The corollary between Recession & Doughnuts

How do you know that your state is finally feeling the effects of this global recession?

a) When the Governor starts talking about furloughs for civil servants to save the state some money.
b) When the Board of Education starts cutting back on budget for athletics and afterschool programs for both intermediate and secondary schools.
c) When the number of Japanese tourist drop from previous years numbers (esp. when the primary source of income for said state is from Japanese tourists).
d) When you’re getting stale mint-chocolate wafers from last Christmas as snacks during your monthly staff meeting instead of the regular donuts and coffee.

The Hokkaido Story (w/pictures): Part 7 Final

We were greeted in the morning with a wonderful treat — snow. Stacey had been hoping the whole time to see snow flakes fall and her wish finally came true.

Stacey catching the falling snow from our hotel room window.

when these Korean kids found out I was taking their photo they stopped what they were doing and posed for me.

on the road again on a snowy day

we were greeted with cold winds & snow when we got to Sapporo

first meal in Sapporo: Katsu & curry

eventually the skies cleared up and we were back in action.

Sapporo is known for it’s breweries and it’s beer and one it’s famous beer is the one name after the city itself.

Outside Sapporo Beer Museum.

who's up for a cold one? I do!!!

behind these doors are some good old beer.

the Sapporo beer timeline.

I was told that Yebisu is a beer deity.

vintage beer and the modern day Yebisu.

the different beers from the beer country of Sapporo.

early Japanese pin-up models: pre-pubescent boys have one of these hanging up their walls.

There are good beer posters and bad beer posters. Which one would you choose?

she's probably half polar bear: my two wahines are bundled up while she leisurely talks on her phone in a mini-skirt while waiting for the bus.

the other American we know in Sapporo.

This is where we were at 5:09 p.m. : the NKH tower

spying on the people below.

the festive lights of Odori park.

Sapporo on a snowy night.

Kani (Crab) Tabehoudai (All you can eat): the crabs before the onslaught.

the gruesome fate of these crabs.

the taxi ride around town

At 9:21 pm the NHK tower looks more subdued.

we woke up the next day to more snow.

greetings from the Sapporo Aspen Hotel on a snowy day.

paper cranes to bid us a safe journey back home.

one last glimpse of Sapporo before we head home.

waiting at the trainstation

the packed Airport Rapid train. It's so packed you can fart and no one would know it was you.

the smile of someone guilty.

back on the plane again. but sad to go home.

Happy to be back in the tropical isles. No need for jackets, gloves, and thermals.

This concludes the Hokkaid Story series. Hope you enjoyed journeying with us. Join us again next time, whenever that may be.

You Ku’uipo are one of a kind

The true test on how you’ll know that she’s the right one for you is not in the amount of chemistry you have, nor how compatible you are with each other, but on how well you both handle a situation that will otherwise result in someone getting strangled.

I’m the type of person who dislikes arguments and confrontations. I would deviously figure out a way to get out of such sticky quagmire. That’s why arguments between the GF and I are far and few in between. It hardly ever escalates into a shouting match and never lasts an hour. Our arguments are usually limited to exchanging banters and repartee.

But when arguments ever do arise, it would usually end up like this:

GF: Are you mad at me?
Me: No, of course not (sarcastically).

An awkward silence ensues while we both stew on the matter.
Then just out of nowhere she’d ask:

GF: Do you love me?
Me: No, not right now.

She laughs hysterically at my silly response.

GF: How about later?
Me: How much later?
GF: Two minutes from now?
Me: That’s too soon.
GF: 30 minutes from now then?
Me: Maybe.

She’ll look at me with a silly smile and then make a funny face.Then we’d both laugh at how petty the argument is. We’ll kiss and then make up.

It’s where the heart is

As we were making a right turn to drop off Stacey at her house we saw a green and blue sign. Although the sign was small and a little bit faded it was beckoning us. Beckoning us to follow where the arrow is leading. She looked at me, then looked at Stacey to make sure that we saw what she saw. Then she asked, “Should we go?”

I hastily replied,”Sure!”

Then we both looked at Stacey and asked, “Do you want to come with us?”

So instead of making the usual left on Stacey’s street we went straight ahead. About two blocks up the street we saw another sign — the arrow pointed right. So, we made the right turn and followed it to the end at a cul-de-sac. And there straight ahead were two more signs, these were bigger than the first two. The sign read: Open House.

The garage door was wide open as if welcoming anybody willing to walk in. We parked our car right in front of the house. As we were getting out of a car a classy middle-aged woman, maybe in her early 50’s, peeked out of the door that lead to the house. She smiled and greeted us, “Welcome, I’m glad you could come to our open house today.”

She motioned for us to come in. We looked at each other, smiled, and slowly made our way inside the house.

“Do you guys have an agent by any chance?” She asked.

“No, not yet.” I replied.

So she gave us a pamphlet with all sorts of information about the house. Then she proceeded to explain the pamphlet a little bit and gave us a brief tour around the house. As the lady was giving us a tour me and the GF were already talking about what were going to do with certain rooms. As soon as the real estate agent heard us talking about it her eyes widen and immediately went down to business. She asked a few basic questions like our income, what industry we work for, if we have outstanding loans, how much money we have for down payment, or if we have had a pre-qualified loan. Well, since we weren’t exactly serious about purchasing a house (not yet at least) we gave a few embellished answers and threw in figures a little bit on the exaggerated side.

She was determined to make a sale then and there. She busted out her handy calculator and crunched in a few figures to give us and herself a little bit of an idea of what our financial picture would look like if we bought the house. Then, she even gave us a few tips on how to qualify for a loan. I smiled and replied “We (me and the GF) need to discuss it first and we’ll let you know.” So we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses as we headed out the door.

As me and the GF were driving home, the GF asked, “Can really afford to buy that house?”

I quickly replied, “No.”

But taking that adventure of walking into that house pretending to be a young couple seeking to purchase their first home was quite an experience. The more I think about it now the more I am excited about the possibilities that me and her can do together. That pure joy of walking into what could possibly be our first home gave me butterflies in the stomach all over again, the same type of butterflies when we first kissed.

The Hokkaido Story (w/pictures): Part 6

We woke up that morning to the sound of the pouring rain. Our lone full day in Otaru has just been dampened by the gloomy weather. But we were determined that we can’t let rain defeat us so we headed out anyway.

waiting for my satsuma (breakfast of champions)

I hope she washed her hands.

melts in your mouth... nomnomnom!!!

rain rain go away... little me wants to play

proof that Medusa was here or is it the White Witch?

They don't have Narnia on the map.

gone to the fish market, yo!

no wonder someone seems a little crabby.

Ika-san, you suck!!! alot! seriously.

this is what fish-out-of-water looks like.

seperated at birth... look at the hair?

the quasi-romantic Otaru canal.

tell me what's wrong in this photo? hint: it would have been romantic.

somewhere in Bavaria?

a little piece of Hawaii in the tundra.

Otaru Beer & Genghis Khan (Hokkaido Lamb steak): Made for each other.

Genghis Khan deserves some camera time too...

the beauty of the Canal comes out at night. not in a hooker kinda way of course.

the fancy-schmancy side of Otaru

more fancy-schmancy buildings

the fancy-schmancy Steam Clock Tower of Otaru and my fancy-schmancy girl.

fancy-schmancy souvenir items inside the fancy-schamncy Otaru Steam Clock Tower gift shop.

the fancy-schmancy Otaru ramen

slurpin down the fancy-schmancy Otaru ramen in fancy-schmancy style!!! *slurp*

And I’m glad we went out instead of surrendering to the rain.

That’s it for the city of Otaru… my last and final installment is Sapporo…. To Be Continued.

50th State in 2008

Although many of you may say that 2008 probably ranks as one of the worst years of your life but for me it is probably the most exciting year in my life. 2008 marks the beginning of my life in the land of aloha. My first full year of living in the islands. It is also the year where my life has more ups than downs. Everyday is an adventure to be taken. Here’s a list of highlights of my first year living in Hawaii:

1. Learned how to surf: I’ve never drank more salt water in my entire life. When you have the endurance and stamina of a sack of potatoes then you have no business being in the water. Surfing is a physically demanding sport that requires you to be able to withstand the beatings of the hard pounding waves. Also having great balance is another requirement which I do not posses. But don’t worry I’m not giving up just yet, not until a shark mistakes for a retarded seal and swallows me whole.
2. Learned how to dance Going To The Hukilau: I’m not even gonna lie. The lady in the video makes it look so simple but for someone with the gracefulness of a dying chicken the sight is quite unpleasant.  For some reason my hips just don’t sway that way.  I’m not sure if there’s a video of me floating around the internetz dancing to this song so don’t even bother searching for it. Trust me, you’re doing yourself a favor. But if such video ever exists it would look something like this. Actually, I take that back. These guys are good.
3. Went kayaking: This is another sport that requires endurance and stamina. One of the many things I learned from this is never paddle further than your arms can carry you, especially when your rental has a three hour time limit. My shoulders almost came loose after paddling so hard trying to bring the kayaks back on time before they start charging us for my spleen and a my left kidney. Ridiculous I tell ya!
4. Went Obon dancing: Well, actually I didn’t dance. I just went for the food and all the other goodies sold during the festival. I don’t think the Shinto gods would be too happy to see me desecrating the holy ritual but the vendors on the other hand are just too happy to sell me their mochi and whatever else they sell.
5. Went to Maui: One of the best ways to beat the island fever is to travel and see the rest of the island. Maui in contrast to O’ahu is little more rural. It is filled with so many suprises at every turn. One of my most favorite event is going up to the crater of Hale Akala and watch the sunrise.  Climbing up the crater of Hale Akala is another test of my endurance. We may take this for granted but at around 10,000 ft. above sea level your muscles turn into jello and your lungs is reduced to the size of a peanut. So imagine hiking a slope of about 20 degrees. A few feet seems like running a full marathon. So I can appreciate that fact that I don’t live in that elevation.
6. Went to Hokkaido: I have two words for this: Crabbed out. I’ve never ate so much crab in my entire life. We ate at least one type of crab meal for the few days that we were there. But hey, that’s a good excuse as to why you seem so crabby. The place is wonderful though. This wasn’t my first time to Japan but Hokkaido is way up there in my Most Favorite Place Visited.

Well, hope the New Year will bring more adventures me and you. Happy New Year!!!