January 2007 Archives

My brief visit to Waikiki Beach (5 hours total) over 5 days in O'ahu demonstrates my aversion to known tourist traps. But first, some clarification...

There IS a difference between a tourist trap and a tourist attraction. A tourist trap can be an attraction that has allowed the area surrounding it to get all whored out with businesses whose sole purpose is to relieve dumb tourists from their money, regardless of taste or cost, because they are there.

Examples: Waikiki Beach, Great Wall of China (Mutanyu Section), Fisherman's Wharf (San Francisco).

A tourist attraction is an place or item of interest where the "whoring out" that a tourist trap has is either non existent or unnecessary for the place or item of interest to exist as an attraction.

Examples: USS Arizona Memorial, USS Missouri, Diamond Head, North Shore.

I don't think you can accuse the above Hawaiian attractions of being "whored out" or "tourist traps".

Sometimes there are reasons to brave tourist traps. In some cases, it's the only way to visit an ancient wonder (Great Wall) and in other cases, it's the businesses that are part of the tourist trap area. In San Francisco, the only reason to go down there (if you live here) is that the Wharf has The City's only (ONLY) In & Out Burger and Hooters. In Waikiki Beach, there's a firing range (yep) and several good ramen shops. And like the idiot that I am, I went to Waikiki Beach to eat ramen...

The first shop I hit was on my second night in O'ahu. Ezogiku Ramen is a chain of ramen shops that are scattered all over O'ahu along with the original shops in Tokyo and Sapporo.

Yes, I got the addresses to the shops in Japan and they're on my "to eat" list now.

As you walk in, it ain't glam, it ain't frou frou, it's good ramen and beer!

After reading about the history of Ezogiku and its Japanese roots, I asked the waitress (who was bringing me a beer, yeay!) what the specialty of the house was.

Waitress: Miso Ramen
Me: One please!

I'm very easy to please!

The miso had that "zing" that we all love in our miso ramen. Or maybe that was a touch too much MSG. But in either case, it was very well done. The noodles were snappy and the scallions were good too. The slice of cha siu was cold, like it was taken out of an icebox and put onto the bowl and the broth could have been a bit warmer.

Many of the customers inside the shop were Japanese and if I closed my eyes while slurping down the noodles in my bowl, I could imagine I was in Tokyo in some unknown ramen shop. Bliss. Until a squad of PRC tourists came in, excessively loud (in both dress AND volume) and hungry. Then when they all got their food, the slurping began. A great sound!

Guess they love their ramen too...

Ezogiku Ramen Waikiki
2146 Kalakaua Avenue
Waikiki HI 96815
808-926-8616

There ARE differences between shops that share the same name. There's an Ezogiku Ramen on University Avenue down the hill from UH. Other than sharing the name, the ramen here was mediocre. I won't go on further because it was a big disappointment as this was to be my last meal before I caught the red-eye back to the mainland. A word of advice: If you go to a ramen shop and you see the bowls coming out of the kitchen with heaps of bean sprouts on top, think carefully before you order. Too much bean sprouts on bowls of ramen is like sushi maki that's all rice and not enough fish. It's FILLER!

Diner beware...!

Sunset from Portlock, near Koko Head, O'ahu

When people think of "Hawaii", chances are they are thinking of "Waikiki Beach". Waikiki Beach is a very nice strip of beach but it's also a big money shopping and hotel district along with some of the flotsam that these districts attract.

Of cors, you dun see that on the Beach, lah!

Beeyoutiful day to take in some sun!

More white sands, more people

I'm sure the scenery is better on the weekend. Must come back! Here you get BOTH shopping and beach for those of you who find both to be important...

Aloha O'ahu! Till next time!

Now back to the land of the cold and the home of the wet! Did I mention that I'm flying out on a Red-Eye?!?

Every place I've visited, I've sampled or devoured huge quantities of the local food/cuisines I've encountered (ramen anyone??).

Honolulu is no different. It's extremely warm here, even in January when the rest of the states are freezing their collective asses off. And since it's warm here, shaved ice is very popular here.

Now, you'd think shaved ice is the easiest thing to make. You shave some ice. Plop it into a cup. Pour syrup of different colours and flavours on top. Voila, instant treat AND hydration. But like an In & Out Double-Double, it's deceptively difficult to make it well.

Think for a minute. A Double-Double is made of of ingredients. Two beef patties and two slices of cheese. Lettuce. Tomato. Onions. Thousand Island sauce. Fresh bun. You can try making this yourself, using the same ingredients but it won't taste the same. Same thing with the shaved ice thing in Honolulu.

I hiked up Diamond Head today. Why? Because it was there and it was nearby the Waiola Bakery (more about that later). Also, it was just to see if I could still do it.

Mental note: Do this climb before the sun comes up next time! But once on top, the views were worth it.

I think all of Hawaii is about great views...

The visitor facility is inside the crater. That's what you're looking at.

Like an idiot, I began this hike at 1100 and didn't come down until after 1300. In the parking lot, there's a snack truck that sells snacks and beverages for tourists that didn't plan ahead and have whiny loud kids. They have burgers, beverages, bottled water. And they offer shaved ice. In a moment of weakness (since I finished my water coming halfway down the mountain), I ordered one. The shaved ice tasted good enough since it was drowned in syrup, but the texture of the ice was like little chunks. Not really smooth but in the condition I was in, it was refreshing enough. I didn't think much about it until I drove over to the Waiola Bakery.

Dun look like much, does it?

The Waiola Bakery has a bakery on site, through the doors on the left. On the right, they make shaved ice. Back in the day, there were many local, family run establishments like this. Sadly, they're an endangered species as the local attractions they served (such as the old Honolulu Stadium that used to be across the street) shut down or get demolished.

The menu for shaved ice. All sorts of options.

Besides the basic "rainbow" where you get three colors (flavors) of syrup on your shaved ice, you can get it topped with different toppings or even get ice cream or nuts or fruit inside the shaved ice. I got the "rainbow".

Here's a "rainbow", 2/3rds of it gone!

It was very very VERY good! The ice is shaved finely, unlike my Diamond Head shaved ice. Because of the finer shaved ice, the syrup gets completely absorbed instead of just collecting at the bottom of the cup with the melted ice, nee water. So you get a sweet treat AND hydration! Because it's hot here and you'll need it. Just get here before 1830, because that's when they close!

Waiola Bakery & Shaved Ice
525 Kapahulu Avenue
Honolulu HI 96815-3854
808-735-8886

It's Sunday night and normally I'd be watching football. Instead, I was prowling Honolulu's Chinatown for a place to eat.

But since I'm in Hawaii and Hawaii is two hours behind California, which is three hours behind New York, watching football becomes an early morning thing. Which means that if you can get up early to watch the games, you still have the rest of the day to do stuff.

Generally, the early Sunday game begins at 1300 EST. That translates to 1000 in San Francisco, which means 0800 in Hawaii. The afternoon game begins at 1100 in Hawaii. And Sunday "night" football during the regular season begins at 1500 here. That means if the game ends on time, it's 1900 here and you can actually do stuff afterwards. Back in SFO, the late game ends around 2100 which means it's time to clean up and to pack it in for the evening.

Tonight, I had dinner at the Green Door Cafe. It's a very small restaurant with four tables and one chef/waitperson. I walked by this place and smelled the mix of spices and food wafting out the door and ducked inside to take a look.

The menu changes each day, depending on what's available to cook and the owner's mood

Inside, there was a redhead in a red dress who was waiting for a table and her two roommates for dinner. During the ten minutes she was waiting , she wound up with two more dining companions; a friend who saw her standing on the street as he was driving by and myself, for a total of five.

We ordered a LOT of food and devoured it. The Green Door Cafe specializes in Nonya cuisine (hailing from Malaysia and Singapore, primarily) which was not too spicy but with a lot of zing and punch to it. Yum!

There was roti canai, sticky rice, Nonya pork loin, Tai Tom Sum shrimp soup, Malaysian Chicken Curry, mixed veggie curry and fried tofu with bean sprouts on our table. Also two bottles of wine since it's BYOB and no corkage here! WAAAAAH!

Fantastic food (often referred to as Chinatown's best restaurant) and the smells and tastes here made miss Singapore (and a certain individual) that much more. Eat! But eat early, they close at 2000 and last orders are taken at 1930...

The Green Door Cafe
1145 Maunakea St.
Honolulu HI 96817
(808) 533-0606

Many of my friends that travel to Hawaii are snobs, I think. They think of O'ahu as simply an airport as they jet off to Maui or Ha'waii (big island) because it's "more beautiful". True, O'ahu is the most urbanized because of Honolulu, but the city is NOT the island.

There are places all over O'ahu that make it seem like Honolulu is a jillion miles away. But one advantage to the City being so close is that these spots are easily accessible, unlike Maui or the other glam islands. These are some of the spots I found by mucking about. In a Roadster.

Tantalus: The drive here is fairly easy. Past the Punchbowl National Cemetery, there's Tantalus Road. Turn right and go up. Within 3 minutes, the houses will thin out and you're in rainforest. Within 20 minutes you're at the summit.

About 2 minutes down, there's the Puu Ualakaa State Park with a lookout that puts all of Honolulu and a lot of ocean at your feet.

Urban Honolulu with Diamond Head looming in the background

From the right, HNL, Hickam Field and Pearl Harbour

This is the gate to the Puu Ualakaa Park. Please note the sign. What happens after you leave a message?

I hope someone checks the machine...

I also found a lookout that evening near Koko Head near the Portlock, Hawaii Kai area. It's a cliff that overlooks the ocean that you have to shimmy between two houses and a very steep sandy path gets you here.

If this were in CA, there would be warning signs every 10 feet and a fence.

It's a little part of O'ahu that's frequented by locals. Not many tourists come out here, according to a fellow photographer.

Also got photo shoots happening here too.

While I was here watching the sunset, I heard and saw a whale go by, flapping its fin. Cool!

kersploosh

Finally, showtime!

The end to a good day

...a shining house on a hill...

Giovanni's is one of the better known of the breed known as "hawaiian shrimp truck".

They're easy to find when you're driving the North Shore. Sorta. They have a big sign.

There's something on it that makes it extra special!

No, I did NOT put that there!!

Giovanni's is comprised of two trucks, one making shrimp and the other making smoothies. There's a bunch of pick-a-nick tables and (I'm not kidding) a Kaiser Permanente across the street. Coincidence? I think not...

Just HOW spicy is that #2?

There's three items on the menu. Shrimp Scampi. Hot and spicy and Lemon Shrimp. You don't get a refund if the Hot and Spicy is too hot and spicy. You CAN order a half and half, which I didn't know about until I started eating.

Mmmmm, hot deveined shrimp!

I did get some of their hot sauce on the side. It's very hot and very Tabasco based. It was pretty hot dipping; imagine how burning hot it would be if you cooked da shrimp in it! Mmmmmm...

They have a cat too. And a chicken. The chicken eats the cat food too...

Giovanni's Shrimp Truck
Kamehameha Highway on the North Shore
South of Kahuku Sugar Mill
North Shore, HI 96734

Here's a nice shot to end my first full day here on O'ahu.

This is the view you got if you were sacrificed at the Puu O Mahuka Heiau. People still bring offerings. Here's all that's left. And it's a National Historical Landmark!

The stones are sacred here; dun touch or go inside!

Thankfully, all I had to sacrifice was about 6 minutes of mountain driving to get here. Parking right in front...

I was the only one out there round sunset. Along with a wild boar. Too fast to take pic...

You know, it just wouldn't be me if I flew somewhere really far and DIDN'T find a good ramen shop, just by chance.

Well, I did. This is my first full day here on O'ahu and I decided to break in my rental Roadster by doing a drive up the windward side of the island. Naturally, around 12ish, I was feeling peckish (had a small brekkie; part of the "diet") and I saw this shop in the distance. It called to me, "tabemasu"..so I did.

Parking right in front, lah!

They're apparently a well known and well regarded shop. I walked in and immediately ordered a bowl of Hakata Ramen.

mmm, could a return visit to Kyushu be in my future?

The noodles were springy and the condiments were generous. The cha-siu slice was tender and the broth was flavorful, if just a touch salty. Wonderful stuff! If you're on the Windward side of O'ahu, EAT!

Sapporo Rai Rai Ramen
124 Oneawa Street
Kailua HI 96374
1-808-230-8208

Stumbled upon this ramen website via a story about Ando Momofuku, the father of instant noodles.

Apparently, there's a guy who runs an appropriately named ramen fan site who has done the pilgrimage to Yokohama, like many of us have. Except his WIFE is also a ramen fiend. That's hella cool, almost like having a g/f that's into football and doesn't mind riding on the back of the motorcycle...

Where do you find girls lidat??

That's where Hawaii is. So far the trip has been good. On the flight out, I got bumped up to 1st Class. Nice.

The flight got in 35 minutes early. Better...

I picked up my rental and they had a Monte Carlo for me. I asked for a different car and they gave me a Roadster (MX-5)! No extra charge. Very Nice!

Oahu outside of Waikiki requires wheels. These are nice wheels with 189 miles on the clock. I think there's going to be a lot of road trips in the next few days. Going topless!! WAHAHAHAH
...

First thing you do after you check into a hostel is find the grocery store. So I walked down and up the hill with brekkie for the next few days. Had dinner, one beer and formed a plan. It involves *gasp* getting up early...

Urgggh...

I realized recently that if you removed all the photoblogs off the net, it would be hella boring out there! Much of the blogging revolution is due to the creation and evolution of the humble digital camera. Of cors even before digicams, there were pictures up on the net. But it was not as accessible!

Back in the day, you had to 1) Take pictures with film (?), 2) Develop aforementioned film and 3) Scan and resize into computer for uploading with 14.4 modem. Very slow process and hella expensive! Film ain't cheap and you pay for all the shots on the roll, good and bad. My last film camera was a Yashica T4. Then I realized that I've been digital since 2001 and blogging the following year. Wow!

I started, like practically everyone in the US did, with a Kodak. I purchased a used DC210 back in 2000.

This was high tech once. And it was THAT expensive new!

It was a big camera, 1 whole megapixel and gobbled AA batteries 4 at a time. I learned the phrase "rechargeable batteries" very quickly. The picture quality was marginal because of its fixed focus lens (which Kodak claimed was a "feature") but the ability to instantly view your snaps and delete the ones that didn't pass muster was a novelty back in the day...

And after seeing my cousin's Canon S10, I promptly picked up a used S20 and began my long run with Canon hardware. After that camera, I picked up an S300 and while in Hong Kong one trip, I picked up an Ixus S400 to replace that. My most recent Powershot/Ixus/Ixy camera was the SD400, very compact and took good pix. A great camwhoring camera! In fact, I have an SD800is enroute that has two things that my other cameras never had: wide angle 28mm lens setting and image stabilization. Makes it easier for that big dramatic night shot...

Now, what's with the blog name? Well...

When I decided to create a blog a few years ago (mostly to stop people from asking for personalized emails and pix from the road when I started travelling), I had to think of a name. I figured it would be things as I saw them, and by extension, how my camera saw them. At the time, I had a Canon Powershot (in the US, they're called Powershots, in the rest of the world they're called Ixus except in Japan where they're called Ixy) and I decided to name the blog based on what my camera saw.

And the name "walking-powershot" sounded stupid.

Walking-ixus, OTOH, was different. It sounded "not as stupid" plus none of my frens in the US would know what it meant. Because of that, I've had to explain that many times. And after three years of asking "what does your blog name mean?", I've finally posted the answer here.

Yippee.

I made it out to Macworld today to check out the hype about the iPhone, Apple's latest kick-ass cool gadget. And, yes, it is hella cool, slick and seksi. And i want one! When I can actually see and touch and playwidit...

When I finally made it onto the showfloor and made a beeline for the Apple exhibit, I was greeted with the iPhone rotating in its own case and being guarded by a "apple security guard". Still, it is a beeyoutiful piece of industrial design and a technical tour de force.

That's how the iPod component looks like

Here's a closeup (sorta) of the back. The little dot in the corner is the 2MP camera that strangely, isn't mentioned much...

The Star of the Show...

Timbuk2 wasn't here this year (so no 28.75% off deal this year) but Crumpler was! They were serving beverages on request! Yeay! Buuurp...

It's almost closing time!

The one memory that will stick out for me (besides the event itself) was the head freezing Sacramento morning cold! I discovered this as I was waiting in the queue to clear security to attend the swearing-in of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium on 5 January.

Thankfully, the line was quick cuz it was in the low 40s outside!!! And breezy...

"I'm cold. It's bright out. I forgot my Oakleys. Can we go inside now? Did I mention it's HELLA cold?"

Once inside, it was a full house as the Governator took his oath after the prerequisite speeches and entertainment.

My frens: two school board and one water board member(s). Who's who?

Look closely on the screens, you can see the Governor on his crutches

And what's is an Inaguration without a ball? I went with a bunch of frens. It was fun, albeit short. Only three hours of open bar? WTF??

That's me and Harmeet, a good friend o' mine who just started her new law practice...

This is the only time you'll ever see me in a tux...so far this year!

So who is Ando Momofuku?

Well, he's the reason why hundreds of thousands of college students survived! He invented the process to make instant noodles in 1958 and had the brilliant (BRILLIANT!) idea to put his instant noodles in a cup in 1971. You know his company and you know his company's big product, Cup Noodles!

So tonight I will have some Shin Ramyun (from the ROK) because it's cold out tonight. Thank you Ando-san!

Hmmm. Maybe this is where Momofuku in New York got their name from? It would make sense...

Chinese New Year is late this year, so I've got time to clean. As part of my "clean the closet out" project, I've been going through my old travel box, tossing out a lot of old receipts and outdated brochures.

Maps and stuff from my first visit to Chicago...

That was in 1998, shortly before my first overseas jaunt

Places i've visited and things i've seen...

There's a lot of stuff from my first visit to the PRC here...

You sure collect a lot of stuff when you travel...

Believe it or not, a lot of this stuff went buh-bye...

...because I think that if you plan to return to a place to get to know it better, you don't have to keep a lot of the stuff you wind up with!

I woke up early this morning to drive some frens to SMF. I should mention that it was HELLA COLD this AM! This was parked next to my car.

I looked for the Honda sized car o' ketchup to go with it to no avail...

Well, 2006 could have been better in a lot of ways...but I DID do a lot of travel this year! I resolved at the beginning of 2006 to "go places I've not been before" and for the most part, I think I achieved that.

March 2006:
First visit to Australia; Sydney and the Hunter Valley. My first experience at backwards weather and driving on the wrong side of the road...

Different view of the Sydney Opera House

August 2006:
First visit to Nikko (world heritage site), Matsumoto (old castle and world's biggest wasabi farm) and to Koenji (for the Awa-odori). Just some of the sites you'll see if you make the effort to GET OUT OF TOKYO! I'm going to try to make it to Koenji each summer, schedule permitting from now on.

Awa-odori!

First extended visit to Kuala Lumpur and various parts of Malaysia. Surprisingly compact central city, best siu-yuk I've had in my life and a bargain vacation spot. Yup, that's KL.

Street snack in Klang

November 2006:
First visit to Taiwan and to Taipei. Definitely on my "return visit" list to sample more nightlife (Luxy anyone?), food and to explore the rest of the island via High Speed Rail. Taipei to Kaohsiung in 90 minutes? Waaaaaaah!

Of cors that didn't mean that I didn't revisit some of my favourite cities on earth and visit places there that i've not been to yet!

On my last visit to Hong Kong, I discovered new restaurants, new bars and lounges and the joys of staying up all night to save HK$300 cab fare! How about Singapore? Meeting new frens, staying in new places and eating, eating and drinking! Each time I go back there it's like meeting an old fren for the first time all over again. Ah yes, and that philosophy applies in triplicate each time I return to Tokyo!

Some places that I'd like to check out in 2007.

Hawaii: Yes, i've never done Hawaii properly. Yes, I know it's closer to SFO than New York is. Enough!
Taiwan: It's not just Taipei, ya know!
Thailand: Maybe not right away, but eventually...
Eastern Europe: Cold weather but supposed to be affordable and fun
Scandinavia: Like Eastern Europe, except not that affordable...
Japan: north of the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen. That means places like Akita, Takayama, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the like.
Australia: How about the rest of the country outside of Sydney?

Aside from the usual resolutions (eat better, lose 20 lbs, destroy my enemies), these are the places that I'd like to see this year. Wonder how many i'll be able to check off the list next year?

New Years' Day and Eve are usually big holes in my memory mostly because of hangovers and football on New Years' Day.

But thanks to technology, we can remember (albeit painfully) what happened on New Years' Eve. I do remember getting a late start to the evening, squeezing three guys into my small small car and getting to the party around 2300. Right after they closed the doors because of capacity limits due to the Fire code. Bleah.

But it wasn't too bad. We were shielded from the wind and we started our own party on the sidewalk with smokers who came outside for a puff as well as other late arrivals that eventually got in. We all got a great view of the fireworks outside while the people inside kanna see them! WAHAHAH!

We all finally got inside after midnight. But the best part, we didn't have to pay the cover charge and drank gratis for the rest of the night! So there's some consolation there...

This is how it looked like inside. It went on full force until 0200...

Some of us took the opportunity to dress up

The alleged theme (alleged because that NEVER gets observed at Asian Occasions here) was "period specific dress". That meant dress up as a 70's person or an 80's person or what have you. We saw 70's tuxedos with the ruffle-y shirt, one really tall skinny guy dressed up like Saturday Night Fever. Sometimes it was hard to tell what period in time people were dressed up as.

Can you tell which one is the 70's lounge lizard and the 80's swinger?

I went as a 30's enforcer, except I forgot my violin case...and we dun usually smile lidat

Just some other partygoers that I posted for no specific reason...

Of cors, the night always ends with someone getting carried back to the car, and ultimately, up the stairs...

Drinking time: 100 minutes, 11 shots and drinks: Free, Getting carried to the car: Priceless!

New Year's Day was all about football, a big brunch involving spam, bacon, lots of eggs, rice and brown gravy. And for some of us, sleeping off our hangovers. Happy New Year!