Cheese Facts
As an end-of-the-year, Greta-has-no-plans-on-her-day-off cleansing ritual, I'm going through old emails and sorting or deleting the older ones. Here is something Jenn had sent me in October of 2007 apparently:
"Until the late 19th Century
some people paid their rent with Cheese.
Cheese has been used as glue and
some very mature cheese has been used as cement.
There is an old saying of
"The bigger the dairymaid the better the cheese"
This is usually because she would be stronger in pressing the cheese.
In the peasants revolt of 1381
anybody unable to say "bread and cheese"
Without a foreign accent was sent to the block.
Chasing the cheese was a popular game
in various parts of England,
usually on the Spring Bank Holiday
cheeses would be rolled down hills for prizes.
They that made me were uncivil
For they made me harder than the devil;
Knives won't cut me, fire won't sweat me,
Dogs bark at me but won't eat me.
The above was a rhyme of the now forgotten
17th Century Essex and Suffolk cheeses.
In traditional forms,
Cheshire is the tallest cheese at 15 inches and
Leicester the widest at 18 inches."
Found at http://www.geocities.com/burgerzking/cheesefacts.html
Resolutions for the New Year
New Year's resolutions have seemed a bit contrived to me in the past couple years. However, this year there really are things I want to work on, and the new year just provides a solid deadline to implement them.
First is sticking to a budget. I've written out a preliminary budget for Brent and myself, and it should be fairly easy to stay within as long as we are cognisant of what we are spending. The result will be a lot more saving up than we've been doing, because we know exactly how much we need to spend.
Second is keeping in touch with friends. It seems that this time of year reminds me of all the folks who are far away. It also brings on a lot of guilt for not keeping in touch. I'm going to try to implement a round letter or something, so that I stay in regular touch with folks, rather than just emailing or calling them out of the blue when something comes up.
We'll see how these pan out!
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!
Birthday discourse with Erik
"Happy Birthday Greta!
I hope the your Birthday is the very Wondtacular.
Filled with Salsa,
Jimmy Hendrix and of course Hungry Hungry Hippos. But
seriously, make
sure that you are toasty because our house here is
freezing. Have lots
and loads and bellies full of fun!
Love
Erik"
"Thank you for the well-wishes. I would say there was a little salsa, if you count the fairly spicy chili I made (I like to follow it up with some eggnog to kill the burn), and there might have been some Jimmy Hendrix, though I didn't notice it clearly...much better than Hungry Hungry Hippos, there was Godzilla and trampolines! We spent an hour at a place called Jump Street, which is a big warehouse full of trampolines and one dodge ball court made of trampolines. It was good times and good exercise. And I got a poncho as a present, so I'm plenty toasty. You should get yourself a nice Spanish blanket or something to wrap up in.
Love,
Greta"
So I'm a ripe old 25 now. Feels good. Like an adult...mostly.
Pictures!
Photos have been posted by popular demand. I'll slowly be integrating them into the Hawaii posts, so that they have a running commentary. If you just want to see the pictures themselves, they can be found on my flickr page (harempants).
Cow
Gift from Highlands Ranch turf: cow on a swing.
Advice for flying standby, if you must
(Originally composed Wednesday, December 03, 2008 12:30 PM Hawaii time)
While I don’t plan on doing something like this again soon, there are some things I have learned.
Bring food. Make one of your carry-ons a small cooler and bring food with you, whether purchased for cheap or made at home. Airport food is expensive, and few flights serve meals (or even snacks) anymore, unless you’re lucky enough to fly First Class. You’ll be happy you can eat if you have to sit around awhile and don’t know when or if you’ll be fed on a plane.
Pack light. While there are some things—like a comfy set of clothes and a toothbrush—that come in handy in uncertain flying situations, you will want to move around a bit, or even possibly leave the airport if the time between flights is especially long. In the latter case, you might end up somewhere where you won’t want luggage, like a museum. We’ve considered the possibility of visiting Pearl Harbor, but we would have to check the luggage there, and that’s expensive. In the end, if you must bring a carry-on suitcase, make sure it has wheels. We’ve already had to trek across the terminal with all of our baggage once. In larger airports, gate changes can make those treks more frequent.
Bring a laptop! We were fortunate to have access to my mother’s laptop computer, and while it has been one of the less comfortable things to carry around, it counts as your personal item so it doesn’t have to fit into your other carry-on. Laptops serve multiple purposes. This one has been handy for watching movies and Brent’s TV series’ on DVD. Wi-fi is also widely available, which can aid in things like checking upcoming flights and nearby hotels, staying in touch with family, or just killing time on your blog or favorite comics site. Price-wise, access at Honolulu Airport costs $6.95 for 2 hours, $8.95 for 24 hours, and more for monthly subscriptions (which we obviously don’t need). Even better, at some places the wi-fi is free, while internet kiosks are not, so it might even save you a few bucks over the course of your trip.
Plan for the worst. In general, be prepared to be stuck in an airport a long time, but not necessarily with your own consistent space. Have cash on you, as well as plenty of things to keep you busy. Anything essential to an overnight stay should be packed if it is reasonable to do so. Interestingly I had packed a beach towel in my carry-on, and this turned out to make a wonderful blanket or neck pillow (when rolled into a tube). Also, know your airport and what is close by. If you need something—information or stamps or a shower—it’s good to know where to get it.
My experience has been made easier by having a traveling companion in the form of Brent. One of us is able to stay with the luggage or save a seat while the other uses the bathroom or takes a walk. We are also able to accomplish tasks with double efficiency during time crunches, taking care of two errands at once. While traveling alone has its perks, standby has definitely been easier as a pair. The only downside to this option is that you may have to separate from your partner in order to take a flight that is offered to you.
While this entire thing has been a trying experience, it did save us a bit of money, and at least we’re having an adventure.
Why not to fly Standby
(Originally composed Wednesday, December 03, 2008 11:28 AM Hawaii Time)
The reason I was able to finish so much blogging on Tuesday was that we were stuck in the Honolulu Airport from 6 AM till 3:30 PM, and so decided to invest in a 24 hour wireless internet subscription. That subscription has run out, and so I’m composing this in Microsoft Word at the moment.
The reason we were stuck in the airport for 9 hours was that because of the nature of our tickets (Employee Buddy Passes) we have to fly standby. When we decided to take the deal, the employee (Brent’s coworker Mark) who obtained them gauged from his experience that we would be able to fly without much hassle. This was true of the flight coming from Denver, on which we were given seats rather promptly. Coming back, we anticipated more of a challenge, but after being denied 4 different flights the magnitude of that challenge exceeded even Mark’s expectations.
At any given time, 30-60 people have been standing by on the same list as us, and we don’t seem to rank high enough to have a fighting chance among them. Part of the problem is that we aren’t just gambling on the direct Denver flight (and who could blame us?) but rather all available flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco as well. Therefore we compete with people destined to all sorts of places, not just those going to Denver. The greater problem is that almost every one of these flights is booked solid, if not overbooked, so very few of our predecessors on the list are getting anywhere themselves.
It was this situation, with similar expectations for Tuesday evening’s flights, which prompted us to essentially “give up” and stay the night in a budget hotel, rather than the airport. Granted, very Spartan sleeping options existed near the airport (or very expensive ones, nothing in between) but for the same price plus $8 combined bus fare, we could stay in Waikiki again. At least this way, we figured, we’d get a more interesting dinner selection and a more pleasant night’s sleep. As it turned out, the hotel we chose for its proximity to our bus line also had a pool and a hot tub, which were much needed since it wasn’t close enough to the beach to make that practical.
Up at 4:20 this morning, and we’ve started it all over again. This time we have some insight from Mark on the possibility of flying out of Maui. We would have to buy the tickets to get to Maui, but they only run about $70 apiece with taxes, and $140 is a small price to pay when you consider the cost (monetary and mental) of sitting around for another day. While we didn’t get on either of this morning’s flights, there is a vague possibility of getting on one of the afternoon flights, even if only one of us makes it. If neither of us does, and there isn’t a clearly strong chance for the evening either, Maui is definitely in the cards. Granted it wouldn’t be a trip TO Maui, really, just a transfer at the airport. Still, the flights there are not nearly as full, so it would almost guarantee us getting to Denver by tomorrow morning (Hurray!) At this point we’ve nearly decided to DRIVE home if we can only make it to the mainland.
Monday--Kayaking, beach, and bar food
Monday morning was our last planned activity: sea kayaking. We had to catch the shuttle (everyone seems to have Waikiki shuttles, which is convenient) at 8:10 AM, and we figured breakfast was a good idea since we'd be expending a good deal of energy on the excursion. We walked down the block to Wolfgang Puck Express in hopes of obtaining some quick eats (because of the "Express" part, see?) Brent ordered an omelet and a breakfast sandwich for us, along with some fresh fruit. He waited around for them to cook it, while I went to the shuttle stop. I checked us in on the list, but by the time 8:10 rolled around, Brent still wasn't back with the breakfast! He ended up being almost 10 minutes late because the restaurant took so long! So much for Express.
Once on the shuttle, things went better. We arrived in Kailua and got oriented for the guided kayaking trip while gobbling down our breakfast (they wouldn't let us eat it on the shuttle). Then we were off to the beach, Brent and I trading off pulling our double kayak. Our group paddled halfway out to our final destination--a smaller offshore island called Mokulua--and took a rest on the beach, where we did a bit of not-too-impressive snorkeling (though I did see some little striped fishies in the abundant coral). Soon we were on our way again. As we approached the island, the waves began to become bigger and some of them started breaking near us. On the guide's instruction, we turned our boat into the wave to avoid being capsized. The crest splashed over our little kayak, which was quite exhilarating, and after this happened a couple times we were safe to begin progressing again. Landing was easier than expected, and we pulled our boats onto the shore to enjoy a break and a short tour of the island.
After seeing seabirds, deep tide pools, and lots of volcanic rock, we had our lunch then headed back to Kailua. This time there was no stop in the middle, which was fine since the waves were in our favor going this direction. Brent ended up doing most of the paddling, apparently, and he teased me about my weakness for the rest of the afternoon. We rolled the kayak on its dolly back to the headquarters, returned the equipment, rinsed a little sand off, and waited for our shuttle. Since we had about 15 minutes, we got ourselves a tasty treat from a nearby bakery and coffee shop.
The shuttle had several stops in Waikiki. Rather than get off at our hotel, we decided to get off early and play at the beach some more. The waves were a little better than they had been the first day, since we were on a different, less protected portion of beach. Brent had a hard time getting me out of the water, but our sunscreen was wearing off, so it was for the best.
Back at the hotel we showered and formulated a plan for the evening. We had a few last gifts to buy, so we did some shopping while seeking a place for dinner. After checking several menus we finally settled on a modest bar/restaurant called the Red Lion, which had tasty food at reasonable prices, plus good drink specials. We sat at the bar since there were no tables available, and it was just as well because we got our drinks very promptly. I must have had about four Blue Hawaiians, but at 2.50 apiece I couldn't feel too bad. Brent sampled a couple of local Kona beers as well. Conversation centered around brainstorming ideas to start our own bar and restaurant someday.
We called it an early night after dinner, since we had to get up early for our plane home. I was sad to leave, but over all it was a very pleasant trip.
Sunday--ride around O'ahu
Sunday morning we had arranged to pick up scooters when the rental place opened at 9, so we could make the most of the 24-hour rental period. Although the place was a block from our hotel, we were somehow beat by a large group of Germans, and so it took half an hour or more before we could get going.
Once on the scooters, we made our way to the East, along the South coast of O'ahu in search of breakfast. Not finding anything for a time, we settled on the first restaurant we could find, which was KFC. Not the worst brunch meal, but we later found a shopping center 10 minutes away that would have offered better options, like sushi.
Over the hill from the shopping center were some lovely overlooks of the coastline, including Halona Blowhole, a hole in the volcanic rock creating amazing spurts of water when large waves hit beneath it.
Further along we came upon a sandy beach (actually called "Sandy Beach") with very large waves. Once I saw that people were playing in the waves, I couldn't resist pulling into the parking lot to at least watch for a bit. Brent followed, and we finally decided to make use of the swimsuits we'd packed along.
We played in the surf for about 15 minutes, which consisted of standing on the shore and bracing ourselves for a huge wave to come crashing over us. Sometimes we could withstand the force of the smaller swells, but the larger ones were quite overpowering, dragging us up the beach and nearly removing my swimsuit on several occasions. The pull back into the water was almost equally strong, so it was important to stand up promptly to avoid being towed under another wave. The only experience in my life that remotely resembled it would be the large wave pool at Water World, but in this case the motion was being repeated with consistent force. Quite exhilarating, but after being covered in sand and getting water up my nose, I had to take a break. Brent continued to play, so I took some photos of him.
Once we had rinsed off a bit of the sand, we continued on our way. When we reached the Kailua Beach area we got a little lost. I stopped at a garage sale to shop and Brent got directions from the person running it.
Finally back on track, we eventually stopped for sushi (cheap, if not the fanciest) and mocchi ball ice cream. Although we had eventually planned to circumnavigate the entire island, we had to stop at Hauula, just before the Polynesian Culture Center according to my guidebook. We feared if we went too long the ride back would continue after dark, making the unfamiliar roads more dangerous on small vehicles. On the way back we stopped at a souvenir stand on the side of the road to let the bikes cool down, but otherwise we continued nonstop into Honolulu. This time we skipped the coast and took a quicker, more direct route through the mountains. Unfortunately the steep incline took our weak motors down to 30 mph at best, which made it a little scary riding next to cars going 45 or higher, but people were pretty nice about passing us.
Back in town we rode past the sea ports and stopped at a seaside park to watch the sunset.
We decided on dinner at the Aloha Tower near Downtown since we weren't in Waikiki for once. Parking was a challenge, but we finally discovered we could go into the valet lot for free, since motorbikes can be parked in non-car areas. Options for dinner were limited, as our first choice was closed for a concert and limited to ticketholders only. We could either have Chai's gourmet Hawaiian Regional Cuisine, or a strangely expensive Japanese buffet. Chai's turned out to be a kind of Asian-fusion, not as tasty as we expected but at least creative. Brent made the mistake of ordering a fried whole snapper, which was beautifully presented but very difficult to eat!
Finally back in Waikiki, we dropped off our scooters. Thorough showers followed, as there was still a great deal of sand in our hair and other less pleasant locations...
Many more scooter ride pics at flickr, if you're interested!
Friday and Saturday--around Waikiki and Honolulu
Friday was our first whole day on the island. We began with a stroll down Kuhio street to find breakfast. We had Korean Barbecue from a small take-out place a few blocks away (I had bibimbob and Brent had portuguese sausage and eggs). On the way back we scouted out scooter rental places and prices.
We spent the mid-day at the Honolulu Zoo, very near our hotel, and the afternoon playing in the ocean with boogie boards. By then we were quite hungry, so we went and changed, then found dinner. After much wandering around we ended up at a steak house which wasn't bad. Had lobster, crab, fish and the like.
That night we found a small karaoke bar and had some fun with the regulars there. They caught us doing the Time Warp (see photos). Afterward we migrated briefly to another bar with live music, where a slightly older generation had apparently gathered to dance. Fun people watching was had, but after we finished our drinks it was time to go to bed.
Saturday we got up somewhat early to catch a shuttle to the flea market. It wasn't as impressive as Brent remembered; mostly we found discount versions of the same souvenirs found everywhere else. Nonetheless, I managed to secure a couple of items I'd been wanting to buy anyway at a slightly better price, plus we found some tasty food, so the excursion wasn't all for naught.
We had arranged a return shuttle to Waikiki and our hotel, but after the driver dropped a couple at the airport we were the only passengers, so we asked if we could be dropped at the Bishop Museum instead. She was happy to oblige, so we spent the rest of the afternoon there. We split a small teriyaki bowl for lunch, then saw some exhibits about the Hawaiian volcanoes before going to watch the lava demonstration. They actually created lava in a furnace, and after a presentation about volcanic rocks they dumped it out for all to see!
Other highlights at the museum were a travelling exhibit on the giant Megalodon shark, antiquities donated by Hawaiian royalty of the mid-1800s, and a storytelling presentation about the early Hawaiian rulers.
We finished our visit in the Polynesian Hall (unfortunately the Hawaiian Hall was being renovated), which had artifacts from and information about various Pacific Island cultures.
With the help of the museum employees we located a bus stop and walked there just in time to catch the city bus back to Waikiki. A stop at the post office for stamps, then we meandered back, also stopping to make a reservation at "Top of Waikiki," a revolving restaurant. Back at the hotel we cleaned up and I put on a dress-type garment (wearable at least 21 different ways) and Brent put on a nice shirt, and soon it was time for our dinner reservation.
The restaurant rotated slowly, but we got a couple of 360 views of the area before our meal was over. Dinner was fantastic; we decided this was our anniversary dinner (since our actual 2-year anniversary is on Wednesday) and splurged on an appetizer and dessert, as well as a photo since there was a photographer walking around offering them. Unfortunately I spilled chocolate fondue on my new dress, but it came out pretty easily in the hotel sink. Full of ceviche, duck l'orange, swordfish, and fondue, we retreated to our temporary abode to prepare for the next long day ahead.
