Marukame Udon - Waikiki

Do you like noodles? How about freshly made udon. Udon is a thick wheat flour noodle of Japanese cuisine. Udon can be served hot as a noodle in a flavoured broth. Udon is also served iin cold dishes too.

Before you go in watch the cooks make udon in the picture window. This place is so popular that it always has a long line to get in. Once in the line it's not that bad as it looks, it moves along and before you know it your ordering your meal.

It's a cafeteria style restaurant. Pickup a tray and order your udon. They also have assorted tempura and musubis to complement your udon. Find an open table and enjoy. The noodles are so good you are going to love it. I highly recommended a visit to this place. 

Check out the menu.

Waikiki 
2310 Kuhio Avenue, Suite 124
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 931-6000
Hours: 7am-9am & 11am-10pm, Mon-Sun

    

Making fresh udon.

Curry Udon

Aloha Friday

In Hawaii we call the last work day of the week Aloha Friday. It's also a casual Friday because most employers allow their staff to dress casual. We all look forward to Friday after working hard the whole week.

Living and working in a place that people from all around the world visit is so neat. It's a blessing to live in the Aloha State.

Enjoy The Aloha Friday Song!

The view from Ala Moana Center.

Tag Team Partners Again

I have had the privilege in the past to cross paths with former coworkers to team up again in another company. It's really neat to get another chance to work with former coworkers that you had a good professional relationship with. The company really benefits when they have staff that have worked together before.

When you get a chance to work together again it's a special feeling being able to resume your professional relationship and friendship by seeing each other five days a week. I have many fond memories. I hope there will be more opportunities for me in the future to cross paths again with former colleagues.

The pizza at Harbor Pub

You need to check out Harbor Pub if you are a pizza lover. The pizza is cooked in a brick oven to give it a crispy thin crust full of flavor. Not many places have brick ovens. My favorite pizza is the Harbor Combo pictured in my blog. It's so delicious when it's delivered to your table right out of the oven piping hot. They have more delicious items on their menu along with a variety of drinks. If you are on vacation in Hawaii you need to stop by Harbor Pub.

The Pub has a cozy ambiance surrounded in rustic decor that makes the place so unique that it can't be duplicated. You will find locals and tourist enjoying drinks and good food at the Pub. The friendly crew at the Pub will make you feel at home.

Harbor Pub & Pizza - located at the Ala Wai Boat Harbor & Marina 

Open Monday through Sunday from 7AM to 2AM.

1765 Ala Moana Blvd. #1, Honolulu, Hawaii 96815

http://www.harborpubhawaii.com

(808) 941-0985 

The double edge Email

Why do we always need to send an email when a simple call can get the answer. This is one of the reasons why a person would send an email out. The person is calling you out and they want an audience by carbon copying others on the email to have a front row seat of the action.

When you receive an email that boils your blood take a deep breath and resist launching a torpedo at the coward to not be baited into playing that type of game. Instead blow off steam by gathering supporting information to defend yourself and respond back by replying all so everyone will see your response. 

Always respond back in a professional manner to teach the sender some class. Everyone on the email is reading your your response so you need to maintain your composure and professionalism.

It's so funny when you get attacked in an email with an invited audience and you vindicate yourself in front of everyone. Most times you never get a reply back from the sender. One time I only got an instant message from a person admitting their mistake. No guts to let everyone else know. That really shows the character in that person.   

Friendships that stand the test of Time

Do you ever wonder about the good friendships you have made in life? How did we meet? What brought you to the point to develop a friendship?

The way I look at it I have been blessed to stumble on some very nice people. A friend can be near or faraway. We live in an age of awesome technology to bridge the gaps. 

There is a special chemistry between two people that creates a bond to form a friendship that lasts through time. We make a lot of friends in life, but they are your acquaintances. The acquaintances you make are also important in your life. Your close friends are the ones that you share your life with. Close friends are the ones that you share your joys and sorrows of life with and they do the same. 

Think about your true good friends that you have made. Reflect on some of the memories you made with them. True friendship will last through the test of time. 

Toddler Gymnastics

Benefits for getting toddlers involved in Gymnastics:

Self Confidence 
(As the child moves through the program and masters the skills in gymnastics they feel good about their self accomplishments.)

Politeness
(Learn respect and manners towards adults and children.)

Coordination
(Learn how to coordinate body movements better.)

Fitness
(It’s never to early to keep your body fit even a child.)

Overcoming Fears
(Fear challenged and erased in a fun environment. A great example is the fear of heights. After the child learns how to rock climb and has fun scaling a wall the fear is gone while having fun at the same time.)

Social Skills 
(Have a weekly opportunity to learn and practice social skills by interacting with the gym teacher and other children.)

Discipline
(Learn how to follow rules.)

Performing In Front Of People
(Get your child off to an early start by not being embarrassed to do things in public. This is a valuable skill they can take into adulthood as they seize opportunities in life not holding back due to shyness.)

Physical Strength Development

(Overtime the child will develop physical strength avoiding injuries in physical activities.)

Conclusion

Does that sound like an activity you would like to get involved in? If your toddler is 18-36 months old give it a try.

Beauty in Shades of Black and White

The Ala Wai Harbor on a cloudy rainy day with the sun setting behind the clouds. You always can find beauty anywhere. Just open your mind and your eyes, and you will find it. The sun always finds a way to get it's rays through the clouds to let you know it's there.

Clean Up on Aisle 7, 8 and 9

Adventures of a grandpa by himself with two granddaughters.

I was watching my two granddaughters in the waiting room while my daughter was being seen by the Dentist. There are toys and stuff to keep them happy in the Dentist Office. They got bored fast and noisy, yikes I better get them out of there.

Lucky for me there are stores near the Dentist Office and it’s Halloween time. I take the two little monsters to a store that I’m not identifying. This store is into Halloween and the granddaughters are having a blast looking at the Ghouls and Halloween accessories. I try to contain the two, but end up turning them loose on the store. The older granddaughter wanders away from me, boy she is brave there are some scary stuff in this store. I still have my eye on the younger granddaughter. I found the older granddaughter, it didn’t take long for her to want to be found. I now have both in sight and they are rummaging through the Halloween stuff. I can’t keep up with the two. I keep trying to clean up the aisles as they try everything out. I did my best to get the goods back on the shelves, but some touching up was going to be needed by the store clerks.

On a side note my 1 year old granddaughter has no fear, but on this day the 3 year old taught the 1 year old fear. There was an aisle that had gruesome looking heads on the ground that made noises and talked if you pressed a button which freaked out the 3 year old making her stay away from passing that aisle. The little 1 year old now refused to pass that aisle too after observing the fear in her older sister. You could see the fear in the little 1 year old she was spooked by that aisle.

Just some good times back in the day. 

Just in the nick of Time

Adventures of a grandpa and his two granddaughters at the time.

Ever wondered what you are capable of doing in 5 seconds. Well in a certain situation it can be an eternity like in the movies The scene is played out in slow motion. It felt like that for me.

I had a situation that required immediate reaction with only 5 seconds to spare. I was helping my daughter at Sam’s Club. My daughter took the elevator with the shopping cart and I took the two rascals on the escalator. The escalator we took is like a conveyor belt on an incline not like the escalators at the shopping malls. I held the hand of my 1 year old granddaughter and let the 3 year old granddaughter walk along the escalator telling her to be careful and don't play around. OK big mistake she ran all the way up the escalator and got off it. I told her just wait there do not go anywhere. I'm almost to the top of the escalator when the 3 year old decides to get back on the escalator to join me and her sister. There were some kids doing that earlier in the day so I told my granddaughter that’s not good to do it's dangerous to jump on an escalator coming toward you. Well I guess she wanted to try it out. My granddaughter slipped and fell on the soft rubber of the escalator, I let go of her 1 year old sister and ran up the escalator to pick her up before she gets caught in the area at the top of the escalator where the rubber goes under the escalator comb plate. I was able to get her up in time and off the escalator to safety. Oh no the 1 year old is flat on her back enjoying the ride. I need to get to her fast to pick her up now with no time to spare and get her off the escalator.

We are all safe. My daughter greets us and we all act like nothing happened. My heart still beating fast, OMG that was a close one.

The moral to the story is escalators are dangerous for little kids.