Rapids vs. Whitecaps

Hello all, it's the weekend!

Yes, I apologize for the hideous delay in posting this, but this summer has been a hurricane inside a tornado beneath an impending tidal wave. And I'm in the center of all that...somewhere. It's been nonstop.

So several weeks ago in late June (which the date will reflect, even though I'm writing this mid-July), my dear former journalism professor at my final degree-issuing college for undergrad offered to catch the Colorado Rapids game against Vancouver's Whitecaps. 

My ticket to the game!

    

I am absolutely one of those geeks who guns to befriend teachers who have a particularly meaningful impact on my life, even if I feel like I can never 'repay' them for their caring and guidance. (I actually had the pleasure of playing tour guide for this professor and another journalism professor of mine when they came to Hawaii for a conference. Talk about planets aligning. I may have come close to that payback running them both into the ground with my style of typhoon touring.)

Shaun, the man I still refer to as my professor in certain circles and whom I will forever look to as a mentor, invited me to this soccer game for a warm Saturday evening, June 28. This would be the second game we've attended together in non-consecutive summers as I flit in and out of the state between escapades. 

I don't follow soccer. I don't really follow sports in general because I get all bothered that I'm not dribbling, spiking, lobbing, another verb-ing the ball in question around. Sure, I'll watch the Superbowl as much for the ads as the game and I did witness the FIFA U.S. vs. Belgium match in Tommyknocker Brewery in Idaho Springs. Congrats Germany and better luck next cup, U.S. The short of it is I would rather play than spectate. (But there's no way I could keep up with the gents on the soccer field. No way.)

Shaun was extremely patient with me both games when I asked questions about a play or call I didn't understand--always the teacher even outside of school. I learned any errantly kicked soccer balls had to be returned. Sitting down by the goal, I seriously wanted to have a ball kicked at me. What a rush!--but no such luck this time around.

I drove to Dick's Sporting Goods Park out in Stapleton, a growing suburb of Denver's eastern side, and met up with Shaun and a former classmate of mine from my beginning reporting class. Which feels like ages ago in retrospect. He and I have a similar school-jumping history; although he easily outranks me for higher education institutions, I might have him if we count preschool onward. I think I can speak for both of us when I say we were happy to wedge Shaun between us for the game. (I apologize Joe if I chatted Shaun's ear off at your expense.)

Shaun came up all smiles because he not only delivered a game ticket, but vouchers for a baseball cap and beer! WOO! I'm still growing on beer or it's growing on me, but I drained what I was allotted and sat subsequently buzzed the rest of the game. (Altitude, cut me some slack.) Shaun, knowing my propensity to eat little but hunger large, checked in often as stadium foods floated by, but having dipped into his fries (without shame) I felt fine. Buzzed, but fine. Nothing quite says you've arrived when you can sit and have a beer with your professor, you know? I don't normally wear hats either because I strongly believe there is some fundamental fault in the shape of my head, but I did this time! In any case, I felt spoiled all around.

As I recall, the Rapids scored an early goal and then again in the second half of the game. They went on to win the match. The Whitecaps kept the pressure on for the first half--a lot of action on our side of the field with several near goals for the opposing team, but I could see the Canadians struggling in the second half. Again, altitude, for which I could empathize. I jumped out of my seat several times when the Whitecaps ran the ball to our side of the field and then again whenever the Rapids scored. Their victory jam is just so darn catchy. 

It was a fun game and Shaun's soccer fever infectious. I was happy to see the Rapids win on their home turf. Better luck next time, Canada. 

--Shaun, thank you for your boundless generosity! I always look forward to seeing you whenever I visit and writing it out leaves no question why. I had a blast!!

Happy Saturday.

Obon Dancing

Hello all, it's a late "It's the Weekend!" post!

So, several weeks ago, I attended the first Obon dancing meet during the 24th Annual Obon Celebration, which is still actively running through the summer, with my family.

The Japanese Buddhist tradition of Obon celebrates the dead similar to the Spanish Day of the Dead tradition, where families return to the resting places of their ancestors to pay their respects. It's a joyous celebration and the songs reflect a very upbeat refrain in their pieces.

The festival usually lasts three days but begins depending on which calender you go by. Some observe the tradition in the early summer, some late. Here in Hawaii, the festival season begins in June and lasts through September. Several Hongwanji/Missions (Buddhist temples) rotate locations around the island to perform their set of music and dances for a roughly four-hour celebration where all are welcome to dance and dine on traditional Japanese festival cuisine.

We went to the first meet this year at the Hawaii Plantation Village, a bit of a spooky place in Waipahu. We had never attended an Obon in this location before and the place was already hopping by the time we arrived.  

Dancers move in a ring around a centerpiece--this time a light-strung bush.

 I always love seeing the different yukata and kimonos folks wear to these celebrations. I particularly like the crane designs when they crop up.

The dancers move around in a ring with the experienced dancers in the innermost showing the rest of us the steps to the song.Some songs have a complicated set of steps (up to 32 count for a couple) while others repeat after only the sixth bar such as my absolute favorite, the Fukushima Ondo.



And this song runs anywhere from 10-30 minutes nonstop. It's often the only song this Hongwanji will play and one that is super popular among the locals. If you watch closely, you'll see the inner ring is moving much faster than the outer rings because they're doing a modified version of the traditional set. I usually am in the thick of the inner ring and shrieking the Japanese rejoinders with the rest. I'm sweating bullets at the end of this one. And I love it.

The Hawaii Plantation Village Obon from another angle. 

The Hawaiian Plantation Village was a different experience and I was sorry to not have any undagi (deep fried doughnut holes with a cinnamon breading, superb!) this time around--a highlight of the experience. This location also didn't have the tower to dance around like you see in the above video, but the plantation was in this grassy, wooded area steeped in the history of a former plantation village. Their sound system was plenty loud enough, but a bit grating on the ears when you passed the speakers on the stage to the east side. They did play a number of songs I enjoy though including the Sakura (flower) and shovel one which I do not know the name of.

No undagi in the lineup! But plenty of other local fare.

So while I still prefer the Aiea area Obon the most, I still had a great time kicking up my heels to the local Japanese Buddhist tradition that welcomes anyone willing to join the dance.

Aiea Loop Trail

Hello everyone, it's the weekend!

Aiea Loop trailhead sign.

Aiea (eye-ay-uh) Loop trail is one of my personal favorites here on the islands. It's a 4.8-mile loop hike set at the very end of Aiea Heights Drive. True to what the drive suggests, the trailhead is buried high and deep in the Aiea valley. I'm always amazed to climb and climb through residential roads and suddenly burst into jungle straight out of Jurassic Park. It's wonderful to escape the bustle on this trail, even if you hear the roar of vehicles along the H3 for the second half of the hike.

I've hiked this trail several times though I usually only go so far as the H3 overlook before heading back the way I came. The H3 as you can see in the bottom right corner of the picture below is one of three major highways in Oahu. The H3 connects the south to the east and is my family's thoroughfare to get to Kaneohe, Kailua, or Bellows (which was mentioned in a previous post.) Otherwise I have to contend with the mud of the 'lower' section and then push my already muscle-torn legs up the steep road back to the car.

I started recording my return trip from the H3 overlook, so really I hiked 3.16 miles.

There is plenty of skirting mud pits, picking over roots, ducking fallen trees, jumping fallen trees, and hills to fill in the first 'half' of the hike--so my roughly 3-mile stint is satisfying. It also doesn't take an eagle eye to see feral pig signs all along the trail--any spot with churned up mud details a pretty picture of pigs rooting around for, well, roots. And in the right season, the trees will either be in bloom or fruiting. It's not quite as fun catching the after-fruiting season because flora like this strawberry guava drop, rot, attract insects and generally stink.

This trail gets very muddy too. I remember thinking I would hike Aiea a couple days after a storm and it would be fine. Wrong. The trail started out dry enough but the farther you push into the jungle, the larger the mud puddles become. Being stubborn, I threaded my way to the H3 overlook and returned topside with brown shoes, brown legs to the knee, and funny looks.

These puddles will stick around for days and lift your shoes if you're not careful.

But when the trail is dry, it's great! There are some sections that are very narrow and you're rarely far from a drop off. You might have one hand on the wall as you lean away from sheer plunge. Every time I hike this trail there's some new surprise. A new fallen tree blocking the path or having torn out an entire section of trail. I'm not sure who comes in and hacks notches into the more stubborn trees, but it makes the going a bit easier--especially when the other options are belly-crawl under or risk a tumble over. 

Hand and foot notches in one fallen tree along the first half of the trail. 

I do have a couple favorite spots along the trail as well. The sudden wide expanses of eucalyptus trees are a heartsore for me. The dapple of light and whiff of faint but sharp citrus is what really makes me love this hike. There are no falls here. There is a creek hikers cross at what I lovingly refer to as the humid 'lower' section of the trail; literally a hop or skip or jump to ford before you wend your way back up out of the valley.

My favorite spot--a paperbark grove roughly one mile in from the upper parking lot.

I notice most folks seem to pass me in the opposite direction, which means they start the trail in the lower parking lot and enter the nondescript tunnel of floral to begin their trail. I enjoy starting in the upper lot which I believe is the actual trailhead because all the signs and warnings are listed there. Granted, you do have to make that horrible long haul up at the very end when you're already exhausted.

For any interested in hiking Aiea Loop: Bring plenty of water, sunscreen, bug spray (although I usually don't have any bug troubles), an umbrella, and ignore the smaller 'branch' trails. Those are pig trails. There are also a couple other trails that branch off from the Loop but the Loop trail is often the wider course, so stick to that and you shouldn't have any troubles.

Enjoy and happy Saturday!

The H3 overlook as seen from the crest of Aiea Loop. 

White Plains, white wash

Hello all, it's not the weekend!

I apologize for the delay of post. I had a few fires to put out this weekend.

Pushing into Monday, my father is in town, and to my surprise he suggested we go surfing. Both of my parents surfed back in the day--my mom and her siblings out past Diamond Head and my dad at Barber's Point to the southwest of the island. I've since shouldered that mantle and I often go alone when the water calls. (Which is often.) It's a vigorous workout if you don't have a channel to paddle past the breakers, otherwise you're swilling whitewash trying to get into position.

My haunt is Waikiki. I torture myself getting up early, slogging through our horrible, horrible traffic (top 5 worst in the nation behind L.A. and San Francisco), walking a good half mile, paddling for a quarter, and finally catching that first glorious curl.

Welcome to White Plains beach!

This time, however, we headed out toward Barber's Point and the White Plains beach, which is a spot I have never surfed before. It's supposed to be sharky out this way and while I didn't see any in the water today, I'm sure I scared several attempting to dismount waves gracefully.

The surf report said the heights were 3-4 feet for southern facing shores and I would agree with that assessment. I swear I had a few 6-footers rollers that shunted me back toward shore. "Fun size." If you know what you're doing.

A glimpse of the breaks at the beach.

The lifeguard tower and Diamond Head in the background!

The nice thing about White Plains is there are plenty of breaks so surfers get to spread out. You're not all fighting for waves, 20 surfers taking off at once. The bad thing about White Plains is there are plenty of breaks, you have to fight the surf the entire way. And moreover, today was a little bit choppy. I'd crest one curl, tumble down the white wash out the back, and whoop!, here comes another one!

Waikiki is great for beginners with three distinct breaks. (At least where I go.) And I notice if you're in just the right spot, the waves will hit each break in turn. So just as you're losing speed, the wave will hit the next coral head and give you another burst of speed if you can adjust for it.

White Plains was weird because the waves were more roly poly. I'd pop up on a sharp face, slice a bit and drop back down and the face was suddenly gone, but I'm still catching...something. I can't slice anymore either without going right out the "top." I also had to avoid the swimming area which I accidentally broke past once. I thought I'd cleared the left buoy. My bad.

A stage set on the western side of the beach and...

...the cottage rental reception! I believe this is strictly for the military?

We only have one surfboard, my beautiful orange-flame one, and we had to rent the other one from Hickam's MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation); a slim 7'10" board. I caught a couple waves on my board and traded with my dad about 20 minutes in in the wash. Losing almost a foot of board made me purl my first attempt. Never fun. But I caught a few more and wish I'd popped up faster to see just how maneuverable a smaller board could be. But you know, between purling and the waves closing out, I didn't really get the chance.

Turns out Barber's Point has an MWR.

And a wall-full of monster surfboards! We wish we'd known so dad could have gotten a tanker.

Surfing haven through and through.

Next time. It was still a fun day on the water!

This weekend, I...might be in New York. Stay frosty.

Happy Monday.

Pumping Bellows

Hello all, it's the weekend!

After so many plans gone awry this week and the last, we finally had a nice weekend where the weather behaved and the surf was up.

Today, I ran up to Bellows Air Force Station over on the east side of the island. It's one of my family's favorite beaches and we've frequented here for as far back as I can remember. And as far back as I do remember, I caught waves here.

Looking south down the beach toward Makapu'u.

But first, a little history!

Bellows Air Force Station was once called Bellows Air Field, named after 2nd Lt. Franklin Bellows, a World War I hero. He died in 1918 performing a reconnaissance mission. The base has since shut down its flight lanes, though the Marines still perform amphibious maneuvers on the beach (which is why the public beach is closed on weekdays) among other things.

Marines at work, taken by yours truly.

These days, most folks tend to set up camp at Bellows over the weekend for some relaxation at camping sights or any of the cottages along the beach front.

I tend to visit Bellows when the waves are pumping, and they were today.

Up the northern end of the beach toward Kailua.

Bellows is a sandy-bottom shore break spot, great for boogey- and body-boarders and kayaking once you get past the breakers. The break rarely gets up past the double digits in height although there can be a first break much further out that requires fins to catch. Again, most folks tend to go out 20 or so yards and catch whatever rolls up. But today was wild.

I normally consult two sources for tides, wave heights, winds, conditions, before I head out: the newspaper and my Surfline app. The paper said 2-3, or chesthigh sets, while my app said the conditions were 3-4 and poor. When I got there the water was choppy, the sets often doubled up making waves unrideable, and there was a constant current to fight to keep in place. These conditions are NOT normal for Bellows. And I saw one wave--a freaking shore break wave--that had to have had at least an 8 foot face. That's RIDICULOUS!

Bellows is gentle. Sets are interspersed with lulls. It's a great spot for beginners. Some waves will allow the boarder to slice along the face. There can be Man o' War jellyfish, but it depends on the winds.

Today was rough, the waves were constantly pounding, I had to fight to stay lined up, and there were at least 2 jellyfish I spotted on the beach, 6 in the water. At least the sting-to-sighting ratio was 6 to 1. I think one branded my thigh brushing past, but the stingers were old because the throbbing only lasted about 15 minutes or so.

The Portuguese Man o' War are roughly the size of a quarter, their tentacles can be two feet long, and they STING! Photo from here.

I've been boogey-boarding a long time, enough to say I catch what I go for and I rarely get chopped. I got flipped twice off my board today, the waves were just that hairy. I lost a hair clip. I almost lost my rubber band. The tightly coiled rubber band holding back my hair. I mean that was just how wild it was today.

AND FUN!

It was wonderful to finally get a beach day after so many failed attempts to launch other plans. Sheesh.

Hopefully the weather will be kind next week and I can squeak in more outdoor activities. Wish me luck!

Happy Sunday!