Home at last after a grueling 15 hours of travel - we left the hotel this morning at 6am and got home right around 11pm. I think TJ might have bad travel karma - our flight from Hawaii left an hour late, which gave us mere minutes to make our connection, which also turned out to be an hour late. I swear in almost 4 years of working for Deloitte, I didn't have as many delayed flights as I do when I travel with him!
Picked up BeagleMan at Aunt Susie's. He's really happy there, and fortunately didn't seem to make too much of a nuisance of himself. He seems somewhat puzzled, but overall happy to be home. We've never left him for this long, so maybe he started to give up on us ever coming back. Sad! I'll pick up Peanut at "Dog Camp" tomorrow.
Got some sun and laid by the pool with fruity umbrella drinks the last day of our vacation. Totally worth it - yay. We also had breakfast with Mike and caught up on more Techer gossip/reminiscing. Fun!
I'll post a couple of pictures tomorrow. The malasadas were yummy, but only when hot. I don't recommend the chocolate ones - one is ok, but the chocolate filling is very heavy and there's too much of it. The plain cinnamon sugar malasadas were the best. (And totally worth the 50 min drive to go get them!!)
The famous "shave ice" was a bit disappointing. Way too sugary-syrupy. Now, I didn't try it with ice cream or red bean goo, so maybe those would be better. But I think I'm just not a shave ice/snow cone sort of girl. I vaguely remember getting something called "shaved ice" in Monterey Park, CA, but it had a lot more interesting stuff mixed in with the ice - red bean, possibly coconut milk, condensed milk and who knows what else. But still, not a favorite dessert of mine.
Speaking of desserts, does anyone know what the name is for the Chinese dessert that's seems like it's hot steamed soft tofu in a sugary syrup? I had it a couple of times in San Diego and it's really good - just the right amount of sweetness and yummy texture.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
You need a blue sky holiday
Reporting live from Oahu's North Shore...
Well, our fabulous tropical lay-in-the-sun-and-do-nothing vacation hasn't quite turned out as expected. We are now at the Turtle Bay Resort, whose website is much nicer than the hotel itself, unfortunately. I wouldn't care that much, except that it's been cloudy and raining like crazy. The hotel has been recently remodeled, so the paint, carpet and furniture are pretty new, but the whole place smells musty and has a very 70s vibe to it. For the cost, it's not as swanky as I had hoped.
We did go to a nearby town called Hale'iwa twice today, for breakfast and dinner. Rosie's Cantina had awesome French toast. Pizza Bob's had great garlic bread and Caesar salad, but only average pizza.
I managed to watch American Idol this week, a painful experience without TiVo to skip the commercials and inane ramblings of the "host", Ryan Seacrest. Stevie Wonder week was a bore - lots of sappy ballads and off-key singing. Apparently I missed the best performance of the night, by "rocker" Chris Daughtry, because TJ and I went downstairs to see the end of the Polynesian dancers at the fake luau at our hotel.
Tomorrow, malasadas.
Well, our fabulous tropical lay-in-the-sun-and-do-nothing vacation hasn't quite turned out as expected. We are now at the Turtle Bay Resort, whose website is much nicer than the hotel itself, unfortunately. I wouldn't care that much, except that it's been cloudy and raining like crazy. The hotel has been recently remodeled, so the paint, carpet and furniture are pretty new, but the whole place smells musty and has a very 70s vibe to it. For the cost, it's not as swanky as I had hoped.
We did go to a nearby town called Hale'iwa twice today, for breakfast and dinner. Rosie's Cantina had awesome French toast. Pizza Bob's had great garlic bread and Caesar salad, but only average pizza.
I managed to watch American Idol this week, a painful experience without TiVo to skip the commercials and inane ramblings of the "host", Ryan Seacrest. Stevie Wonder week was a bore - lots of sappy ballads and off-key singing. Apparently I missed the best performance of the night, by "rocker" Chris Daughtry, because TJ and I went downstairs to see the end of the Polynesian dancers at the fake luau at our hotel.
Tomorrow, malasadas.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Do what you want to do
Today I had a hard time remembering what day it was, so I guess that means I have officially slipped into "vacation time". After enduring an almost 2 hour timeshare presentation this morning, thanks to TJ and his curiosity, we headed downtown to Hilo Hattie's, a huge Hawaiian souvenir store with the largest collection of Hawaiian shirts I've ever seen in one place. We got some gifts for our families, a few T-shirts for ourselves, and a cute Hawaiian sticker for Otto, and then had lunch at Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch, and Crab. According to my guidebook, Sam Choy graduated from the same culinary program as Alan Wong, and his restaurants are not to be missed either. This one was a brewpub, pretty casual, but had really good food - I had the kalua pork quesadilla and an amazing Hawaiian banana bread pudding for dessert.
Unfortunately the weather hasn't been the island paradise we hoped for - it's been cloudy and raining on and off for the past few days. It is nice and warm, though, so when it's not raining, it's good to be outside. Now, I'm trapped in front of the TV and watching American Idol - without TiVo it's seriously painful. They have a commercial break after every singer!
Tomorrow we're headed to the North Shore and our second hotel. I've actually managed to get some exercise, and am starting to remember what it feels like to actually *want* to exercise. There's an awesome 1.5 mile beach path by our hotel (3 mi roundtrip) that I've walked a few times - I think our next hotel will have something similar as well.
Well, back to being lazy!
Unfortunately the weather hasn't been the island paradise we hoped for - it's been cloudy and raining on and off for the past few days. It is nice and warm, though, so when it's not raining, it's good to be outside. Now, I'm trapped in front of the TV and watching American Idol - without TiVo it's seriously painful. They have a commercial break after every singer!
Tomorrow we're headed to the North Shore and our second hotel. I've actually managed to get some exercise, and am starting to remember what it feels like to actually *want* to exercise. There's an awesome 1.5 mile beach path by our hotel (3 mi roundtrip) that I've walked a few times - I think our next hotel will have something similar as well.
Well, back to being lazy!
Monday, March 13, 2006
How did you know just where I would be?
Hello from Hawaii! We got here yesterday, about 12 hours later than we were supposed to thanks to Alaska Airlines and some arcane policy about the ramp staff not working during a thunderstorm. We missed our connection and spent the night in a fairly crappy hotel near the LA airport. Thanks to my hissy fit about missing a night in a resort in Hawaii we were upgraded to first class for part of our return trip, and by a stroke of luck, got an amazing pair of seats on the plane from LAX to Honolulu. It was a Boeing 767, and we got seats 17A and 17B next to the galley. These seats were in coach, but had legrests, and were in their own "cubbyhole" with a wall behind and in front of them. Awesome - tons of room and I slept most of the way.
Our hotel is really nice too, on the West (leeward) side of Oahu. The room we got is more of a 1br apartment, with a full kitchen, laundry and separate sitting room and bedroom. If I had known how nice it was, I would have tried to extend it for the rest of the week, but since it was a gamble, I booked us in another hotel on the North Shore. I guess it'll be fun to see another part of the island anyway.
Last night we ate at Alan Wong's restaurant - unbelievable. We even sat at the "Chef's Counter" where we could watch the chefs prepare the meals - fascinating. The food was sort of Pacific Rim/Asian fusion, but just really good. Even picky TJ liked it! Today we stocked up at the grocery store with stuff for breakfast and lunch, trying to limit some of the meals we eat out. Both of us are a little rounder than we were when we got married - so sad.
Today we met Mike, a friend from Caltech, for dim sum with some other Caltech alums. It was really fun. Tomorrow we're going to try to see the USS Arizona. Other than that, our plan is to have no plan.
Well, back to the vacation laziness. Aloha!
Our hotel is really nice too, on the West (leeward) side of Oahu. The room we got is more of a 1br apartment, with a full kitchen, laundry and separate sitting room and bedroom. If I had known how nice it was, I would have tried to extend it for the rest of the week, but since it was a gamble, I booked us in another hotel on the North Shore. I guess it'll be fun to see another part of the island anyway.
Last night we ate at Alan Wong's restaurant - unbelievable. We even sat at the "Chef's Counter" where we could watch the chefs prepare the meals - fascinating. The food was sort of Pacific Rim/Asian fusion, but just really good. Even picky TJ liked it! Today we stocked up at the grocery store with stuff for breakfast and lunch, trying to limit some of the meals we eat out. Both of us are a little rounder than we were when we got married - so sad.
Today we met Mike, a friend from Caltech, for dim sum with some other Caltech alums. It was really fun. Tomorrow we're going to try to see the USS Arizona. Other than that, our plan is to have no plan.
Well, back to the vacation laziness. Aloha!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Beware of the Boys
Hey y'all! I've actually done some interesting blog-worthy things lately, so I thought I should get back into the groove. It does seem somewhat self-indulgent to just spew volumes of random stuff that no one really cares about, but I guess I'll console myself with the thought that if you find this boring or stupid, don't read it! :)
As many of you know, I looove to go out dancing. I love the cheesy hip-hop/dance-ish stuff they play on Kube 93. Usher's "Yeah" will get me movin' anytime. As some of you also know, I am married to man who does not dance. This same man also hates crowded places. This, combined with the fact that many of our friends now have kids and/or hate the kind of music I like to dance to, means that I have only been out dancing once in the past 6 years, and that was for my birthday in Las Vegas this year. (Thanks Kristin!).
A few weeks ago, we went to Gameworks to hang out with our friend Jenna on her birthday. Jenna's husband John used to work with TJ at Active Voice. Now neither of them work at AV, but that's a different story for a different day. Some of you might remember Pogi from some of my first blog posts - he belongs to John and Jenna.
Aaaanyway, since most of TJ's friends from Active Voice are younger than us, and more hip, I suggested we go out dancing. Shockingly, they were into it. I have been harboring a curiosity since I moved to Seattle 3 years ago to check out "Bollywood night" at one of the local clubs. It blows my mind that there would be enough of a market for that. Then again, there are probably 10 Indian restaurants within 5 miles of my house, so maybe it shouldn't surprise me. John was really into the idea. Turns out, where he grew up in Toronto, there were a ton of Indian kids so they actually had school dances where they played the bhangra beats. Yowza - talk about a totally different environment than where I went to school!
So we went to the Baltic Room a few weekends ago. Turns out it was a Special Event, with RDB DJs visiting from the UK. And damn, was it hot! They mixed up the bhangra with hip-hop and techno. They even had a live dhol player. The club was full and about 98% brown, but I was surprised that there were a fair number of other Asians besides Indians. The music was unbelievable, and the crowd was pretty low-stress, not the usual meat market scene at clubs I've been to in the past. (I.e. no one tried to grab me, or hit on me in slimy ways, etc.)
Of course, this could be because I was sporting my wedding ring, and Jenna was sporting her actual husband...
Plus, there was definitely a high geek factor there, which always makes me comfortable. There were a lot less women there than men, so I did end up making some new "friends", most of whom started their conversation with "(insert random Hindi or Punjabi sentence here)" and then seeming sort of confused when I looked at them blankly. But we had a great time, and the club has "Bollywood night" twice a month, so I think we'll definitely go back. We might even convince TJ to go sometime since they have an upstairs balcony where you can sit with your drink and have your own personal space!
So yay! I'm happy to find friends to go dancing with and kickass music! If we get adventurous, we'll try out some of the other clubs in the area. The last time I went out dancing in Seattle was in 1998, so I'm not even sure where the good places are anymore... Any suggestions?
As many of you know, I looove to go out dancing. I love the cheesy hip-hop/dance-ish stuff they play on Kube 93. Usher's "Yeah" will get me movin' anytime. As some of you also know, I am married to man who does not dance. This same man also hates crowded places. This, combined with the fact that many of our friends now have kids and/or hate the kind of music I like to dance to, means that I have only been out dancing once in the past 6 years, and that was for my birthday in Las Vegas this year. (Thanks Kristin!).
A few weeks ago, we went to Gameworks to hang out with our friend Jenna on her birthday. Jenna's husband John used to work with TJ at Active Voice. Now neither of them work at AV, but that's a different story for a different day. Some of you might remember Pogi from some of my first blog posts - he belongs to John and Jenna.
Aaaanyway, since most of TJ's friends from Active Voice are younger than us, and more hip, I suggested we go out dancing. Shockingly, they were into it. I have been harboring a curiosity since I moved to Seattle 3 years ago to check out "Bollywood night" at one of the local clubs. It blows my mind that there would be enough of a market for that. Then again, there are probably 10 Indian restaurants within 5 miles of my house, so maybe it shouldn't surprise me. John was really into the idea. Turns out, where he grew up in Toronto, there were a ton of Indian kids so they actually had school dances where they played the bhangra beats. Yowza - talk about a totally different environment than where I went to school!
So we went to the Baltic Room a few weekends ago. Turns out it was a Special Event, with RDB DJs visiting from the UK. And damn, was it hot! They mixed up the bhangra with hip-hop and techno. They even had a live dhol player. The club was full and about 98% brown, but I was surprised that there were a fair number of other Asians besides Indians. The music was unbelievable, and the crowd was pretty low-stress, not the usual meat market scene at clubs I've been to in the past. (I.e. no one tried to grab me, or hit on me in slimy ways, etc.)
Of course, this could be because I was sporting my wedding ring, and Jenna was sporting her actual husband...
Plus, there was definitely a high geek factor there, which always makes me comfortable. There were a lot less women there than men, so I did end up making some new "friends", most of whom started their conversation with "(insert random Hindi or Punjabi sentence here)
So yay! I'm happy to find friends to go dancing with and kickass music! If we get adventurous, we'll try out some of the other clubs in the area. The last time I went out dancing in Seattle was in 1998, so I'm not even sure where the good places are anymore... Any suggestions?
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