Alecs' Graduation

We attended our nephew Alecsander's graduation ceremony at Mid Pacific yesterday.

This is the graduate with his proud parents.



...and Aunt.



What good is a Graduation sign if it's not at least a little embarassing?

Birthday in Tropics

We celebrated my birthday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Tropics Bar & Grill.

Terrific sunset view just as we were seated and a nice evening with the family.



A complimentary birthday dessert- Coffee Cheesecake. Very good!



Mahalo to Dara Young for arranging the table for us.

Kikuhana in Las Vegas

I was hosted by John Collins at Kikuhana Restaurant in Las Vegas.

It's located at Rainbow and Sahara in a small strip mall. It's a very nice neighborhood place that belies the quality and authenticity of the Japanese and Okinawan food that is served there.
The chef is Satoru Uehara who owns it along with his wife, Akemi.

Sashimi Platter
I was amazed at how fresh the items were despite being in the middle of a desert!

Spicy Tuna Sashimi with Crispy Onions
It is very interesting how the onions are prepared; almost like crunchy flakes. At first glance I thought they were bonito flakes. Really goes good with the sashimi!

Devil Shrimp
The shells are sliced so that they open up to look like "oni" but it is really "oishii"!

Spicy Tuna on Rice Cake
The rice cake is pan fried in a shoyu sauce; very tasty by itself but really good with the tuna and then kicked up with the jalapeno.
The Plum wine was very tasty as well.

It's a shame that the detail of Chef Uehara's handiwork can't be seen in the photo. It was amazing watching him carve this masterpiece.

May flowers in McMinnville

Linfield Luau 2010

This was our second time attending the Luau at Linfield. The theme this year was 96 Degrees in the Shade.
The students did another terrific job with the show last night!

Of course, the parental support was tremendous again and even more special because one of the Freshmen parents worked so hard in making these costumes for the Tongan number, Wini Fotu Malimali. They actually pounded out the kapa! The kids were so blown away when they saw the costumes for the first time on Friday.

This year Brent was joined at Linfield by his cousin, Tori Ann. They surprised her parents and us on this number, Holo Wa'apa, when they paired up for the number right in front of our seats!