Michael Buble

A while back Lisa saw on Facebook that Ally Minks (Brandon’s girlfriend) had attended a Michael Buble concert. When Ally saw that, she checked and saw that Buble was playing in San Diego and suggested to Brandon that they buy Lisa (and me) tickets to his concert. They are not cheap tickets. We were surprised and thrilled and last Wednesday (Sep 21) we went and saw him. I guess we weren’t supposed to know that the whole thing was Ally’s idea and that she helped pay for them but Brandon let it slip. Thank you Ally.

You may remember from previous posts that music is not high on my list of interests but that guy is an entertainer and a very good singer. I also found it fascinating that he sings songs that most people would consider old fashioned. At the concert he even said that some of his favorite singers are Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como and people like that.

We then went to where we figured our seats should be on row 17 but the rows ended at 14. Above row 14 they had built a few rows with a counter top in front of them. They weren’t numbered so we just took a seat and waited for someone to kick us out. No one did so we enjoyed the concert in comfort.

The Miramar Air Show

Westview High School, where Lisa works, has a JROTC program. As part of their recruitment program the Navy runs a pavillion at the airshow and allows kids for the High Schools with JROTC programs to use the pavillion. Because Lisa works there she gets free tickets.

We’ve invited the kids to come with us before but no one has taken us up on the offer but this year Justin & Kira jumped at the chance. Sadly Evan had his Home coming dance this weekend and he also had to make a trip to Calgary for the drug trial he is on so Friday night Justin showed up with Landon, Piper and Cameron. It was so good to see them.

As the Temple and Family History Leader for our ward I had planned a Ward Family History Fair on September 24 (the air show is usually in October) from 3:00 – 5:00 so we decided to go to the airshow on Sunday after church.

Saturday morning we took the kids on a hike through Annies slot canyon. It is a fun and short hike and they loved it. At one point the hike takes you on top of a ridge and you have a great view of the estuary.

After the Family History Fair we all went out for dinner. The plan was to go to the Corvette diner but when they told us it was a two hour wait (they said that with a straight face) we went to plan B. 

We had a great chicken sandwich at the Crack Shack.

Mom was recently called to be a Relief Society teacher and today was her first lesson so she didn’t feel like she could skip it. The rest of us went to the Black Mountain Wards 9:00 church and then headed to the air show but mom didn’t join us until after her Relief Society lesson. From all accounts she did a great job on her lesson.

The other exciting thing that happened today was that Alex flew down for a ten hour visit. They have just spent a fortune on their move back from Germany (plus some other expenses that would take too long to explain) and can’t afford a second vehicle right now. They deparately need one so mom suggested that they buy an old but reliable high milage vehicle. We have had great luck with Toyota’s and our current Sienna van has well over 300,000 miles so they decided to go for a Sienna.

Vans are expensive and hard to come by in Utah with all those large families so Mom found a good one for them here in Southern California. We also bought ourselves a newer old van with less than half the miles of our old van as well. That means that we currently have four vans and six cars parked in front of our house. It looks like a used car lot.

So Alex flew down last night to pick up his new van and drove off this morning. It was a short visit but it was great to see him. He hasn’t been home in over two years.

The Ranger hasn’t run for a couple of years now. It needs a head job and I keep saying I’m going to get it done but let’s face it. It probably isn’t going to happen. It is now sold and we will be selling the old Sienna now that things have calmed down so that will leave us with a car each and Kira’s handicap van which is a great work van. The old Sienna still runs great but it needs a new AC pump, the shocks are shot, the rear main seal has a small leak, and it is to the point that it will soon need new Cat’s and a timing belt. I believe this is the orginal timing belt. With 300,000 miles that is a bit of a miracle in and of itself.

Hawaii Day 6

Friday, February 25

Friday morning started out with a wonderful breakfast of my favorite of Hash Browns and two eggs over easy but today it came with two guava chiffon pancakes. They were amazing and the only downside is that we had to wait for an hour to get our table.

The restaurant was called Cinnamons and while it was wonderful I’m sure I would have waited an hour for breakfast had I known before we got there. Luckily we were able to use most of the time running a couple of errands that needed to be done.

Our next stop was Pali Point which is extremely beautiful, extremely windy and extremely sad. The Pali cliffs were created as the island was forming. At one point the mountain split in two and one half fell into the ocean. These cliffs are where the island split.

As King Kamihamaha was taking over the islands Oahu was the last island to be taken. King Kam had a definite advantage since he was able to get his hands on a few rifles and a canon. He was finally able to force the local warriors along with a bunch of women and children into a corner and drove them up this valley until they were backed up against the cliffs where he proceeded to force the warriors along with their women and children over the cliff. It wasn’t long afterwards that King Kam ruled over all of the Hawaiian Islands.

In 1898 they were building a highway along the base of the cliff and the workers found 800 human skulls and the bones to go along with them. They included skulls from men, women and children.

Now it was on to the Polynesian Cultural Center. On the way we were listening to Lisa’s app and I learned two very fascinating stories. The first was the origin of the shaka. The shaka is that hand symbol that is symbolic of Hawaii. It was actually started by a Mormon.

Back in the day the saints in Laie made money by growing sugar cane. A man named Hamana Kalili worked in the sugar mill and ended up losing the first three fingers of his right hand. After he recovered they gave him a job directing traffic around the train. He also directed the local choir. The people in the cars and the locals hitching a ride on the train just assumed that he had his fingers folded down and waved back with their fingers folded down. It didn’t take long before this hand sign was used all through the islands.

The other story is the origin of the Polynesian Cultural Center. In the early part of this century a local chapel burned down and the local wards decided to raise money to rebuild it. They decided host a hukilau and sell tickets to the event. A hukilau is an ancient Hawaiian way of fishing. The village would get together and cast a large net out to sea. They would all pull in the net and share the catch among the workers.

They intended to sell 700 tickets but ended up selling 2,000 tickets. This turned into a regular event and it soon became obvious that there was a strong interest in understanding and preserving the local cultures. The PCC was created to do just that and has “islands” representing Fuji, Samoa, New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii and Tonga.

We knew that Ellie Sanchez was attending BYU Hawaii and we had plans to meet up with her for lunch but what a delight it was to see her at the front gate. She gave us the low down and which Islands we had to see and so off we went.

The entire place was amazing but for me there were three highlights. Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand. Samoa had a great show, Tonga started a fire in less than a minute by rubbing two sticks together and New Zealand was special for a very different reason.

As a young man my dad served a mission in New Zealand and then again as a senior he and Maurine served a mission to New Zealand. They were several men from his age group in Southern Alberta that served missions there and it became a tradition that when one of them pass away the rest of them sang a Mauri song at their funeral. They sang at the viewing before my Dads funeral and recently Lisa (and I) have been wondering what song it was that they sang. There is no one left that we can ask so at the Maori pavilion we asked some of the workers there. They made many suggestions but none of them sounded right. After the show two of them waved us over and asked us if they sang a song if we would recognize it. One of them played a guitar and they sang to us. We both felt the spirit very strongly and knew that this was the song. It is called Now is the Hour. The lyrics in English are:

Now is the hour when we must say goodbye
Soon you'll be sailing far across the sea
While you're away, oh, then remember me
When you return, you'll find me waiting here

Sunset glow fades in the west
Night over the valley is creeping
Birds cuddle down in their nest
Soon all the world will be sleeping

Now is the hour when we must goodbye
Soon you'll be sailing far across the sea
While you're away, oh, then remember me
When you return, you'll find me waiting here

 

In case any of you know Maori the lyrics are:

 

Pö atarau

E moea iho nei

E haere ana

Koe ki pämamao

 

Haere rä
Ka hoki mai anö
Ki i te tau
E tangi atu nei

 

"Haere ra,"
te manu tangi pai.
E haere ana,
koe ki pamamao.

 

Haere ra,
ka hoki mai ano,
Ki-i te tau,
e tangi atu nei

It was an amazing experience.

We stayed and had a good visit with one of the men and he shared with us his thoughts on “Father Hagoth” who President David O McKay told a group of Maori members was their ancestor. He pointed out the Maori symbol at the peak of the pavilions roof and on the left is a figure holding a ball “of curious workmanship” and the figure on the right is holding a stylus much like one might us to engrave on plates of gold.

We then took a tour of the Town of Leia and the temple but unfortunately the temple visitor’s center was closed that day. Bummer.

We then took Ellie for dinner at the food trucks. I had a batch of delicious fish and chips and then we enjoy an amazing night show. It was another great day in Paradise.

Running

I love to run. I try and run every day. I find it relaxing and rejuvenating. Because I’m out there to enjoy myself I am not a fast runner. I run to enjoy things like this picture. If I’m running for speed I can’t just stop and enjoy sunrises like this one yesterday. I can do six miles in about 75 minutes.

I was talking to Alex last night and he convinced me that I need to start doing some speed training so this morning I ran a mile as fast as I can. I figured I’d be lucky to break a ten minute mile. I ran an eight and a half minute mile. My new goal is to get under eight minutes.

Hawaii Day 5

February 24, 2022

Thursday was spent on the north shore but before we headed out we made a stop at the Dole Plantation. A friend of Lisa’s asked her to pick up some gummy pineapple rings for her and since the Dole Plantation is right next to the Schofield Barracks where we’re staying we decided to pick them up there.

I know it would be interesting to tour the plantation but in my mind there are so many more interesting things to see and do so we decided to pass it up. We were quite surprised however to learn how much there is to see and do right in their front yard. They have experimental gardens with many variations of pineapple plus they are growing cocoa and other plants as well. It was quite interesting and we checked it all out including the famous Dole Whip which is basically pineapple sherbet. I wanted to buy some Macadamia nuts as well but Lisa assured me they would be much cheaper at Walmart and probably the same brand.

We drove through Haleiwa just to check the place out and to our surprise; on our way out of town we passed a sign identifying The North Shore Macadamia nut farm. We pulled into this beautiful farm yard and we had no sooner stopped but a chicken jumped up on the hood of our car. Those crazy wild chickens are everywhere. I told the guy at the store that he should add fried chicken to his menu. We loaded up on Macadamia nuts and carried on.

Our next stop was Turtle Beach which is officially called Laniakia Beach. We refer to it fondly as Sarah’s beach because we have a picture of her puting her fins on when we were on that beach 18 years ago.

There were many turtles back then but this is the only turtle we saw this time. Her name is Hiwahiwa which means “Precious One”. She is over 50  years old and has made three trips to the French Frigate Shoals to nest. The first was in 2002 and then again in 2010 and 2017. In 2010 they could tell she was getting ready to leave so they were able to put a tracker on her. During that trip she made a record breaking 570 foot dive.

Our next stop was the Pu’u O Mahuka Heiau temple site. In the days of the chiefs, a chieftan contained everything needed to sustain life. The chieftan was wedge shaped with a section of the beach where people would fish and then reach up into the moutains where other groups of people would farm taro. They traded with each other to get everything they needed. The whole island was divided into these pie shaped chieftans. Today the original   chieftains are marked out by these signs that identify the orginal borders dividing the territories.  

Many of these territories built themselves temples like these ones. Originally they had sacred buildings inside these walls where the normal guy wasn’t allowed to go.

Our next stop was the food trucks by Sharks Cove. We got the obligatory shrimp which was good but I didn’t think it was as crazy good as everyone says it is. As we were eating, Lisa saw Carston Kooyman go walking by. What a coincidence. We had a good visit, took a picture and then headed across the street to go snorkeling. 

The cove is sheltered by all these nasty volcanic rocks so the water was calm and Lisa really got into the snorkeling. We saw some amazing fish and stayed there for hours. We were reluctant to leave but finally decided that if we wanted our pie we would have to move on.  

As we were leaving Lisa didn’t want to interupt two girls who were blocking the path and tried to go around them. Big mistake, she slipped on those nasty rocks and cut up her hand pretty good and is now sporting a 6” bruise on her left butt cheek. I think what bugs her more than anything else is the blood stain she now has on her watch band.   

After bandaging her up we then headed down the road to Teds Bakery famous for their pie. We tried three different flavors. I think mine was a mango cream or something like that but they were all very delicous.

Our final stop of the day was Sunset Beach where, you guessed it, we watched the sun set. It was quite spectacular.

Hawaii Day 4

February 23, 2022

Wednesday morning we headed straight to the Aloha Flea Market. 

Lisa really wanted us to get matching Hawaiian outfits but we spent a very long time looking for a dress she was happy with. She finally found a dress she liked and then we also bought matching shirts.

Once we had our matching outfits we headed to Bishops Museum. We could have spent all day in that place but we had to pick and choose what we checked out because we had to head home to get ready for our big Luau.

I figured Bishops museum was named after some Catholic bishop but as it turns out it is named after the husband of the last living descendant of King Kam.

Bernice Pauahi Pākī was the last legal heir to the Kamihamaha dynasty and so inherited everything. She decided she wanted to use this wealth to educate her people so that is what she did. She founded several schools but when she died her husband, Charles Reed Bishop built this museum to house the many artifacts she had inherited. It was beautiful and very informative.

We spent a good part of the day there but finally headed out to our big Luau we had planned. We should have headed out a bit sooner because we underestimated the Honolulu rush hour. Of course, our little detour to Leonida’s to pick up a couple of Malasada’s didn’t help either.

A Malasada is a Portuguese pastry with a delicious filling. I would have picked up several except we were on our way to a Luau.

The Luau was everything they had billed it to be. They served everything, pork, beef, chicken and salmon and I had some of everything. I even went back for seconds even though I was completely stuffed.

Several of Lisa’s colleagues happened to be in Hawaii at the same time as us. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise since it was Poway’s spring break. We decided to try and hook up with them for the Luau. Do you like Lisa’s new Hawaiian dress that she bought. The lady in the middle is Mandy Osbourn and the one of the right is  Liz something or other. Lisa Leavitt is the pretty girl on the left. The show was also very exciting. 

 

It was a lot of fun and it was late before we got left. The Osbourns had their son there because he works for NOA and lives in Hawaii. I had a good visit with him before the show but once the show started it was pretty difficult to have a conversation due to the noise. The is too bad because Liz’s husband seemed like a nice guy but I couldn’t get to know him since they arrived late and we couldn’t really talk. It was late before the show ended and everyone cleared out fast. I think we were the last ones to leave the place but we still had little time to visit.

Hawaii Day 3

February 22, 2022

Tuesday morning we had hoped to catch Pali Points look out first thing in the morning but due to a late start we decided to postpone Pali point and headed straight to the Byodo-In temple.

In 1968 Hawaii wanted to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants so one of the things they did was build this scale model of the 900 year old original temple in Kyoto, The original is a Unesco World Heritage site. The best part of the temple was that they let us ring the huge  bell.  

From the temple we headed for the Lanikai Ridge Pill Box trail. What a beautiful hike. It was very steep and rugged but only a couple of miles long. The view from the top was amazing. We looked down on crystal clear waters and two beautiful islands. I believe the locals call them the twins. That beach you see there is our next stop.

The pill boxes were built in world war two and had guns to defend the islands from a Japanese 

 invasion. I’ll bet it was pretty loud inside here when those guns were firing.   

The ridge goes on and we were told that there were more pill boxes down the trail but after we had fully checked out these two we headed down the hill and out onto a beautiful beach.

Lanikai beach was beautiful and while the water wasn’t as warm as the water at the Electric beach it was still wonderful. Lisa sat and read a book while soaking up some vitamin D and I gave snorkeling another try.

Within the first minute I saw little pieces of coral and as I got further out they became more and more continuous. Once I got out a bit further I started seeing tons of fish as well. Lisa gave it a try as well but the waves made her too nervous.

After the hike and before the beach we grabbed lunch at a place called Kono’s. It may have been the best pulled pork sandwich I have ever eaten. You know it is a great place when people are lined up all along the sidewalk. Due to Covid no one could eat inside but we all sat on the steps and benches in front of the place. We also had several of those crazy chickens looking for a hand out as well. 

After we were done at the beach we headed back to Lyndsey’s for a nice steak dinner. It was another great day.