It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

I experienced the highs and lows of dining on Oahu within the past seven days. This post will focus on the highs!

We celebrated Grandma and Grandpa Tipon’s anniversary on Sunday at the Kahala Resort. Tricia was married there two years ago, and the food at her reception was the best wedding buffet I’d ever had. I figured if they did catering that well, the Sunday brunch would be worth a try. It was fantastic! I didn’t eat the seafood, but the other adults at the table raved about it and went back for more and more. I sampled the sushi and the lobster bisque, and they were all very good. They had a good sampling of other stuff, with many items a tweak or twist of a local favorite. Like the malasada bites. Yum!

Only two negatives for me and they were minor. First, the bread selection was tired. Same ol’, same ol’ “it’s fresh but they seem stale” mini-loaves. I don’t know why more restaurants haven’t stolen a page out of the Cheesecake Factory book and figured out how to serve mouth-watering bread for the masses. Is it that hard? Second, they had a Kung Pao chicken dish which Noel said was good. I went back for some, and was mildly surprised to see it was bone-in, small drummette chicken. I’m not that local and don’t dig chicken like that. So I passed, but my loss.

The service was first-rate. Quite possibly the most serene group of servers I’ve encountered. We were quickly offered a bunch of beverages and juices. I wasn’t expecting much when they said they had an “orange pineapple coconut” juice among the selections, but I tried it and it was divine! Not heavy like you’d expect when you hear it.

And the dessert bar was fun. Never has a chocolate fountain had a better view! They don’t just throw a chocolate fountain at you and call it the last course…they had tons of other stuff, including a unique fruit tapioca and other seemingly exotic items I’d never seen. If you’re here and want to splurge ($55 per person) you’ll want to try this brunch. My father-in-law, a huge brunch fan, immediately put it near the top, if not the top, of his list of “Best on the Island.”
Now for the low…I’ve been wanting to try this Mexican place in the middle of Waikiki, a block and a half from the condo and made it there late last week. So, so disappointing. Will write about it another time. Don’t want that experience to cloud the food high I’m still on from the Sunday brunch.

Back to school!

I'm celebrating back to school week! Public schools across Hawai'i are starting school in what I call a "staggered start," and Robbie's school started today. This picture was NOT taken this morning...as of last night he was not happy about school starting, but this morning I didn't have any trouble getting him in the car nor the classroom. If I could only get Cub to nap most of the morning, I could regain some of the sanity that has slipped away from me in the last couple of years. ;)

The picture above was taken on Sunday, when we celebrated Grandma and Grandpa's wedding anniversary with a brunch at the Kahala Resort. We had just let Robbie have fun and enjoy the chocolate fountain. Like his Mom, he is picky, but luckily like his Dad, he has a sense of restraint. He went easy on the chocolate goodies, and instead of wolfing down many a marshmellow, he chose to carry one around for most of the afternoon. Pictures and brunch review to follow (quick note: it was a winner!).

Future photographer?

When Grandma came to town in late June, Robbie went to town with her digital camera. He loved taking pictures and when he couldn't find the camera, tore through her purse looking for it. We were happy and proud to discover he's pretty good! Here are a few of his shots straight from the camera. His favorite subjects? Mom, brother, toys, and dogs (A "bright" Brady is below - lighting tips are not yet understood by a 3 year old).

Budding artist finds another canvas

Finding this artwork on our kitchen floor was made all the easier to stomach for two reasons: First, crayons seem to have been reformulated so they don’t stick to as much as they used to. A little 409 and some elbow grease, and this came right off. And second, Robbie uncharacteristically posed for the pic when Noel was putting this scene together. It reminded me of another canvas Robbie found around this time last summer – the cover of Noel’s silver Mac Powerbook. It was on my watch, and so freaked out was I that the purple crayon wouldn’t come off that I jumped up to clean it right away and didn’t get a picture. After seeing the floor above, I blurted out, “Oh, no problem. If crayon comes off your Mac, it will come off most anything.” I got a blank stare from Noel. Oops. I guess I opted not to tell him last year and he still didn’t know!

USS Oklahoma BB-37 Memorial

Last December, on the Pearl Harbor anniversary, a new memorial site at Pearl Harbor was introduced. It’s a memorial for the USS Oklahoma, which was second to the USS Arizona in casualties. It sits near the parking lot for the Battleship Missouri tours, on Ford Island (on the other side of the harbor from the Arizona ticket office and gift shops). The upright posts represent the lives lost, standing at attention at the bow of the ship. It’s moving, but sadly overlooked on Ford Island in the shadow of the Missouri. But if you read here, you’ll find the story of its inception and creation, and if you’re ever here, you’ll appreciate it.
I went to take a look back in December and even snapped pictures, but I lost them. So recently I circled back to Ford Island and took some more. More for the “What’s new out here” files for all soon-to-be visitors, frequent visitors, or want-to-be frequent visitors.

Sidebar: I know this isn’t very funny, but scroll down to the end of the page to see the somewhat sour look on the face of the teenager in the last picture. Someday, son, although you don’t look it now, you’ll be very, very proud of your Dad!

King Kamehameha Day

This falls under the “late, but I still wanted to share with you" category…King Kamehameha Day is celebrated annually in early June. It’s a state holiday, and there is a midweek, early morning ceremony to drape his downtown statue downtown in 13 foot lei. I’ve wanted to shoot the event each year since we arrived (it’s a popular postcard shot), but never made it. This year I managed to get there on Sunday afternoon to shoot the statue, which I thought was progress! Good thing we made it when we did, as chance would have it, Noel’s bar swearing in ceremony was in the building behind the statue the following Tuesday, and they had removed all the lei. I thought they might let it be a little longer. One day I will make it to the day-of ceremony, for now I will enjoy these pictures.

Here’s some bonus trivia: There are only three statues of King Kamehameha in the world – Honolulu, the Big Island, and in DC in the Capital building. There would only be two, but when the original Honolulu-bound statue was commissioned and completed, it was lost in a shipwreck. A replacement statue later went up in Honolulu. The original statue was eventually salvaged from the ocean floor and brought to the Big Island. I think all three statues are annually adorned with lei on King Kamehameha Day.

Noel pleads: "VOTE ROBERTS"!

It's Final Vote week and we need your help! (If you don't know what that is, stay with me. I didn't either until yesterday.) Brian Roberts, the Baltimore Orioles second baseman and Tipon Family favorite, is on the ballot to make the 2008 MLB All Star game. He's currently trailing some rookie sensation from Tampa Bay, but faithful readers, we still have hope. Head to this site and click "Brian Roberts, BAL" under the American League line up and vote up to 25 times. I think you have until tomorrow night (Thursday) to cast your vote. If you'd like to work the system and vote with multiple email addresses, even better. Mahalo for your time!

Rare day in the sun

I don’t get out much here. I don’t like being in the hot sun during the day, I’m usually lugging two kids around, and then there is the issue of the rising cost of gas. There’s just not much fun in it for me. I thought when Grandma was here we’d do Sea Life Park, out on the Eastern side of the island, around Hawaii Kai into Waimanalu, but she didn’t show much interest. So I decided to give the kids a break and get out of the house, so off we went yesterday.

We made it in time for the Dolphin Show. I’d read online that they only do one dolphin show a day (don’t know why…) so I made a point to get there for it. The Dolphin Cove is really small, but, oh what a view! From certain vantage points it seems like the park is right on the island’s edge, but a freeway actually runs between. You can even see the Makapu’u Lighthouse.

The star of the show is the whalphin (or wolphin). They call it the “world famous whalphin” but I have a few issues with that! I’d never heard of it and I can’t find a single mention of it – let alone picture - on the website. Turns out it’s not a monster after all; my untrained eye saw a cute creature that just looks bigger and darker than a normal dolphin but had a whale’s tail. It was an “accidental breeding” between a dolphin and a “false whale.” I wish I could tell you more but I don’t get it myself. All I took from it was that somebody didn’t think they’d mate and left ‘em in a tank together. Oops. Mammals will be mammals after all. I sure hope they’re not hiding some freak purtle (penguin and turtle mix, not shown below) in fear that they will have their zoo accreditation taken away!

Noel is currently in Alaska and spent a good chunk of time earlier this week on a boat spotting whales and trying to get the “fluke” shot. Well, when you have a trained whalphin, they do this for about 5-10 seconds, allowing one enough time to: drop the hand of your three year old who was playing with the cove’s rope they asked you not to play with, stop rocking the stroller of your crying 9 month old, pick up your camera, point, and shoot. Ahh, captivity.

Robbie didn’t seem all that into it while we were there. In fact, I thought he watched the prop boat in the middle of the dolphin cove more than the actual spinning dolphins. But when we got home, he asked to see the dolphins again, and later in the backyard was jumping around. I asked if he was jumping like the dolphins and he said, “Yes!” So shame on me for thinking he didn’t get much out of the day. Sadly, we won’t be going back very often as even with the kama ‘aina rates, it cost the three of us $35 plus $4 parking for our 4 hour excursion.

From the Spring Archives

Like the lost roll of film found in the bottom drawer of old, even in the digital camera age, you can find pictures you thought long gone (or didn’t know you had to begin with!). Noel and Robbie headed East in late March to attend a wedding, see Aunty Tricia, and catch a few Orioles games at Camden Yards. While Noel is in Alaska this week on another photo trek (this time to Anchorage and Denali…photos to come!), I’m shooting with the camera he took to DC and Maryland, and I found these fun shots on the card within the camera.
The week-plus they spent there was a bit hard on all parties. Robbie came down with an ear infection that the folks at the Bethesda Medical Center missed and he was pretty sick the whole time. And Noel had tickets to two Orioles games, one which was really, really cold and the other rained out. But here at the National Mall during the cherry blossom blooms, they look like they’re having a good time. I miss DC!

Colbert at the National Portrait Gallery

We’re fans of The Colbert Report here. In a typically funny segment earlier this year, he walked The Mall in Washington DC and humbly shopped his portrait around to various institutions. The Smithsonian took it and hung it on the 2nd or 3rd floor of the National Portrai Gallery…in the hallway between restrooms.

I can’t remember if I told Noel to check it out in early April when he was back East, or if his sister had heard about it and she suggested they go, but here they are! This is one of the shots I was pleasantly surprised to find on the card in the camera last week. I hadn’t seen them yet!