was the first time for him to see animals.
He was scared of them except giraffe and elephants.
On the way back, we stopped by my wife’s hometown, Maizuru.
Yellow leaves in a small park in Maizuru.
I remember the tree was like this when Koa was born in Maizuru.
His name Koa was named after the tree and koa wood in Hawaii.
Koa, 木秋, literally means wood and autumn.
I took my son to the beach to surf. He didn’t cry this time.
My son was getting accustomed to the sea a bit.
My wife’s parents, Ecchan and Takachan, always take good care of my son.
It is getting cold here in Japan, but we can appreciate the Mother Nature and feel warm inside.
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After opening less than a year, Steve & Barry’s is intending to liquidate all 240 stores.
It appears the Waikele location of Steve & Barry’s will be affected, though neither corporate nor local officials would confirm its status. The store opened in April selling all items at below $10. A recent price change boosted prices to a maximum of $20.
The retailer had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July after its growth plans were hurt as consumers cut back on spending. The investment firms that bought Steve & Barry in August said they planned to close some stores and keep operating with a smaller base.
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