Hawaii, Part III

OK, this is the last installment of Hawaii pics. These are the ones that didn't really fit into the original or the sequel; sort of a hodgepodge.

This guy is riding a moped with a surfboard strapped onto the side.....only in Hawaii!! Believe it or not, I actually witnessed this on more than one occasion during our trip.

Our trip to Hawaii just happened to coincide with the same weekend as the NFL Probowl weekend, unbeknown to us until we arrived. It was sponsored by our hotel so they ended up having a huge block party outside our hotel the day before the game. We saw a few players out signing autographs, etc. I truly am not jealous of these overpaid sports figures. Reason: when they are in Hawaii, they are being bombarded by fans for autographs; when I am in Hawaii, I am enjoying relaxing on the beach with my wife! :) Here are some pics of the NFL Probowl blockparty:

Here's Em next to what might be the largest football in the world.

At night, the street was closed off and vendor tents were set up. There were 3 stages with music (albeit, the cheesy island-type) and ESPN interviews with NFL players, etc.

Another view of the NFL pandemonium from our hotel lobby balcony.

And finally, what trip to a touristy city would be complete without some amazing street performers? Yes, I will admit that I am a sucker for a great street performer. The ones in Chicago were mediocre (some breakdancing, singing, Santas during the holidays, etc). These were a little better, but do not even come close to my favorites seen in San Francisco along Fisherman's Warf (the "Bushman" rules). The mimes are some of my favorites; I am in awe of how they can stand perfectly motionless for hours until someone drops a coin in their cup. The robot type which have chosen to spraypaint their entire body silver or gold are my personal favorite. I was a little disappointed with the mimes in Honolulu. Oh well, they did have some other good ones.

This street performer was doing charcoal sketches with an uncanny resemblence to the subject.

This guy spray painted to music. Some parts of his act were very over-the-top and cheesy, but it was cool how he could paint intricate scenes just using common spray paint. This pic shows his method for speed drying the paint between layers. Hmmm, reminds me of something I used to do as a kid with mom's Aquanet hairspray. ;)

My New Position!

As some of you may know, I recently accepted a position as a Business Analyst with a company called Audigy Group. They provide managed services (such as marketing, human resources, financial, operations, professional development, etc.) to audiologists. I started this past Monday and have loved it. The people I work with are amazing - high energy, sociable, and intelligent. So far, I'm really enjoying it. The commute everyday is nothing to complain about either compared to Chicago. The company is located in Vancouver, Washington which is just over the border (and river). Since it's a reverse commute, it takes me about 20 min. to drive 15 miles. Also, I get some amazing views of Mt. Hood on clear days. This is so much better than in Chicago where it took me 45 min. to drive 6 miles to work. The position does require a little bit of travelling to some of the audiologists' practices. I just found out today my first trip will be the week of March 2-6 to Denver and Ft. Collins, Colorado! My supervisor was also open to staying in Denver for the weekend (of my 27th birthday!) to see family and friends and perhaps go snowboarding =)

Another little bit of good (and surprising!) news - I just found out today that I was nominated for a Director-at-Large or a Regional Director position for the Northwestern University Alumni Association. The odd thing is, I'm on the voting committee as well...so the question is, is it unethical to give myself an advantage by voting on myself? I guess Obama probably got to vote for himself. But still. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

And one last thing. Most of you may remember when I raised monies for the American Cancer Society back in the summer of 2008 when I trained for the Chicago Triathlon. One of the cancer patients I honored on my jersey was a 12 year girl named Hannah who was diagnosed in June, 2008 with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. She has gone through several rounds of chemo and has missed most of the 7th grade because of the treatments. Her medical treatments so far have accumulated to over $1 million. A benefit will be held on her behalf on March 21 in Chicago, so if you can make it, please do. If I still lived in Chicago, I would be there in a heartbeat. The details of the benefit are:

Angels for Hannah Benefit
Date: Saturday, March 21, 2009
Time: 2pm-6pm
Location: The Colosseum Complex
19081 Old LaGrange Road
Mokena, IL 60448
(Northeast corner of 191st and LaGrange Rd)
Tickets: $30.00 per adult / $15.00 per child (14 and under)

If you can't make it, please visit her website at http://www.angelsforhannah.com/ to read her story or if you'd like to make a donation. I was really moved by her story and by her ability to stay positive. She is missing the best years of her life because of cancer, and it makes me think how unfairly things can affect someone's life like this. It has made me realize that you truly have to live life as much as you can...because you never know when it will all be over.

Hawaii, Part II

While on Oahu, we went to visit the Pearl Harbor memorial. It is something I have always wanted to see and to pay respect to all those who lost their lives at this place. I remember first learning about Pearl Harbor in History class in Jr. High. The significance of the Pearl Harbor attack and that it would bring the US into WWII seemed paramount to American History. I was astonished to learn of the thousands who died in only minutes. I vividly remember the picture of the memorial in the textbook. I was amazed by the architecture and the idea of a memorial hovering over the sunken remains of the USS Arizona. At that point in my adolescent life, I decided that I would have to visit Pearl Harbor at some point in my life.

One of the massive turrets protrudes out of the shallow grave of the USS Arizona.

For over 60 years, the USS Arizona has been steadily leaking oil and fuel. It is as if the boat itself is slowly bleeding. At the memorial, you can still smell the fuel and see the oil floating on top of the water. In Hawaiian tradition, many people throw in lei flowers in tribute.

In a wonderful display of the proclivity of nature to proliferate, there is an abundance of fish and coral who now call the USS Arizona home. There are even microorganisms which have adapted to metabolize the leaking oil.

Inside the USS Arizona memorial is a quiet, sobering experience akin to visiting a cemetary.

A wall adorns the engraved names of the sailors aboard when the ship sunk.

This is the memorial for the USS Oklahoma. Each of the 400+ stone pillars signifies a life lost on this vessel which was also sunk during the attack.

We later took a tour of the USS Missouri. It was built in the early 1900's and served in a handful of wars. It was even recomissioned for the first Persian Gulf War!!

Mighty Mo

Mines used against enemy ships.

Mighty Mo packs some heavy artillery. These 16in barrels can fire 400 lb ballistics (below) accurately up to 20 miles.

Inside the ship, I tried my hand at the helm.

Here is one of the first GPS systems. It is colossal, like everything on this ship. It makes me appreciate the little Garmin that sits on our dashboard. Instead of finding the nearest Starbucks, this one is used to locate coordinates for battle and stuff.

(Hawaii, Part III coming soon....)

Hawaii, Part I

OK, I am a little slow to get up our Hawaii pics. It was a rough week at work. We got back from Hawaii at 2:30AM and then I started 168 hrs of continuous on call starting at 7:30AM. Yes, lots of RedBull being consumed this week. It will all be worth it because I have Monday off (thank you dead presidents) so I will do some snowboarding to recover my mind from a stressful week. Oh yea, here's the Hawaii pics:

Honolulu at night. I love tiki torches.

Our accomodations for the trip - the Hyatt Regency on Waikiki beach. It has 40 floors and two towers; we were on the 23rd floor so the view was amazing from the balcony.

The atrium of the Hyatt had beautiful 2 story waterfalls and lots of orchids all around.

The view of Waikiki beach from the hotel lobby.

Hawaii has some of the most interesting trees.

We went on a whale watching tour on this catamaran sailboat. We didn't end up seeing any whales, but we did have a good time relaxing on the boat and enjoying the open seas.

Here's Em just chillaxing on the boat and soaking up some rays.

Since there were no whales to take pics of, I tried to get all artistic with the camera. I wanted to capture the juxtaposition of the shadows of the railing with the actual railing....but I ruined the shot when my foot was captured on the left side of the image. I guess I better keep my day job and not pursue photography (oh well, there goes one of my plans to travel to exotic places for a living). Maybe I could just crop it out in Photoshop?

We cruised by some surfers catching waves. Maybe our next trip to Hawaii will involve surfing lessons?

The view of Diamondhead....remnants from a volcano....but I guess the whole island is in that sense. :)

OK, anyone that knows us knows that we love to sample a variety of foods....and by sample, I mean gorge ourselves. The first night we went to Todai and loaded up on sashimi, sushi, and all things seafood. It was definitely the best Todai we've ever been to - they had ahi poke and big pieces of sashimi (tuna, salmon, red snapper, etc.). The second night, we hit a little local hole in the wall called Ono Hawaiian Foods, and it had excellent food. I think of it as the equivalent of those really good BBQ joints you find in the south that feel run down but the ribs are amazing....but this one serves traditional Hawaiian flavor. My favorite is laulau which is a hunk of pork wrapped in lotus leaf and slow cooked to superb tenderness (pictured in the lower right corner). Em's favorite is ahi poke (raw tuna chopped up with onions). Great stuff.

Another of our favorite restaurants we visited was a Japanese-style BBQ place. We had marinated pork ribs, beef, garlic shrimp, chicken, scallops, and ahi tuna. In addition, we had some amazing garlic noodles. I forgot to take the pic until we had already eaten about half of the meal....but this gives you an idea of the spread.

And what is a great meal without a great dessert? Our fav was the milky shaved ice (a popular Hawaiian treat) with mango, pineapple, and kiwi topped with a strawberry sorbet.
I'll end this blog with sunset pics at Waikiki. The camera cannot come close to capturing the beauty of the sunset, let alone the warm sun, calm breeze, and the sound of waves crashing ashore. (*Note: there will be several more posts of our Hawaii trip to follow....I just didn't want to have a 50 page blog.)

Congrats to my cousin Greg and Belinda!

Congrats Greg and Belinda on your new beautiful daughter! Dillon Marie Tung was born at 1:26am on February 12, 2009. Look at that full head of hair! We hope to see her soon!

I had a busy week at work, so this weekend was a welcome relief. Friday night was chill. We went to OM's seafood (again) and had our usual of crab (softshell this time) and other fish dishes. We took Kristina with us (Matt was in Chicago for the weekend tending on their rental property); I owed her a dinner for taking care of Em on Wednesday night when I had to work late (Matt & Kristina were gracious enough to pick up Em and cook her dinner at their apt). It is nice to have such dependable friends! Afterwards, we hung out with our neighbors in the newly opened community room in our apt building (it has a shuffle board table, TV, couches, etc).

Saturday, Em and Kristina did girly stuff (nails, errands, etc) while I hit the slopes with a buddy from work. Afterwards we watched WallE.

Sunday, Em and I had a few hours to kill before going to the theatre to see "How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found", so we visited the Pittock mansion. It sits atop Forest Park at about 1000 ft above the city. Henry Pittock was a pioneer and newspaper publisher in the early 1900's. The mansion was completed in 1914 and boasts 30 rooms totalling 16,000 sq ft. Here are some pics from our tour of the mansion:

This is the view as you drive up to the main entrance.

front view

the main stairway is gorgeous

rosewood grand piano

intricate wood floors

This is the original floor tile in the kitchen. It is made up of puzzle piece-shaped tiles.

This is the restored version of the kitchen floor. The tiles match the original style very well.

range and oven

The refrigerator was very large for the time. In the floor below this room stood a compression pump to run the refrigerator cooling system. It compressed ammonia gas to provide cooling for the food storage. I hope they had good seals on the ammonia tank!

One of the telephone systems used. At that time, there was not a unified telephone system. Since the Pittocks were very wealthy and needed to be in touch with everyone, they had both phone systems in place. With this system, you called an operator who then connected you to your desired party on the other end.

The other phone system consisted of an 11-hole dialer to call your friends directly. Sure makes me appreciate my iPhone!

The mansion had an innovative innercom system. The residents could push a button in the room and this would activate a bell in the servants quarters with the room needing service indicated by the appropriate arrow turning to the up position. Pictured is the bell and arrow system.

The dumbwaiter was used for meals and tea (reminded me of Mom and Dad's dumbwaiter that is used to take the laundry upstairs).

This shower is better than most of us have nowadays. In addition to the normal overhead shower, it included several side nozzles (called "liver washers") and a badet washer that comes up from the floor. It has a small valve that allows the user to test the temperature of the water on the toes before turning it on to the rest of the shower heads. It even has a spout that dispenses shampoo. Eat your heart out Skymall!! If only it had monogrammed towels. ;)

footbath

As we were leaving, we saw a sweet classic Porsche parked in the lot. I'm guessing it is circa 1950's based on the bodystyle. Even though it is probably a few decades newer than what the Pittocks would have driven, it looked very much at home next to such a majestic mansion. They both exude a strong sense of timeless class and opulence that is lacking in modern designs.