Yoga in the Park with Keith Sato #YogaHi

On Sunday, July 31, 2011, @Keith_Sato officially started "Yoga in the Park" on Sunday afternoon.  The group meets at 530pm in a little grassy park between Waikiki School and Kapiolani Park.  Most of us that meet, know each other from Twitter, but you do not need to be on Twitter to participate in Yoga in the Park.

View Directions to Yoga in the Park from Kapahulu Avenue 21.268725, -157.815428 in a larger map


That map sort of shows the location of the park.  It is the rectangular grassy park with several trees in the middle of it.  There is usually a lot of free street parking on both sides of the park and because it's a small park, it's easy to keep an eye out on your car while we're all just several yards away.


Yoga in the Park is guided by Keith Sato.  The bunch of us that have attended the 1st couple of sessions are mostly beginners, but there are several that do practice yoga regularly.  It's a perfect balance for us beginners and those that have more experience.  My experience only came from doing yoga with my Wii Fit.  The routine is very similar, but the difference is Keith is there to actually make sure your form is proper.  The Wii Fit doesn't really do that part very well.  


Here are some photos from Yoga in the Park.

Here are some photos by @RickyLi99: Keith Sato's Yoga in the Park.
Here are some photos by @PhotoluluTV: YOGA TWEETUP AT THE PARK.
The official hashtag that Keith's Yoga in the Park group uses is #YogaHI.  If you want to keep track of tweets that may be coming from Yoga in the Park.
@Capsun is part of the group.  He created a YogaHI Twitter List.  This list has most of the people who have attended so far.  Tweet him if you are missing from the list.

Yoga in the Park by Keith Sato is currently planned to take place every Sunday from 530p to 645p in the same park.  There is a requested donation of $5 that Keith will use to provide additional equipment for the group.

Hope to see you there!

Cream Pot Restaurant - 444 Niu Street, Honolulu

On Saturday we took a friend to brunch so we walked over to re-visit Cream Pot. Cream Pot is a nice little breakfast restaurant located in the Hawaiian Monarch, just couple a blocks from home. They are a Japanese/French type of place with a country ambiance in the middle of Waikiki's hustle and bustle that features waffles, omelettes, crepes (savory & sweet). If you are familiar with the Hawaiian Monarch, I think you would agree that this restaurant doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the building. I think it's out of place, but I don't mind that. I am actually happy there is such a place so near by. You can see this view when you are driving on Ala Wai Boulevard just before reaching McCully Street. This time I ordered the "Original Crepe" (Canadian Bacon, Carmelized Onions & Potatoes in a Bechamel Sauce). Kelli had the "Original Omelette Set" (Canadian Bacon, Potatoes, Cheese & Carmalized Onions) and it comes with a drink and mini dessert crepe (Strawberry Chocolate was Kelli's choice). Our friend Ken had the "Beef Stew Omelette". As usual everything was tasty. I didn't eat Ken's food, but I ordered that dish before so as long as it was consistent I know it tasted good. This brunch for three costs about $15 per person plus tax & gratuities. I still think it's strange that they have to bring the dishes down in room service type trays because their kitchen is on the floor above, but I guess it's not any different from any other restaurant with 2 levels. I wish there were more places like this around here....... PS- these are photo samples taken with my HTC Google Nexus One.

Happy Halloween! Pumpkin Contest Photos.

Yesterday, Kelli had a furlough day because she work for the state of Hawaii as an HGEA member. It was also her Birthday. Anyway, we took a walk through Waikiki for her furlough/Birthday. The Outrigger Reef Hotel & the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel had Halloween Pumpkin displays. Here are some photos of the pumpkins that we saw.

The Honolulu Academy of Arts & The Pavillion Cafe...

Over the Labor Day Weekend, we visited the Honolulu Academy of Arts. I estimate that I haven't been there for perhaps 20 years! I used to go there a lot for elementary school field trips and that's the last I remember of it prior to this last weekend. I have been to the Contemporary Museum of Art several times in recent years, but just never made it to the Honolulu Academy of Arts. I think it must be due to the difficult parking options, but Sunday afternoon is a great option for free street parking directly in front! It is very nice now. I don't even remember the museum having that many things to see back then. I think when we visited for school fielt trips, the tours are cut short to keep elementary school students interested. I definitely know that the galleries were not so well air-conditioned back then and also did not have automatic sensory lighting that would adjust slightly brighter when you entered the gallery. Very impressive renovations done to the Honolulu Academy of Arts since the last time I've been there! =P I don't have many photos of the great displays of art because photography isn't allowed in the galleries. Although, photography is allowed in the open courtyard areas. There are some special collections on display right now. There was a collection of drawings titled "Goya's Disasters of War" by Francisco Goya. They are a very detailed collection of drawings that appears to be done in pencil. Read the museum's description of this collection here. The Honolulu Academy of Arts is on the web at http://www.HonoluluAcademy.org and they are located at 900 South Beretania Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814 <--Google Map. General admission is $10 and they do have other discounted admission rates. Their normal hours are Tuesday - Saturday: 10a-430p and Sunday 1p-5p. They are closed on Mondays, New Year's Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas according to their guide sheet. The first Wednesday of every month is supposed to be FREE and you are able to visit the shop, The Pavillion Cafe and the library for free too. We actually went to the Honolulu Academy of Arts to check out The Pavillion Cafe, but it's not open on Sundays. We're considering the location as a potential spot for an upcoming party. Looks good so far, but I haven't asked if they can accomodate our event yet. We'll try to check out The Pavillion Cafe another time, but they are only open Tuesday - Saturday during lunch (1130a-2p) so it might be difficult!

The Okinawan Festival at Kapiolani Park

Every year Oahu's Okinawan community has a festival at Kapiolani Park. It's followed by a ritual known as a Bon Dance that takes place around sunset below the slopes of Diamond Head! I posted a blog about it in the past when we visited that 25th anniversary festival in 2007. The festival is filled with lots of traditional foods the local Okinawan community enjoy and share with everyone. There was soba (noodles), andagi (Okinawan donut) and a local favorite, the Andadog (hotdog on a stick coated w/ andagi). Since I can't eat any of those things due to my current diet restrictions, I enjoyed a vanilla flavored shaved ice! Here is a video clip of the Bon Dance getting started... Click this image of it below for the link to the video.

CPK Field Greens add Grilled Chicken, hold the Tomatoes & Dressing... Oh and the Plastic Stickers Too!

Last Friday, for some reason the water was shut off at home for the whole day! There was no warning, so I suppose it was an emergency, but the water was off past 6pm. By that time, Kelli and I were hungry for some dinner. I can't really cook anything without fresh running water, not to mention not washing my hands with soap & water for half the day so we decide to go out for a walk and some dinner. I have a difficult time eating out due to the diet restrictions I have to follow. When I do have to eat out, it ends up being a salad without dressing and whatever else happens to be on my list of 26 things. With this in mind, we decided to eat at the CPK in Waikiki. We have ordered take out from this relatively new location, but never dined in until this time. We were pleased to hear that kama'aina (local residents) receive 20% off the menu prices. We don't get that discount at the other locations and the prices seemed to be the same. After looking through all the salads, none of them were safe for me to eat according to their description so I just ordered the plainest of them all, the Field Greens Salad. I had to request no tomatoes, walnuts and dressing due to my restrictions. This is what it looked like. Pretty tasty looking, yeah? Can you spot the stickers that are on the sliced pears peering through those brilliant field greens? I picked them all out and set them on the empty bread plates at our table. I should have yelled out and honored Chef Gordon Ramsey, "Shut it off you stupid cows! Plastic stickers in the salad! It's unacceptable! Wake up!". Is it worth the 20% off kama'aina discount?? I guess... I always seem to find something that doesn't belong in the dish when we eat out anyway. Must be all my years of experience in checking the plates when before I send them out. Maybe it's just my fault for being too observant. I'm sure the stickers on the pears are FDA approved and safe to eat in small portions anyway. :-| PS- Don't forget to watch Hell's Kitchen on Tuesday...

Excess amounts of $0.39 1st Class Letter Stamps!!

A couple of years ago I visited the post office to purchase some stamps. I was purchasing postcard postage stamps for a postcard mail out I was sending out that day. I asked the man working at the post office for 3 rolls of postcard postage stamps ($0.26 stamps at that time). The rolls are rolls of 100 stamps in most cases, which is what I wanted. I also had a few other items to get postage for at the same time. He placed 3 rolls of postage into a package after scanning them to my bill and gave me a total including the rest of my other items I got postage for. I quickly paid with my credit card and moved out of the way so the long line of people waiting could also get on with their lives. I was planning to stick the stamps on the bundle of postcards while in the post office so I went on the side where there is an area to work on your shipments and I began. I open 1 roll of stamps and start to peel to place them on my postcards. I then realize that the stamp says, "39 First Class"! It was not the stamps I asked for!!! I looked at the other 2 rolls and my receipt. The guy charged me for 3 rolls of $0.39 1st Class stamps and that's what I received in the package!! I immediately went back in line and waited until I got to go up to the same guy. I told him he sold me the incorrect rolls of postage stamps. I showed them to him and told him I asked for postcard stamp rolls! I never use 1st class stamps. I rarely ever send anything that takes a 1st class stamp because my bills are sent through an on-line service so I don't even deal with stamps. Normally, they do not allow returns on postage stamps so I was upset. I had 300 1st class postage stamps that I would most likely never use. The guy spoke with another manager or something at the post office to see what he could do. They let me return the 2 rolls that I didn't open only because it was on the same cash register till that he sold them to me on. Luckily, he didn't leave his cashier post yet! But I am still stuck with 100 $0.39 stamps. I knew I would never use them all, especially before they raise the rate of 1st class letter. Anyway, here I am today... still stuck with that stupid roll of $0.39 stamps. I think I used maybe 3 so far. The current rate for 1st class letter is $0.44. I should probably stash this roll and wait until the postage for a 1st class letter goes up to $0.78. Then I can just stick 2 of these on the envelope and get rid of them simpler. Of course, some of you may feel I should have reviewed my purchases prior to signing away on the credit card screen. Well, I didn't. So I will deal with these stupid stamps for the rest of eternity. Each time I get one out, it will be a reminder that I should carefully review those electronic credit card pads and thoroughly question every cashier about what is on my bill prior to signing it. Hopefully you aren't stuck in the line behind me... = P

Silly Silicone Cup Coasters from Target...

These silicone coasters come in a set with other colors. Kelli and all her friends always comment that they are "so cute". I'm certain they are very popular and Target must be selling tons of them. Why am I posting this photo?? As you can see, they aren't very functional. They may be cute, but the moisture either on the coaster of from the condensate of the cold drink on the coaster is not retained on the top surface of these coasters. The result is moisture dripping off the coaster and leeching under the silicone coaster. This results in moisture being retained between the coaster and the counter or table top surface. If you are using these on wood finishes, it will leave marks such as these where the coaster was. It's quite disturbing and makes the coaster non-functional. Of course if it was on a glass, Corian, granite, formica, stainless steel or some other solid surface material that is easy to wipe away water stains, just wipe it off. If it's used on a more delicate surface like this wood dining table, you can only hope it will wipe away and not leave a permanent mark. Luckily there are no permanent markings left... yet! Since these are soooo cute, perhaps they should remain on our table tops for decorative purposes only!

KCC Farmer's Market

KCC Farmer's Market 4303 Diamond Head Rd Honolulu, HI 96816 Normally on Saturday Mornings. A few weeks ago, Kelli and I went to the KCC Farmers Market for an early morning walk and some shopping. It was the weeked prior to the Farm Fair weekend which meant the next weekend the farmer's market would not be at KCC. It was a nice morning and that also made it very crowded at 730am! We bought a watermelon that we just ate yesterday. It was very sweet and only cost a couple dollars. We also bought some pre-cooked luau (taro) leaves because Kelli wanted me to make some luau stew. Luau leaf is a very firm dark leaf. It takes hours to cook down into a soft mushy consistency. It also takes a lot of large leaves to end up with a pound or so after it's cooked down. It's something like the way spinach cooks down, but takes much longer. First I browned some boneless beef shortribs in a large pot with some olive oil, salt and pepper. After it had nice color I added canned chicken broth to cover the meat so it can simmer for an hour and a half or so (until tender). After it was tender enough so the meat would almost fall apart if poked with a fork, I seasoned it to taste with basics, Hawaiian Sea Salt and some pepper. Then I added the pre-cooked luau leaves to finish the stew. It was great that the leaves were pre-cooked (and sold frozen). It only takes a few minutes to finish after adding the leaves to the pot. We made a large amount so that most of it could be refrigerated and eaten later during the week. It was delicious!

Emperor of Japan in Hawaii

Picnic at Ala Moana Beach Park

Kelli's friends had a picnic at Ala Moana Beach Park this past weekend. It was a potluck event. I cooked up some yakisoba to bring like a Hiroshima Style Okonomiyaki dish. This is the yakisoba. I put the yakisoba (stir fried thin slices of pork and cabbage with noodles) into a pan and draped the top with thin, crepe style egg sheets. On top of the egg is some okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, nori (Japanese dried seaweed) & some pink pickled ginger. If this were at a restaurant, it would usually be prepared and served on a grill right in front of you. Similar to teppanyaki restaurants. It's a little different eating it after it was prepared in advance, cutting it up and scooping it out of a pan, but it tasted like a good yakisoba anyway. Here are a couple of shots of the tree that we were under. It was very relaxing laying down and looking up through the leaves to the blue skies above. These big trucks were cruising through the park in the afternoon. They looked pretty nice. I don't know if these people knew what they were walking on, but I thought it was an intersting sight. They are kind of small (in contrast to the huge sewer pipe) so it's difficult to see them. There were 2 people that I watched as I was sitting at the traffic light waiting to turn into the park. They climbed up just to walk on the giant sewer pipe. I thought it was a yucky thing to do, but perhaps they did not know what was flowing through that huge pipe.

New Eggs & Things Restaurant Location

Eggs & Things' former location on Kalakaua Avenue in the Kalakauan has been closed for a long time (a year or so?) Many people were anticipating their re-opening at this new location at 339 Saratoga Road. Although they did open a little behind schedule, it did open. Even when the Kalakaua Avenue location had a fire it took many many months before they re-opened. Anyway, we finally made it to check out the new location. I think this location is great. Not only is it in a pleasant area of Waikiki, but it will soon be right next to the new location of the Hard Rock Cafe. It is also 1 street over from the Waikiki Beachwalk area and just up the street from the soon to be completed Trump Tower Waikiki. If you have to mail something the post office is also across the street. The restaurant is 2 level and open air unlike their previous single leveled air-conditioned spot. It is a little odd because you check in for a table downstairs then are escorted upstairs to the dining area. One of the favorites that we ordered was the Bacon & Spinach Omelet with Potatoes. It's as big as usual (3 eggs) and tastes like an omelet. The potatoes are roasted to a nice crispy exterior cruch with a tender and moist potato inside. It's seasoned with basic salt & pepper. The second item we ordered was the Blueberry Crepe. The crepe was tender, yet had nice crisp edges. It was very delicious! This visit to Eggs & Things was actually last Saturday morning. The morning before I ended up in the hospital emergency room. My hospital predicament had nothing to do with the quality of this breakfast at Eggs & Things. Although, if you read the previous post about my newly found restricted diet, it probably did play a part. But it's because of my body's defect not the food! I sure hope that was not the last time I can enjoy a Blueberry Crepe from Eggs & Things. But if it was, at least I can savor the memory... I better see a dietitian about finding a way to get those blueberries back into my diet!

Stimulating the Economy...

A few weeks ago, we decided to help do our share in "stimulating the economy". Everyone knows how badly the auto industry is affected by this situation. So what did we decide to do?? No, we didn't go out and buy a new car. I would think that is a foolish thing to do. We did decide to help support the home furnishing industry. We took advantage of "Red Tag Clearance Sale" that was going on at the Honolulu Design Center next to the Moana Pacific condominiums. Actually, a couple weeks before that we tried to find stuff at their warehouse sale in Kapolei. That was an experience we'd probably never try again. It was hectic and not really organized. They probably plan it out that way so that people can't really get more than one "deal" during the sale. To make a long story short, we didn't find anything we wanted there. This dark brown wooden cabinet that I am using for a t.v. stand with extra storage (much needed in a condo) is actually a buffet. It was a clearance item and when I saw it, I immediately pictured it working out for our living room entertainment center. It has three doors that enclose several cubic feet of storage and an open area above it with a built in light which I am using for the components of the entertainment center (dvd player, Nintendo Wii, etc.). What I haven't done yet is make some holes in the back of that area to run the wiring and cables out the back. That's why they are all hanging forward in this photo. The UPS Battery Back Up and my HP Printer will also call the cabinet space home soon. Another modification that I have already done to this buffet is remove the legs. This allows it to sit flush on the floor and also lowers it by about 6 inches creating a perfect height for the t.v. Another reason why we chose this buffet is that it matches the color of our recently purchased coffee table and side table. Believe it or not, we found the coffee table and side table at Marukai 99 Cent Store. Unfortunately, it wasn't 99 cents, but the pair was just a little over a hundred bucks on sale. We couldn't find anything we really liked at the Honolulu Design Center and we were so excited when we saw these at Marukai. You can't see the side table in this photo, but it's under the lamp to the left, which we purchased from Target in the mix-and-match section of lamps. Don't pay attention to the curtain (temporary), the white filing cabinet and black refrigerator. Those are only there until we figure out where to arrange them. The white leather sofa and chaise lounge sectional was actually our first furniture purchase a couple months ago. This is what led to the other purchases. These are the new bedroom furnitures that we just bought. It's a high chest and a wide dresser. The old furnitures we had were too low and narrow so we didn't have enough drawers for all of Kelli's... um our clothes and stuff. With these 2 pieces, we actually still have extra drawers with nothing in them... yet. What have you done to help support the struggling industries?

Lanai / Balcony / Veranda Gardening

Here's an update on what's going on in my lanai gardening... After working many years in the Waikiki hotel business, I have learned that not everyone knows what a "lanai" is. I guess it depends on where you are from if you are familiar with the word or not. We here in Hawaii commonly refer to lanais as a lanai where others may call them balconies or verandas. Anyway, with that out of the way, gardening on a lanai has been a challenge for me. I have always grown things in regular gardens because I grew up in a regular house. These past several years, I have been experimenting with options available to have an efficient and visibly pleasing garden on my lanai. This is one of my latest experiments to add to my lanai. I thought of this after seeing one of those infomercials selling what is called a "Topsy Turvy". (I don't want to post a photo of it here, but I'm sure you can find it if you Google it.) If you don't know what it is, it's an unattractive hanging green tube that allows you to grow a tomato plant out of the bottom. (Just Google it if you don't understand.) I didn't want to have that unattractive thing hanging on my lanai because not only would it be something I would see, it's also something the neighboring buildings would have to see. I decided to pick up a coconut fiber hanging basket from Target (which recently opened in Honolulu) for about $8. Then I started some tomato seeds in a tall cup of soil until it grew to about an inch in size. The height of the cup actually was the same height of the dome of the coconut basket if turned upside-down. I used a "venti" size plastic cup from a giant coffee producer. When the seedling reached about an inch high, I made a hole in the coconut fiber with my finger in the center of the domed area. With the hole large enough to fit the tomato seedling through it without damaging the seedling, I carefully placed the upside-down coconut fiber basket over the cup with the seedling in it. I made sure the seedling peered through the hole in the coconut fibers. Next, I let it grow under the grow lights for about another month. It grew to about 2-3 inches; the size it shows in these photos. Yesterday, I decided it was time to turn my coconut basket "right-side-up" which would make my tomato hang out of the bottom. I took this photo because I was amazed that after only 1 day of hanging upside-down, the tomato plant seems to have turned itself to face upwards again. Very quickly! On the top side of the basket I planted some basil, cilantro and oregano. I planted the basil because I read a book one day while I was in Barnes and Nobles that said it was good to plant basil plants with tomato plants. I don't remember the name of the book now, but I'm sure I'll find it again. I also bought this window planter box from Target and started some salad mix seeds and more basil in it a couple months ago.

Compost Worm Bin

Last weekend, we decided to begin a compost worm bin. Kelli and I have been interested in these composting worms for a while, but just never made the effort to start one. A lot of the procrastination had to do with the start up costs. There is a local business woman who has been specializing in providing these compost worms and worm bin kits for several years. Her business is called Waikiki Worm Company. The business recently expanded and is now in a larger retail space just outside of Waikiki, at 1917 S. King Street. We started with the basic set up. It comes with: -A 1/4 pound of EPIGEIC Perionyx excavatus, a.k.a. Hawaii's native composting worms. (Click for worm info.) Sold ala carte at Waikiki Worm Company for $40 + tax. It comes in a quart size zip lock bag with some vermicompost that contains the other organisms to help start the composting process. -A 10 gallon plastic bin with "Waikiki Worm Company" logo and pre-fabricated holes. Of course you could buy this bin from Walmart or somewhere for about $5-$10, but it won't have the official logo on it and you'll need to drill your own holes. -A basic worm bin starter book titled "Worms Eat My Garbage" by Mary Appelhof. I've read about half of it, not in order. There are interesting parts, but has a lot about designing your own worm bin. I wasn't very interested in that part because I don't really want design information. I enjoyed the parts of the book that gave more explanation on the care of the worms. -Start up instruction leaflet & couple worm-y bumper stickers. The total with tax came out to $71.20. The other things we purchased to complete our set up was a larger plastic container to fit under the bin to be used as a drip tray and a couple bricks to prop the bin over the drip tray for adequate ventilation. That was another $10 or so. We started with the 1/4 pound because it's suggested that they will be able to keep up with 2 adults average weekly food waste that can be added to the bin. The suggested consumption amount is 2 pounds of fruit, vegetable or grain waste per week. It takes a while for the entire process to look like vermicompost. In approximately 4-6 months we should have our first batch of nutritious compost for our plants. Right now it just looks like a bunch of worms eating fruit and vegetable waste. I'll post another update when they start to break down more of it. Video... From WormBin