Traveling has always been one of my biggest passion and Hong Kong was the ideal place for me as it’s provides many opportunities to taste wonderful foods, site-see and shop till you drop. In addition to buying many souvenirs for families and friends, I would also purchase many essentials things for myself. One of those purchases would be eyeglasses. I am always on the look out for great deals and a good selections of the latest styles.
As the unemployment continues to climb and the foreclosures on homes across America runs into the hundreds, we need to find an alternative to get what we need at a lower prices. It is no longer economical to travel to foreign countries to purchase these items as taxes on flights, baggage’s and hotel have double. Where does that leave us and what can we do? How can we save money in these hard economic times?
My high school classmate mentioned a wonderful site as I was inquiring about getting eyeglasses. Over lunch, she told me that Zennioptical offer a great selections of glasses at an inexpensive prices. Everything you every want from name-brand to metal, plastic, steel, titanium and even hundreds of shapes of frames to choose from. What are you waiting for? Let’s go shopping!
When one’s thinks of the Hawaiian Islands, often times Hula is associated with it. Hula is a way of life for most Hawaiian and is past from generations to generations, from mother to daughters, father to sons and teachers to students. Dancing the Hula demands dedication and devotion. It is an art form of story telling through beautiful hand motions, chants and songs.
Every year after the Easter holidays, hundreds of people all over the world gather in Hilo, Hawaii to witness the Merry Monarch. It is our King Kalakaua who brought back this ancient art and under his reign, Hula revived and was once again celebrated. In honored of that, King Kalakaua was known as the “Merry Monarch.”
In 1971, the first competitive Merrie Monarch competition took place at the Hilo Civic Auditorium. Nine groups participated and was well received by the audiences. A few years later, with the introduction of men partipants, audiences cheers as they quickly fell in love with the rapid changing and develpments of Hula. Dancers and audiences kept returning every years that the Merry Monarch had to be relocated to a larger area. In 1979, it’s was moved to Edith Kanakoole Stadium. And every year after that, without any interrruption, the Merrie Monarch been seen live by people all over the world and it cover on all State-wide television.
In the Merry Monarch, there are two divisions of group competition, the male (kane) division and the female (wahine) division. Each halau or groups has up to seven minutes on stage and during their performance, they are judged on a variety of things. Similar to the Winter Olympics, judges are looking for different elements in each performance. They are judged on the entrance (kaʻi), the chant (oli), the dance (hula) and finally the exit off stage (hoʻi). The groups are scored on each aspect of the performance and up to 30 halau compete each year. Tickets usually sell out extremely quickly.
During our families get-together, my uncle was telling me where he’s planning to take his 2 kids this summer as they have a long break in-between the school year. It is quite challenging to find something that the kids will love and the adult will equally enjoy.
Welcome to the world of cruising. Nope! I am not talking about driving your car leisurely, but a different approach to vacationing on a large cruise ship.
Oasis is Royal Caribbean’s Biggest Cruise Ship that offers lots of things to do. At 225,000 tons, there lots of areas to explore. The children and teens area is the largest on the ship at 29,000 square feet. There is also the zip line which span 82 feet in length and suspended nine decks high. Of course, you also have a carousel, tropical park, children’s theater and pools for the younger kids. Your child will never run out of things to do.
As for the adult, there’s choices of spas, exotic food buffets, shopping, sports deck, shows, entertainment, pools or just relaxing your beautiful rooms while admiring the views at sea.
Irasshai! Welcoming the season of Spring. As people in Japan waited patiently for the snow to melt, the hard buds that cover plum tress slowly swell and begins to bloom. There is nothing more beautiful for those that have gone through rough, harsh winter then to see the sight of red and white cherry blossoms.
As the days length and the temperature climbs, the sight of cherry blossoms can be seen all over Japan. Each evening on the nightly news, cherry blossom report are also broad cast along side the weather report as the first bloom in Kyushu make their way slowly up Honshu and finally reaching Hokkaido in the month of May.
The Japanese have a special affection for these cherry trees. Groups of friends, families, business colleagues and overseas guests joined in the fun of picnic under the cherry trees as the chat and talk about the beauty of the trees. Popular viewing sites in Japan includes Kukuora Castle, Ebetsu Mountain, Kitakyushu City and many others.
Cherry blossom viewing under a clear blue sky is quite enchanting and the view at night is equally splendid. It was one of my favorite activities to do while living and teaching English in Japan. My students and I would sing, dance, eat and chat under the cherry trees. This is Japan at it’s best!
One of things I cherish the most is sitting down at the dinner table with my parents. We would talk about our daily events, laugh at a silly commercial or poke fun at one another, but it was after the meal that was special. My dad would make his extremely, bitter, tasting, Chinese green tea for all of us to drink and since he is dad, there is no way out of it. My parents have always educated us on eating a well-balanced diets containing vegetables, fruits, lean meats and soup. As many of you know, I don’t really have the slightest idea how to throw a 6 courses Chinese meal together so both my husband and I elected to either eat out or go for frozen food.
I am really blessed to be living in Hawaii — the island of paradise where I am constantly greeted with a smile, welcome with a hug and surrounded with a fes arrangement of delicious food. One of those establisment is known famously as Liliha Bakery. Perhaps it is their magic cream puff (selling between 5,000 to 8,000 per day) or their many choices of breakfast items that keep brings me back.
Pic from Star Bulletin
Liliha Bakery was started in the 1950 by the Takakuwa. There is a huge sense of community as the employees have a family work environment and the customers are known by first name. Little kids would stop their on their way from school to purchase a donut while senior citizens would catch up with old friends over a cup of coffee at the counter. Families would pick up cakes for a birthday or a potluck. Some employees have worked there for more then 40 years and watched customers grow and changed over the years.
My favorite breakfast item at Liliha Bakery is the Country Style Omelet (scambled with green onion, round onion, tomato and Portuguese sausage) with 2 white toast and their famous home-made jelly. And finishing the meal off with a cup of delicious defac coffee. Definately a prefect way to start off the day!
I love face book. It is so easy to chat with friends, play on-line games and even watch video clips, not to mentioned reunited with long lost friends. A few days ago, my friend in Hong Kong posted a video link about a interesting home. I watched in amazement and google to see if there were homes similar to the one I just watched. In fact, there is one right in the United States — in North Branch, Minnesota.
The video link is Discovery Channel HD Cable show called “Planet Green” which focus on the world’s greenest homes. The show offers great tips on creating a healthier environment in your own home as well as giving you a glimpse of some of the world’s most innovative architecture homes. Bear Creek Dome is one of them. Located on 50 acres just north of Minneapolis and St. Paul is the dome home of Tessa Hill and Dennis Odin Johnson.
The homes used 60% less structural materials to built compare to a regular box house thus making it extremely resource efficient.
The spherical shape of the dome allow it to deflects from tornadoes and hurricanes. It can also with stand winds over 200 miles per hour thus making it one of the strongest lightweight structures around.
The strength of the dome shell can withstand snow in excess of 150 pounds per square feet.
The structural wood materials are FSC Certified and none of the interior panels need to be finished with any chemical sealers or paint therefore being extremely child-friendly.
Take a look at the video below and tell me what you think. Comments?
Traveling has always been one of my biggest passion and Hong Kong was the ideal place for me as it’s provides many opportunities to taste wonderful foods, site-see and shop till you drop. In addition to buying many souvenirs for families and friends, I would also purchase many essentials things for myself. One of those purchases would be eyeglasses. I am always on the look out for great deals and a good selections of the latest styles.
