Hilo

To the right you can catch a 1964 glimpse of Hapuna Beach on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Not much has changed, however--unless you count the ginormous Hapuna Prince Hotel that now resides up the hill from the beach. Hapuna is one of the few white sand beaches on the island. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. Let the tourists flock to Maui and Waikiki, I say...


Good news: We'll be driving up to the "Poke Truck" in Hawai'i in less than 24 hours! This will be our fourth trip to Hilo together. That means in the five years Cappy and I have been together, we've gone "home" once a year. We missed Hawai'i in 2006, but I'm sure we'll make up for lost time.


Thankfully, we can now fly directly from Oakland to Hilo without catching Honolulu airport's Wiki Wiki to the inter-island terminal. That means we leave here around 4pm and arrive in Hilo close to 7pm. Brilliant.

Although i've been looking forward to the trip, it will be the first time since I was an infant that I've not stayed in my grandparent's house. It's now on the market and my parents have new digs. I know it's ultimately just a structure of wood and stone, but I have a bittersweet feeling about it all. It's extremely hard for me to imagine anyone else peering out to Hilo bay from my grandparent's deck, or seeing other cars parked in the driveway. My parents' new place is up the street. I've already promised myself that I'll close my eyes as we pass by the old house. Not meaning to be melodramatic, but it's the only structure in this world where I feel entirely safe.

Am looking forward to:

-Spending time with the niece and nephew.
They're currently enrolled in Level 3 basic swimming classes at the YWCA. Read: transitioning from dog paddle to the basic crawl. Hopefully my nephew won't have too many "time outs" this year.

-The aforementioned "Poke Truck."
Apparently a local guy prepares a few different kinds of poke, loads up his truck, and parks next to the KTA supermarket. My dad (a poke expert) claims that the Poke Truck's garlic ahi tuna poke is to die for.

-Sharing my slide to dvd (and jpeg) project.
As you know, (from what I've said and written) I've spent TONS of hours on this project. I really look forward to sharing it with my parents. You probably know this if you've been talking to me recently but I've had 2800 slides scanned and converted to jpeg. Then I chose 500 select images, compiled a soundtrack, and had a DVD made. My mom claims that she may not make it through the entire DVD. I know what she means. I cried a lot putting this project together. I'm at the point now where I've seen the images so many times, that I can watch it as if I'm watching an episode of Top Chef.

-Swimming at Onekahakaha Beach with the kids.
In the slides, particulary from 1971-1974, there are a lot of images of my brother and I being held up in the water by our parents and grandparents. Now things have evolved---now we're the ones swimming with the kids, sitting on the very same steps, standing under the same brackish water shower...

-Seeing my childhood friend Teri and her new baby, Ryder
With Teri and her friends I: bought my first bottle of vodka at 17, had my first taste of Hawaiian pakalolo, drove without a license behind the sugar cane fields near Hilo Hospital, and attended YWCA's Summer Fun Camp. The memories.

I can go on here but the dog needs to be walked, things need to be packed, etc.

Aloha.

Quiz

Hey now, it's time for a quiz of sorts!

The topic is: IKEA product or Cirque du Soleil show? Here's how it works, I'll call out a word, and you shout out "Cirque du Soleil!" Or "IKEA!"

Ready? Go!

1. Nouba
2. Kooza
3. Inreda
4. Ka
5. Fira
6. Agerum
7. Mandal
8. Varekai

The things that pass through your mind on a Friday afternoon....

Chapeau!

For our anniversary a few weeks ago, we tried Chapeau!. It is now officially one of my favorite French restaurants in the city. I want to bring all of my friends here one by one, two by two, whatever it takes until everyone I know can recall the designs of the faded yellow Provence-like murals on the wall.

The warm hospitality, the succulent and delicate flavors, the quaint and down to earth ambiance, the passion of the host/chef, the superb service--what else is there to say? I'm in love.

I had the mesclun salad with warm brie and walnut pain, salmon with spinach, lentils, tomato, prawns and mussels, and a heavenly praline cake. Cappy had oysters, the day boat scallop appetizer, monkfish with lobster risotto, and a trio of sorbets. All were wonderful, not overpowering, heartwarming and delicious.

Phillipe (host/chef/sommelier) greeted us heartily upon our arrival, and sent us off with kisses. He's a passionate French man who has been known to chase down people blocks away just to thank people.

Aqua (SF) is like the fabulous one night stand with a rock star---one who is unattainable, not one you'd not settle down with, but will always stand out in your mind. But Chapeau! is the one you fell in love with, the one who became your best friend as well as lover--and best of all, being with them is the promise of a lifetime of one night stands.


Go to Chapeau! to recall your French holidays, indulge yourselves, and remember not only what good French food is all about, but also how it should be enjoyed. Also, the $25 early bird prix fixe is not a bad option for a weeknight or Sunday...

Under the Weather

I've been sick for 6 days straight now. It's to the point where I've forgotten what it is like to have energy for my own life. I don't mean to sound overly melodramatic, but it's true. Haven't you been so sick before that it completely knocks you down? I literally can't imagine what it's like to have had the energy to get all the way to S. San Francisco, work all day, come back, go to the gym, and still have energy to cook dinner?

Climbing stairs at home has been a Herculean effort. And if you've been here, you know that we have about 5-6 stairs leading to the loft. The dog has even been looking at me with her eerily humanlike "What's wrong with you?" look.

Being sick is almost like a vacation, but sleeping in your own bed, and no change of scenery. My wonderful Cappy has been running here and there for medication and juice, making me homemade chicken soup with tofu, and that sort of thing. I've picked up a book that I've been meaning to read for a very long time, am catching up on my New Yorker issues, am staring at the walls, sleeping...

In the sense of vacation, I mean that it's a severe mental break from work. I'm also finding myself missing every day things I used to enjoy. Meeting and catching up with good friends, going to the gym, shopping for groceries, seeing movies. I feel like I'm grounded.

Am not feeling sorry for myself, though it seems as such. I just am feeling really compounded by this lack of mobility. It could be much worse.

This past week has made me realise how tough it would be to not be able to live a life that is right before me. And I know this cough, fever, lung infection and lethargy will eventually fade away.... but it makes me sad for those who are afflicted with diseases that won't ever go away.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian has recently been released. I'm one who never felt he deserved to go to jail. It's sad that his assistance with the patient with Lou Gehrig's disease set off a controversy that blamed him for suggesting no other alternative for those afflicted with ALS.

I've never been close to the debilitative effects of any serious disease, and for that I am lucky and I hope to continue to be lucky. But I do feel that if it got to the point where my life didn't measure up for me, I would love the freedom to take control of my life. Inevitably, Kervorkian says that many who know they have the freedom to take their own lives, are imbued with more energy to fight their illness.

Thankfully Oregon gets it. And I really miss Track Town Pizza from Eugene. The best west coast pizza. Have got a serious pizza craving. Arinell in Berkeley or Track Town. Yummy. I must be feeling slightly better.