August 14, 2006

  • Paradise.

    A week ago, I came back from my 2nd anniversary with my beautiful lady. Not to underdo my first year anniversary on a cruise to Cozumel, I decided to take her to Hawaii.

    Life is short peeps. Life can end today or tommorow, you never know. I'm making my A's in school for the future, everything's going fine. Why not live life to the max? I've told a good many of you, in my own belief... there is not a single thing that anyone could possibly convince me otherwise in the afterlife (if there is one) that is more real than this. Thus... let's enjoy it while we can. =)

    Enough with the psycho-babble, and onto the trip with pictures!

    To be honest, I was going to keep myself calm and get to Hawaii, expecting the usual things people rave about it. But to be honest again... it was more than I could ever expect. It was an amazing trip. Honolulu, Oahu is my exact vacation. Why Oahu?? Because it has more award-winning cooks, and more variety of food than anywhere else on the islands of Hawaii.

    Let's start at the beginning. Flying to Hawaii, we go back in time, 5 hours to be exact. Thus giving us extra time in paradise. The plane trip sucked, American airplane food BLOWS. You pay 5$ for a box of crackers and salami. There is no such thing as a decent meal on US airlines vs my kickass meal on Korea Airlines on my Vietnam trip. Imagine...

    US Airline Food Box:













    Actual Korean Air Food:



























    Many of you are probably thinking why the hell am I taking pictures of airline food. I like to eat and cook, so most of my pictures are foodie pix. The people sitting around me were looking at me wierd, and what kind of a loser I was taking picture of airline cuisine. But there was this cute Thai girl that sat next to me, whipped out her camera and also took a picture of her food and winked at me. =) Off to a great start in my opinion.

    This shot of vietnam is actually a prettier part of the city. This park has several parts all in downtown of Saigon. Alex told me that this is "Makeout Point". I didn't believe him until during the evening, the park is PACKED with couples making out, and doing their love thing out in broad moonlight! Haha, so if a guy brought a girl to this place... the girls knows what's up.


























    This shot is a simple shot off the coast of Waikiki where Anna and I stayed at. Just a short catamaran ride to get a view of the ocean and the whole coast of the island. Nice blue water, with nice white/bronze sand. 80 degrees all the time (85 degrees at night here in Tx). Just an awesome place to live to be honest.



























    This little unit on the wall is what every room has in vietnam. No building has a central AC unit like in the US. Each room has this very efficient, very badass cooling unit. Larger rooms have larger standing units. I wish I could bring one back here, I bet it would save a lot of energy usage. Just use the remote control to set the temp, and voila it will kick right up and start working.


























    This is Daewoo's newest sports car. Naturally the more well known car companies vary from country to country. I had a chance to speak a foriegn exchange student in the DFW airport, and his dad drives a SAMSUNG van. Haha, I wouldn't have expected that at all.


























    Now, you all know ... if I won the lottery, I would still go to school for one thing. Cooking. Thien and I both enjoy doing it, and growing up in a restaraunt had nothing to do with it *snicker*. But seriously, I trully think it is one of the most simple, yet most satisfying things to enjoy in life. And that... ladies and gentlemen... is food.

    These three shots are pictures of: #1 a "modern" vietnamese restaruant. Shot #2 is just an asian BBQ joint. #3 is this Pho place that is filled with wooden carvings with a sign that states "No good No Pay", also unspoken word is if you manage to eat 6 bowls of Pho here its all free. Each bowl was expensive in terms of vietnamese money. (2$ per bowl). The spices and the broth is very unqiue, and I highly reccomend anyone that steps into Saigon to try this Pho place out.
















































































    These next 2 shots are food in Hawaii. First one is at the VERY VERY packed Duke's Beachside restaruant. Very reasonable prices (10$ per entree), with a full salad bar. Good food. And the 2nd shot was a random korean place Anna and I dropped in after walking around for a couple of hours. Once again, reasonable food prices (6$ per person). I wish I had a chance to load up pictures I took at Alan Wong's restaurant. The only upscale($55+ per person) restaruant that I would LOVE to eat there again. I have tried a good deal of expensive restaraunts that are worth the experience but not a revisit. I can say with confidence that Mr. Alan Wong will see me again. As soon as I can get my cell phone to load up pictures onto my computer, I would like to show you very artistic and tasty dishes I had the honor of trying in his restaraunt.





















































    I will stop with food pix for now. But it is pr0n for me. Mmhhh...

    We had a chance to go to the Ala Monoa shopping Center. Which ROCKED ASS. Hundreds of stores, and almost 100 places to eat at. This is hands down the best looking, most fun shopping mall I have ever been in. We had to go here on 3 different days. 4 Stories tall, part of it indoor, most of it outdoors. Architecture changes as  you walk through it, as if a team of different engineers made their own part of the mall a bit different than another.





















































    Just a Ukulele store. From 20$ to 1200$ tiny guitars. 12-string anyone??


























    Now I don't usually go for the "touristy" things when I vacation. But in Hawaii... I think Everyone must have gone to a Luau at least once while they are there. And for Anna and I, it wasn't an exception. So... without further Adieu... some pictures of Germaine's Luau.

    Dancers... blurry, but they move so fast.


























    Free drinks included with our meals = A warm n' fuzzy Anna and Tri.






















































    I don't really think where you stay is important to the overall experience of the location you are staying at. However, I think it does add to the fun.

    My room in one of Alex's Parent's Dozen houses in Vietnam.


























    When I stay near a beach, I just want to have a few things. 1) A beautiful girl. 2) The smell and sounds of the ocean. #2 satisfied by our hotel that is right on the beach of Waikiki.


























    Fruit is trully nature's natural dessert. Good for the body and soul, yet so so soooo tasty.
    All the fruit in Vietnam completely whooped all of US's fruits asses left and right. Fresh, sweet, and very satisfying.

    Rambutan:


























    All the fruit in Hawaii is about as good in America with one exception. PINEAPPLES. If pineapple was ranked 1-10 scale. US mainland pineapple is a 6, Hawaii pineapples are an 11!! They are just THAT good. I've talked a couple of buddies who both are like me, after eating so much pineapple here in mainland, our throat starts itching, and it's sometimes sour. Hawaii pineapple, Everywhere I tried it was very sweet, and my trip to the Dole plantation filled! a meal of just pineapple. Delicious. Very naturally fresh squeezed pineapple with no perservatives.





















































    Now a couple of shots of common things you see at both places...

    Vietnam. Mopeds Mopeds Mopeds!!!


























    Hawaii. Sand Ocean Sun!



























    These next two shots are related somehow. Take a guess. =P




























































    Give up? As you all know Lost the tv show is filmed in Hawaii. Naturally, Jin's (a character in the show) stunt double resides there as well. So why did we take a picture of his picture frame? Well, stunt double is only a part-time gig, not a full-time job. So what does he do? He sells Time shares. That is our picture right after we purchased one. Points can be switched to double-points for other locations in the Time-share system, meaning one week of our 5-star place = Two weeks anywhere else. =)

    Anyhow... its 5 am, and I should head to bed and call it a night. I hope you all enjoy the pictures, I'll try to get more up soon. Take care, enjoy life, and till next time... Allllooooooohhhhhaaaaaa.

    Last parting shot for Mr. Ho. He is famous in Hawaii after all...