Getting Ready for the New Year

Getting ready for the new year was a bit of a challenge this year because we'd been on travel too often.

I've shown this cartoon from Ripley's Believe It Or Not before but it explains the custom so I'm showing it again.

Although they say this is the custom in Hawaii, it's also still true in Japan which is where it originated.

We, however, are not strict about abstaining from preparing food on January 1st.

However, I did clean out the two refrigerators and cut everyone's hair. I also finished a few other things from my To Do list.

On New Year's Day we had our kinako (soy bean powder) mochi (glutinous rice). Mom didn't have any. She repeated her warning that some senior in Japan always chokes on it every year. Sigh... We were fine.

We had an incredible New Years luncheon at our friends' home.

It was a lovely way to welcome 2019! We hope the start of your year was extra special too.

Lighting Up Our Anniversary

Our 46th wedding anniversary was coming up when Art saw an article in the Star Advertiser about a Light Garden at Victoria Ward Park in Honolulu. Art doesn't enjoy traveling into town at night, but he thought it would be a nice outing for mom.

We decided to go to one of mom's favorite restaurants, Teishoku in Kalihi where she could enjoy their misoyaki butterfish for dinner.

It really was wonderful and despite the crowd on a Sunday night, the servers were as friendly as could be.

Now came the difficult part.

The Ward area is rather confusing even with GPS.

We parked at the Whole Foods parking complex and then walked out into the street.

While in the elevator, I asked if anybody was going to see the light show.

This is Hawaii. You can talk to anybody.

Nobody was, but someone pointed out careful directions on where to go.

However, even with those directions, we still got a little lost.

I went into a bar and asked the hostess where the light garden might be.

She smiled and walked out of the bar and pointed me in the right direction.

Such wonderful people!

We found it!

The Light Garden was a forest of these flower lights that was synchronized to music.

It was a lovely evening enhanced with a delicious meal and illumination. We went home feeling quite lighthearted. I believe the light show is ended now, but it was fun while it lasted.

Aggravating %?#@&* SPAM!

I started getting these aggravating SPAM from a neha mumbai escorts few months ago. I kept adding it to my spam comments hoping that would signal Blogger into doing something about it. Nope. I tried doing the word verification which then prevented some people from doing any comments on my blog. So I thought I'd try the Help line.

I clicked on the Help and got this window. So I typed in Spam.

The Help line asked me to send them a link to the offending spam site which I did.

I then got a few more of the spam onto older blog posts but I haven't gotten as many and today, nothing.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Seasonal Chores

When we were living in Illinois, Art's cousins from the Big Island came to visit us in the fall. We had chestnut, locust, cherry and maple trees in our front and back yards. That made for a lot of falling leaves. Art's cousins were absolutely in awe of all the beautiful leaves forming a colorful carpet on the ground.

They even asked if they could help with raking the leaves. Did we deny them? Noooo.... We were willing to share that experience with anyone.

As we got older along with many of our neighbors, we hired a landscaping service to do the deed every week for a reasonable cost.

When we visited Maryland last year, raking those leaves seemed like a novel thing to do again.

And yes, it was fun to do that one time. I'm thinking a powerful leaf blower might be a good idea if we ever do this again.

Granddog vs. Vacuum Cleaner

We love our granddog, Mungo, but he is an amazing fur shedder. If you don't keep up with vacuuming, the carpet almost changes color.

While in Maryland, Art decided to vacuum several of the rooms, being careful to empty the canister of fur as soon as it looked close to filling.

After a couple of rooms, there was a burnt rubber smell and the vacuum cleaner stopped working. Our son said the vacuum cleaner was pretty old and probably needed to be replaced.

Being an engineer, Art can never give up until he's exhausted all options. He looked online. He says you can find anything on YouTube.

Sure enough, there were instructions on what to do if your vacuum cleaner stops working.

He took apart the bottom of the machine and began pulling out dog fur that had gotten lodged in  the rubber belt.

Voila! The vacuum cleaner was as good as new... or almost.

Board Meeting Controversy: Neighborhood Cell Tower Construction

A friend of mine informed us that a local church very close by was proposing to allow a cell tower to be built on its property.  My friend had made inquiries with our town representatives whose office told her that it was a done deal. Meanwhile petitions had apparently been circulated around the neighborhood. We had no idea.

Art, my friend and I decided to attend the board meeting where the topic was going to be addressed. It was quite interesting and a novel experience for us.

It began with the pledge of allegiance. It's been quite a while since I've been retired from the classroom and said the pledge.

First came the Fire Department who reported all the calls they'd responded to. His advice for the month was to not overload our outlets and to take care when using extension cords.

The commander of the Police Department reported how many burglaries, accidents, etc. had occurred. He recommended our using designated crosswalks.

A board member complained about someone who was feeding feral cats and insisted the police department had OKed it. "Not so," said the police commander.

Another person said they wanted a No Parking sign on their overcrowded street.

Then came the topic most of us were there to monitor and scrutinize.

A very well spoken fellow stated that their group had garnered almost 500 signatures from residents who were unhappy about the proposed building of the cell tower in a residential area near seniors and preschool children.

The chairman of the board appeared to strongly support the building of the tower citing that this was a good thing because it was a wonderful windfall for the church who would be getting quite a nice cash flow from the company.

The pastor of the church spoke up next. She said they weren't doing it for the money. In fact, they'd been approached several years ago and turned it down because of possible health risks. But now they thought with all the new technology requiring better coverage, this would be a good thing for the community.

The chairman of the board backtracked then and said that it's true we need the cell tower because of dead zones in our area. Ummmm.... really? I've never hit a dead zone anywhere. I've asked others and they haven't encountered dead zones either.

Then the chairman of the board talked about some proposal against flavored e-cigarettes.  OK... I don't know what the town can do about that. Then he stated he wanted gambling in Hawaii to fund education. (We already know how that worked in Chicago. Not so good.)

After a few more unhappy citizens spoke up about the cell towers, it was getting quite late for Art and me. We snuck out.

My friend stayed behind and texted me that someone had later stood and told the pastor that they had a 78 page collection of documents from medical personnel and experts with PhDs who listed dangers associated with cellphone towers.

Whatever the case, it sounds like the application will probably not go through.

It was truly interesting to see how the board worked and I do give them credit for their hard work. Still... it left me feeling a little suspicious. Then again, maybe that comes from living so long in Chicago.

Maryland Flora and Fauna

Art and I lived in Illinois for a little over 35 years before moving back to Hawaii. However, we still see things to marvel at when we visit different parts of the country.

One thing we enjoyed seeing in Maryland was these holly trees. I used to decorate cards, bulletin boards, etc. in Illinois with holly leaves and berries during the winter but I don't think I ever actually saw a holly bush or tree in the area.

What a surprise to see these gorgeous holly trees in the neighborhood. I saw shorter holly bushes, but these were really tall bushes, more like trees. Admiring the glossy leaves and bright red berries made me see why they are often used as holiday decorations.

We couldn't get a closer shot with just our iPhones, but these turkey vultures were immense.

It was rather amazing to see these birds hunched over waiting for a meal to pop up.

It will be interesting to see what else we'll find the next time we travel to the East coast.

The "Perfect" Packable Down Coats

We have clothes for every season waiting for us in Illinois. Before we come, Tiffany will haul down boxes of the appropriate season so we don't have to pack clothing when we go for our visits. That gives us more room to pack goodies from Hawaii.

This winter, we were going to visit our son and his family in Maryland. Since they now have a home of their own, we asked if we could leave some clothes with him too.

On another trip to Maryland, I'd found an excellent hooded packable black (32 Degrees Heat) down coat at Costco for just $20. It was too good to pass up and has worked beautifully for our trips to Japan and Europe.

I love how you can squeeze the coat into a small pouch for packing and yet have it keep you nice and warm for cool days.

I'm wearing the coat here in front of the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands.

On this trip to Maryland, there was another packable down coat at Costco!  The Eddie Bauer coat cost $29, but was just what I was looking for because we were planning to take mom to Japan this year and I was going to have her use my black 32 Degrees Heat coat.

Tiffany had told me that she would give me a brand new coat that she'd bought from UNIQLO that her husband said had her looking like she was wearing a sleeping bag.

I told her she could send it to Maryland if she could find a cheap way to send it. Even flat rate boxes aren't that cheap.

Would you believe my very smart son-in-law, Eddie discovered ZONE flat rate boxes? They're a little smaller than the regular small flat rate boxes and it cost them under $8 to mail it from Illinois to Maryland. Eddie  used a vacuum cleaner to suck the air out of the long down coat and had it stuffed in a zip lock bag. It was incredibly tiny. I could hardly believe it. They fit the coat and even some winter hats and socks for my grandsons in the small zone box.

OK... I know. I look like I'm wearing a sleeping bag too, but it was very comfortable for the cold Maryland weather.

Did I bring it back to Hawaii with me? Nope. I left it in Maryland for our next trip. It's not exactly easily packable. I'm still not sure how Eddie managed it.

The Super Blood Wolf Moon

Art was really excited about seeing the total eclipse of the moon which would give us the rare Blood Moon.

I attached my camera to the tripod and got ready for the big event which would happen at 7:12 PM. That's when the moon decided to go behind some heavy clouds. After waiting quite a while, I told Art I was giving up. The mosquitoes were starting to notice I was standing there like a juicy buffet.

I took my camera off the tripod and went upstairs.

About 10 minutes later, Art called out to me, "Bring your camera!"

Sigh...

So I trudged outside again.

Would you believe the moon had risen above the heavy cloud layer?

However, without the tripod it was extremely difficult to get a clear photo. Of the several shots I took, I got only one that was half way decent.

Next time, I won't give up so quickly.

Darn, now I'm feeling itchy.

Hit By a Semi

Mom enjoys shopping at Marukai which is a Japanese market. It required us finding time to drive into town. Marukai is a difficult place to park because it's so crowded and well... there's a lot of seniors who frequent the market. We've come out to find dings and scratches on our car from people who parked too close or opened their doors without caution.

We were on the H1 freeway in one of the middle lanes when a large semi on the right of us began drifting into our lane since the lane on his right was closed.

Art honked his horn frantically and looked to his left to see if he could move over the other way. He couldn't. There was a car right next to us and a car following close behind us.

Sitting on the passenger seat I could see the semi getting closer and closer and closer.

The semi was so long, it seemed to go on forever. I was holding my  breath hoping and hoping we could clear it.

And then BANG!

I was sure our right side mirror went flying and the car jolted.

Good grief!

Art called out, "Take a photo of the truck. See if there's information." 

I whipped around and grabbed my phone and started taking photos. The truck went to the off ramp and we had to continue on into town.

When we got to Marukai we looked at the damage. It was the back of the side mirror that had snapped off. The side of the car looked pretty awful too.

Art called the number on the truck from the photos I'd taken. They said the driver of the truck had actually already called in the accident and reported how he'd hit a silver car.

Hawaii is a No Fault state. Our insurance company said they would have to negotiate with the trucking company's insurance and we would have to just pay a $500 deductible. Just? Sheesh!

Soon after that, Island Insurance, the trucking company's insurance agent called to say they were taking full responsibility and would pay for everything. They also said that if we let them handle it, we wouldn't have to pay a deductible to our own insurance company.

Sounded like a no-brainer.

Luckily we also have a 21 year old mini-van that still works so we didn't need a loaner which probably made Island Insurance happy.

Our car came back good as new... at least on the passenger side.

It was a scary thing to happen and believe it or not, I did have a bit of a whiplash for a couple of hours, not from the crash itself, but from twisting so fast to grab my phone to take a photo of the semi.

I'm sure Island Insurance was also happy it wasn't more serious.

Maui: Day 3

We were up bright and early for our last day on Maui.

We went to the Tasty Crust for breakfast. The pancakes and fruit reminded us of Art's parents' restaurant many, many years ago.

Art really enjoyed having Nancy drive during the entire trip.

Nancy drove us to Pa'ia to Ho'okipa Beach.

It was so beautiful that we stood there watching the waves for quite a while.

We suddenly noticed a stream of brown discharge gushing out below us and going into the ocean.

It turned the ocean brown. It wasn't very pretty anymore. We left.

We noticed this beautiful zen temple in Pa'ia and had to stop to take some photos.

Lunch was at Sam Sato's. They are famous for their wet or dry saimin noodles and there's always a line forming at midday.

Our next stop was the Maui Ocean Center.

Mom really enjoys aquariums.

That flatfish really had an amazing camouflage.

Art is always encouraging mom to try a new experience like sticking her hand into the pool to see what an urchin or sea cucumber feels like.

The ocean tunnel was fun to experience. It's rather amazing to see shark swimming within a few feet of you.

It was a truly fun adventure and we'd all had a marvelous family time.

Maui: Day 2

After a comfortable night's rest at Wailuku's Airbnb, we drove down to McDonalds for a quick breakfast.

As we stepped out of the building, we all remarked how much more beautiful it seemed on Maui. Nancy commented that even the feral chickens seemed better fed and groomed than those on Oahu.

Our first stop of the day was the Iao Needle.


The Iao Needle State Monument is an important historical site since it is where the battle of Kepaniwai was fought.

That is where Kamehamaha I defeated the Maui army in 1790 in his effort to unite the islands.

There had been massive flooding in September 2016 which eroded parts of the riverbank. We were interested to see how they had restored the area.

You can see how the left side of the river has been reinforced with concrete. This was important since it is the foundation of the parking area.

A short nature loop at the bottom contained some Hawaiian flora that mom enjoyed viewing.

This is from the Iao Valley State Park guide book:

"The main attraction here is the ‘Iao needle (Kuka’emoku) – a 1200′ (2250′ from sea level) high peak created by erosion of the softer rock around it over many millennia. In Hawai’ian culture, it is known as the phallic stone of the god of the ocean (Kanaloa.)"

The valley was once considered sacred and kapu where only royalty was allowed.

Our next stop would be Lahaina. On the way there we were able to see Molokini, Kahoolawe and Lanai.

I found this in Wikipedia:

"Molokini is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater which forms a small, uninhabited islet located in ʻAlalākeiki Channel between the islands of Maui and Kahoʻolawe, within Maui County in Hawaiʻi."

And yes, of course we had to stop at the famous Banyan Tree in Lahaina that covers 2/3 of an acre. It is the largest banyan tree in the U.S. and the oldest banyan tree in Hawaii.

We stopped at the Old Lahaina Courthouse and saw displays about Maui's history.

Anh, our Airbnb host recommended the Noodle Bar in Lahaina and since he's Vietnamese, we figured he'd know if a Vietnamese restaurant was good or mediocre. It was a little bit of a walk on the outskirts of Lahaina.

But it was great! Art and I enjoyed this meal the most during our stay on Maui. We had awesome pho and pad thai.

We then stopped at Whalers Village for some Haagen Dazs ice cream.

Dinner was at Miko's, a Japanese restaurant.

Dennis had bi bim bop. Art had a green papaya salad. Nancy and I had a oriental chicken salad and mom had some ramen because she said she wasn't very hungry.

Mom, Art and I were just OK with the food we'd had so far, except for the Noodle Bar which we loved. Dennis and Nancy, however must not be as picky as the rest of us since they loved all the food.

The main thing is that mom was really enjoying the trip.