Took a vacation day today for some “me time.” Went out to Lanikai early this morning. Actually took a wrong beach access path and stumbled upon this photo op by “mistake.” (Click to enlarge.)
Had a devotional time, then kicked back to relax and unwind. Brought a beach towel and a carton of coconut water.
Made friends with two Japanese tourists who asked me to take a video of them. I complimented them for finding this beach so far off from Waikiki.
Walked barefoot up and down the beach. Really nice.
I drove back into town for brunch at Koko Head Café. The place was packed.
Had the loco moco. It was awesome! The hot cast-iron skillet began to toast the garlic rice underneath the patty & mushroom gravy. Winnahs.
Because it was still early, I headed back out to the Makapu’u Pier.
There’s actually a nice picnic spot underneath.
There were a lot of fishermen on the pier today. Quite the crowd….
Stopped by my “old stomping grounds” on the way home. Ran into a few KS students at the Waiola Shave Ice Store.
Had a great vacay day today. Gonna take a nap and get ready for Bible study tonight. Thinking of making this an annual tradition every July 9th….
Had an absolute blast at ISTE 2014! More info about the conference on my school blog.
Took the MARTA from the airport to our hotel. Cost $2.50 to ride. Transportation is really efficient in Atlanta.
Stayed at the Hilton Atlanta. Being a last-minute add-on, my intention was to crash with Tim & Lance. Fortunately, we ran into Yasin from IT in the lobby who didn’t have a roommate.
For dinner, we went to Pittypat’s Porch for some southern food. The ambiance was awesome.
And the food was amazing! Had the fried chicken & ribs combo.
Here’s the peach cobbler with cinnamon ice cream. So good….
Had some time to enjoy the sights on Saturday. It was extremely hot at the Centennial Olympic Park.
Met up with the gang at the Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest. The lobby looked like a multiplex theater.
What was most impressive were the large tanks with the whale sharks and the Beluga whales. The workers there complimented me on my shoes, “Man, I love your NYKES….”
The conference itself was great. There were 15,000 educators in attendance.
Whenever there was a free moment, we would try to get to the Taco Mac across the street to catch up on the World Cup. Fútbol Fever and amazing buffalo wings!
For dinner on Saturday, Kimble took us to his hometown of Decatur. It was great! The town was charming with a church, courthouse, sycamore trees, and cafés. We had a late dinner at an awesome place called the Brick Store Pub. Had a meatloaf sandwich and delicious appetizers. It was special visiting Kimble’s hometown.
Spent much of Sunday in poster sessions and vendor workshops. I preferred the interactivity of this format over traditional breakout presentations.
On Sunday night, we had dinner at Legal Sea Foods. It was great. Only thing is that I worry about a seafood restaurant being so close to an aquarium.
On Monday, our KSEdTech team rocked the Coaches Playground. It was a great time of learning, sharing, and connecting with educators from all over the country. Mahalo to Lynne for coordinating this movement.
We celebrated with lunch at the Hudson Grille. I ate a whole lotta fried chicken on this trip.
That evening, we caught a Braves vs. Mets game at Turner Field. It was hot. Enjoyed a Georgia Dog and a SweetWater 420.
Here are the screaming faithful doing the “tomahawk.” We left in the 8th inning (to beat the traffic) and missed an amazing come-from-behind victory.
At the conclusion of the conference, our entire KS contingent (nearly 80 of us) gathered at historic Paschal’s Restaurant. A few of us got there early to catch the USA World Cup match.
The highlight was listening to a gentleman tell stories about this special place. (Notice “Hawai’i” on the banner in the background.)
Met up with friends later in the evening at the Juke Joint. The absolute best fried chicken….
Ended this great experience by riding the SkyView Atlanta with Lynne. What a treat!
Had a great time of learning, sharing, and team building. Mahalo e Ke Ali’i Pauahi.
Spent the Kamehameha Day holiday at the sandbar in Kāneʻohe Bay. It was a treat! Mahalo to Tim for taking us on the outing. The weather was spectacular! (Click to enlarge.)
Photo courtesy of @WendyLOliver
We launched his boat from He’eia Pier and laid anchor at the sandbar. There was a bunch of tourists there, but it wasn’t crowded at all. Enjoyed the great company, Noe’s spam musubis & Funyuns, and Wendy’s Arizona Iced Tea.
The kids had an absolute blast! Their highlight was getting towed on a raft and doing a bit of “wakeboarding.”
Had an amazing 2013-2014 school year at Kamehameha. Looking back, here are some of my memories….
After servicing the elementary & middle school campuses for the past 10 years, I finally moved up to the high school. Blessed to be a part of a great team, the “Bishop Boys.” We started a tradition of Crock-pot Wednesdays.
The highlight of the school year for me was traveling to Beijing, China with Liz and Doug to present at RDFZ Xishan School’s International Summit. It was an amazing experience. The best part was reuniting with good friends, Jessie, Sunny, C.Y., and Raj.
But what makes working at KS so great is our amazing team. We are a family. Here we are at our Christmas party at the Bishop Museum.
Unreal. In February, KS was able to host students from RDFZ Xishan for two days. The RDFZ Performing Arts Team toured Honolulu, L.A., and San Francisco. They stayed overnight in our dorms and performed for our elementary and middle schools. They bonded with many of our high school students. It was a great experience and a total team effort.
In March (and on a Saturday,) our KS EdTech Team held its first annual “Mashup” professional development day for teachers. A Mashup combines the best elements of a conference and an unconference. We received nothing but positive feedback.
Photo courtesy of TEDxYouth@Kamehameha.
Our high school’s TED Talks Club hosted our very first TEDxYouth event on campus. It was a huge success! Already looking forward to next year.
Finally, the year ended with our annual KS EdTech Conference at the Blaisdell Center. It was a great time of learning and collaboration.
Extremely grateful to be a part of Kamehameha Schools. What a great year! Imua.
We did it! It has been a dream for a few years to someday host a TEDx event at Kamehameha. Today, that dream came true. Please click on this link for the full post. Our speakers were simply AMAZING!
And our awesome club made it happen. Great job! It was real-life, project-based learning in its purest form.
Alan Tamayose 