A Whole Lot of Whales

Wednesday was our last day on Maui.  The skies seemed to clear up just for us. 

I was surprised and pleased to see that the Maui Coast Hotel had a book of Buddhist teachings and the Bible in the nightstand.

What I liked best about this hotel was the refrigerator,  coffee maker and sink.  We were able to grab a quick breakfast without going out.

We decided on the Pacific Whale Foundation ocean tour.  They are a nonprofit organization to educate the public about whales.

The skies were still bright and sunny before we boarded The Liberty behind us.
 

They  guaranteed that we'd see a Humpback whale and kept that promise.  We saw a lot of females with their "escort" and often with a calf.

 They dropped a hydrophone into the ocean and we could hear the whales talking to each other.

The oceanographers told us that the whales' tails were like their fingerprints.  Our whale tour was 2 1/2 hours long but the time flew by quickly.

Our next stop was Sam Sato's in Wailuku for saimin noodles.  They only open until 2:00 and we managed to just squeak in.

Sam Sato's is known for having the regular wet saimin noodles...

 and the dry type which is just noodles with the broth served separately.

The next stop was the Iao Needle.  I got this from Wikipedia:

"The Hawaiian god Kāne is considered to be the procreator and the provider of life. He is associated with wai (fresh water) as well as clouds, rain, streams and springs. Kanaloa, the Hawaiian god of the underworld, is represented by the phallic stone of the ʻĪao Needle."

 This is when the rain started in earnest.

 These Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese gardens were in the same area but we didn't get to see them all because of the rain.

We had a couple of hours before our flight so we stopped by the Wailea resort area and did the beach walk.  It was a wonderful way to escape the rain.

This is another kind of Akulekule (ice plant).

We saw this Mejiro  (Japanese White-eye) sitting on a sprinkler.

It was a wonderful trip but we were all extremely tired.  Unfortunately, Sarah has caught a cold.  The funny thing is she began coughing on Thursday evening while we were watching Contagion together about a worldwide pandemic.  I'm hoping she's able to fight this cold before they have to leave for their journey to South America. 

I think we all need to just get to bed early and rest!

Please forgive me for not being able to visit for a few more days.

Tomorrow's post will be about the Honolulu Hapalua Half Marathon yesterday.  So much for rest.

(The Long and Winding) Road to Hana

Art and I were not crazy about going on the Road to Hana trip.  However, Jon and Sarah had heard it was wonderful so we had to try it.  We took the "kids" on it some 20 years ago and never made it to Hana. We turned around a third of the way and went back to the hotel.  With Jon driving this time, it was Hana or Bust!

We picked up some spam musubi (spam on rice square) and were on our way.  When we stopped at the Keanae Arboretum, we saw this car in the ravine that was sobering.

Looked like the ground was higher before.  I think.  I can't imagine how else this happened.

 With all the rains that were drenching the Hawaiian island chain, it would be a good idea to take these signs seriously.

Here, Jon and Sarah were standing in front of the Bagras (Painted Gum) Eucalyptus degulpta from Indonesia.

These looked like the smaller apple bananas that we like to eat for breakfast.

Mosquitoes shortened our walk.  There was also the threat of rain around every bend.

Jon wanted to see every beach that had high waves.  This was the Keanae Peninsula.

Actually this looks scarier than it actually was.  It was awesome to see the power of Nature.

You can see why these waterfalls are called the Three Bears.

When we stopped at Puaa Kaa State Wayside Park for our lunch this mongoose and his/her mate waited patiently to see if we would feed it.  We did not.

This is the first time I've seen a mongoose close up.  They're usually darting across the road.

This is a Mimosa pudica plant.  I love touching the leaves and seeing them close up.  It's also called the Sensitive Plant.

At the Waianapanapa State Park we saw a black sand beach and this old lava tube that opened up to the ocean.

The black sand beach was beautiful, but the waves were rough.  We were a little concerned to see a tourist try to go in for a swim.

After 5 1/2 hours we finally completed the 62 mile trip from Kihei to Hana and found the famous Hasegawa General Store.

Things were quite expensive there.  It's a lot cheaper if you go to the store down the street where the locals frequent.

 

Sarah and I had to buy some mugs to commemorate this long and winding journey.

We had trouble deciding where to eat the night before so I called an old elementary school classmate who lives in Kihei now.  Jasmine told me to go to Da Kitchen (2439 S. Kihei Road).  It was perfect, tasty, local type, reasonably priced food.  This is the Hawaiian plate with lau lau, white rice, kalua pork and chicken long rice.

This was a long, winding, tiring, but satisfying day.



(We've been back from Maui for four days now, but both mom and Sarah have caught respiratory colds.  Still, Jon and Art are both running their Half-Marathons today so it's a good thing they haven't caught colds... yet.  My post tomorrow will be about our third Maui day when we went whale watching.  I'll post about the Half Marathon after that.)

Maui No Ka Oi (Maui is the Best)

Since Maui is reputed to be the best, we decided to take Jon back to the island he visited when he was little and introduce Sarah to the beautiful scenery.  You do realize that Art grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii that he thinks is the best and I grew up on Oahu and think this is the best.... sort of.  I think Oahu is the best if you took away all the congestion, added a live volcano or two and safer drivers.

We considered going to Kauai for a while, but decided to go to Maui instead and bought our tickets two days before.  It was a good thing since parts of Kauai were declared a disaster area due to torrential rains in the following days.

We pride ourselves on being intrepid travelers.  I like (LOVE) my comforts, but I was outnumbered.  Even Sarah was in Africa with the Peace Corps and can keep up with our son cheerfully.

Like I said.... I was outnumbered.

We woke up at 3:00 Monday morning.  You'll notice I had blog posts scheduled well in advance because I knew blogging would be hard with Jon and Sarah always on the go.

Go! Airlines had cheaper flights but they're notorious for not being on time and having all kinds of scheduling difficulties.  We decided to go on Hawaiian Airlines.  Besides, my cousin is a Hawaiian Airlines pilot and I wouldn't want to tell him we chose to go on Go!

It was raining.

We got our Dollar rent-a-car at Kahului Airport on Maui and were on our way.  We watched the sun rise as we headed toward Makawao.

The reason for going to Makawao was to visit the famous Komoda Bakery.  Maui is known for having the nicest people, but people at Komoda seemed a little .... not so friendly.  Maybe they weren't quite awake yet.  We were there a little before 6:00.

It did not detract any wonderfulness from their baked delights.

This is what I selected.  Yes... it's true.  I got the stick donut, the guava malasada, the cocoa puff AND the cream puff.  And yes, with just a little help, I did finish all of it.  Yes, ALL of it.  I've not gone on the scale since returning, but Jon was shocked at how much weight he gained.  No matter.  He's running the Half Marathon with Art.

At 7:30 we left Makawao and headed for the summit of 10,023 ft Haleakala.

It's famous for the silver sword plant which only grows here and on the Big Island.  This was not the season for flowering.  Summer is the silversword blooming season.

It was COLD!  The rangers told us it was 40 degrees F, with wind chill 30 degrees!  I'm glad we brought wind breakers, but I wished we brought down coats.

Every so often the clouds would part to give us a glimpse of the crater.

Jon and Sarah decided to forgo the hike they were going to take.

I thought this was a quail, but it is an Alectoris Chukar which was introduced from Asia in 1923.  I've never seen this bird in Hawaii before.  It's some kind of partridge.

We were trying to use each other for a wind break when we asked a nice tourist to take our photo in front of the crater that you can't see because of the cloud cover.

Dropping down to a lower elevation, it was slightly less freezing so we decided to take a "little" hike.

We didn't see much wildlife.

However, back at the parking lot, this Hawaiian Nene goose walked right past us. 

The Nene is our state bird.

We took a short stop to watch whales along the coast.

We drove into Lahaina which was a whaling port.  I think we liked the block sized Banyan tree the best.  Otherwise, Lahaina is really a congested, high priced tourist mecca.

I think we managed to the find the only free parking lot in the whole town. They have two that we know of for sure, but the other one was full.

By now we (actually it was mostly me) were exhausted and drove on to Kihei where we had booked two nights at the Maui Coast Hotel.

I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

School "Kine" Shortbread Cookies

A while back there was an article in the Star Advertiser giving the recipe for shortbread cookies that we salivated over when we were in elementary and high school.  I THINK we might have had it in elementary school, but I'm not positive.  I DO know we had it in high school on Oahu.  Art says he had it in Honokaa on the Big Island also.  Every kid our age who bought those 25 cent school lunches knows what I'm talking about.

My brother has tried and tried to bake this particular cookie, but he says he still can't duplicate that elusive taste.  Art says he and his classmates would eye up all the lunch plates to see which one had the biggest cookie.  The article says there were some thugs (boys) who would steal cookies from other kids when they went by.  I would never have let that happen.  I would stick his hand with my fork first.

When I saw this recipe in the paper I was really excited because it was a school cafeteria cook who was revealing the actual real deal.  I couldn't wait to try making it despite the fact that it was FULL of butter.  Why do you think it's so ono (Hawaiian for delicious)?

What a surprise to find that I already had that recipe in my cookbook file, but just hadn't tried using it.

I couldn't wait to call my brother and let him taste it.  I gloated to Art that I would have beaten Dennis to this childhood goal.

I made sure I followed the recipe precisely.  I have tried other recipes before from other blogs and cookbooks, but they always fell short.

Our kitchen did smell like the cafeteria cookies.  I had mom take the first taste.  She said it was very good.

Then I tried it and Art tried it.

Doggone it!  It still wasn't right.  It wasn't perfect.  It didn't taste like high school.  I was severely disappointed!  Mom says that's because we're not in high school anymore.  We're not coming in famished from a round of classes.  We don't have our friends around us in a noisy cafeteria all staring at our cookies and anticipating the dessert which we didn't get at home very often.

I don't know.  Maybe...  I guess I'll just wait for Dennis to come up with the magic formula.

Vinegar Veggie Wash

I happened to be watching Dr. Oz and he mentioned cleaning veggies with a mixture of 1 part white vinegar to 1 part water. I usually use Fit Fruit and Vegetable Wash, but it's really expensive.  I've also read reports where it might not be all that effective at making food safer.  And then there was this report by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.



According to Dr. Walter J. Krol:

Summary

A three-year study showed that rinsing under tap water significantly reduced residues of nine of the twelve pesticides examined across fourteen commodities. Four fruit and vegetable wash products were found to be no more effective at removing eight of nine pesticide residues from produce than either a 1% solution of dishwashing liquid or rinsing under tap water alone for three commodities studied.

 On the other hand, About.Com supports what Dr. Oz is saying.

What You Need:

• White vinegar
• Water
• A spray bottle

What You Do:

For Hard-skinned Fruits and Vegetables:
1. Fill a spray bottle with equal parts white vinegar and water.
2. Then, spray the solution onto your fruits and vegetables; rub it in; and rinse.
For Soft-skinned Fruits and Vegetables:
1. Fill a bowl with equal parts white vinegar and water.
2. Then, soak your fruits and vegetables in the solution for a minute or two, and rinse.

I guess I'll go out and get more white vinegar.  Hopefully, it can't hurt.

Night Terror

I was at the laboratory with two other technicians.   There was a problem with some hidden alien thing getting into our lab and contaminating what we were researching.  I was busy swabbing the different areas such as air ducts where foreign objects might enter.  I was worried that something horrible might ruin everything we'd accomplished.  That's when I passed a mirror and looked to see if I was not disheveled or anything.

Looking in the mirror I saw behind me the biggest, scariest snake I'd ever seen, about to lurch forward and bite me.

I SCREAMED!  Loud!

I'm not sure if I was flailing or what but the next thing I knew Art was touching my shoulder saying, "You're having a nightmare.  What is it about?"

He says I gave him a scare, screaming like I did.

Why in the world would I have a dream like this?  I don't remember being startled in a dream like this before.  I've had dreams where I'm falling.  I wake Art up with those too.

I wonder if this makes up for his snoring.

Pretty Weeds

When we were in Waterton, Canada, mom and Auntie Grace were charmed and delighted by the beautiful dandelions that spread out toward the lake.  Art however, was chilled to the bone to see all the golden heads since he's battled them for 35 years in Illinois.

When we go walking in Hawaii in the evening, I've seen these weeds growing wild along the street and sometimes in people's lawns.  They look very unsightly.

However, on this evening I found that all those weeds had sprouted a cloud of pink feather like plumes and looked really pretty.  I wonder what kind of plant this is.

Ah well... I suppose beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Mom's Day

Dianne of Schmidleysscribbling commented that she thought I had good genes since my mother appeared to be in good shape.  Well, it's true that her mom lived to be 87, but her dad passed away when he was not yet 70 of colon cancer.  Neither of her parents smoked, ate very healthy (mostly vegetables and fish) and were constantly active.  Mom says her dad's life was shortened from his 2 years in the Siberian prisoner of war camp.  Also, as a Buddhist priest, his body was often pushed to some extremes.

Anyway, mom has always encouraged me to exercise and eat healthy.  She and Art really think alike although she thinks Art overdid it with the marathons.

At 82, mom is looking pretty good, but this is what her day is like.

She gets up around 5:00 AM and eats her oatmeal, prunes and papaya breakfast with coffee.  She watches the early Japanese language news and gets on the treadmill for about a half hour.

7:00 AM: Comes out and chats with us to inform us of the world condition.  Goes out to do all the laundry, running in and out to check on what she's hung up on the clothes line.  She's got to keep checking because the weather keeps changing. (Yes, she does the laundry every day except when there's a hurricane.)

In between all that she works on the yard, picking up leaves, pulling weeds, applying fertilizer, pruning plants, watering with her bucket and probably coaxing the plants to grow.

11:30 AM:  Eats a small, healthy lunch.  Sometimes she'll snack in between with yogurt or a banana.

12:00 Noon:  Reads 

1:00 PM:  Naps

2:00 PM:  Reads or watches educational videos that her sister, my Auntie Grace tapes for her.

3:00 PM:  Starts preparing dinner.  She doesn't know how to prepare quick meals.  Her meals always take a lot of prep time.

5:00 PM:  We eat dinner (mostly heavy on veggies and almost always with miso soup).  She usually prepares fish, tofu or hamburger stretched with veggies.  If I'm cooking, it's usually chicken.  Art has his special veggie omelette and teriyaki sardines with Maui onions.

6:00PM:  She's on the treadmill for a half hour.

6:30 PM:  We bring her a little smoothie, fruit, or whatever treat somebody has given us for dessert.  Yes, we do love our desserts.

7:00 PM:  Bath

7:30 - 9:30 PM:  TV, read or videos

And that's mom's day.  She says that if she stops moving, her health will decline.  I do believe she's a lot more active than I am.  Art says I'd better hope nobody asks what my day is like.

Why Are Oil Prices Going Up?

 I saw this in Yahoo News who got it from U.S. News.   It's an explanation of the different reasons why the price of oil is going up in the U.S.   But here's the one that really got to me. 

"Growing demand from Asia. The Department of Energy reported that the United States became a net exporter of oil for the first time since 1949 last year. But if we have all this "extra" oil to be exporting, why are prices at home still going up?

A lot of it has to do with demand for gasoline, which has been declining in the United States for the last 10 years, while shooting up by leaps and bounds in places such as Asia and South America. As demand has tapered of here due to more fuel-efficient vehicles and, more recently, the weak economy, oil companies have had to broaden the scope of potential markets--bad news for American consumers.

 "Oil companies that have increased their exports overseas essentially are depleting the U.S. supply [and] in doing so it's creating an artificially higher price for American consumers," Laskoski says. "When consumer demand is weak [in the United States], it's a very attractive option to export and get those healthier profit margins."

That trend isn't likely to change with a burgeoning middle class in Asian economic powerhouses such as China. According to the EIA, Asia surpassed North America as the largest petroleum-consuming region in 2008, gobbling up 25 million barrels a day in 2010."

Seriously?   The U.S. is a net exporter of oil?  We are being more fuel efficient so we're not demanding as much gas?  Therefore the U.S. OIL companies are not making enough money and EXPORTING it to Asia?  What???

Could this all be true?

I need to go to my happy place and it doesn't require gas.  Thank goodness.

A Taste of Hawaii 5-0

A couple of weeks ago our friend brought us a couple of papayas.  He works on the Hawaii 5-0 production crew setting up various stages for their scenes.  It never occurred to me that they have to create these backgrounds and then dispose of what they use later.

 

We had such fun seeing the recent 5-0 show where Scott Caan's father, James Caan had a cute part. It was even more fun seeing those papayas.  Ahaaaa...

Just think, we may have eaten the papayas that Alex O'Loughlin or Scott Caan touched.  Is this amazing, or what?

A Day With Retirees

Despite a day of travel exhaustion behind them, Jon and Sarah opted to get up early and spend our Thursday with us.  Mom was asleep last night when they came in but she greeted Jon during his breakfast with a hug! Art said he was totally flabbergasted.  I don't ever remember her initiating a hug. 

After breakfast we headed out to Mililani.  Jon and Sarah enjoyed our outdoor Tai-chi lesson at the park and really caught on to a lot of the intricate moves.  Jon says we should take a Kung Fu class next since many of the moves are similar.  He says all Tai-chi classes should be taught outdoors under the trees.

Saimin at Shige's

After Kung Fu... I mean Tai-chi, we had them try Shige's Saimin in Wahiawa which they really enjoyed.  We told Jon and Sarah that this is the sort of restaurant that Art's parents used to operate in Honokaa many years ago.  And this is what made Art such a great husband who knows how to cook and wash dishes.

After lunch, we took them to Honda Tofu to see how tofu is made.  (We had fresh tofu for dinner along with mom's Famous Lemon Chicken.)

Then on to Costco for a few purchases.

Made our tofu delivery to Art's aunt.

Back at home we all crashed, totally exhausted.

Jon talking to Tif on Skype

We were suddenly awakened by the familiar beeps on the computer that a Skype call was waiting.  We knew who it was.  There was KC's happy face saying, "Hi grandma!  Look what I got at the bird park."  Jon and Sarah were surprised at how verbal and talkative she now was.  It was hard for them to believe how quickly their niece was growing up.

Unlike their usual late dinners after work and school in New Mexico, dinner here is served at 5:00 PM on the dot.  That's when grandma rings the dinner bell!

We then took a two mile hike before coming back to a jello dessert.

I think Jon and Sarah are seeing that although we are retirees, we are able to keep busy.

Ready for Jon and Sarah!

Since it's been two years since the last time our son, Jon and Sarah were here, we wanted the room to be just so for them.  Art washed the windows and I cleaned and dusted the rest.  The closet has hangers, the dressers have room for their travel wear.

On each of their nightstands we've added some special touches.

We hope Sarah will like this orchid we got for her yesterday.

I put that book there just because someone gave it to me recently and I thought she could use a laugh after all the stress of their lives before coming here.

Jon has always liked magazines and we've saved a stack of them here.

And now we wait...

Honolulu International Airport

 They're here!  Yae!!!