Beach Activities

5/1/2009

Before moving to the east side of Oahu, we stopped by Waikiki Beach in the morning to receive some beach loving.

Karan bought his rash guard last night and was excited to surf for the second time. Radim was feeling a little unwell, so didn’t mind to be a total beach bum today, like me.

Waikiki Beach has a different feel in the morning than late afternoon.

IMG_3158_m
Palm trees welcome you

IMG_3153_m
Duke Paoa Kahanamoku – Father of International Surfing welcomes you

IMG_3156_m
Entering the beach

There’s no entrance fee to any beaches on Oahu and most of the beaches are easily accessible. Beach parks have restrooms, picnic areas, and life guards.

If surfing is not your cup of tea, no problem. There’s plenty to do on Waikiki Beach. See photos below.

[flickr album=72157618102529174 num=30 size=Thumbnail]

Home Sweet Home

5/12/2009

Saturday night, we departed from Honolulu Airport and reached Fairfield fifteen sleepy hours later.

Home sweet home. There’s no place like home.

It’s spring time here. Everywhere is much greener than two weeks ago.

Although it’s still a little chilly at 10-20C, I am going to enjoy every bit of everything I could get out of spring. Spring has cast a magic spell on me. How can anyone not appreciate spring? It only happens once per year!

It’s so wonderful to be home. Hmm… the smell of home. A place where my dog wags his tail waiting eagerly for my arrival. A place where I don’t have to think much, just … relax. A place that brings — Ultimate Comfort.

Even though Hawaii trip was super fun, the constant seeing places and moving; the change of diet and rest schedule; have taken a toll on my body without me realizing it.

As soon as I reached home, I could feel that my body started to release the stress that was built up from my trip. The magic of home!!

As a first generation immigrant, I often feel confused about where my home is since I don’t have any family and relatives in the States. A very wise man once told me “home is where your heart is”. My heart is now back to Fairfield.

Fairfield has a serene quality to it and it holds a special place in my heart. I know this place inside out and have made great friends here.

I am also glad that I have an international group of friends whom we always celebrate holidays and create more memories together.

Every year I wish to move away from Fairfield to a warmer place especially when winter comes. It has been eight years and I am still here. I am not sure how long I would be here, but one thing I know for sure is I will cherish Fairfield forever. 🙂

It’s time to go back to my daily routine. And, I can’t wait to tend to my garden. 🙂

I will also be organizing and posting more photos from my trip in the next few days.

Every day is an adventure. But right now, I just need to take a good rest.

Good night.

Enhanced by Zemanta

La Cucaracha Mexican Bar & Grill

4/30/2009

After 13 hours of hard work today, the tradeshow was finally over. Celebration time for all of us! Yeppi!

Tonight was the last night we will be staying in Honolulu.

It was after 8pm and my stomach was playing a crazy symphony!

We were not in the mood of driving, looking for parking, and all that crap. So, we looked for a restaurant nearby in walking distance.

There was one restaurant that caught my eyes the other night. It was the La Cucaracha restaurant. I mentioned this restaurant to Radim and he immediately started laughing!

La Cucaracha literally means the cockroach in Spanish!!

The restaurant is located just one block across from our apartment, so La Cucaracha that is!!

La Cucaracha Mexican Bar & Grill
La Cucaracha Mexican Bar & Grill (photo by Radim)

We reached there after the rush hour, so the waitress was able to seat us at the outdoor patio. It’s always nice to enjoy fresh air while eating a good meal.

La Cucaracha Mexican Bar & Grill
The atmosphere was festive, happy and clean.

The service was quick and friendly.

We were served the usual chips and salsa to start off our night.
Note: There’s extra charge for second basket of chips.

Then, I spotted a giant COCKROACH on our table!! Can you see it?

La Cucaracha Menu

It’s right there!! Look Closer!

La Cucaracha menu
Did you see it? A giant cockroach chilling under the palm tree? That’s sooooooo cute!

Pina colada & Margarita
My virgin pina colada and Karan’s margarita (photo by Radim)

Cheers
Cheers! (photo by Radim)

Kalua Taco
I ordered today’s special – Kalua (Hawaiian style pork) taco.

IPuka fish with olives and grilled artichoke
Radim ordered Puka fish with olives and grilled artichoke.

Burrito
Karan ordered some kind of burrito. I forgot which burrito, but it was yummily yummily good.

We all enjoyed our dishes. You should know that Radim has had many Mexican dishes before (thanks to his lovely Mexican wife, Clara) and he found the dishes that we ordered very authentic. He especially loved the Kalua taco.

Kalua Taco
Kalua Taco

hot sauces
Hot sauces (photo by Radim)

After the delightful meal, we couldn’t resist having some desserts!

Flan & Fried Ice Cream
Dessert: flan (oven-baked caramel custard) & fried ice cream (photo by Radim)

Radim was taking photos here and there. After taking a look at his photos, I felt like tossing my little point and shoot camera into the ocean (yes, blame the tool) T_T. We were in such low light situation and his camera performed so well without the flash! See for yourself! Radim’s photos are the ones with (photo by Radim) in the caption.

See this one. I had to use flash. But still, can you tell that the ice cream was yummy? 🙂

Fried Ice Cream
Fried ice cream

Our friendly and pretty waitress lend us some Mexican hats for our amigo shot.

3 amigos
3 Amigos

The waitress (I forgot to ask for her name) suggested a good bar for us to go to after our dinner. But the outdoor was so great that why would anyone stay indoor, in a bar? In fact, I wouldn’t have any blog entries on the nightlife here. Although the nightlife here supposedly to be decent, we were so pooped out everyday with our 6am to 10pm schedule that we just didn’t feel like going to any clubs or bars or karaokes!

Before heading back to our apartment, we did stroll along the busy Waikiki beach streets. 🙂

La Cucaracha Address:
2446 Koa Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 924-3366

Chilling at Waikiki Beach (Part 1)

4/29/2009

I chilled at Waikiki Beach in the late afternoon. This was the same day when Karan took his surf lesson. When I wasn’t boogie boarding, I went people watching. 🙂 I wish I had better zoom lens!

This was my second Waikiki sunset (why do women always count?). Although the sky was very cloudy and gloomy, the sunset was still as breathtaking and mesmerizing as my first Waikiki sunset.

[flickr album=72157617857963372 num=30 size=Thumbnail]

Three Amigos Go Surfing

4/29/2009

After work today, the three amigos (Karan, Radim & Kim) wanted to go surfing.

I don’t know how they could go surfing after a full day of work (6am – 3pm). But I guess that was their way of unwind after a long day.

We just walked to Waikiki beach from our apartment since there was no need to drive.

My carrying my boogie board
Me carrying my boogie board

Boogie Board

What is boogie boarding (bodyboarding)?
– Boogie boarding is where you ride a wave on a much shorter surfboard that is made of foam. It’s a real blast! 🙂

Radim and Kim paddled into the waves and started riding while Karan get a surf lesson (see previous post).

I just chilled on the beach. I tried to take some surf photos of the three amigos, but my little Canon point and shoot camera could only do so much … See photos below.

[flickr album=72157617755666693 num=30 size=Thumbnail]