Addicted to Traveling: 2009-03

Long time no blog… I was on vacation. After judging an English Speech recitation contest, I packed my backpack and head to Tokyo「東京」. Spent two fun days there and caught an overnight flight to Hawaii「ハワイ」. From Honolulu 「ホノルル」to Kona 「コナ」on the first fight of the morning and, three days after leaving my apartment, I found myself driving (on the right side of the road mind you) to a week in paradise.

I had the first day to myself to get familiar with the Waikoloa area and explore a bit further north. After dropping my backpack in the condo, I took my rented Mercury Grand Marquis (borrowed cop car) and took off towards Pololu, at the end of the northernmost road on the island. I like extremes… so I went to the end. I had no hiking gear and my board shorts and t-shirt were not appropriate clothing for the windy and sprinkling northern coast!

I drove up and over to Waimea, bought some “natural” “organic” food from an overpriced hippy/yuppy (same thing these days) market and got back to the place with enough time to write a sign in Japanese, used to greet my family at the airport. I picked them up and a week-long wonderful wacation (three “w’s”) ensued. It was great to see my folks and my brother after a long eight months. And with all of us away from our daily-life drama (well, nearly) we took the time to unwind and enjoy each others’ company as we explored one of our favorite places to be… the Big Island of Hawaii.

Highlights include: (1) EATING-- fresh fruit, fresh fish, fresh meat, POG juice and Kona coffee. Yummy appetizers, good salad dressing, and outrageously small portions at some places-making for a hearty laugh. Big burgers and feet in the sand while eating. Simple sandwiches, a carafe of hummus, lots of flavored sunchips and other goodies. One bottle of Jose Cuervo Gold (finished in a rush on the last day) and some Kona beers as well. All in all, we ate well. It was in typical Strich fashion.

(2) Beaching-- every other day we managed to beach. We tanned, read, walked, swam and enjoyed the partially overcast but warm weather. I got dropped off on the side of the road one day (at my request) and hiked to a beach with turtles… lots of pretty places to chill.

(3) Snowboarding-- yes, in Hawaii there is snow. We drove to the drop of the Mauna Kea volcano (roughly 13,364 feet) where there are numerous observatories. There was plenty of snow and luck had it that an Oahu resident brought his board to the Big Island. I borrowed it and took a run off of the top of the volcano… with a view of the ocean and Haleakala (Maui’s big volcano). Yet another place I have snowboarded. The list keeps getting bigger! Later that day we coffee'd and toured the Hilo-side waterfalls. Such a gamut of climatic differences in one day!

(4) Snorkeling and Kayaking—despite not seeing the dolphins this year, we managed a successful excursion in Kealakekua Bay… and, despite shredding open my hand on some coral (idiot!) while snorkeling the kayaking back was enjoyable too. Fortunately the bloody hand wasn’t the broken-thumbed hand… I love ocean kayaking! And the fish were kool. Maybe I will get those pictures from my father sometime. I remember seeing a zebra moray, among many others. The one that had me frozen for a minute, staring at it, was a really cool black one with neon blue trim, a yellow and white spot and an orange stegosaurus-like spike cluster on its tail.

(5) A week in paradise. Period.

*(6) Added bonus: flying business class from Honolulu to Narita 「成田」(Tokyo’s International Airport). It was amazing. Room for my long legs, the ability to recline, a side compartment for my stuff. After a horrendous flight over, the flight back was its antithesis. China Airlines… you really hooked it up!

TOKYO

Before going to Hawaii, I spent two days in Tokyo「東京」. The weather was bad and then great, so I endured the rain at first in Asakusa 「浅草」and then went to Nikko 「日光」for an afternoon. Turns out I need like a week in the Nikko area because there is a lot of hiking and it takes forever to get there. I was on a train for 5 hours and only enjoyed 3 at the actually location! (Though I did bag two more prefectures to add to my list of Japanese places visited!). I met some folks and they suggested that I come back in the fall. Maybe not a bad idea for the hiking and the autumn foliage. I arrived late and filled up at a tiny, stand-up sushi bar in Asakusa. I ate a lot and pretty damn well too, for only $16. Maybe $17 because the exchange rate is still not quite at 100… I am playing semantics with myself!

I crashed at Ame-ko’s 「雨子」place in Oshima「大島」. Eri-chan 「エリちゃん」actually met me at the station and we all went back to Ameko’s. They were the two who gave Vinnie and me our first ride when we hitchhiked in Shikoku「四国」last May「５月」. They are still willing to help me out- and it’s super nice! Though, Ameko’s cat「猫」made sure to it that my sleep was awkward because he dived onto me from a shelf in the middle of the night. I definitely yelled.

Day two was spent in Ueno Park「上野公園」… and I got a first taste of the 「桜」Sakura (cherry blossoms) that started to bloom. I left Japan at nearly the perfect time, because this is when the spring has officially arrived, though it is still pretty chilly. Such is life. From the park straight to the airport.
---
After a week in paradise, the weather in Tokyo was glorious enough to enjoy again. Customs was quick and I trained it back to Ueno and met Ame-ko and her friend Maki-chan「マキちゃん」. We ate under the sakura and had a mini-hanami 「花見」party in between my flights. I later went to Tokyo’s domestic airport, Haneda 「羽田」, and got my flight to Fukuoka「福岡」. And, after having dinner at the Mexican restaurant, La Borracha, with Hitomi「仁美」, I eventually managed to be on my futon- exactly 24 hours after I had left my bed in the condo in Waikoloa. And, page 2 is complete!

Yeah, it was like Home on the Prairie weekend. Wendy joined me on the farm as we prepared two new rows for plantin'. We also got our hands dirty in the weeds... not before we planted a row of Spinach and a surprise. I don't expect the surprise to work too well, based on what I've heard... but we did it anyways... We'll see who is laughing- "us" (and crying- "us") come July!

We got homemade Cole slaw goin' with the abundance of cabbage and carrots from the last harvest.

Then, in a barter/gift from a strawberry-growin' friend, I came up on just-under-a-kilo of strawberries... so, we jammed on it:

Beheading the berries and beginning the dicing/slicing/mushing/crushing session.

Posing while we stir in the sugar and wait for the boil.

The final jarred product. It yielded 18 oz, split evenly into two separate jars (boiled and sterilized to preserve the jam! Yosh! It is an intense jam, super red and "gaba" sweet... (should have used a bit less sato and sukosh more remon ju-su.