Encore

More Lists of 3's:

Foods you’d think I love but don’t:
-Peking Duck
-Unagi Donburi (unagi anything)
-Avocado

Hidden Talents:
-Flipping a Fried Egg with smooth wrist/pan action
-Pen Twirling (ambidextrously, to boot)
-Dig Dug High Scorer

Recently purchased itunes songs:
-Happy When it Rains-- Jesus and Mary Chain
-Come Dancing-- The Kinks
-Near You Always-- Jewel

Hobbies/Interests that are SO not me:
-Gardening
-Arts and Crafts
-Antiques

Things you’d think I can’t stand but actually like:
-Vacuuming
-Hot Dogs
-Eminem

Movies you'd think i like but don't:
-Gia
-Moulin Rouge
-Bound

Matrix-like Skills I’d like to download:
-Complete Fluency in Mandarin and Spanish
-Instant and Lifelong Physical Conditioning appropriate for triathlons and soccer games
-Magic (I’d be the first Korean-Lesbian Street Magician)

Tomfoolery

So we brought the petulant Tubular One to a local dog park this past weekend. All week, she had been pouting and whining--something along the lines of "you guys never take me to the dog park anymore! It is the year of the dog now.... he-LLO!?" She then herded us into Cappy's car, and took her place... Two front paws on the middle arm rest and face forward like a captain off to sea. Cappy turned the keys to the ignition, and we were off.

We finally pull into the overflowing parking lot. At this point, the Tubular One was panting at the window and ready to jump out. The sight of all the burly Rottweilers, black labs, and Australian Sheep dogs was enough to make my eyes water and nose run. As we approached the fenced area, I tightened my grip on T.O.'s cheetah leash--could she hold her own with the big dogs?

Thankfully, we spotted a separate fenced in partition for those dogs under 30 pounds. Phew. Although our T.O. loves to flirt with big fluffy boy dogs, we thought it more appropriate for her to romp with other short-legged creatures. Less chance for an "incident." Ha.

The small dog section was awash with white fluffy puffies in pink sweaters, chihuahuas with snarls and growls, and a score of mini Yorkies playing street basketball sans street and ball. They were a tough group. I soon realised we shouldn't be be fooled by their canine duds and fashionable grooming.

Instinctively, Cappy picked up the T.O. as we surveyed the lot. Thinking it was OK, we finally placed the T.O. on the ground. We might as well have been lowering her into a shark pool. Within two seconds, she was surrounded by a collective mass of yelping fur. The T.O., on her best behavior started out with her usual play bows. Seeing that the other fluffie toughies were all about rough and tumble tomfoolery, we scooped her up again. We placed her down on a grassier patch, but no sooner, the fur gang was at her heels again.

Moral of the story: The Napoleonic syndrome is not restricted to humans. And to the Tubular One, be careful of what you wish for--you may get it...and then some!


3's here, shamelessly copied from the folks at Lunamania (1.28.06 entry). Somehow the list is limited the list to threes, so off i go...

Three books I can read over and over:
-The Material World: A Global Family Portrait
-The Journals of Dan Eldon: The Journey is the Destination
-Lonely Planet: France

Three Places I've lived:
-Near Seoul National University, Seoul Korea
-Nishi-Aizu, Japan
-Market/Guerrero S.F.

Three TV shows I love:
-6 Feet Under
-VH1's Behind the Music
-Iron Chef

Three highly regarded and recommended TV shows that I've never watched a single minute of:
-Curb Your Enthusiasm
-Weeds
-Xena the Warrior Princess

Three places I've (recently) vacationed:
-Mendocino, California
-Hilo, Hawai'i
-Lake Tahoe

Three of my favorite dishes:
-my late grandmother's nishime and chicken long rice
-chop chae
-lomi salmon, poi, and lau lau

Three sites I visit daily:
-nytimes.com
-jonathancainer.com
-imdb.com

Three places I'd rather be right now:
-Asleep and wrapped up in our 1000 thread count sheets
-Mukaitaki, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan
-Disneyland (in the midst of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride)

Gibberish

i'm in love with a new group. New to me that is. They're called Sigur Rós which comes from the very common girl's name Sigurrós in Iceland.

Their music is esoteric and heavenly. It's like moody Icelandic Enya meets arctic Deathcab/electronic Cowboy Junkies. Is it Canadian? Is it trip hop Bjork? Hard to pin this down. But the result is lovely.

What i find compelling about this group is that they have an unusual approach to lyrics. Apparently most of their songs are sung in Icelandic, but some are sung in an invented language called "Hopelandic." This is a kind of a "gibberish lyric that fits the music and acts as another instrument." Jónsi the singer, sings in Hopelandic to fit the melody before there are vocals.

At some point they must have decided to go with the perfectly fitting gibberish, rather than figuring out lyrics. Brilliant. And would i or anyone non-Icelandic be able to distinguish the difference of Hopelandic and Icelandic? i can't tell if Hopelandic is absurd or genius. i just think it sounds pretty wonderful.

By the way, I wonder if Elizabeth Frazier of the Cocteau Twins used some sort of Scottish gibberish--could anyone figure out what she was saying?

Cities

My Year in Cities for 2005:

Apparently someone has a blog or site where people list the cities they've been to? You're supposed to list cities you've stayed in, drive by cities don't count.

Starting point:
Oakland, California

San Francisco, California
Monterrey, California
St. Helena, California
Yountville, California
Mendocino, California
Truckee, California
Reno, Nevada
Bellevue, Washington
Hilo, Hawai'i
Beijing, China
Paris, France
Reims, France

2006 Projected:

Tokyo, Japan
Koriyama, Japan
Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan
Niigata, Japan
Beijing, China
Hilo/Kona, Hawai'i
Seattle/Bellevue, Washington
Eugene, Oregon
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Livingston, New Jersey
Long Island, New York
New York City, New York

....by the way, i'm not yet sure what i think of the "My Year of Cities" blog. What do you think?

In a way, it makes me think of how much I don't explore my immediate surroundings. Not referring to the Bay Area, but i've been to more cities in Europe/Asia than in the U.S. Hopefully we'll get to the cities on the East Coast mentioned above. It's about time i see where my Cappy grew up and went to school.

Time

C.S. Lewis wrote about the mystery of time in a letter to a friend of his on December 23, 1950:

"Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Or if they did, would that fact itself not strongly suggest that they had not always, or would not always be, purely aquatic creatures? Notice how we are perpetually surprised at Time. (`How time flies! Fancy John being grown-up and married! I can hardly believe it!') In heaven's name, why? Unless, indeed, there is something about us that is not temporal."

Fish are clearly at home in their environment. Perhaps our uneasinesss with time suggests that humans were not created to live in this world. In any case, we're obsessed with time. I've got book called "A Sideways Look at Time" and i've not had time to read it yet. Go figure.

But it's true--we act as if we're surprised with the passing of time. Sadly, i can say that i don't know Hilo all that well now. You know you don't know a small town when you can't suggest a good restaurant anymore. When my mom asked me where i wanted to eat, i named restaurants that had either closed or changed hands. Sad. It made me think of the Hilo that existed when i was young. The Wendy's that was a chiropractic clinic is now a Starbuck's. Roy's Gourmet became Kay's Lunch Center, but is now, "Kalbi Express."

I was reminiscing and feeling nostalgic about things i no longer see in Hilo. Reading the above bit from C.S. Lewis was reassuring--why should i be so awestruck that a town has changed much in 10-15 years since i spent so much time there?

So, rather than listing and lamenting on things gone by in Hilo, i'll list 3 semi-new things to me that i noticed:

1. The Poke Truck with their motto, "We make em' like you like 'em" (See picture above) If you're not local, or have no idea what poke is, here's a clue. We didn't stop to pick up some poke here--my dad's recipe is better than any chef in Honolulu. Actually buying poke is like the equivalent of a Baskin and Robbins employee paying for a scoop of Jamocha Almond Fudge. Dad was actually offended when i brought home some ahi poke from KTA supermarket one day. Well not totally offended, but his first comment was, "no mo enough chili pepper..."

2. On the corner near the airport, there's a drive inn that has been home to many fast food restaurants. When i was young it was Dairy Queen, then it changed to many short lived local plate lunch houses. The former DQ has finally found a well-liked resident, "Verna's." Unless you've heard about the food there, you might miss it if they didn't have their great sign that greets people at a busy four-way stop: "If no can, no can. If can, Verna's!" We got Dad an extra large grey Verna's t-shirt (with the aforementioned logo of course!) and we all recited "If No Can, No Can, If Can VERNA'S!" at various points throughout the trip. Extra points if you can decipher what their slogan means. We came up with a few variations...

3. De la Cruz ice shave truck. They stop in at the parking lot of Onekahakaha beach on weekends to serve the hungry kids tired of drinking saltwater. They sell anything from manapua, gravy burgers, rainbow ice shave, li hing mui, to hostess ding dongs. i've not seen the old Filipino couple who operate the truck in years. i was happy that we happened to be at the beach that day.

And no, i'm still not out of vacation mode. i'm still thinking about the lifeguard thing.

Waipi'o

For those of you unfamiliar with Waipi'o Valley on the Big Island of Hawai'i, it was the home of to the kings of old Hawai'i. Most of the taro that is cultivated for poi is grown in the lush valley. It takes about 2 hours to drive there from Hilo, via the small town of Honoka'a.

For all the summers i spent on the Big Island, i had never been near Waipi'o Valley. Unbelievable right? It's kind of like local people here in the Bay Area who've never been to Alcatraz. Or not. You know what i mean.

Over the holiday, we spent an entire day on horses from the Waipi'o Ridge Stables. It was my surprise treat for Cappy on her birthday. i opted for the 5-6 hour "Hidden Waterfall" ride. i know what you're thinking--5-6 hours can be dire for those unaccustomed to long hours in a leather saddle. And would Cappy thank me or hate me for such a surprise? Thankfully, we weren't on horseback for the entire time. And though we were a bit sore, it was totally worth it.

The brochure promised a wonderful "...journey along the rim of Waipi'o Valley to the top of Hi'ilawe, one of Hawaii's highest and most beautiful waterfalls." The extra special Hidden Waterfall ride promised even more wonderment: "As we ride deeper and deeper into the rainforest we encounter a series of smaller, beautiful waterfalls and secret pools. Soon it's time to tie up your horse and hike down to a very private waterfall spilling into a pristine ginger lined pool."

Cappy was assigned to the shortest horse of the bunch, Kaleo. She later described this horse as an "ornery donkey" because he failed to respond to her constant tugs on his rein. He didn't give up a single opportunity to graze on the green grass, ferns, and anything else in his path. It was basically a constant "drive through" for Kaleo.

My horse was called Roddo. He was a 20-year old horse derived from the Spanish stock of horses that first occupied Hawai'i. He was thankfully not as voracious as Kaleo. And for some reason, he decided that he would listen to me. My only complaint was that he loved to trot spontaneously which was brilliant, though painful.

The Hidden Waterfall was exactly that. We rode up the mountain and our horses waded through shallow rivers to get to it. You didn't have to dip a toe into the water to know the water was freezing. Still, there was no way we were killing ourselves for 2 hours to not swim in the "pristine ginger lined pool." Not to sound cheesy, but it was that. Though the water was arctic, it was completely refreshing. We had a picnic lunch of sub sandwiches from Blane's Drive Inn in nearby Honoka'a.

After a brief dip into the aforementioned arctic waters, we got dressed and got back on the saddle, literally. The prospect of another 2 hours back to the stables seemed fun, yet painful to my increasingly strained back.

It's funny. The whole experience seemed so cheesy and unreal, both from the brochure and the actual experience. In the moment however,it felt so normal--as if we ride through tropical forests on horseback every morning. It's odd how things feel nearly ordinary in the moment, yet totally glossy afterwards. I can easily recall the sound of the breeze weaving through the eucalyptus trees, the sound of horse hooves trudging over rocks, and the silence except for the steady footsteps of 10 horses in single file through the jungle.

Match Point

My favorite Woody Allen films are: Annie Hall, Alice, Mighty Aphrodite and Small Time Crooks. Though i wouldn't say i'm a serious fan, i appreciate his sense of humor a great deal. As far as his personal life, i can't be asked to analyze that. There has been so much buzz around "Match Point," i thought i'd check it out.

If you've not seen this film yet and/or intend to, be aware that there are some spoilers in the paragraphs below...

In my mind, the main reason that this film is being heralded so is because it offers his fans a much needed break from the usual Woody Allen experience. We're spared the whining, self-indulgent casting, and plots that are a bit too clever (e.g. Melinda and Melinda).

Frankly, the plot line is really tired. Working class guy marries into wealthy family, has an affair, but refuses to give up the life he has become accustomed to, and someone ends up dead. The conclusion is hokey yet cynical. You've seen this film before. Though, even though you recognise the story and could predict where it was going, it was still pretty riveting.

The casting was natural and fitting, especially with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. He does a wonderful job disguising his strong Irish accent--you get the feeling he's been trying to do that his whole life. Woody Allen made London seem more appealing than it actually is, from indoors that is. Chris'apartment with Chloe was amazing, but i wondered if it was actually an office building they used as their loft just for the film.

The editing was flawless. i'm a big fan of editing that doesn't give too much away, nor leads you on too much. It's a lot like the pace of a good waiter in a fine restaurant....the perfect amount of space from the time you sit, to when you order your drinks, when the plates are brought out and cleared...

I left the film thinking about things in life that have happened out of sheer luck. Things that have seemed too outrageous to be real. And though i'd love to finish this thought, i can't seem to at the moment.

Year of the Dog

Hawai'i was wonderful...

Am putting some thoughts together--i am still wistfully processing the whole experience. Currently i feel like leaving the corporate world and becoming a lifeguard at my favorite beach in Hilo. i liked encountering pleasant and friendly drivers who would smile and wave from their cars for me to pull ahead. i liked that i could go places and people would ask my last name, and they'd know my family. i liked going to the beach every day and having the biggest decision be what kind of shave ice i was going to have that day. i'm clearly not over my vacation. More to come on that.

i can tell you about the horrendous flight over, however:

Apparently, we flew to Hawai'i on a day of a huge tropical storm. This storm was tracked across the Pacific stirring up 25 foot waves. A normal 4 hour flight turned into a 5.5 hour nightmare.

Usually turbulence has been a rough patch of clouds or wind. i grip the armrests and it's over. This time, the turbulence was intense and long-lasting. It lasted for over twenty minutes two different times. The "fasten your seatbelt" light was on for most of the flight. There was at times that eerie silence that comes when people are too scared to move. Some people screamed when the plane dipped for about five seconds, then tipped heavily to the left. i found myself wishing and praying that it would stop, and thinking at certain moments that i'd never see my family again.

At one point, the plane was silent except for a boy in the back who was talking loudly, "Dad, if the we crash will the plane protect us?" Comforting and exactly what you want to hear at 20,000 feet above the Pacific!! At one point, i realised that the experience of turbulence was quickly surpassing my fear of dentists.

We landed horribly wibbly wobbly at the Honolulu International Airport. After a comforting plate lunch, we headed to the airport bar for a much needed drink before our inter-island flight later that afternoon. Enough about this.

We have stumbled into 2006 the Year of the Dog. We're all about the dog here at pennylane productions--i am a dog and i live with a dog. Am i a dog person? If you've always associated being close to fur with not being able to breathe, i think it's difficult. i can say that i'm a dog person by fate, as those i'm close to love dogs.

Apparently, one born in the year of the dog is:

-loyal
-honest
-selfish
-stubborn
-eccentric
-trustworthy
-a good leader
-reliable
-compassionate
-anxious

We get along best with Horses, Tigers, and Rabbits.
We worry a lot.
We're good listeners.

And guess what, we're going to have a very good year.