That feeling is gone now. Look at the color of these flowers. The lighting is perfect - not too bright, but enough to cast some shadows on the leaves. I would say this is a pigture champ.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Something missing
For the past couple days, I had this feeling that ... something was missing. It was rather weird because I would find myself standing in one spot for a long time, thinking what it was that was missing. To begin my search, I did some major gardening work this morning. Nope, it wasn't my green thumb that's itching. Then, I went shopping for a flower pot at Wally's Garden Center. Nope, it wasn't the shopping. As I exited the shop, a bright pink plumeria caught my eye. I quickly took out my camera to take a picture. YES! At that moment, I realized what was missing all this time. My body was itching to do something I haven't done for a long long time - taking pictures of beautiful things.
That feeling is gone now. Look at the color of these flowers. The lighting is perfect - not too bright, but enough to cast some shadows on the leaves. I would say this is a pigture champ.
That feeling is gone now. Look at the color of these flowers. The lighting is perfect - not too bright, but enough to cast some shadows on the leaves. I would say this is a pigture champ.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Photo Contest
Have to make this short because of my eyes - they are beginning to close. I finally gathered all my courage to enter one of my photos in the Costco Photo Contest. Looking at the photos of the past winners, I don't think I have a chance. Then I thought, I definitely won't have a chance if I don't submit anything. So, I submitted my favorite photo - close up of a monarch butterfly on an orange flower, taken at the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kauai. Winners will be announced in February.
Our refrigerator broke on the night before I had to leave for Maui. Talk about bad timing. HappyOblivion was very nice to take care of transporting our precious food to the community refrigerator in the party room in the complex. He also cleaned the refrigerator and floor underneath. Today, the mechanic came and fixed it. Turns out the compressor was chooed up so fixing was minimal. Whew! Our precious food is now back in our refrigerator.
Oooo, because I worked so many overtime, my boss told me I could get Monday off. Yay!
Our refrigerator broke on the night before I had to leave for Maui. Talk about bad timing. HappyOblivion was very nice to take care of transporting our precious food to the community refrigerator in the party room in the complex. He also cleaned the refrigerator and floor underneath. Today, the mechanic came and fixed it. Turns out the compressor was chooed up so fixing was minimal. Whew! Our precious food is now back in our refrigerator.
Oooo, because I worked so many overtime, my boss told me I could get Monday off. Yay!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
We made history today
As much as I would love to get some sleep right now, I find it necessary to commemorate this historic day when I am still deeply moved by what happened just 9 hours ago. For the past two days, my co-workers and I were in a public meeting that was held in East Maui. We were there to resolve a contentious issue that has been going on for over 20 years between the taro farmers and the large irrigation company. Simply put, the issue is about water - the fight for water. Since November 2007, we have been working hard to gather as much information as we can about the East Maui area, its streams, and its peoples. We have collaborated with other agencies to conduct investigations of the area regarding the animals in the streams. April 10th, we asked the people of East Maui to give us more information about the area. All this information will be used to determine a standard - a flow that must remain in the stream most, if not all, of the time. This is a very passionate issue because this water is the lifeline of the taro farmers. Without it, they cannot farm, they cannot live. The water is also important for the sugarcane business. For the month of August and early September, we were in over 20 meetings, some 1 hour and at times 4 hours. We worked overtime almost every day and even on the weekends. We visited East Maui twice, hiking the stream, learning the irrigation system. Just two weeks ago, we produced 5 reports, at least 200 pages each. We gathered 1000 pages of public comments. In the two days before the meeting, we scrambled to gather our stuff for this meeting.
This meeting is where we present all these complicated information. Over 100 people attended. Starting at 2pm yesterday, we presented our materials in 3 hours and 5 minutes. Oral testimony lasted for 5 hours from 5:30pm to 10:30pm. Today, oral testimony continued for another 2 hours from 9am to 11am. Then, the Commissioners go into deliberation to discuss whether to accept our recommendation of the flow standards or reject our recommendation. It was a a very long, official and orderly process, just like that in a court. All of us, the staff, sat in the front in a row, nervously watching all these decision makers to finally act on a process that may resolve this water issue once and for all. When one of the Commissioners asked the Chairperson "Chair, are you ready for a motion?" My eyes teared up because I finally felt all the emotion in the room, and it was overwhelming. When they accepted our recommendation, I was so excited - an excitement quite different from winning a prize or meeting my idol. To end the meeting, one of the taro farmers did a prayer. During that prayer, I almost cried. I finally realized what the Chairperson meant by "We are making history tonight." Seeing the joy in people's eyes, to know that we are restoring flow to the streams that could save their lives, continue the Hawaiian culture, I was speechless. I physically felt the applause and it was enough to keep me going. Now, I know why I am doing what I am doing, it's not just numbers and regression equations, it's not about writing everything you know about the Hawaiian culture, it's not about how much you know in diversion structures. It's about the people, the water, and understanding what it means to them, and that we are making a huge difference to their lives. We made history today because for the first time, the Commission is restoring the lifeline to the islands.
Below are some articles related to this meeting. Yes, we are famous.
State water commission discuss eight Maui stream petitions
Historic ruling looms for restoring streams
Panel orders water into streams
Agency alters stream flow on Maui
Maui streams decision 'monumental' for state
This meeting is where we present all these complicated information. Over 100 people attended. Starting at 2pm yesterday, we presented our materials in 3 hours and 5 minutes. Oral testimony lasted for 5 hours from 5:30pm to 10:30pm. Today, oral testimony continued for another 2 hours from 9am to 11am. Then, the Commissioners go into deliberation to discuss whether to accept our recommendation of the flow standards or reject our recommendation. It was a a very long, official and orderly process, just like that in a court. All of us, the staff, sat in the front in a row, nervously watching all these decision makers to finally act on a process that may resolve this water issue once and for all. When one of the Commissioners asked the Chairperson "Chair, are you ready for a motion?" My eyes teared up because I finally felt all the emotion in the room, and it was overwhelming. When they accepted our recommendation, I was so excited - an excitement quite different from winning a prize or meeting my idol. To end the meeting, one of the taro farmers did a prayer. During that prayer, I almost cried. I finally realized what the Chairperson meant by "We are making history tonight." Seeing the joy in people's eyes, to know that we are restoring flow to the streams that could save their lives, continue the Hawaiian culture, I was speechless. I physically felt the applause and it was enough to keep me going. Now, I know why I am doing what I am doing, it's not just numbers and regression equations, it's not about writing everything you know about the Hawaiian culture, it's not about how much you know in diversion structures. It's about the people, the water, and understanding what it means to them, and that we are making a huge difference to their lives. We made history today because for the first time, the Commission is restoring the lifeline to the islands.
Below are some articles related to this meeting. Yes, we are famous.
State water commission discuss eight Maui stream petitions
Historic ruling looms for restoring streams
Panel orders water into streams
Agency alters stream flow on Maui
Maui streams decision 'monumental' for state
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Ya-wabloons
HappyOblivion and I finally won a cup for all the races in the 50cc and 100cc levels of Mario Kart. Below is the victory image at the end of the credits. Does my wii mii look like me? I tried to cut my hair short and wear rectangular glasses so I would look like my mii. No, seriously. The green race suit looks pretty cool on me.
Lately, I have developed an addiction. Everywhere I go, I keep telling myself to get more ya-wabloons. When I wake up in the morning, I reach for my iPod to search for more ya-wabloons. Coming home from work, I turn on my computer to get more ya-wabloons. Before going to sleep, "just one more ya-wabloon" I thought. You would have no idea what I am talking about if you don't have a Facebook account. Fluff(friends) is an application in Facebook. It is like an online pet. You can feed it or have it race other fluffs. About a month ago, fluff(friends) introduced a Pirate Treasure Hunt to celebrate "International Talk Like A Pirate Day". The objective is to get these fluffs to dig for treasures - jewels and ya-wabloons (pirate money). With these ya-wabloons, you can buy more treasures to decorate your fluff habitat. Below is an image of my fluff habitat. As you can see, I have already found a blue ya-rubly (the blue jewel), and I found enough jewels and ya-wabloons to buy a flower sword. Now, I have tasked myself to get more ya-wabloons so I could buy a star crown and a bottle of rum. I am almost there, just a couple more ya-wabloons.....a couple more.
Lately, I have developed an addiction. Everywhere I go, I keep telling myself to get more ya-wabloons. When I wake up in the morning, I reach for my iPod to search for more ya-wabloons. Coming home from work, I turn on my computer to get more ya-wabloons. Before going to sleep, "just one more ya-wabloon" I thought. You would have no idea what I am talking about if you don't have a Facebook account. Fluff(friends) is an application in Facebook. It is like an online pet. You can feed it or have it race other fluffs. About a month ago, fluff(friends) introduced a Pirate Treasure Hunt to celebrate "International Talk Like A Pirate Day". The objective is to get these fluffs to dig for treasures - jewels and ya-wabloons (pirate money). With these ya-wabloons, you can buy more treasures to decorate your fluff habitat. Below is an image of my fluff habitat. As you can see, I have already found a blue ya-rubly (the blue jewel), and I found enough jewels and ya-wabloons to buy a flower sword. Now, I have tasked myself to get more ya-wabloons so I could buy a star crown and a bottle of rum. I am almost there, just a couple more ya-wabloons.....a couple more.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Not as planned
These past few days were full of disappointments. On Friday after eating lunch with my co-workers in Chinatown, I was in search for my favorite fruit - the durian. I was hoping to share this fruit with people in the office, hoping to find a durian buddy. All I found were rotten durians. So sad.
Today, HappyOblivion and I planned on eating lunch at Mana Bu and then watch KungFu Panda at the dollar theater. Well, Mana Bu was closed so we decided to eat lunch at Restaurant Row. Stupid, EVERYTHING was closed except for Hokulani, where we each bought a cupcake, and Subway, where we bought a Spicy Italian footlong. When we stood in line to buy the movie tickets, the movie sold out! So, we bought tickets for the next showing of KingFu Panda. Since we bought the Subway sandwiches already, we ate lunch really quickly and then hopped over the Costco.
During the movie, kids kept on walking back and forth, left and right. Babies crying, kids running, mothers yelling - it was like a daycare center. At one point, I put my feet down and the floor was slippery. I don't even want to know if it was pee or soda. Before the credits were over, everyone was in a hurry to leave so I could only see maybe half the screen. Grrr!
After the movie, we went to Sports Authority. HappyOblivion couldn't find his knee support thing and I couldn't find cheap swimsuits. Aiyaaa! Since I am a little bummed out today, I thought a food picture would do some good to this sad post. Below is a picture of a beautiful and delicious cupcake I ate at a party two weekends ago. It is chocolate cake with orange-flavored frosting.
Today, HappyOblivion and I planned on eating lunch at Mana Bu and then watch KungFu Panda at the dollar theater. Well, Mana Bu was closed so we decided to eat lunch at Restaurant Row. Stupid, EVERYTHING was closed except for Hokulani, where we each bought a cupcake, and Subway, where we bought a Spicy Italian footlong. When we stood in line to buy the movie tickets, the movie sold out! So, we bought tickets for the next showing of KingFu Panda. Since we bought the Subway sandwiches already, we ate lunch really quickly and then hopped over the Costco.
During the movie, kids kept on walking back and forth, left and right. Babies crying, kids running, mothers yelling - it was like a daycare center. At one point, I put my feet down and the floor was slippery. I don't even want to know if it was pee or soda. Before the credits were over, everyone was in a hurry to leave so I could only see maybe half the screen. Grrr!
After the movie, we went to Sports Authority. HappyOblivion couldn't find his knee support thing and I couldn't find cheap swimsuits. Aiyaaa! Since I am a little bummed out today, I thought a food picture would do some good to this sad post. Below is a picture of a beautiful and delicious cupcake I ate at a party two weekends ago. It is chocolate cake with orange-flavored frosting.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Green Curry Sandwich
I haven't had a good weekend for awhile. For the month of August, I was either working or recovering from my work trips to Maui. Then I had to do loads of dirty laundry from my work hikes, and clean the stream boots which were covered with mud.
This past weekend, I was able to enjoy myself a bit and took a mini food vacation. On Saturday, we went to the Macy's What's For Lunch demo and got a taste of a very delicious open-faced steak sandwich, topped with green curry sauce (see photo below). Afterwards, we went crazy sampling the island food booths at Macy's - popcorn, shortbread, biscotti, oat bread, coffee, salad, pesto sauce, cookies, and cake. Then we hopped over to Shirokiya for more sampling - noodles, tempura, crispy shrimp, dried snacks, jelly stuff, tea, fish cake, and pickled veggies. We were pretty full but decided we should get some "real" food for lunch. We ended up with a thing of sushi and three mochilatos (mochi with gelato) with creme brulee, toasted almond, and tiramisu flavors. Guess what we did to end the day? We went Costco shopping ... for MORE food.
Next week I am going back to Maui again, but this time to present our work, finally. I have been humming the song "Final Countdown" in my head for the past couple days. Matches with the occasion and my happy mood that the late nights are over, for now.
This past weekend, I was able to enjoy myself a bit and took a mini food vacation. On Saturday, we went to the Macy's What's For Lunch demo and got a taste of a very delicious open-faced steak sandwich, topped with green curry sauce (see photo below). Afterwards, we went crazy sampling the island food booths at Macy's - popcorn, shortbread, biscotti, oat bread, coffee, salad, pesto sauce, cookies, and cake. Then we hopped over to Shirokiya for more sampling - noodles, tempura, crispy shrimp, dried snacks, jelly stuff, tea, fish cake, and pickled veggies. We were pretty full but decided we should get some "real" food for lunch. We ended up with a thing of sushi and three mochilatos (mochi with gelato) with creme brulee, toasted almond, and tiramisu flavors. Guess what we did to end the day? We went Costco shopping ... for MORE food.
Next week I am going back to Maui again, but this time to present our work, finally. I have been humming the song "Final Countdown" in my head for the past couple days. Matches with the occasion and my happy mood that the late nights are over, for now.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Blog, I miss you!
It's been ages since I last blogged. Well, about half a month but it felt like forever. So much has happened and I am not sure where to begin. I guess I should start by apologizing to my blog friends for not reading or commenting on their posts in the last 3 weeks. I have been consumed by work, obviously not by choice. I have a lot of catching up to do. Look forward to my comments :)
Shortly after the day of my last post, I found myself packing for Maui again. Work trip, same as last time so I didn't take that many pictures. However, I did manage to take enough so that I can stitch assist another more comprehensive view of Wailua Valley. It was yesterday that I finally had the time to merge all the photos (10 total) into one. The final product is 30 MB! When I zoomed into the image, the taro patches were so clear and defined. This is much better than my last attempt, which is a composit of only 4 photos. I also visited a secluded beach located at the mouth of Wailuanui Stream. Public access to this beach is "understood" by the community to be prohibited. If you look suspicious while trying to walk down to this beach, and you come across one of the locals, GOOD LUCK! With that said, you should thank me for showing you the beautiful view this beach offers :) No really, thank me!
Lately, I have become addicted to body boarding. Now that I have a new, more professional looking board, I am a little more confident of boarding at Waikiki Beach with the corals beneath me. I plan to take a picture of my new board so wait for my next post. Now that the deadlines are over, I have more time to go...today!
Oh so, I have been stalking the guys at the GameStop in Ala Moana for Mario Kart. For so long they sold out! Then one day, when I wasn't planning on getting the game because I gave up already, I walked into GameStop and asked, "By any chance, you got Mario Kart?" Ah ha! They have it and it was the last copy. The next day, I went to Best Buy and found tons of them lying on the shelf. Grrr! So much for my excitment. Anywho, HappyOblivion and I have been playing the game every night, and yelling at the TV for bumping King Boo off the road or bombing poor cute Toad. If you have the game, who is your favorite character? My favorite is King Boo; though Toad is an equal contender.
Shortly after the day of my last post, I found myself packing for Maui again. Work trip, same as last time so I didn't take that many pictures. However, I did manage to take enough so that I can stitch assist another more comprehensive view of Wailua Valley. It was yesterday that I finally had the time to merge all the photos (10 total) into one. The final product is 30 MB! When I zoomed into the image, the taro patches were so clear and defined. This is much better than my last attempt, which is a composit of only 4 photos. I also visited a secluded beach located at the mouth of Wailuanui Stream. Public access to this beach is "understood" by the community to be prohibited. If you look suspicious while trying to walk down to this beach, and you come across one of the locals, GOOD LUCK! With that said, you should thank me for showing you the beautiful view this beach offers :) No really, thank me!
Lately, I have become addicted to body boarding. Now that I have a new, more professional looking board, I am a little more confident of boarding at Waikiki Beach with the corals beneath me. I plan to take a picture of my new board so wait for my next post. Now that the deadlines are over, I have more time to go...today!
Oh so, I have been stalking the guys at the GameStop in Ala Moana for Mario Kart. For so long they sold out! Then one day, when I wasn't planning on getting the game because I gave up already, I walked into GameStop and asked, "By any chance, you got Mario Kart?" Ah ha! They have it and it was the last copy. The next day, I went to Best Buy and found tons of them lying on the shelf. Grrr! So much for my excitment. Anywho, HappyOblivion and I have been playing the game every night, and yelling at the TV for bumping King Boo off the road or bombing poor cute Toad. If you have the game, who is your favorite character? My favorite is King Boo; though Toad is an equal contender.