Posted on

Wanderlust

People who know me know that travel is my passion. It’s quite expensive for me, but it’s what I look forward to. I think I got the “bug” as a little kid. I used to live for field trips. It was getting out of the classroom and experiencing the surroundings with all of your senses. Mom also used to cook these great bentos for me. She would bust out the tin and fill it with musubi, fried chicken, and spam. I remember packing a frozen can of juice in aluminum foil.

Speaking of field trips, my best one came as a teacher. I was able to take students to Japan for an exchange program. I believe that homestays are the best experiences you could possibly have.

First trip to Europe was with a school tour group. Worked out great. We were always with a local guide, and we could skip lines at museums and attractions.

I have been blessed with opportunities to travel for free. Being invited to Beijing to present at a conference was a dream-come-true. I was also hosted by a school in Melbourne, Australia. Amazing friendships. Kamehameha Schools has occasionally sent me to conferences on the mainland.

I have been on missions trips to Okinawa and Thailand. These have been life changing experiences. I was also able to visit my Compassion sponsored child in the Philippines.

My favorite form of travel is solo traveling. I take one carry-on bag with me and immerse myself in that city. So freeing. You have to try it.

Only thing missing is mom’s bento…

Tracking my travels on this cork globe. Hope to add a few more pins soon…

Posted on

Kauaʻi Lā Nohona

On Wednesday, Wendy, Kimble, and I were blessed to have serviced the teachers at Kamehameha’s Anahola Preschool on Kauaʻi. We had the best time and truly bonded with the staff there. We broke up into three teams and went on separate huakaʻi to learn more about Anahola. Our task was to integrate technology and train our teachers be able to reproduce projects in the future.

My group visited Anahola Beach and created this cool iMovie Trailer. Just traveling to the site in cars created an opportunity to bond. We had a blast.

We had Hawaiian food for lunch, catered by Mark’s Place. Ono.

After saying our heartfelt goodbyes, we went to Kapaʻa Town to holoholo. We stopped by Kimi’s husband’s shave ice stand. Iʻve been wanting to come here for a long time.

It was amazing! This was the best shave ice that I’ve ever had. So happy!

We then drove out to Wailua Falls (click to enlarge.) Pretty awesome site….

After a couple of “Sleeping Giants,” we had dinner at Hamura Saimin. So comforting.

Quite an amazing day. Made new friends and new memories with some old ones….

Posted on

The Kapolei Teal Reveal

Kapolei High School has cool colors and cool uniforms. Their colors are teal, black, and silver. The teal color really stands out and has taken on an identity for the entire community.

True story:
Here’s a piece of trivia. The teal color is from me. Promise!

When Kapolei High School opened, it wanted to represent the colors from the middle school and the elementary school to unify the young community. They took silver from the middle school (blue & silver) and teal from the elementary school (purple & teal.) They added black as their color of choice.

I helped open Kapolei Elementary School in 1993. We started off with a very small, but close staff. I was on the planning committee that was tasked to select the mascot and school colors. I chose the color teal, because it was unique to the Campbell Complex (it was actually unique to the D.O.E. and to the rest of the state.) The other teachers all wanted purple.

But because I got to order the jerseys, I included only the teal (and left the purple out.) Hehe. Not a fan of purple.

And that’s the whole story, Wilma….

Posted on

Eat the Weekend….

Went to the Eat the Street event this past Friday at their new location, the former site of Fisherman’s Wharf just down the street. It was great! This food truck pop-up event now has a permanent site and has been rebranded as Makers & Tasters.

They built a deck with a bar and seating areas. They will be building bathroom structures soon.

There is also a stage near the waterfront area. Great place to catch the Friday night fireworks show. On stage this evening was the son of Kapena. He was awesome.

Photo credit to Kim.
Photo credit to Kim.

Met up with good friends Kimble and Kim. Here’s a pic of the best seller of the night, Pineapple Fried Rice. I had the fish & chips w/ sriracha-mayo from the Fish Lady. Spilled bacon mochi sauce all over my feet and limped home. Still, it was a fun night with great peeps!

On Saturday, I walked over to the McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Beach Park for Greek Festival 2015. It was extremely hot.

McCoy Pavilion is a great venue for any event. There were ongoing performances inside the air-conditioned auditorium.

I enjoyed a gyros and washed it down with an ice cold Mythos. The music and atmosphere were great. It got super crowded, and it was time to leave.

So blessed to live in the Ward-Kaka’ako area….

Posted on

Gig

Blessed to have played a live gig tonight at my friends’ restaurant, Pono Plates. I think it went well. I messed up a few times, but it was due to a lack of focus more than nerves. I was more nervous at home than at the restaurant. It was fun, and I feel extremely relieved now.

I found out back in June that my friends wanted to include me in their summer lineup. I asked for August to give me some time to practice following a 2-year hiatus from playing guitar. I practiced really hard and especially this past week. I once played a gig 15 years ago at the Tropiccino Café in Kapolei, so I guess you could call this my “Reunion Tour.”

Here’s a wide shot of Pono Plates. The stage is in the back-left corner. (Click to enlarge.)

Here’s a sample….

The best part was meeting up with good friends. The support warmed my heart. It was an amazing night and definitely one of my highlights of summer….