Ramen and Gyoza in Waikiki

1. Ramen Ezogiku, 2146 Kalakaua Avenue

There was a queue to get in, and the clientele mostly Japanese. Well worth the wait. The specialty here is Sapporo style ramen. I got the Miso Ramen, and Nancy got the Yakisoba (fried noodles). We both got the set that came with four Gyoza and a small Fried Rice. Everything was as good as in Japan. The miso broth had a nice "zing" to it. Our second visit.

2. Ramen Nakamura, 2141 Kalakaua Avenue

Their specialty is Tonkotsu Ramen (made from pork broth), and Oxtail Ramen. Almost across the street from Ezogiku, the shop is smaller, and like Ezogiku, consists of a counter with stools. (Ezogiku also has tables)

The ramen here was also excellent, and I got a set with three Gyoza and a small Fried Rice. The Gyoza were a bit plumper than Ezogiku's, but the miso broth didn't have that "zing." The shop is decorated with the signatures of many Japanese celebreties who have sampled Nakamura's cuisine. We would return here also.

Spinner Dolphins, Whales, Sea Turtles, and More

5:45 AM is early for a pickup... especially in Hawaii, when everything is supposed to be on "Hawaiian Time," but we sat bleary-eyed at our pickup point waiting for our van... which arrived mostly on-time to whisk us out to the Leeward coast of Oahu, just in time to rendezvous with the modified Zodiac in Waianae Boat Harbor.

The boat is fast and small, and soon we are bouncing on the waves to arrive at a point just offshore where spinner dolphins have been spotted earlier in the morning. Spinners are active nocturnally, and come inshore to rest during the day. Soon, we have spotted several pods, and we don mask and fin to swim amongst the dolphins. The water is cold and clear, the visibility excellent, and we soon forget the coldness and the earlyness of the hour and float, taking in the wonder of these marvelous creatures swimming lazily around and under us. In the distance a playful duo break the surface and whirl into the air, playful marine dervishes spinning. I wonder to myself if they get dizzy. We enjoy sights of several large groups swimming among us -- close enough, but not too close. Among the pod are several babies wedged between their mothers and other members of the group, no doubt for protection from this intrusion of strange land creatures.

After a period we climb back aboard our rubberized platform to speed off in search of whales, who come to the Hawaiian Islands during the winter months to mate and calf. During a high-speed transit to a potential viewing location, we catch sight of a pod of bottlenose dolphins, a larger seagoing species which is more often found farther to sea and in the middle of oceans. The captain maneuvers the boat in a tight, high-speed circle, and soon we glimpse a pair of dolphins surfing the wake of our boat. The dolphins stay with us as someone catches sight of a Humpback whale and her calf. We slow down to drink in this awesome sight... The whales are bigger than our boat, and could easily capsize us if they so desired! The dolphins mix and frolic for awhile with the pair of Humpbacks, and too soon it is time for us to depart.

Our final destination is a snorkeling stop just off Makaha Beach Park, where we anchor just oceanside of the surfers. The snorkling here is good, with coral heads dotting up here and there from a sandy bottom, and, again, visibility is excellent. We catch sight of dozens of species of colorful tropical fish, and a Green Sea Turtle glides lazily below, gracefully flapping her flippers as if flying through air.

Too quickly our time is over, and we climb aboard the boat, tired but happy to have had the experience of swimming with dolphins, and of spotting whales, turtles, and other sea creatures. This is time and money well spent, and will probably be my favorite excursion in the Hawaiian Islands.

(Web site: http://www.dolphinexcursions.com/ )

Hawaii March 2008

Seeking great week of well deserved vacation in March of 2008, we once again visited the island of Oahu, Hawaii.

For the second time in about a year, we took advantage of our timeshare and stayed at the Wyndham Waikiki Beachwalk, conveniently located a block back from the the heart of Waikiki, behind the Halekulani and Imperial hotels. The photo at the left shows the view looking out from our window towards Diamond Head.

This facility is a real gem -- very close to the beach, and in the middle of the newly renovated "Beach Walk" and convenient to many new restaurants and shops. For this stay, we booked a one bedroom deluxe unit. Though smaller than the two bedroom unit we stayed in during our visit in December of 2006, it was comfortable, new, clean, well furnished, and more than adequate for the two of us. The suite included a roomy master bedroom with a king bed and a flat panel TV, a living area with a larger flat panel TV and sleep sofa, two very small lanai (balconies), a kitchen with medium fridge, range/oven, microwave, dishwasher, hotpot, ricecooker, etc, a washer/dryer combo, and of course, a roomy bathroom. The only regret we had was that there is still no outdoor spa -- something that is advertised, and which we were looking forward to.

We used the Wyndham as a base for our various activities on Oahu... I'll cover these in subsequent postings.

Brisbane, Australia -- City Tour -- September 2007

To get a good feel for the layout of the city, one of the first things I did in Brisbane was to take a guided tour. Several companies provide tours of the city, so I browsed the available tours at the Toruist Info Kiosk at the Queen Street Mall and found a fairly comprehensive all day tour, "Brisbane's Best," operated by Australian Day Tours.

The tour van picksme up on time in front of my hotel at around 9:15 AM, and, after a brief stop at the central bus station to exchange passengers, we head out for a look at the city.

The van is comfortable, and the size of the tour small (8-10 people) making interaction with Bob the Tour Guide easy and informal.

Brisbane was founded as a prison for convicts who were no longer welcome further south in the Sydney area, and grew over time into the State Capital of Queensland, in the Northeast quadrant of the Australian continent. The morning portion of the tour takes us to early historical sites of the city, with stops at the Windmill in Wickham Park, built by convicts to mill grain for bread, the old Treasury and Lands Administration buildings, now part of the Conrad Treasury Casino, the Parliament building, and City Botanical Gardens.

After midmorning tea at the Breakfast Creek Hotel, we board a boat for a cruise up the Brisbane River, taking in various cityscapes, the Kangaroo Point Cliffs (where early settlers hunted Kangaroo), and many examples of Queensland architecture along the river.

The boat trip ends at a point along the South Bank Parklands, where the tour group disembarks for lunch (not provided). As I explore the area, I encounter a Nepalese Peace Pagoda, quite unexpected in this part of the world. Apparently it was left behind after the World Exposition in 1988.

One of the great things about Australia and Brisbane is the wide variety of food available, and the large number of restaurants in the city. My favorite lunch places in the city are the various food courts, usually underground, which provide both Australian and ethnic food quickly, and at fair dinkum prices. Happily I am able to find a food court, and feast on some kind of kabob wrapped in flat bread -- delicious. After lunch I explore the South Bank. Being a weekend, the outdoor market is in session, and I wander the various stalls drinking in local crafts, fashions, trinkets, and other sundry items for sale until it is time to join the tour van again.

Following this, I meet up with the van, and we are off to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, located just a few miles from the city. Here we are turned loose to mingle amongst the beasts: kangaroos, wallabies, goats, sheep, and other species run wild in the preserve. Various birds, and wombats, and, of course, koalas, are confined in their various habitats. Here you can race a kangaroo, view a sheepdog demo, or have the obligitory tourist photo taken while holding a koala. Our visit goes into feeding time, so the koalas awaken from their treeborne naps and start munching on eucalyptus while flocks of colorful wild lorikeets and parrots fly in for the evening foodfest.

The final destination of the day is the top of Mount Coot-Tha, the highest point near the city, from which Brisbane, the Coral Sea, and surrounding panorama is observed.

Overall this tour was very worthwhile, as it gave me a good feel for the city and surrounding areas, and provided an internal map for further exploration.

Brisbane, Australia: September 2007 (Business+)

I've always wanted to visit Australia, and when I had the chance to take an extended business trip last fall, I jumped at the chance.

For about 20 days, I worked in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Getting there and back was the tough part. I struck a deal with management to fly Business Class for the outbound trip since the distance from Virginia is so great. So I boarded a Korean Air 747 from Washington Dulles to Seoul, Korea (about 14 hour direct flight including a delay on the ground at Dulles), and after a brief layover in Seoul, boarded a Korean Air Airbus 330 directly to Brisbane. Both flights were comfortable, and I opted for the Korean food each time.

Upon arrival in Brisbane, I took a taxi from the airport to my hotel, the Hilton Brisbane. The Hilton is located conveniently in the Central Business District (CBD), which is a good thing if you are on a business trip. It is also adjacent to the Queen Street Mall, with many shopping, dining, and entertainment establishments.

Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, one of the six states of Australia. Located on the northeast part of the continent, it also hosts the Great Barrier Reef, which starts a few hundred miles North of Brisbane. Before my arrival in Aus, I thought that perhaps I'd be able to take a weekend and see the Reef, but, like many others, the sheer scale of the Australian continent didn't register in my pea-brain until I was actually there. Cairns, a popular jumping-off place to the Reef, is 1000 miles to the North. Ditto for the Aus Capital, Sydney: 1000 miles to the South. It looks like I will have to save those trips for another visit... And I do plan to return!

For this trip I will have to stay fairly close to Brisbane. So a city tour is naturally a good place to start.... So, on my first weekend, I decided to book a city tour. Fortunately, there is a Tourist Information Center right in the middle of Queen Street Mall, so booking a tour is a cinch. I selected the Brisbane's Best day tour conducted by Australian Tours.





Continued in section two of Brisbane, Australia: September 2007.

Books: 1000 Places To See Before You Die

Subtitled "A Traveler's Life List," this book provides bite-sized writeups for 1000 locations around the globe, and also includes several places for each of the United States. Since she covers so many places in a single volume, Patricia Schultz necessarily makes the description of each potential travel destination very concise -- which makes this a good "john" book: an interesting read with which to contemplate exotic places while enthroned on the porcelain pedestal. And a good place to get ideas for your own thousand places...

Places I've Lived (and Visited)

New -- at the bottom of the page, I am building a map of the places I've lived, and I will soon start to include places I've visited. I will try to link the places to permalinks as I discuss them on this blog.


You can register and make your own maps at fmatlas.com.