Ailantha - Blog

The Days Were Nothing Special, But They Were Special All The Same

5/20/2019

...Continued from yesterday:

On Wednesday morning after delivering our grand daughters to school Tom and I headed to our favorite local breakfast eatery,

...where the food and service are always great,

...but the hash browns are the best.

That afternoon some friends came over after school,

...to play for a while,

...and help me make pizza.

...which we all enjoyed after it came out of the oven.

(For my easy, yummy and kid-friendly pizza recipe, see the post from 8/3/2017, "Where Has This Pizza Been All My Life?").

One friend spent the night and she and my grand daughter spent the evening practicing for their parts in an upcoming class program called Living History, for which each child in the class chose a historical figure to research, write a first-person narrative on and "become" for the program.
My grand daughter chose to become Orville Wright, one of the inventors of the airplane, and her friend chose to be Anne Frank, the Dutch Jewish girl whose diary presented a picture of the day-to-day life of her family while they hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II.

The girls rehearsing their reports in the morning before school.

The Living History presentation began at 8:30 am in the classrooms and outside,
and consisted of groups of two historical figures sitting next to each other around the rooms,

...or around the lawn,

...holding up signs identifying who they were.

On the floor in front of each duo was a paper "button."

When a visitor pressed the button, first one of the historical figures and then the other would stand and come to life and talk about themselves and their contribution to history while their partner held their sign.

The presentations were full of surprisingly interesting and informative information,

...and the presenters cute as anything.

And listening to these little figures of living history tell their stories,

...made my eyes tear up,

...and filled my heart with hope.

On Friday morning Tom and I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood,

...and ended up walking a couple of miles to Redondo Beach, where we came upon an eclectic and quite wonderful used bookstore called Dave's Olde Book Shop,

...which we found to be an enchanting place,

...to lose oneself in,

...which we did.

The very friendly book-loving owner Dave told us that movie scenes have been shot in his bookstore.

I believe it. The place definitely looked like a movie set.

Alas, enticed by the endless offerings, we bought more books than proved wise to have to lug for a couple of miles on foot.

But then on the other hand, who can resist magic?

On Friday evening Tom, Maria and I drove to Hermosa Beach for dinner at Scotty's,

...a place of unpretentious decor but terrific food,

...such as their fantastic fish tacos,

...and a beach view.

After dinner we joined the crowds out for a Friday night stroll along the Strand,

...catching the sunset over the ocean.

On Saturday morning Tom flew back to Columbus but I stayed one more day,

...joining the other Saturday soccer moms, dads and grandparents,

...to watch my grand daughters play and my daughter coach,

...with her little crew of assistants at her feet.

After all the soccer games we went out for lunch with some soccer friends to a South Bay Mexican Restaurant called Café Rio,

...where the food was awesome,

...my chicken salad,

...as was the company.

And the rest was just a normal Saturday,

...followed by a normal Sunday morning,

...except that it was time for me to leave and return home to Columbus.

Is heaven not after all the now and here?

...the daily things of life,

...that are so dear?

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The Vanilla Beans

5/18/2019

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...Continued from yesterday:
Upon our arrival in Los Angeles Tom and I were much anticipating jumping into the joys of hands-on grand parenting, such as walking our older grand daughter,

...and our grand dogs,

...to the school yard;

...then picking up our grand daughter after school,

...meeting the class chicks,

...and marveling at the outdoor hallways,

...and outdoor coat and backpack-hangers, facilitated by the ever-balmy Southern California climate.

We watched the girls play soccer,

...and we watched them just play.

We helped with the household chores,

...and with the grocery shopping at Ralph's,

...(where the parking lot full of palm trees never ceases to charm me),

...tossing in a grandparently treat or two among the healthy stuff,

...including ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies, during the procurement of which we made a gasp-inducing discovery:

Look at the price of the vanilla extract! $24.99 for four ounces, $12.99 for two ounces!

    I looked up why the cost of vanilla extract is suddenly so crazy and learned that a combination of civil unrest in Madagascar where the vanilla beans are grown and climate change have taken their toll on the vanilla vines, as have vanilla bean speculators who buy, hoard, and even steal what plants there are. All those factors have driven the price of vanilla beans up to $600 per kilogram, higher than the price of silver.
    In fact it's feared that vanilla beans may be on the endangered list, especially if imitation vanilla flavoring takes over the market, leaving farmers no incentive to cultivate real vanilla anymore.
       In truth if I had known about the plight of the vanilla beans - and the vanilla farmers - while I was shopping I'd likely have sprung the $12.99 for a small bottle of real vanilla, though I don't suppose my buying one bottle of expensive vanilla would have helped save the beans or the farmers.
     Anyway, I bought a bottle of imitation vanilla flavoring,

...which in fact worked well enough in the chocolate chip cookies as far as anyone could tell.

Still it's sad to think that by the time our grandchildren are grown all the vanilla beans may be gone.
And maybe not just the vanilla beans.

References:
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/why-vanilla-extract-is-so-expensive

https://vanillaqueen.com/expensive-vanilla/

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Tyson

5/16/2019

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After our trip to Hawaii (see posts from 4/27/2019 - 5/13/2019 ), upon my arrival in Los Angeles on Monday, April 29, I was greeted by the usual things that, as many times as I've experienced them, never cease to delight me all over again:

The blue skies and palm trees,

...the warm West Coast air,

...the colorful California flora,

...my daughter and son-in-law's cozy, inviting home,

...and the jungley view from their back yard,

...and, of course, my grand daughters, with whom I'd just spent the week in Hawaii, and now would be spending another week.

And then there's my little grand dog Pinkey-Poo,

...to whom I made very clear when I first met him a couple of years ago that I was not a dog person. (See post from 7/28/2017, "I Am Not A Dog Person").

Upon my arrival this time I met the newest canine member of the family:

Tyson.

As to how Tyson arrived, apparently a neighbor of my daughter's posted on Nextdoor, the neighborhood website, a photo of Tyson with a plea for someone to adopt him, as he was a rescue pup who'd over-stayed his allotted time in the shelter without being adopted and was scheduled to be euthanized the following day.

As my daughter tells it, her heart was captured by the plight of this pooch with his adorably sad punim.

So now I have two grand dogs.

As to what breed Tyson might be, that information is unknown, but it's been determined that he's around two years old,

...and he kinda looks like a cross between a sheep dog,

...a pit bull,

...King Kong,

...and, from certain angles, the creature from "Ghostbusters."

Though it's taken some time for Tyson to acclimate himself to the "do's" and "don't's" of life as a house-dog - he'd been neither spayed nor house-trained when he arrived - he seems to be a pretty chill fellow by nature,

...who doesn't appear to mind sharing the humans,

...and generally puts up with pinky's annoying habit of jumping on him.

       And, even though it's well known that I'm not a dog-lover, for some reason with Tyson it was love at first sight.
        I don't mean it was me who fell in love with him; it was him who fell in love with me.
        From the moment I met him,

...and snapped that first shot,

...Tyson followed me around everywhere I went, which is probably why I got so many pictures of him: Every time I turned around, there he was behind me,

...looking up at me with those soulful eyes.

And even though I explained to Tyson that I'm not a dog person and requested that he kindly respect my space...

Sometimes he'd even plop his paw or his head on my foot, as if he wanted to connect himself to me.

Of course, Tyson didn't love me exclusively,

...but I do believe he loved me best.

Unless he just loved getting his picture taken,

...like his brother.

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Last Day In Honolulu

5/13/2019

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On Sunday morning, our last day in Honolulu, I found myself wide-awake at 6:30 am, so I went down to the lobby,

...where I found a number of other wide-awake folks, including Claire and Miguel.

Hence I procured an iced tea from the Java Cafe and joined them.

Maria and Theresa were also up and already on their way to Lanikai Beach for early morning snorkling,

...where Maria caught sight of this kind of shark (but not this actual shark, this is a picture of the shark she found online ) - a white-tip reef shark, about twice as long as she was tall - swimming along the sea bottom below her,

...after which she hauled elbow back to shore and declared the snorkeling trip officially over.

Meanwhile back at the Hale Koa, as soon as the remainder of our group were up we met at the Koko Cafe for what would be Tom's and my last breakfast there, at least on this trip.

After breakfast I wandered about the Hale Koa seeking out a few final shots of the place.

For the rest of the day everyone went about their respective activities, most opting for a beach day,

...though Miguel walked to a nearby theater in Waikiki to catch the Avengers movie on its opening weekend. Though he went to an early matinee the theater was packed with Avengers fans, with every seat filled.

Tom took one for the team and returned our rented Ford Explorer to the airport, taking a bus back, while Theresa and I decided to walk to the Ala Moana Center, a shopping mall about two miles from the Hale Koa and the largest mall in the Hawaiian Islands.
Soon after we started out the clouds rolled in then the heavens opened with a rain shower. Fortunately in Waikiki one is never far from an ABC Store,

...so before getting too wet we able to procure a couple of $1.99 rain ponchos, which kept us dry, if not stylish, for the rest of our walk to the Ala Moana Center.

The Ala Moana Center, we learned, is a spacious, pretty indoor/outdoor mall,

...where, of course, there is an ABC Store.

Two, actually.

A middle school choir was singing ballads on a stage in the middle of the mall.

It was sweet watching and listening to their young voices because it brought back memories of all the choir concerts I used to go to years ago when Theresa was a member of the Columbus Children's Choir.
Below, Theresa, about 18 years ago, hamming it up with some Choir members before a Christmas concert.

By the time we left the Ala Moana Center the rain had stopped and so we had a nice, sunny walk back to the Hale Koa,

...where we later met up with the rest of the group for our final family dinner at the Koko Cafe.

The following morning. Monday April 29, Maria, Justin and the girls took an early flight back to Los Angeles, while Claire, Miguel, Tommy, Emily, and Theresa took a late-afternoon red-eye back to Chicago, which gave them time for one more Koko Cafe breakfast followed by half-a-day of beach and lounging-around time.
Tom and I were back in the Lobby for our last time at 7:30 am,

...from where we took a Speedi Shuttle to the Honolulu Airport,

...where we ate breakfast at the Chow Mein Express.

It wasn't Koko Cafe fare, but it was actually a pretty good breakfast.

...with a nice view.

Soon after we were on our way to our next destination from Hawaii, happily not yet Columbus, Ohio,

...but rather Los Angeles,

...aka Hawaii Lite.

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The Tree Of Life

5/11/2019

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...Continued from yesterday:
Below the lobby of the Hale Koa hotel,

...there is a courtyard,

...landscaped with beautiful tropical flora and fauna.

In the center of the courtyard there is a giant tree with some kind of vines or hanging roots that cascade downward from the branches.

I was fascinated by the tree, as I'm sure are most visitors to the Hale Koa, and I loved looking down at it from the lobby above.

...especially at night when it was lit up with blue light.

My grand daughters loved the tree, too.

They named it the Tree of Life.

       We had talked about having a family picture taken while here in Hawaii, but the days were so busy that it seemed that we might not get around to it.
         As of Saturday the photo shoot still hadn't happened.
        On Saturday morning most of the group - myself not included - left for a visit to Pearl Harbor, and when they returned on Saturday afternoon, though the sky was cloudy and overcast and the sea had turned from bright turquoise blue to grey-green,

...we opted to spend the rest of the day at the beach,

...where my grand daughters made a friend.

    While we were on the beach the subject of the family picture arose. The day was overcast and almost done at that; still, this was almost our last day; should we try to get the picture done this day?
     We decided to give it a try, and we packed up, left the beach, and agreed to meet in an hour, at 5 pm, under the Tree of Life, which we all agreed should be the backdrop for our family picture.
     By 5 pm we were all at the Tree. Tom went up to the lobby to seek out a staff member of the Hale Koa who might be willing to take a picture of us, and one of the desk clerks was happy to oblige.
     And so we had our family picture taken under the Tree of Life,

...and a few other shots as well.

After our photo shoot we walked into downtown Waikiki,

...to have dinner at a little ramen place,

...where the food was really good and exotic-looking.

Tofu

Ramen

After dinner we strolled around town,

...and over to the Island Vintage Shave Ice stand next to the Royal Hawaiian Center.

Then we sat around for a while,

...then walked around for a while,

...soaking up the aura of Saturday night in Honolulu.

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A Nice Surprise At The Royal Hawaiian Center

5/9/2019

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...Continued from yesterday:

Friday afternoon, after we finished shopping and strolling around the market (see yesterday's post),

...Theresa and I - Tom had left to pick up the bikers, who'd finished their biking and hiking around Diamond Head - exited at the other end of Dukes Alley and found ourselves back on Kalakaua Avenue across from the Royal HawaiianCenter,

...which, happily, happens to be next door to the Island Vintage Shave Ice stand (see post from 5/2/2019, "Hula Dancers And The Best Shave Ice On The Island").

After having spent the better part of the morning first walking around looking for the market then walking around the market, a nice, refreshing shave ice seemed the very thing.

Theresa ordered a Heavenly Lilikoi, with strawberry and Lilikoi ice over frozen yogurt and a side of lilikoi popping boba,

...while I had a green tea and lychee with popping boba, which was indeed very refreshing.

We ate our shave ices in the Royal Hawaiian Center Grove.

Afterwards we went into the Royal Hawaiian Center mall next to the Grove,

...where there was a food court,

...in which there was a bakery that displayed the most charming little pastries.

     I swore that if I ever came back to Honolulu I would come back to this food court and snag myself one.
    But it was in the mall restroom where I discovered the most pleasantly surprising gem.
    A couple of years ago a member of my Panera Posse,

...the group of beautiful ladies with whom I meet every Wednesday morning for coffee, tea, and discussion,

...anyway, one of the Posse members went on an educational tour of China.
     Among the photos of her trip that she shared with the Posse there was a picture of an item that so captured my imagination that for a while after seeing that photo of that item I had a strong desire to find and possess said item.
      The item - which my friend discovered in the bathroom of her hotel in Shanghai - is a jet-spray toilet called a Toto Washlet Performance Toilet (see post from 11/13/2014, "All I Want For Christmas Is A Toto Washlet"). This toilet had a remote control button that sent cleansing jet sprays of water upward. The press of another button controlled an upward-blowing air dryer. Hence there was no need for toilet paper. The Toto Washlet was invented in Japan, and while it is commonly found throughout that country, one would not expect to find such an amenity in any public restroom in the U.S.
      But when I entered the stall of the ladies' room at the Royal Hawaiian Center, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

...but a Toto Washlet Performance Toilet,

...with all the fixin's.

     Was the Toto Washlet experience everything I imagined it would be? It was.
     Do I now wish I owned one? I do.
     Will I ever go out and buy one? Eh, probly not.
     Theresa and I then walked back to the Hale Koa,

...to which the biker-hikers had returned, and were chilling in their hotel rooms,

...before we all headed back down down to the beach.

There's a place on the beach that rents beach furniture and toys such as boogie boards, scuba gear, floating carpets, and giant sea bikes that one can ride in the water.

   The equipment is rented on the honor system, with the renters leaving their rented items on the beach when they leave and the rental company employees combing the beach at the end of the day to pick up the items.
       For this reason there is a practice of people who leave the beach before the end of the day giving their rented toys to others still on the beach to use for the rest of the day.
     Thus my family, who generally stayed on the beach until day's end, tended to be the daily recipients of beach toy swag given to them by people who were finished with their toys for the day.
       Among the toys we scored to use over the week were two children's beach chairs, an inner tube,

...a floating carpet,

...and on this day two boogie boards, upon which my grand daughters stood at the edge of the surf, "riding," squealing with excitement every time the water came up far enough to wash over their feet.

We stayed on the beach until the sun began to think about setting,

...and the rental company workers began collecting the rentals from the beach.
Then we headed back to the hotel by way of the botanical garden.

Tom invited the adults over to our room for a "beer-thirty" happy hour.

When the little ones were dressed and ready,

...we headed down to the Koko Cafe for dinner, where this night we were given our own dining room with a nice view of the beach and the sunset,

...and where I guess we must have found something hilariously funny.

After dinner we walked down to the beach,

...to join the crowd that had gathered to watch the Friday night fireworks.

Then we followed the crowd along the beach,

...into downtown Waikiki,

...that looked so pretty and alive on this Friday night.

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The Mysterious Market

5/7/2019

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...Continued from yesterday:
On Friday morning some of our group went on a bike hike along the coast followed by a walking hike to the top of Diamond Head, pictured below,

...while others headed directly for the beach.

Tom, Theresa, and I started our day at the Koko Cafe,

... which, along with the awesome dinner buffet, also offers an awesome breakfast buffet.

Omelette station,

...and a friendly chef.

I didn't try the coffee jello cubes, but I heard from those who did that they're great if you need a quick shot of caffeine.

After breakfast Tom, Theresa and I walked down to the beach,

...to say hello to Claire and Miguel, who'd already staked a nice spot in the sand.

Then we headed back to the hotel, taking a stroll through the botanical garden along the way.

We next decided to walk into downtown Waikiki,

...to look for a street market tucked away off the beaten path that Tom and I happened upon during our last visit to Honolulu (see post from 4/24/2017, "Busing Around Honolulu, Day Two). But now neither of us could remember where it was.
We'd asked about the market at the hotel desk but the clerk pointed out an image on a city street map that appeared to be a recessed mall of upscale stores called the International Market. This, we knew, was not our market. We also asked a tour guide we met on our way into town but he, too, directed us to the International Market.
We decided to try and find the place on our own by walking around the streets,

...starting with the main commercial strip, Kalakaua Avenue,

...where we walked up the street,

...and down the street,

...but we had no luck.
So we cut over to a parallel street, Kuhio Street, which we likewise wandered up and down,

...with no luck until we were accosted by two hippie-looking young women who were trying to sell us something, a guided tour, or a time-share, or a tie-dyed tee shirt, none of which we wanted. However Tom asked them about the street market and they knew exactly what we wanted and where to find it.
     "Dukes Alley," one of the young women told us, pointing out the way, "a really small street about a block away, off to your left."
       We followed the girl's instructions and sure enough, there was a tiny street sign that we'd passed and re-passed without noticing, as the alley ran perpendicular between Kuhio and Kalakaua Streets.
       The market was tucked so far back into the alley that I can't figure out how we found it in the first place.
          But there it was,

...in all its colorful glory,

...and we found some good deals there,

...on aloha shirts and dresses.

To be continued...

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The Maunawili Falls Trail And The Pupukea Beach Tide Pools

5/6/2019

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...Continued From Yesterday:
The following day, Thursday, April 25, we were once again in the lobby of the Hale Koa before dawn,

...joining the other early risers lined up at the Java Cafe,

...to grab an early breakfast before heading out to our destinations for the day: The Maunawili Falls Trail and the Pupukea Beach tide pools.

After a pre-trip cheer we passengered into our vehicles,

…Maria, Justin and family into the snazzy red convertible they’d rented,

…and the rest of us into our Ford Expedition.

Then once again we had the chance to see Waikiki looking so pretty in the early morning light,

…as did Honolulu and the misty hills off in the distance.

The Maunawili Falls Trail was a half-hour drive from Honolulu through breath-taking landscapes.

The trail head began on a cul-de-sac of a residential neighborhood, so we parked the cars in the the cul-de-sac,

…and entered the trail, our plan being to walk two miles down to the Maunawili Falls, which was at the bottom of a valley and, according to our guidebook, one of the hidden gems of Oahu.

Eventually the trail became very steep and muddy and treacherous with roots.

Tom and I decided that, while we could most probably conquer the remainder of the trail if we had our hiking sticks, not having them we’d be wiser to leave the rest of the trail to the youngsters.

So we turned back,

…passing this sign along the way, but opting this time to stick with the mild rather than the spice of life,

…and taking instead a walk through the neighborhood next to the trail,

As I walked around this neighborhood I could hardly imagine what it would be like to live here in the midst of these panoramic views and natural wonders. But in truth, even though I enjoyed seeing this beautiful spot, I wouldn’t want to live here. Way too quiet and isolated for me.
As it turned out the rest of our hiking party ended up eventually aborting the mission before reaching the Maunawili Falls, concluding, as Tom and I had at an earlier point, that, although this trail had been advertised in the guide book as family-friendly, it was becoming too treacherous for this family.

From Maunawili we drove northwest across the island,

…stopping along the way in the town of Wahiawa for brunch at a little diner we found called Koa Pancakes,

…where, I can vouch, the pancakes and waffles were great,

...and the omelettes and potatoes were good, too.

After brunch we continued driving for about another half hour until we reached the north shore,

…and Pupukea Beach,

…where the tide pools are.

Tide pools are shallow pools of sea water left behind on rocky shores at low tide,

...in which one can find interesting fish, plants, and other forms of sea life.

While everyone else played in the tide pools,

...I was perfectly happy to sit on the shore and watch our stuff and snap pictures.

Across the street from the beach was a little snack stand that sold fresh ice-cold coconuts from which one sipped the refreshing coconut water.

It was late afternoon when we headed back across the island to Honolulu,

...where we arrived in time for dinner at the Koko Cafe (see yesterday's post).

After dinner we walked down to the beach,

...then we strolled around Waikiki,

...making a stop at the ABC Store (see post from 4/30/2019, "The ABC Store And A Poke Bowl Picnic"),

...before heading back,

...to the Hale Koa.

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The Koko Cafe

5/3/2019

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...Continued from yesterday:
On most nights during our stay at the Hale Koa we had dinner at our favorite of the hotel's several restaurants, the Koko Cafe, which looks out over the ocean,

...could always quickly and easily accommodate all eleven of us,

...serves a great glass of iced tea,

...and offers the best dinner buffet on the planet.

Baked potato bar

Alaskan King Crab Legs

And then there were the desserts,

...and the ice cream sundae bar.

After dinner a walk was usually in order.

On Wednesday night the youngsters walked into downtown Waikiki,

...and afterwards those who didn't have children to put to bed came back to hang for a while at the Barefoot Bar, the Hale Koa's beach-side bar.

Tom and I opted to walk along the beach,

...where Diamond Head looked surreal in the light of the setting sun.

Then we cut over from the beach to the street,

...and walked to the Halekulani Hotel.

We went out to the hotel's patio bar to see if by chance the wonderful Hawaiian trio we'd hear play there on our last visit to Honolulu might still be there. As it turned out that same band was playing, but they were on break when we arrived.
A few minutes after we were seated on the patio it began to rain. The wait staff immediately rushed out to the patio with dozens of umbrellas, enough to keep all the patrons dry.

After the rain stopped the Hawaiian trio returned to the stage,

...and were soon joined by a wonderful hula dancer.

We stayed until the band finished their set, then we walked back,

...to the Hale Koa.

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Hula Dancers And The Best Shave Ice On The Island

5/2/2019

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...Continued from yesterday:
Wednesday afternoon, after our picnic lunch of poke bowls from the ABC Store (see yesterday's post), our group dispersed, some heading back to the Hale Koa to do some work or read in the lobby,

...others, after having spent the morning snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, to now try out the snorkeling on the coral reefs off the beach behind the Hale Koa.

Those who tried it found the snorkeling on our hotel beach to be wonderful, maybe better than the snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, as the reefs here were deeper, which gave better views of the fish swimming below the surface of the water.
My daughter Claire saw this strange fish, called a flying gurnard, at the Hale Koa reef.

While the others snorkeled or relaxed my daughter Maria, my grand daughters and myself opted to walk to the main strip in downtown Waikiki,

...Kalakaua Avenue,

...for a shave ice.

    Shave ice, an iconic Hawaiian refreshment, is a mountain of pulverized ice over which fruit-flavored syrups are poured and typically served in a flower pot-shaped cup.
    Shave ice is considered a must-eat while in Hawaii, as Tom and I discovered on a trip to Kauai in 2015.

Maria had researched the subject and learned that the best shave ice on the island could be found at a small stand on Kalakaua Avenue called Island Vintage Shave Ice.

It turned out that Island Vintage Shave Ice offered not only the usual variety of syrups, such as strawberry, pineapple and mango, but more exotic flavors as well, such as lilikoi, lychee mint, acai, green tea, and mochi, which is a sweetened rice paste.
But this place takes shave ice to a new level with its specialty items,

...such as the Tropical Island that I ordered,

...which consisted of a heavy snowfall of the powdery ice over a mound of soft ice cream and mochi then syruped with mango and pineapple flavorings, topped with a zigzag of icing,

...and a "snow cap" of fresh pineapple,

...and garnished with delicious little fruit juice-filled balls called popping boba (which my grand daughters felt entitled to pilfer from my dish),

...and some marshmallowy white things that I could not identify but which were also delicious (and to which the grand daughters also felt entitled to help themselves).

Next to the Island Vintage Shave Ice booth there is a popular public park called the Royal Grove or Royal Hawaiian Center, next to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel,