Pacific Northwest: Part II (Rialto Beach)

After the wet Rainforest adventure, we relaxed and napped in our room before going out to dinner. Vincent recommended the Smokehouse, a little outside of downtown Forks. This guy welcomed us: [[image:pacnw30.jpg:Is this what Eric Cartman looks like grown up? Pie!!!:center:0]] It served excellent local seafood and we had a lovely meal. We were too full to try the pie though. 😉 When we left the restaurant, wonder of wonders, the sun was shining! We decided to take advantage of the break in the rain and headed down to Rialto Beach for a little post-dinner beach sight-seeing. Here’s Vincent at the entrance to the beach: [[image:pacnw31.jpg:Vincent at Rialto Beach:center:0]] Views of the beach looking left and right: [[image:pacnw33.jpg:Looking left:center:0]] [[image:pacnw34.jpg:Looking right:center:0]] See those big tree trunks lying on the beach? They’re driftwood. Yes. Driftwood. The biggest blinking driftwood I’ve ever seen! See this giant formation of driftwood – I see […]

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Pacific Northwest: Part I (Hoh Rainforest)

Last month, we packed our bags and took a flight to Seattle, WA for an almost week-long Pacific Northwest extravaganza. We met up with our friend Vincent (a citizen of Gloomville), who went to good old ACS way back when, and who is an Admin at the Unofficial ACS Alumni Forum, and he had thoughtfully planned an itinerary for us. We arrived in the evening and Vincent took us out to a lovely dinner (but we didn’t take any pictures because we were so out of it from the flight that I forgot to take pictures). We checked in to our hotel and Vincent said goodbye, but he would be back early the next morning for the first thing on our Pacific Northwest itinerary was to go to the Olympic Peninsula for a couple of days. This means an early morning ferry ride on a weekday (to escape the huge […]

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Hawaii Day 10 – Last Day and Home to Lily

I know, it’s been two months since the trip and I’m finally getting around to putting up the final installment of the Hawaii pictures. But, in my defense, I am slow. Just a few days ago I finally emptied my suitcase of stuff from the trip. Yes, just my stuff since Vin unpacked his suitcase almost immediately while I stalled and stalled. That’s me. Procrastinator all the way. 🙂 So to remind you, in Day 9, remember we met with some interesting cats wishing us goodnight at the Volcano Inn? [[image:hi153.jpg:Scary Guard kitties?:center:0]] They apparently patrol the inn and keep out the riff raff :). In case you’re lazy to click on the link to the previous day’s blog entry, here’s a reminder of what they look like: [[image:hi144.jpg:Kitties!!:center:0]] Here’s what the outside of our room looked like in the light of day: [[image:hi151.jpg:The door to our room and the […]

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Hawaii Day 9 – Finishing our trip around the Big Island

Another beautiful morning in Hawaii. We woke up to this gorgeous view: [[image:hi126.jpg:View from the Marriott lanai:center:0]] But it was our final morning on the sunny side of the Big Island. We were driving back to Hilo via the Volcano this afternoon. Before we left, we decided to enjoy the pool: [[image:hi127.jpg:Swim in the Infinity Pool:center:0]] [[image:hi133.jpg:Pool with slide and waterfall:center:0]] And go back to Anaehoomalu Beach: [[image:hi128.jpg:Vin by the signboard:center:0]] [[image:hi129.jpg:The beach:center:0]] [[image:hi130.jpg:Catamaran:center:0]] [[image:hi131.jpg:Vin reading under the coconut trees:center:0]] [[image:hi132.jpg:Memories of home, lambaian pokok nyiur:center:0]] After a morning spent swimming in the pool and in the sea (for me) and reading and enjoying the sun (for Vin), we packed up and said goodbye to the Kona side. For the first time ever, we were going to drive 360 degrees around the Big Island, and go back to Hilo. We passed through a lot of lava vistas: [[image:hi134.jpg:Lava rocks and […]

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Hawaii Day 8 – Hotel Hopping and Sunset

We requested late checkout so we could enjoy ourselves on our final morning at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and we wanted to go snorkeling in the lagoon. Look at the difference in the pictures between yesterday and today, due to the sun: [[image:hi104.jpg:Fantastic hammock location:center:0]] So until 2 PM Hawaiian time, we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest, starting with a bout of putt-putt golf (my first time and it was rather embarrassing, so no pictures OK?). Time to snorkel! I took a bunch more pictures on the way to the lagoon: [[image:hi100.jpg:Canal:center:0]] [[image:hi102.jpg:Passenger boat on the canal:center:0]] The hotel grounds covers pretty much this whole bay. You can walk from end to end in a big curve, or take the train like we did on our first day here, or you can also catch one of the frequent passenger boats that pass by and […]

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Hawaii Day 7 – Lazy Day at the hotel

Day 7 dawned beautiful and sunny. We decided to have ourselves a lazy day. I believe there was some post-breakfast napping, some reading on the lanai (balcony). We can see this statue from the lanai: [[image:hi85.jpg:Meditating Buddha:center:0]] In the afternoon, we decided to veg out by the pool with our books. It was a little bit cloudy so the water seemed a little too cold so we didn’t do too much swimming. Here’s what some of the grounds of the hotel looked like: [[image:hi86.jpg:Lagoon:center:0]] [[image:hi87.jpg:Bridge over the lagoon:center:0]] [[image:hi88.jpg:Hammock by a coconut tree:center:0]] [[image:hi89.jpg:Sea turtles sign!:center:0]] [[image:hi90.jpg:The Ocean Tower from the other side of the lagoon:center:0]] The sea turtles sign – we’ll talk more about sea turtles in the next entry on Hawaii (Day 8). Here’s some of the view of the ocean: [[image:hi91.jpg:See? It’s cloudy:center:0]] [[image:hi92.jpg:But still quite beautiful:center:0]] We walked by the Dolphin Quest while they were doing […]

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Hawaii Day 6 – Journey to the Kona Side

We actually didn’t get to walk around Hilo too much, because neither Vin nor I was in the mood for a walk in the rain. It rained the morning we left Hilo: [[image:hi64.jpg:Rain, rain, go away:center:0]] So we hit the road, to the other side of the island where the mountains block the rain. Going up the coast, it was still pretty rainy until we were pretty close to Waimea. [[image:hi65.jpg:Blue skies, yayyyyy:center:0]] There is the obligatory stop for malasadas (a portuguese donut, VERY yummy!! ono kine!). [[image:hi66.jpg:Locals say only this place’s malasadas are excellent:center:0]] Waimea is pretty elevated. It’s where the Hawaiian Cowboys are. You can see pine trees along the road here: [[image:hi67.jpg:On the road at Waimea:center:0]] There are plenty of pastures and meadows with cows, and horses. [[image:hi68.jpg:Pasture with Kohala mountain in the background:center:0]] Strangely enough, even this high up, there’s some cacti: [[image:hi69.jpg:Teddy bear cactus along […]

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Hawaii Day 5 – Volcanic Adventure

In the late morning of Day 5. we drove to Kilauea, which is an active volcano on the big island. Kilauea has been continuously erupting for some 24 years! Pretty amazing stuff, and we had decided to do the Crater Rim drive and drive around Kilauea Caldera. [[image:hi57.jpg:Me by Volcano House:center:0]] First we stopped by the visitor center and Volcano House to pick up some literature on the volcano and map out our plan for the day. We had originally thought to take the Chain of Craters road down to the ocean and hike to the edge of the lava to see if we could see where the lava meets the ocean, but we’d gotten a late start to the day and decided to do the drive around the volcano for the day. Here’s Vin at the viewing area of Volcano House: [[image:hi53.jpg:Vin with Kilauea Caldera in the background:center:0]] [[image:hi54.jpg:Don’t […]

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Hawaii Day 4 – Sayonara Honolulu, Hello Hilo

So after 3 nights in Honolulu, it’s time to go. We ate our last fabulous Hilton Hawaiian Village buffet breakfast (free continental buffet, $5 to upgrade to the entire buffet thanks to the Hilton Honors membership, and well worth the money). We relaxed on the beach, took a last dip in the waters of Waikiki beach, and went around the hotel taking last minute pictures. We also said our goodbyes to the beach and the sun for a few days, for we are off to Hilo (the rainy side of the Big Island of Hawaii). [[image:hi35.jpg:Orchids:center:0]] First off, some pictures from around the hotel. Statues of real people as well as gods: [[image:hi34.jpg:The guy who built the hotel, I think:center:0]] [[image:hi36.jpg:Legendary goddesses in the process of tapa making:center:0]] [[image:hi45.jpg:I forget who this was:center:0]] [[image:hi41.jpg:Don’t mess with this chick – garang!:center:0]] Some of the trees and plants that caught my eye […]

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Hawaii Day 3 – Hanauma Bay and an Old Friend

The morning of our third day in Hawaii was bright and sunny. We enjoyed yet another marvelous buffet breakfast at the Rainbow Lanai, then we packed our stuff and headed out. We wanted to make sure that we would be able to park the car and spend some time snorkeling and swimming at Hanauma Bay! We got there around 9 AM, and this was what was waiting for us: [[image:hi23.jpg:Hanauma Bay:center:0]] It was a gorgeous day – and the parking lot was pretty empty when we got there. Plenty of space for us! And just look at it! We could look down at it from the parking lot, and what a view. We both had to get our pictures taken: [[image:hi24.jpg:Vin with the Bay in the background:center:0]] [[image:hi25.jpg:Don’t pay attention to the girl marring the view:center:0]] We paid our entrance fee (free to Hawaiian residents) and watched a 10 minute […]

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Hawaii Day 2 – Lazy Day in Waikiki

After a refreshing night’s sleep, we both woke up early local time (around 12:00 noon Eastern time) and went to have a big buffet breakfast (we LOVE the buffet at the Hilton Hawaiian Village!). It was nice and relaxing, sitting at the Rainbow Lanai. The day promised to be beautiful and sunny. Already, we were feeling holiday-ey and summery, and laaaazy! Check out this hibiscus (bunga raya), the state flower of Hawaii (of course, the hibiscus is also the Malaysian National flower!) [[image:hi22.jpg:Yellow Bunga Raya:center:0]] After breakfast, we walked around the hotel and saw a bunch of different animals right in the hotel area. There’s a lot of open air areas, ponds, and vegetation all around: [[image:hi06.jpg:Shy flamingo:center:0]] [[image:hi07.jpg:Blue Macaw:center:0]] [[image:hi08.jpg:Red and Blue Macaw:center:0]] [[image:hi09.jpg:Green Macaw:center:0]] [[image:hi10.jpg:Penguins and Turtles:center:0]] [[image:hi11.jpg:Molting Penguin:center:0]] [[image:hi12.jpg:Big turtle and little turtles:center:0]] [[image:hi13.jpg:Green lichen turtle:center:0]] [[image:hi14.jpg:Cicak with funky red sac that inflated – or maybe funky […]

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Hawaii Day 1 – Arrival

So, on April 12th, we said good bye to Lily (who was staying home with daily visits from Carey, the pet-sitter – more on this at a later post), packed our bags, and lit out from one of the worst March/April I’ve ever experienced in this country to head to warmer climes: Hawaii! It had been raining and at times flurrying (that’s snow!) for days prior to our departure, not to mention temperatures were below zero (in April in Southern Ohio!!!), so we were glad we’d scheduled this trip to Hawaii when we did. However it did take a long time to get there. We flew out of Dayton, first to Atlanta (2-hour flight) and then from Atlanta to Honolulu (10-hour flight). Not as long as the flight home to Malaysia, but still, a very long way away. Plus the fact that we first flew east to Atlanta increased our […]

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But Dopey He Aint, Thankfully

So I arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Bangalore by way of Chennai (which I was told used to be called Madras, by the way) at around 1540 hours this morning. I was early enough to jama’ qasar my Isha’ with my Maghrib before Subuh began. Tonight while putting him to bed, Ain & I came to the conclusion that Irfan (like most kids his age) are 2/7th (or 0.28571429) of the Seven Dwarves (as told by what is now known as the Disney Company). Why? Cause he’s both Grumpy and Sleepy at the same time when fighting his lethargy.

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Bakery

On The Way To Work At Bangalore

From the hotel to Yelahanka Air Force Station, I took a cab. For three days I took the same cab. It was a four wheel drive vehicle. The driver’s name was Mallesh. I had his cellular phone number and when I heard it rang there was a Tamil song on the other end. It was he who sent me to the airport after everything was over. And I was happy with his service. Anyway it takes an hour (and sometimes almost two if traffic’s really jammed up) to reach Yelahanka from the hotel and vice versa. I took plenty of photos over the course of several days. Here is a small collection of them. Bear in mind that my travels never took me anywhere near the city of Bangalore (unless it was the trip to and from the airport) so it was mostly rural countryside photos and small towns along […]

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I could fit two A-9 Vigilance Interceptors perfectly in here

Arrival At India

Two Friday nights ago, I got a call saying I had to be in Bangalore by Tuesday for work reasons. I said there was no way for me to get the visa and ticket done for me to be there by that time, so Tuesday was postponed to Thursday. Visa was impossible to obtain on a weekend. The following Monday, the preparation to obtain the visa (a set of three photographs, etc.) was done. However, since we also had to take Irfan to the doctor’s that morning, there was no time to reach the Indian High Commission by noon to submit the visa application form. After that, with Ain’s help I booked the ticket to Bangalore (by way of Chennai). On Tuesday, I spent from morning to the afternoon waiting for my number to be called so I could submit my application form to the counter at the High Commission. […]

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Bahamian Break

Christmas is a time for us to take a break. Get away from real life. Leave work behind and relax. Last year, we flew out to San Francisco and took a road trip up the coast north of San Francisco. This year, since we’d just done the road trip through the South West (it was 2030 driving miles total) so we decided we wanted to just go someplace warm and veg out. So we went to the Bahamas! Wheeeeee! We were away for 8 days, staying at the Paradise Island Harbor Resort [[image:bahama14.jpg:Harbor Resort:center:0]] We arrived in Nassau and took a bus to the Harbor Resort on Paradise Island. The Bahamas is made up of hundreds of islands and Nassau is on New Providence. The bus took us across a bridge to Paradise Island. Here are some pictures of the Harbor Resort on Paradise Island: [[image:bahama11.jpg:Vin catching some rays on […]

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