Eleanor

Ok this is for anyone who is a fan of "Gone in 60 Seconds." Zach and I were on our way back home after driving up the Waianae Coast when we decided to take Farrington Hwy and tool around near Barber's Point. There are a lot of manufacturers and one junkyard in the area. The junkyard just happened to have a striped 1967 GT 500E with weeds growing in and out of it. So of course that is the one thing Zach wanted me to take a picture of after being out all afternoon. Fans of Eleanor enjoy.

Clock in Chinatown

Zach and I went to Chinatown on Saturday morning (2-11-2006) to get some vegetables, shrimp, and fresh pasta from the farmer's market and I noticed that the clock in the courtyard has Chinese characters in place of Arabic numerals. Zach bought some really hot chili peppers and limes that made for a nice centerpiece on the bar in the kitchen. The chili peppers are called Kgin Ped Dai Mai and reach 70,000 Schofield units. Not as hot as a Habanero but close. We then went home and had shrimp pasta for lunch. Really, really good! And then I made Zach go interview clothes shopping with me to Sears at Ala Moana. Found a really nice outfit for $50 and Zach was very patient. I owe him fishing trip for that. On Sunday we went to Waikiki for the afternoon. Our reason for going was to see if we could bargin for some nice aloha style luggage. No luck with that but we did enjoy some Cheesecake Factory cheesecake by the beach. I had the Key Lime cheesecake while Zach got the Tiramisu cheesecake. Good stuff in small quantities but too powerful to eat all the time. While walking around Waikiki, I took pictures of random things like a view down the Ala Wai canal looking towards Diamond Head, a WWII memorial, and the staircase of a trendy clothing store, 88 T-Shirts, with license plates from all over the US.

Valentine's Day Party

We hosted a "Welcome to the Lab/Valentine's Day" party today and welcomed Lifang Zhang (research assistant) and ------ (lab assistant) to the lab. Thanks to people for bringing some really good plum sauce chicken wings and fried rice. Anna made a really great salad and introduced us to Papaya Seed salad dressing. Thanks to Mingxiao for the pizzas. Zach liked the mexican one. Zach's fried chicken was a hit that we'll definitely have to have again sometime soon! And of course because we had the party before Valentine's Day the pictures have a V-day theme to them. Thanks to everyone who came!

The Waianae Coast

Zach and I went up the Waianae Coast on Sunday afternoon two weekends ago. We went as far as Makua Sands Beach before we had to turn around. The surf was so high that a part of the road had been covered by sand and waves further up. The Waianae Coast is the least visited part of the island by tourists. We stuck out like a sore thumb with our rental car and cameras. We also garnered more than a few unhappy looks by the locals. Friendliness is not their forte. There are also large homeless tent camps in the beach parks along the coast so if you ever visit use common sense and caution. But the views are amazing and when the surf's up the waves are huge!

North Shore and around Oahu in February

Zach had drills weekend before last so we had a rental car and went on a tour of Oahu on Saturday afternoon. Usually we start by going down H1 to Kalanianaole Hwy. around the southern point of Oahu and up the Windward side but this time we went north and started with Haleiwa on North Shore. Before we got to Haleiwa we stopped at the Dole Plantation where I got a pineapple float that I highly recommend and Zach got a chili pineapple hotdog that I do not recommend. Then we moved on to Haleiwa. We got shave ice from Matsumoto's and stopped to take a few requisite beach pictures. Zach got a Chik-O-Stick which I'd never heard of before and tasted like a butterfinger with coconut to me. Then we were off to the Windwind side of Oahu! We stopped at one of the many shrimp shacks along Kamehameha Hwy to check out the prices. Sticker shock made us take a picture of the nice shack, get back into our car and continue our afternoon drive. We spent the rest of our time taking pictures of the shoreline as the sun went down: old sugar plantation ruins, a horse farm, surfers, the sun on a part of the Koolau Ridge and old cars on the highway. Then we went home and had dinner but I don't remember as it was two weekends ago and I should have made this entry back then. Such is life.

Just try to say you can't find our place!

Last week, if you didn't know it, Honolulu had its picture taken. Here we are in the pic.