Walk Off the Earth

Have you heard of these guys yet?  They are winning over youtube with their awesome home recorded videos playing cover songs.

I personally love this cover of Adele's "Someone Like You"



But this one where all five people play one guitar is pretty epic too:

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Read: Little Bee

For a moment there, I was thinking of changing the title of these book posts to "Finished" rather than "Read" because I found the word "read" a little confusing.  I meant that I had finished reading the book, but I realized to some it could mean that I'm telling you to read the book.  Right as I began typing "Finished" into the subject line, I realized that "Read" is actually perfect.  I'm telling you about something that I read, and maybe you will in turn, be interested in reading it.  Problem solved.

"We don't want to tell you what happens in this book.  It is truly a special story and we don't want to spoil it," whispers the blurb on the back of Chris Cleave's Little Bee.  The cutesy marketing and the charming cover with its scrolling cursive title is disarming to a fault.

This is not an easy book to read.  It's incredibly challenging in terms of the subject.  A reviewer from The Washington Post writes that the book "deserves a warning label: "Do not judge this book by its cover.  Contents under pressure.""

I also think that the marketing does the book a huge disservice as well.  I think it's safe to divulge a few details about the book without "ruining" it.  This book is a not a mystery, although a few mysteries are unfolded and examined within the plot.

Two strangers share a horrific encounter on the beach two years prior to the novel's beginning.  Little Bee is a teenager running for her life from her village in Nigeria when she runs into Sarah O'Rourke, an editor of a British women's magazine on holiday with her husband.

After the horrific events on the beach, the two women are separated by circumstances but reunite two years later in London.

The novel's chapters alternate narrators, so you read the story from both Little Bee's and Sarah's point of view.  I feel like this is Cleave's major strength in story telling.  He has a wonderful grasp of the language, and creates strong and separate voices for both Little Bee and Sarah O'Rourke.  It's hard not to be moved by Little Bee's will and strength.

The book isn't perfect.  I had a few issues with character development as well as the book's ending, but I found it be moving and eye opening, especially on issues of refugees and immigration removal centers in the UK.

Some of my favorite bits:

"The detention officer, the one who was looking at the topless photo in the newspaper--he was a small man and his hair was pale, like the tinned mushroom soup they served us on Tuesdays.  His wrists were thin and white like electrical cables covered in plastic.  His uniform was bigger than he was.  The shoulders of the jacket rose up in two bumps, one on each side of his head, as if he had little animals hiding in there.  I thought of those creatures blinking in the light when he took off his jacket in the evening."

"As a girl I liked what all girls like: pink plastic bracelets and later silver ones; a few practice boyfriends and then, in no particular hurry, men.  England was made of dawn mists that rose to the horse's shoulder, of cakes cooled on wire trays for the cutting, of soft awakening."

"London was fun.  Men blew through like tall ships, some of them already wrecked."

"Tea is the taste of my land: it is bitter and warm, strong, and sharp with memory.  It tastes of longing.  It tastes of the distance between where you are and where you come from.  Also it vanishes--the taste of it vanishes from your tongue while your lips are still hot from the cup.  It disappears, like plantations stretching up into the mist.  I have heard that your country drinks more tea than any other.  How sad that must make you--like children who long for absent mothers."

"His suit, too--it was a good one; Kenzo, I think--and it fit him well, but there was something arresting about the way he wore it.  He held his arms a little away from his body--as if the suit was the pelt of some suaver animal, recently slain and imperfectly cured, so that the bloody rawness of it made his skin crawl."

"It was the sound of the surf pounding on the beach that woke me.  Crash, like the drawer of a cash register springing open and all the coins inside it smashing against the edge of their compartments.  The surf pounded and ebbed, the cash drawer opened and closed."

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Beatys in Maui: Last Morning

Mom, Dad and Hana took off this morning back to Lake Tahoe.  It was so hard to see them go.  This week really thundered by, and seven days didn't feel like enough time with the family.

Since I am still experiencing technical difficulties with the Panasonic, this post will not feature my personal photos (sorry), but I hope to add some pictures that Mom took on her phone and her camera soon.

Yesterday was my family's last full day on the island, and we spent it lounging on the beach at Black Rock in Ka'anapali.  Black Rock is the rocky peninsula at the far northern end of Ka'anapali Beach directly under the Sheraton Resort.  The lava rock sea cliff is a great snorkeling spot, and many adventurous swimmers climb out of the water and jump off the side.

(photo credit)

I spent most of my afternoon swimming back and forth from our beach spot to Black Rock to check out the fish.  My favorite find of the day was the trumpet fish.

(photo credit)

They are very common in Maui, but I love how unusual they look.

We ate a picnic lunch from Leoda's on the beach.  This was our third lunch from this great sandwich shop.  Out of all the great places that my family got to sample from, Leoda's and I'o were their favorites.

After getting plenty of sunshine, sand and surf, we headed back home to rest and clean up for dinner at Maui's famous Lahaina Grill.

(photo credit)

Lahaina Grill is a swanky bistro attached to Lahaina Inn off Front Street in downtown Lahaina.  I've been hearing about the outrageous food ever since I've moved here, but I've never stopped in except to gawk at the menu.

The prices are high, which have stopped me from casually running in and grabbing a bite, but last night I discovered that the food, service and drinks made it well worth the price; however, I would probably only go back on a very special occasion (or maybe for a glass of wine at the bar along with the following salad).

My dad and I split the best Bufala Tomato Salad made from stacked Olowalu tomatoes, bufala mozzarella and dressed with maui onion, fresh basil, truffle oil, aged balsamic vinaigrette, alziari extra virgin olive oil and black kilauea sea salt.  It was absolutely delicious.  I couldn't get over the freshness of the produce and the lush flavors of the dressing.  The secret is in the truffle oil and sea salt.  Amazing!

For dinner, I ordered the sauteed Opakapaka (Hawaiian Pink Snapper).  Two generous fish filets topped with a Tiger Prawn were layered on top of a heaping portion of sweet Kula corn risotto.  The fish was amazing: very tender and rich in flavor.  We occasionally serve Opakapaka at the restaurant that I work at, but I don't get many chances to sample it myself.  I figured that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try it out here.  The portion was so huge I couldn't finish all of it, and Bryan happily helped me finish my meal.  Of course, to keep things as fair as possible, I managed to steal a few bites of his: homemade meatballs made from all natural veal, pork and angus beef.  The meatballs were served over ballerine pasta in a fresh olowalu tomato-basil sauce.  Heaven!

Although the food was obviously very good and a standout performer of the evening, I enjoyed being able to share the time with my family and Bryan even more.  It was so wonderful seeing my parents enjoy learning more about Bryan, and I got to lean over the table and catch up with my sister.  It was a really wonderful night, and even though Lahaina Grill was a wonderful setting, I believe that we could have been anywhere having an equally good time.

Bryan and I met up with Mom, Dad and Hana for one last meal this morning before they left for the airport.  We bookended their vacation with another great breakfast at Coolers.  Franck, the wonderful gentleman who arranged for my family to rent the Puamana condo, came by to wish them farewell.  He also gifted them a book from his business, Vintage European Posters, to accompany their newest purchase of a World War I propaganda poster.

It was hard to watch Hana, Mom and Dad pile into their rental and pull out of their parking spot and finally drive away.  The week went by much too fast, and I really wish they could have stayed longer.  I had such a great time showing them around the Maui that I know as well as traveling with them to see parts of Maui that I was unfamiliar with.  It was wonderful to finally introduce them to Bryan, whom they liked very much.

I hope that they manage to come back very, very soon.

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Beatys in Maui: Snapshots

I've been experiencing some technical difficulties with my underwater Panasonic Lumix camera after possibly taking it too deep on our snuba trip (oops).  We went about 20 feet into the water.  I later read in my user's manual for the camera that 10 feet is the general maximum depth to snap photos.

The camera still takes pictures, but it won't turn off.

While I was trouble shooting with it, I took a few snaps on my cellphone and a standard point and shoot.



Baby whale tail in Honolua Bay (Beatys in Maui Day 4)

Vintage European Poster Gallery on Front Street (Beatys in Maui: Day 4)

Dinner at I'o (Beatys in Maui: Day 4)

Epic Malasadas (Phillipino doughnuts) at Star Noodle (Beatys in Maui: Day 6)



Demolished!

On Day 6 of the Beaty family being in Maui, Bryan and I took my sister, Hana, to our favorite restaurant: Star Noodle.  If you look back through old entries, you'll see plenty of food shots of some of my favorite dishes to nosh on.

My sister typically eats like a bird: she usually only orders a single appetizer as her entree, and she's full after a few bites.

I thought I would witness a similar experience at Star Noodle, but Bryan and I discovered that my sister is a champion eater when presented with her favorite food: bacon and udon noodles.

Everything at Star Noodle is "family style" which means that you and your family will be fighting over every dish that gets sent out of the kitchen.  There is no "sharing" at Star.  It's every man for himself.

We started with the restaurant's daily special: seared scallops wrapped in bacon, topped with a tomato bruschetta.  The 6 bacon wrapped scallops were laid out on a butter buerre blanc sauce with a balsamic reduction drizzle.  Delicious!

Afterwards we enjoyed pad thai and Hana ate every.single.noodle in her Udon bowl.  We were too stuffed for dessert, but our friend who works on the line sent out Malasadas.  Typically, the Malasadas on the menu are tiny, but the cook made the doughnuts as big as our fists.  He plated them with plenty of chocolate and caramel syrup and included mounds of vanilla ice cream.

Why are you still reading this entry?  Why aren't you piling into your car to go eat at Star Noodle already?

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Beatys in Maui Day 4: Adventures in Snuba!

We had the best underwater adventure on Trilogy, the highest rated Catamaran company on Maui.  Mom booked a snorkel tour that launched right off the shores of Ka'anapali.

I am familiar with Trilogy because my restaurant booked them for our Christmas Party on Lanai.  The Trilogy crew is simply the best, offering plenty of Aloha from beginning to end.  The Trilogy company has a fleet of seven catamarans, we were on Trilogy IV--one of the smaller, lighter ships in the fleet, perfect for sailing!

The sun was shining overhead as the crew carefully loaded us onto the catamaran from the beach, but the winds shifted and brought grey clouds of misty rain over the boat.  We tried to stay ahead of those clouds our entire sail, but they caught up with us when we arrived in Honolua Bay--our snorkeling destination.

Dad lounging on the Catamaran's trampolines

Where there's rain, there are rainbows!  (It's just a smudge of color on the horizon under the clouds)

Once everyone was on board we began our sail towards the northern part of the west side of Maui.  The crew handed out sliced fresh fruit and their famous homemade cinnamon rolls.

Mom and Hana enjoying breakfast

Leaving the resorts behind as we head north

Looking for whales

These maritime flags spell "Trilogy"

Sun streaming through rainclouds over Maui

Rainbow at the entrance of Honolua Bay

The Beaty ladies show off their colorful toes:

Blue (Hana), Pink (Paige) and Purple (Mom)

Dropping anchor in Honolua Bay.

Where does the rainbow end?

At the start of a wave--Honolua is a popular surf spot in winter

Honolua Bay is about a 20 minute drive from the hustle and bustle of the Ka'anapali resorts.  Even though it's not far, I had never snorkeled here until today.  Many of my Maui friends are totally shocked and saddened by this fact.  After today's visit, I plan on coming back often.  There is a reason why Honolua is considered to be everyone's favorite snorkeling destination.

Honolua Bay is part of the Mokuleia Marine Life Conservation District.  The fish seem to know that the bay is a protected area (no fishing allowed) so there are plenty to gawk at amongst the large, colorful coral formations of the reef.

Note to those who are driving in rather than catching a ride on a boat: there's no sand beach, so don't come to sunbathe.  Honolua Bay is for snorkelers and surfers only.

After an incredibly enticing introduction to Snuba by Frank, one of the Trilogy's crew members, we decided that we had to give it a try.

Mom, Hana and I were a little apprehensive at first, but after a clumsy and (at times) heart pounding acclimation period it was smooth sailing and absolutely amazing.

Frank, our Snuba guide, leading us to new sights

Snuba is an underwater breathing system that allows you to "scuba dive" without carrying the tanks on your back.  The tanks rest on pontoon rafts on the surface and air is provided by a 20 foot hose that you breathe through a regulator, like scuba diving.

Hana, Dad and Mom

I love swimming in the ocean and getting close to fish, but I had never seriously considered trying to scuba dive.  I have the hardest time using a snorkel and scuba diving seemed to be a much more complicated version of snorkeling.  After doing Snuba today, I'm much more enthusiastic about trying out the real thing.

Because the skies above us were darkened with clouds and rain, the visibility was slightly compromised, but we still managed to have an amazing day under the water.  

We spent about an hour swimming around using the Snuba system, but I wish that I had had more time to swim around.  

Getting used to the snuba, snapping photos and remembering to keep breathing evenly through the regulator rather than holding my breath kept me pretty occupied that the experience of breathing under water and being surrounded by fish became a secondary experience rather than the primary one.

An hour felt so short, and there was so much more to see.

Dad

Honolua Bay is also famous for being a great spot to swim with turtles or "honus."  Frank knew exactly where they like to hang out, and he led us right to them.  When we came across our first turtle, Frank zipped over and took my camera from me and motioned me to swim along after him so he could capture pictures of me swimming alongside the turtle.

That's me!

Dad and Me with a sea turtle

The turtle and I swam side by side for a little while.  He paid me no mind.  As he swam along, it appeared as if he was grooming himself.  He would swivel his head over to his front right flipper and pick at it with his beak.

The turtle's shell was a mottled brown and green, and his eye color seemed to match.  Its skin looked like worn leather and settled in wrinkles behind its head.  

Mom and Hana look at the turtle from above

Me swimming alongside a sea turtle

I felt close enough to the turtle that I could have reached my arm out and cradled the top of its shell.  I continued to swim with him for a while amazed that a sea creature that looks so heavily armored can glide along so effortlessly.

When our first sea turtle continued out towards the open ocean, we swung back towards the reef where we spotted this behemoth:

This turtle was as tall as Hana!

Speaking of Hana...here she is!!  

The giant sea turtle, rousted from his sleeping spot, swims up from the ocean floor towards Dad

A small school of fish near the ocean floor

Frank: our fearless leader

Before we got into the water, we were outfitted with a wetsuit top and a weighted belt.  The wetsuit helped keep out some of the chill, and the weighted belt helped us drop beneath the surface.  I thought I was going to have hard time equalizing as we slipped deeper into the ocean, but I was lucky and acclimated to it quickly.

I felt like my childhood dream of becoming a mermaid had finally come true.  I was able to dive deep with the fish and breathe under the water like they do.

Dad

Mom and Hana above me

Another giant turtle taking a nap.  This one was almost as big as me!

A cloud of fish forming under the anchored Trilogy IV

Dad sporting his new board shorts from Billabong.  He looks like a Snuba Pro!

The Beatys: Underwater Adventurers!

(from left to right) Me, Hana, Mom and Dad

Snuba Champions!

I didn't think I was going to fall in love with Snuba like I did.  It was an amazing introduction to the real deal, and I can't wait to give scuba diving a try.  The hardest part was after we had surfaced and removed our regulators I continued to stick my head under to look at passing fish while gulping in sea water!  I was still trying to breathe underwater like I was still hooked up to the Snuba system.  Doh!

Once we were back on the boat, we had a hard time warming up.  I felt chilled to the bone in my wet bathing suit, and it continued to rain off and on as we waited for lunch.

While lunch was being prepared, I watched a mother whale and her baby slowly swim across the mouth of the bay.  Slowly, they began to swim inwards towards the beach.  Honolua Bay is incredibly shallow, but the whales continued to swim in towards the reef.  The Trilogy crew couldn't believe the good luck we were having on their boat.  They had never seen this before.

The mother whale and baby cruised towards the reef, and the lucky snorkelers that were still in the water got quite the show.  It's illegal to get into the ocean within 100 feet of the Humpback Whales, but I guess it's fair game if you are already in the water.  "I was swimming around and minding my own business.  It's the whale that came up and starting harassing me, Officer.  I swear!"

As the whales got closer we saw that they were escorted by two dolphins.  The crew said that the mother whale was probably giving her baby a rest in the shallow bay before continuing their journey through deeper waters.

After a short swim in the bay, the mother whale and dolphins steered the baby out towards the open ocean.

The whale watch was the perfect entertainment during our lunch.  It was almost as if the Trilogy crew had orchestrated it just for us.  One of the crew members joked that it had taken them two months to train the whales to come into the bay and approach snorkelers.

After lunch we motored out of the bay into a good steady wind.  The crew raised the sail, cut the engines and cruised us back to Ka'anapali.  In spite of the chilly weather and wind, the sail back was great fun.  The crew members dished out ice cream and joked with the guests, and everyone kicked back and relaxed our windblown ride back home.

Many thanks to the amazing crew of Trilogy IV for such a great day.  Huge kudos to Frank for getting all of us into the ocean with Snuba gear, and thanks for Dominick for the many laughs and the invite to join Trilogy for one of their whale watches.  Caleb is another Oregon transplant, so we had a lot to talk about, and Captain Kevin was our outstanding grill master.

The family and I had such a wonderful time, and I definitely plan on coming back onboard for more whale watching this season.

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