Goodbye Poki

My friends left yesterday to Baltimore. They will be living there for the next four years and hopefully no longer than that. I wonder how they are doing now and if Poki, their dog, is ok with the flight. Sunday night, HappyOblivion and I went to eat dinner with them, their families, and relatives. I had so much fun playing with Poki. When I said goodbye to her, she seemed to understand and calmed down in her cage. She will always be the best dog in the world!

Sushi Buffet

Sashimi Sashimi Sashimi Oy! Sashimi Sashimi Sashimi Oy! I have never seen and eaten so much sashimi before. One of the highlights of my visit back home was our sashimi buffet dinner. My sister ordered fish from an online company called Catalina Offshore Products. She ordered toro, maguro, sake, hamachi, scallops, and amaebi. In addition, she bought takoyaki, unagi and tamago. Mommy also cooked some delicious deep fried yam. Yes, we had a tremendous amount of food but we gobbled them all down with happy smiles. I particularly enjoyed the hamachi and the toro. HappyOblivion ate so much he couldn't get up from the couch. My dad loved the yam so much he ate 5 pieces. My sister probably ate 40% of the scallops. Everybody seemed like they had a second stomach. Below is a picture of the sashimi buffet dinner.

Another memorable event during my visit back home was the belated Mother's Day home cooked dinner. HappyOblivion, my sisters, and I were responsible for cooking 1-2 dishes for my mommy. HappyOblivion cooked miso wasabi salmon and pizza. My sisters cooked, pasta, beef stew, and warm chocolate cake dessert. I cooked corn soup and vegetable medley. The favorite was the pizza. My dad ate one and a half pieces and my mom ate one. Even my brother-in-law who cannot eat cheese ate a piece. I really liked the dessert. It was simple, delicious, and warm. My niece and nephew each ate one piece happily. Funny thing was that the kitchen was a complete battlefield during the cooking hours. I don't know how my mommy manages to keep the kitchen clean and still cook a delicious dinner for 8-10 all by herself in one hour. She is wonder woman.  

Sicky Vacation

I went back home for vacation and came back with bronchitis. Yeah, kinda' sucks. However, I was elated to see my family and my precious little niece and nephew. My parents may have grown a year older since I last saw them, but they look young, handsome, and beautiful as always. My sister with the babies look malnourished, probably from chasing the kids around and not eating healthy. The other sister who bakes cakes look more healthy, same with her husband. My niece and nephew are cuter than ever. The girl can talk in chinese pretty fluently. HappyOblivion was trying to teach her english. She was a little shy at first but as they spend more time together, she was more comfortable repeating words and phrases after him. The boy can walk now. He loves his sister and smiles whenever she talks to him. Ha ha, he gets gassy too! When he wants something, he plops down on the floor and yells "ma ma". Little does he know that ma ma could not afford to spoil him. My turtles look super fat. I bought them a new aquarium heater because they broke the old one, again.

Shopping was fun. A New Balance Outlet opened in Gilroy and HappyOblivion saw an empty bank account flash before his eyes. He bought 3 pairs of shoes and a couple shirt there, whereas I only bought one pair of running shorts. Well, if the 5 pairs of shoes I tried on had my size, I would've went crazy too. He also bought another pair of shoes from Bass and I bought the most comfortable pair of slippers at Clarks. I can't wait to wear them on Monday when I return to work.

Last Monday, I flew back with all the sypmtoms you can imagine: cough, runny nose, fever, chills, sore throat, post nasal drip, headache, muscle ache, lost voice. Landing was %@$&# painful to my ears. I had to continually pop my ears during landing that I looked like an exploding lemming. Now I feel much better. I called work to request for sick leave and I think I sounded like a zombie!

Peachy Anniversary

Like all other anniversaries, this year's was great! I regret I went crazy workaholic that month because HappyOblivion deserves a gift or even some planning efforts from me. I came home from work and I see peach-colored roses on my desk. They were so beautiful. Then he took me to dinner at Alan Wong's. I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the menu! It was personalized with our names on it and signatures of the chefs! We ate until my dress couldn't expand anymore. Last came the dessert complimentary from the restaurant. The dessert had peanuts but I ate all the non-peanut portions and left HappyOblivion the rest, hee. Thank you for a wonderful time.

I must promise myself not to work too much. I was so stressed I had cold sores all over the insides of my mouth. This happens to my sister too! Now I understand...cure is to work less and relax.

Kuliouou Trail

Pictures from my most recent hiking trip at Kuliouou Trail, Oahu.

Birthday

My blog is so pathetic. I had promised details of my birthday in the last post but haven't had time until now. Bugger, my birthday was on a Monday so everyone had to work and couldn't stay up too late. The celebration began with dinner at my favorite fancy restaurant, Kincaids. We had their famous creme brulee for dessert, complimentary from the restaurant. Then we all went to my place for ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. Yummmmm... I received lots of gifts. A couple gave me a rocket bird shirt from Threadless, piggy magnets, kinder eggs, and a mini note pad. The concept of a rocket bird is super hilarious. Why would a bird wear a rocket? I showed my niece the shirt and she pointed to it and said, "That's a potato." I guess the fat brown bird sorta looks like a potato. Another couple gave me a Harajuku Lovers shirt from In My Closet in Kahala Mall. One time, I wore that shirt in Macy's and a woman came up to me and asked where I got the shirt, as if I didn't understand English. I guess the shirt makes me look Japaneseeee. HappyOblivion gave me a Little Angry Girl bag and Guitar Hero! The game is super fun. I beat the Easy level in just 3 days.....well, my shoulders and my back were in pain but no matter. I am now on the medium level and my pinky has to work. My sister also got me WiiFit and I can't wait to play that. Thank you everyone for making my birthday so enjoyable.

Bird in Wind

You know what's worse than being in an elevator where someone just farted? Well, being in an elevator with a couple, both wearing strong perfume. I have never felt so helpless with nowhere to escape for 10 dreadful floors. Not to offend anyone wearing perfume but if you do, little will do the job. Don't go drowning yourself in that chemical.

April is such a great month. Why? Well for starters, it's my birthday (details to come). April is also Earth Month, Ben & Jerry's birthday (thus free cone day), and Baskin Robbins' 31 cent ice cream day. To celebrate Earth Month, I volunteered at the Mauka to Makai Expo at Waikiki Aquarium on the 12th. At the event, I took a picture with an oopu (native Hawaiian fresh water fish) and a humuhumunukunukuapuaa (unofficial Hawaii state fish). Malama o Manoa had free tree giveaway the following weekend to encourage the planting of native species. HappyOblivion and I got a Mamaki tree, a palm, and a curry plant. I was lucky to have gotten the last Mamaki tree. Can't wait to make tea out of it, which is said to give the "buzz" without caffeine (people are crazier than I thought). This past weekend, I went to the Grow Hawaii Festival at Bishop Museum. At the native plants tour, I learned so many interesting stories about each plant that I wish I took notes. I also got a taste of the most delicious poi on Earth! Fresh poi is like taro mochi, chewy and sweet :) After the festival, we went on a short hike to Manoa Falls with some friends visiting from the mainland. Check out my Flickr account and Garden webpage for pictures and stories.

One of the exciting things that happened last week was capturing the next "Pigture Champ". I have always enjoyed watching the wind blow at the feathers of a bird. When I wait for the bus or sit at the park, I often find myself searching for cute poofy birds with messy feathers. At the Byodo-in Temple, I squatted quietly behind a tree just to take the picture below.

I absolutely love this picture. You can see that the wind has created a mohawk for the little birdie. The body also has a couple poofy parts. Aww, the wind has touched my heart.

I feel like...

...I haven't been online for months; yet, I sit in front of the computer everyday at work. I feel like I swam 100 laps; yet, I am out of breath at only 10. I feel like I have a million things to do; yet, I live lazily as if my to-do-list will go "poof" into thin air.

In the past week, my mind was taking a journey of her own. Daydreaming? Not so much since I was aware of my surroundings. Pre-occupied? Eeee...closer but I wasn't worried about anything in particular. Ah, overwhelmed and exhausted. My mind was like a computer that had too little RAM, so she was constantly working in the background trying to sort things out. Then she completely ran out of memory and was stuck in an infinite loop:

email professor a file on my research ... but gotta look for file first ... ooo, plumeria blooming ... reply an email about my old research project ... where is that stupid file ... gotta finish reading two fat reports on streams for meeting ... I forgot all about my research project ... gotta take notes on the reports ... eat dinner ... orchids still blooming ... looking for the file again ... crap, bought another orchid ... buy soil and perlite ... need to repot tonight ... buy outreach materials for work ... free tree giveaway ... resist getting more plants ... doh, got three more plants ... work website design elements ... what to cook for dinner ... headache ... gotta call parents ... who will water my plants while I am gone on vacation ... how are my turtles doing ... laundry ... wash bathroom ... visitors coming in two days ... pack lunch for work ... hydrologist think, think about recommending a flow volume for streams ... Flickr pro or not ... take pictures of my new plants ... update blog ... watch TV ... Tivo will run out of space ... pay bills ...

My mind was such a mess. I had a million things to do but I was so overwhelmed that I accomplished nothing! I can't seem to separate work from home, just like the old days. All I want to do right now is to sit in my lanai with my garden. However, I can't even do that because there is no time. Wake up at 6, go work, come back, swim, cook dinner, eat desert, sleep. I AM GOING INSANE! How does everyone do it? Just work the life away...grrrr.

Venting is great. Now I am tired and sleepy. I only wish I could be like my plumeria (see picture), watching sunrise and sunset everyday oh so peacefully.

Sweet Home Cafe

Yipeee! Last night, we went to Sweet Home Cafe for dinner. We saw this restaurant last time we ordered take out from Keawe Grill. HappyOblivion read a good review of it on a food blog so we decided to try it out last night. The restaurant is owned by a chinese couple whom greeted us with a friendly "hallo" spoken with a homey-chineseee accent. Every table is set up with a hot pot (shabu shabu) that cooks by induction (surface remains cool while cooking). The owner introduced us to some of the popular soup bases. We chose the "healthy herb" soup base because it was a traditional chinese soup simmered for 5-hours with dates and other dried ingredients. We also ordered the raw beef and a Lichi tapioca drink. When the soup and the rice came, we hurried off to the refrigerator where we got a couple of our favorite shabu shabu items: aburage, mushrooms, shrimp balls, wontons, and squash. The first bite reminded me of home. The soup was delicious and the rice was soft. Everything smelled so good I thought I was at home eating with my family. The lichi tapioca drink was refreshing. During the course of our meal, the owner came over a couple times to talk story. I think this was one of the best "eat-out" dinners I have ever had. I would definitely love to go again :)

After many days of staring at the cute pig on the "No Pudge" brownie mix that HappyOblivion got from Trader Joe, we finally decided to bake it. We couldn't believe how easy it was to make the brownie. All we added was plain yogurt and vanilla extract...no oil, or other fattening ingredients! Mixing it was a bit of physical work but the fudge was so fudgy (see right). We were suppose to let the brownie cool down before eating but knowing us, we couldn't wait. Awwww, it was so soft and moist. I love a guilt-free fudgy brownie.

On a last note, I updated my "Garden" blog with some new pictures. I also bought a native Hawaiian plant, Ihi, at Home Depot. I am not too big a supporter of Home Depot but it is the only place that sells native Hawaiian plants, other than the nursery out in Kaneohe. I will post of picture of it soon.

Peep Show

My friend send me this photo to brighten up my work day. You gotta admit, peeps know how to have fun ey?

In a PINCH!

~Sigh...I finally maxed out my Flickr account. My photostream will only show the most recent 200 photos I uploaded and disregard the rest. Hmmm, debating whether to upgrade the account and pay the stinkin' $25 a year or revisit Picasa, which I have neglected since I signed up with Flickr. Decisions decisions decisions, Choo-san PINCH! Suggestions are welcome.

I have been too busy lately to blog about my recent Aiea Loop Trail hike. Looking back, it was more like a walk in the park than a hike, except the last half mile when we did some trail running so we could finish before darkness spooks us all. Hiking in the dark would not have seemed so scary if my friend hadn't mention angry trees eating people alive, or hikers disappearing into the forest and never return. [shiver] Best not to think about it, yeah? Anywho, we were lucky to have hiked this trail in the late afternoon because we were all mesmerized by the soft rays of light seeping between the tall slender trees. My friend took a picture of the canopy dancing under the beautiful blue sky. We also saw an area full of mini Christmas trees with a color so green it made the trees look fake. Half way down the trail we could see H3 escaping into Halawa Valley. My favorite photo from this hike is the one on the left.

HappyOblivion and I have been spending a great deal of time saving Toad in SuperMario Galaxy for the past week. We played at least 2 hours a day and sometimes 4! We paid the price in the last two days when we were so pooped out we fell asleep watching the UEFA Championship games. I couldn't even wake up for work so I went to work one hour later than usual. So pathetic...who knew saving Toad could literally drain the life out of us. Gotta go, we have to go save Mailtoad now.

5 Days in Kauai

Whew...it has been one crazy week. You know I kinda' look like that Yahoo emoticon, in which the little guy wipes off his sweat and sighs. Vacation nevers feels like one when it is spend somewhere away from home. You are constantly looking at the map, making sure every single attraction is not missed, and the pictures that were taken in a rush justify your "been-there-done-that" attitude. HappyOblivion and I were trying to avoid the whole ordeal of "touring Big Island in 3 days" (ha, that's another story to tell), so we decided to take it lazy and took a trip to our favorite island, Kauai, for the short amount of time we have off.

HappyOblivion's friend was very nice to accomodate us in his new house in Kalaheo. He also let us borrow his brand new Toyota FJ Cruiser to drive around the island and go on our crazy adventures. Little did we know we were going to spend a chunk of time playing Guitar Hero and saving Toad in Super Mario Galaxy than touring the island. One of our crazy adventures was driving in the sand dunes at Polihale State Park, our friend's idea of "breaking-in" the car. The road to the park was bumpy, muddy, and rainy. We splashed every puddle, big and small, along the way while praising the performance of the car. "This car is great!" we boast, or "This car can do anything!" Then...we got stuck in the sand dune, no kidding. HappyOblivion and his friend had to dig, in the heavy rain, away the sand surrounding the barried tire, which didn't work. Luckily some locals showed up and helped pull us out. Of course we had to pay him beer money to do so but 20 bucks wasn't at all an expensive lesson considering we had no way of getting out. Regardless of this unfortunate occurrence, we had a great time on the beach. The water was amazingly clear. I still remember the sparkles that filled the surface of the water, and would reappear after every wave.

Another highlight was our trip to the Kauai Nursery and Landscaping, and the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG). I had wanted to take pictures of rows and rows of seedlings, and bunches of the same plant. Home Depot and regular garden shops just don't have enough plants to achieve the desired effect. At the nursery, I took so many pictures I thought the camera was going to die on me. There were bunches of everything and I was going happy crazy! The next stop was NTBG. It wasn't the greatest botanical garden partly because I had to pay $20-40 to tour the upper parts of the garden. Despite this limitation, I did manage to take some good close-up photos of a butterfly pollinating a large orange flower. I waited 20 minutes in the midst of buzzing bees, scary spiders (those that weave X spiderwebs - I think these are poisonous), and hungry mosquitoes. The entire time I was waiting for the perfect moment, the hungry mosquitoes were feasting on HappyOblivion. Luckily I only got a couple bug bites :D Some of the photos I like from this trip are posted in my Flickr account or below.



Lately, I have been particularly interested in photography. With that said, I would like to start a tradition in which I pick a favorite photo for each collection I create. The winning photo from this trip is...tun tun tun...

Shrimp Chips

I never knew raw shrimp chips are hard like fiberglass. Actually, I didn't know raw shrimp chips are available at supermarkets. This is totally new to me. I have always thought making shrimp chips require major cooking skills. I guess you just need to know how to deep fry, ha! Well, now I can enjoy this unhealthy snack without ordering peking duck at a fancy restaurant, even though I do like peking duck...especially inside the steaming hot bun buns. [That was awkward]

Limit 3 Heads

For a month, I have been waiting for the Kunia Orchid Show. On Friday night, I charged the camera battery so I could take loads of pigtures. I also withdrew some cash in case I bring home a couple orchids. All this time, I thought the show was in Kunia; hence, the "Kunia" Orchid Show. Then HappyOblivion reminded me that the location of the show changed to Waipahu, which is much farther than I expected. ["What? I thought you live in Hawaii," you say.] Yes, but that doesn't mean I know where everything is! I considered making a trip up there on Saturday with HappyOblivion but decided I could make better use of my time cleaning the apartment and running errands in town. Plus, coming up are 5 more orchid shows that are closer to town. Regardless of all these pathetic excuses, I was sad that I didn't go so I made HappyOblivion take me to Star Market where I could choose a plant to lift my spirits. I intended to buy ihi, a native Hawaiian plant I found in my new book Growing Hawaii's Native Plants. Obviously, things didn't go as planned and I bought an orchid instead, which ironically, I had planned on getting since Friday.

Afterwards, we went to eat dinner at our favorite place, Ninja Sushi at Pearl City. We love this location in particular because we know the owner, there is free corn tea to go with the sushi, and the shop is clean and cozy. As we both agree, dinner at Ninja is always a nice date :) Before returning home, we dropped by Foodland to buy our favorite Rosalani Kona Mud Pie ice cream which is still on sale 2 for $8. We came across the cabbage section and thought the sign a little hilarious. HappyOblivion and I have always made fun of each other's heads. Comments such as, "You have a fat head," or "Your head is so fat it blocks cell phone reception" would randomly pop out of our mouths throughout the day. I guess we are both a little cabbage headed sometimes.

Lethargic

Ah, "crazy"...that's the word to describe this past week. I am still trying to remember what kept me from strangling everyone around me. I am sure some of you may have heard this from me either in person or via email, but I can't help thinking that reiteration might aid in restoring the vitality that was slowly drained out of me every minute I spent writing, reading, editing, and formatting five very important documents that were finally mailed out today, hopefully...maybe. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. However, as I have told one of my good friends, "Loving your job is one thing, working 10-11 hours a day and working through lunch for a week is another." Also consider all the misc. things one does everyday but couldn't, e.g. house chores, calling family, laundry, cooking, and blogging. Honestly, I am completely pooped out. The worse was Tuesday when I came home at 6:30 p.m. and didn't get to swim. I was going insane and my body was itching to jump in the pool until the next day, I was determined to swim however late I came home, which was 6 p.m. so I swam until dinner time. I must thank HappyOblivion as he was a great help in cleaning the house, cooking dinner, and washing the dishes, while I was desperately trying to stay awake enough to brush my teeth. For those that usually return home much later than 6 because of commute, don't blame me. Your fault that you live far from work. Ok, I feel good now that I have made some enemies, caught up with my life in my blog and with those that read this blog.

So, funny story. I think it was this past Sunday that I decided to go for a "short run" because the pool was closed. I asked HappyOblivion if he wanted to join me and he did. As I was getting ready, he looked up this mysterious trail that goes from UH to St. Louis Heights. Before we left, he confirmed that the trail was short and that there was nothing to worry about. Well, there went our Sunday evening. Stupid us kept on hiking and hiking until we reached the top because otherwise, we wouldn't be satisfied until we had done so. The trail was beautiful, hot, and slippery (dry dirt). We passed by a huge BWS water tank, couple dare devils, and a college student we wanted to follow because she had a cell phone. Yes, we were desperate and didn't know how long before dark it was going to take to reach the top! Finally we did and it was a nice park we had been before, but by car...unsurprisingly the NORMAL way. Anywho, the walk back down was dreadful because the roads were steep. Our knees were achy when we finally returned home. The hike took us 2.5 hours and hence, my "short run". Sorry, no pigtures because I had meant to go on a "short run" so I didn't bring a camera.

Pig on a Mission

My friend bought me a cute three legged pig from Arizona. Below is the message that came with the pig:

Good Luck Pigs
What's wrong with these pigs? You got it: They only have three legs. But that's a good thing. The three-legged pigs bring good luck to those who possess them, according to legend in South America. People in the pueblo of Pomaire, Chile, famous for its pottery, have been giving three-legged pigs as good luck charms for longer than anyone can remember. This pig from neighboring Peru drives away evil spirits and attracts good fortune.

Since I released this little piggy from its packaging, he's been searching...for something meaningful in life. The following is an account of his mission.


Three legged pig smells food. He finds no pork.


Three legged pig sees brownie mix, delighted at the idea of "NO PUDGE" sweets.


Three legged pig poses for NO PUDGE Fudge Brownie Mix advertisement.
"Support NO PUDGE" he says happily.

A&E, U&Me

Gosh, I have been so pathetic lately. I start work at 6:45 and don't come home until 5 to 5:30. I swim for an hour and it's time to cook dinner already. By the time I am free to do whatever, I try to stay awake desparately so I can finish drawing my oopu, finally.

Ha! Did you notice? That all rhymes! Anyway, oopu is a new character I am creating for my coloring book. I finalized my hihiwai which turned out perfect. I had doubts with all the other versions but this one is just right. The characters can be viewed via the Artsy link soon.

So why the catchy title? After a 2 month hiatus, I finally popped out of my shell and went to American Eagles with a friend. I couldn't believe my eyes. The new styles are so beautiful that I couldn't resist buying something outside of the clearance racks. I am particularly interested in the tops of which I bought a blue hoodie without much hesitation. My friend bought two really nice shirts, one with the poofy sleeves and the other is white nylon with back tie. And that's not all! A&E had a promotion that if members use their A&E credit card, they get a free bag which is probably worth $10. I am tempted to go back and shop more.

On another note, ever wonder if bottled water is safe to drink? Read this article and maybe you'll think twice before buying that 36 pack bottled water at Costco.

On a third note, I have been looking for a good orchid reference book. I took a Borders-Barnes & Noble trip the other day and searched through the entire collection of plant books. I found this one of particular interest. The topics flow great throughout the book and the pictures are fantastic. Though I have to admit, the photos in this book are bigger and better but too little text.

For the sake of leap year

This year is a leap year and I feel like I should post something, anything to commemorate this special day even though the only thing special about this day is the fact that today is the 60th day since Jan 1, 2008 instead of the 59th day. I have worked 59 days since the start of the year instead of 58 days. Wow, the more I think about it, the less I think a leap year is that commemorable. On another note, take a look at this article about the first attempt to fit a prosthetic flipper to a sea turtle. Now this is something to celebrate about!

DIM Silk-Screening

I am so excited about my next project which will be "DIY silk-screening" my own designs on shirts and bags. I found a pretty good site that outlines the steps to silk screen without buying the expensive silk screen sets that are sold at major craft stores. I have bought shirts from an online store that does direct printing, which turned out ok but could be better. This is why and I going to DIM (Do-It-Myself) and see how that turns out. I hope my good crafty friend (mlesnapshot) will try this with me because honestly, I am not very confident when it comes to ink. I might get more on myself than where it needs to be. Ha!

In memory of Dr. LK

Certainly this is not something to blog about as if it's a casual matter that can be forgotten once I push the "PUBLISH POST" button. Nor can I ignore the fact that it happened so sudden and writing about it may help ease the sadness that I am feeling. I learned today that a well-respected individual who happened upon my life 7 years ago passed away in November of last year. His accomplishments in the medical society cannot be judged by the number of awards or honors he has received in his lifetime. Rather, they should be appraised by the number of young people he has helped to set foot in the studies of medicine, nursing, public health, social work, and many other professions for he taught the science of living and doing what one loves, either it be related to medicine or not. I am no doctor but I thank him for making my undergraduate experience the best years of my life. He will be missed.