Sunday, December 12, 2010

Maui, Hawaii - Our search for Guri Guri


It was summer. It was time to leave the Beltway inferno. So, this past August, we decided to go on an adventure in search of Guri Guri.
The only place on earth where Guri-Guri can be found is on the paradise islands of Hawaii. Accordingly, on August the 3rd, we boarded a United airplane departing Dulles Airport with Maui as our destination. We landed at Kahului airport at approximately 2 pm on a beautiful sunny day. After we picked up our rental car, a jeep, our first stop in our search was Costco. Thats right, you read it correct, if you are looking for something, anything, you gotta start at Costco. Unfortunately, we didn't find any Guri-Guri there, but we did buy bottled water, cookies,
milk, trail mix, cereal, and a slice of pizza each for lunch.
Once armed for our adventure ahead, we started our drive to the Kanaapali resort area.

The drive from Kahului airport to Kanaapali took approximately an hour. For the most part, the road was one lane each way with no traffic until we got to the town of Old Lahaina. For those of us who live in the nations capital, even the traffic of Old Lahaina was barely noticeable. We were staying at the Sheraton Maui. A beautiful resort hotel on the north west end of Kanaapali beach
next to the famous black rock and a short hop skip and a jump away from the Whaler's Village. At the check in we were greeted with leis and a refreshing Mai Tai. By the time we settled in our
ocean view room it was almost time for the black rock cliff diving ceremony, an enactment of a Hawaiian legend. We grabbed a Mai Tai from the lagoon bar and settled down on the beach with the most beautiful sunset as our backdrop awaiting the ceremony. The ceremony seemed to have historical and mystical roots. A Hawaiian warrior dressed in ancient Hawaiian garb ran out from the Sheraton onto Ka'anapali Beach, where onlookers and sightseers were sitting along
the beach, in boats and catamarans and some even wading in the water to watch the ceremony. The warrior climbed up the Black Rock, known in Hawaiian as Pu'u Keka'a, and lit the torches that were fixed upon it. He offered lei to the heavens above him, addressing the Hawaiian gods, and then beautifully dove into the calm ocean below. The ceremony itself lasted barely 10 mins, but it created a beautiful and magical ambiance for
our evening and for our whole trip.After the ceremony we walked to Whaler's Village, a small shopping mall with lots of restaurants, convenience stores, trinket vendors, and high end shops like Rolex, Gucci and Tiffany's. Our first order of business was to look for Guri Guri but no luck there. We did grab a light dinner and after 20 plus hours of non stop traveling, we called it a night.
Our following two days, day 2 and 3 in Maui were spent almost entirely at the Kanaapali beach. We bought cheap snorkeling gear from the ABC store in Whalers Village and spent our days snorkeling near the black rock or lounging by the pool. A couple of times a day we’d walk to the Whaler’s Village for some froyo, or pizza or simply for an evening stroll. The evening of day 2, we went to the Luau feast organized at the hotel grounds.

The kids got to see the roast being taken out of the pit and carved, they enjoyed the various hula and fire dance performances following
the feast. Luaus are never cheap and the food is never great this one was no different. But you gotta do Luau at least once. This was the first time for our kids, the 2nd for us. The other
evenings, we would go either to Whaler’s Village, or to Old Lahina town– an old capital of Hawaii now a beach town with restaurants like Bubba Gump and Hard Rock Café for dinner.
Twice we saw free hula dance performances by the local dance troupes at the Whalers Village. I really enjoyed the Polynesian hula more than the Hawaiian hula. The dances were beautiful and those performed by the kids were especially
moving. We tried several restaurants– Leilanas, Cheeseburger In Paradise, Hula Grill. None of these restaurants were cheap, but they were not outrageous either. The food was good but nothing to rave about. For lunch, I really enjoyed the fish tacos at most of these places. Sushi at Sansei seafood near Napili bay was great. It was fresh and good and expensive and the restaurant was crowded. We ended up eating at the bar due to the long wait. One restaurant need a special mention. Called the Gazebo, a small, hidden but a very popular family restaurant overlooking the Napili bay serves a killing breakfast. One of our friends had recommended this place and we definitely second their recommendation. The day we decided to go to gazebo was pouring, and having heard that it is usually crowded, we went a bit early too, but still there was a line waiting when we got there. We waited approximate 30 min before being seated. It was well worth the wait. My husband and kids had the famous pineapple and macadamia nut pancakes, while I tried their omelet. Food was great and big portions too. On day 4 we decided to take the road to Hana. We never quite made it all the way to Hana but we did stop at several beautiful
beaches and
overlooks along the way.

We enjoyed watching surfers at Ho'opika beach park, the body surfers at Paia beach, and a couple of other beaches where we stopped for a short while. Every time we came across a shopping center of any kind, we would stop and hope to find Guri-Guri. Up until now we had no luck.
After 4 very beautiful, warm and sunny days that were spent beach hunting, snorkeling and lounging by the pool, we decided to see the sunrise at the summit of Mt. Haleakala, the world's largest dormant volcano that peaks at over 10,000 feet. We got up around 4 am, packed grumbling kids still in pajamas in our jeep with blankets and drove two hours to the crater rim. We ended up seeing the sunrise on our way up the mountain, unfortunately, missing the sunrise at the rim by about 30 mins. The sunrise was still beautiful, the sun peaking out of the early morning haze and the top of the volcano still enveloped by the clouds. However, more amazing were the changes in the landscape. We went from lush flora at the sea level to barren, no

vegetation tundra type landscape at the crater, 10,000 feet up within a matter of 2 hours and 37 miles. The temperature went from comfortable cool no jackets required to freezing and windy need a winter parka at the rim. The crater colors were outer wordly (if there is any such word) I remember standing by the rim and thinking,
perhaps all of Mars looks like this crater. All red and brown, and grey and rocky. On the way back down the volcano we saw loads of tourists downhill biking. Truth be told, downhill biking 8000 feet looked very dangerous to me especially with the sharp S road turns, chilly temperature and strong winds at the top, but hey whatever gives the big rush.
Day five in Maui arrived and we had not yet found Guri Guri. We had not even found anyone who could tell us where we could find some. We asked our hotel staff, we asked folks at the various restaurants but no luck. Either we were completely mis-pronouncing the word and were beginning to think whether such a thing even existed. Perhaps our quest was going to be futile. Our plan on day 5 was to go on a snorkeling excursion with a guided sailing charter. We had selected Teralini as our operator as they operated right from the Whalers Village. Our excursion included two snorkeling spots, all snorkeling gear and a hot BBQ lunch with a total tour duration of approx 4-5 hours. The catamaran was wide, very stable, clean and open, the gear was sanitized, the staff was friendly and most importantly our tour left right on time. We were served juice, coffee and a continental breakfast almost right away. The first snorkeling stop was at Kapalua bay a small calm bay with abundant marine life. Our second stop was at Honolua Bay. Honolua bay was beautiful. The bay water was deeper, completely calm and very clear. There
were tons of turtles, corals and every kind of colorful underwater life I could have imagined. We spent a lot of time here, coming out of the water only to get warm and then jumping back again. The staff never made us feel rushed. There were cut fruit, cookies and chips available to snack on. After spending about an hour and a half of snorkling here, our group headed back. Enroute we were served the hot BBQ lunch. There's was ample food and well prepared too. The best thing about the staff, oh yes....they knew where we could find Guri Guri. yippee!!! finally !!!
Day 6, our last day in Maui and best of all we knew where to find the Guri Guri. Right after breakfast (at Whaler’s Village) we left to seek out the only place left on the island of Maui in the town of Kahului that still served Guri Guri, a place in the Maui Mall. A tiny shop, in a corner of the mall, not crowded at all, and hard to spot ,there it was...the Tasaka's Guri Guri.

The phrase Guri-Guri is thought to originate during the Hawaii's plantation days in the late 1890s. This treat was supposedly sold to Japanese plantation workers as "goodie-goodie", who pronounced this as "guri-guri". The name stuck. The treat is best described as something close to a sherbet and a gelatto. I confess, I like sherbet and gelatto more than I liked Guri Guri, but it was a worthy excuse for a trip all the way to Hawaii.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

New York City

There are many many travelogues already written about trips to the New York City. There are just as many travel guides, articles and so forth. This post is only about what WE did. We had a great time, and we hit only a few of the major tourist spots.

Like most big cities, I feel New York city is also best seen on foot. Take a section at a time and just walk around. Our trip was over the July 4rth weekend..so it was pretty hot. We reached the city on Friday evening and left on Monday morning.

First things first, avoid taking your car into the city if possible. In the past we have parked the car in New Jersey and taken the train in. This time for various reasons we had to take our car in. We paid $54 a day just to park. Second, if you do end up taking your car, just park it. Use taxi or Metro to get around.

We reached the city on Friday eve around 5 pm. Parked our car (no small feat) and checked into our hotel. We stayed in Time Square itself. Great for night life, crowded, fun, very central to just about everything..did I say crowded. All the theaters were within a block or so. Unfortunately, this time we did not see any play...there is only so much you can squeeze into three days. After checking in, and changing into comfortable shoes, we went out for dinner at Bubba Gump. Great food and casual ambiance..especially if you love seafood. After dinner, we walked to Empire state building.

Empire State building is open until 2:00am. Even at that time of the evening (must have been about 8 pm), there were a lot of visitors. We bought the express pass for $42 some dollars per person from one of the peddlers on the street. Express pass promises to put you in front of every line (security line, ticket line and elevator line). The peddlers simply give a receipt that you have paid for the ticket. Inside the building, you turn in your receipt and pick up the actual tickets. Since there were many visitors buying express passes, and even more peddling these passes, there were tons of people in front of us. Each of the lines was pretty long, though at that time of the day they were moving fairly well. We saw the IMAX movie about the building (part of the pass).. and what a waste of time. The jerkiness in the movie made me dizzy and sick. The night view from the 86th floor observation deck was amazing. For miles and miles in all directions you could see the whole city lit up. It was beautiful..crowds and all. I think the visit to Empire State building is definitely a place to visit at night. We did not go up to 102 nd floor (costs another $15 per person). We walked back to our hotel. The streets were full of people, lights and music. After all it is a city that never sleeps....

The following day, early in the morning, we took metro from Time Square to Battery Park. Our goal was to take the ferry to Statue of Liberty & Ellis island in the morning to avoid the summer heat and crowd. We reached the ticket counter around 9:30 am. Ticketing was pretty fast, but at boarding point there was a huge line. Took us about 45 min to an hour to board. BTW that early in the morning, there were no food, tea or coffee stalls in battery park. The ferry was full and the ride as pleasant as we could expect. At least it was not terribly hot at that time of the morning. Statue of Liberty was majestic. It was amazing to see how huge the statue itself is. We did not get to go to the top of the crown. You had to book the tickets months in advance. We then took the ferry to Ellis Island. Grabbed a bite to ear there. Food was cold and expensive..not worth the money we spent but we did not carry any breakfast with us. By the time we got back to Battery Park (around 1 pm), the lines were huge.. even bigger than what we had in the morning. We heard the wait was approx 2+ hrs to board.. and the heat index was at its peak. My recommendation, visit to Statue of Liberty is best done as early in the morning as you can. From Battery Park we took the metro to China town. What an experience.. crowded... tons of food peddlers every where. We had chinese food for lunch.. can't remember the restaurant's name.. but there was tons of choice. Bought some fresh lychees from a vendor and walked back to our hotel in time square. A long afternoon walk. After a couple of hours rest, we strolled in time square just taking in the crowds, the sights and sounds. We visited the Toys R Us at times square and ate brooklyn style pizza from one of the many pizzerias.

Sunday we decided to go to walk to the Rockefellar Center and to the Central Park. At Rockefellar Center, we bought tickets to NBC studio tour. They take you to 3 live studios (we saw Dr. Oz, SNL and another one). The tour was fun for the kids. At the end of the tour they got to be the weatherman and the news anchor. Due to summer season, there was no live show taping going on. But the tour guide (an actual intern) that in fall you could call ahead and get free tickets to one of the show tapings and become part of the audience. We skipped standing in line for the early morning show. The kids were too sleepy. Save that for another time.

After Rockefeller center, we strolled inside FAO Swartz store and the Apple glass cube. It was great to get cool here and just spend some time window shopping. Snacked on kebabs for lunch from the street vendors in this area and then walked inside the central park. It was hot and muggy. We saw the central park zoo, the boat house etc. Kids had lunch at the boat house cafeteria. Because we had chosen to walk from time square to rockefeller center and then central park, we could not really carry a picnic lunch but I think that would have been fun alternative. After spending some time, we walked back to time square and to our hotel. It was a long walk and we were beat. I think we all slept for a few hours. That night we had dinner at Dallas BBQ. The restaurant was large, the service was fine, the prices were reasonable and it was crowded. The food was OK. Not sure I would go there again, but it seems it was a popular place to eat. Think I am a Bubba Gump fan. After dinner we walked to the Hudson to see the Macy's July 4rth fireworks show. We left early and finished watching the fireworks from our hotel room.

Monday, May 17, 2010

My First Half Marathon

If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."

- Emil Zatopek, 1952 Olympic Marathon gold medalist

On May 16, 2010 at 7:00am, My friends and I kicked off together from the start line and ran a Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon, all 13.1 miles of it. The journey was simply incredible.

Almost everyone I meet asks me, why did I run this marathon? I thought about it deep and the honest answer is, I simply wanted to know if I could. During the entire race, I remember saying to myself... "This is for me, this is for me...". And that's why I did it.

Four months ago, when a friend suggested that we run a half marathon, I never seriously thought that we will actually ever enroll in a race let alone finish the race. Later I thought, what the heck lets at least start walking together and see how far we can take it. Well, we took it all the way to the finish line.

I started this journey with a dozen friends. While the journey is not yet over, I did finish the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon with every single one of them and enjoyed every single moment of it. I could not have done it without their motivation, support, encouragement, camaraderie and most of all their humor.

We started our training in November. Because of the cold weather we started our baby steps by walking inside a mall. Some of us created our own training calendar. Others followed a marathon training schedule. I started by creating my own schedule with cross training, strength training and jogging, but inevitably found myself focusing only on two things, cardio and slowly increasing endurance every 2 weeks. The first few times we barely managed to walk 3-4 miles in 2 hours. Every week we added 2-3 miles more. Once the weather got warmer, we started training outdoors. Most of our training was on flat trails and most of us walked. There were a few among our group that ran. By race day, every one of us had completed at least one run of 13 miles, even though it took us a full 4 hours.

The night before the race, we all got together at a good Italian place, filling up on carbs. Since the race was out of town, we stayed in a hotel. That night there were plenty of jokes and humor going around but none of us slept well. It was probably the combination of excitement, nervousness about getting up early the next morning, and the fact that we were not sleeping in our normal beds.

On race day, we all got up and dressed in time uneventfully. Ate bananas and bagel and not to forget the all important Advil. The day was a bit overcast, a bit cool. The expo center (near the start/end line) was full of people most of them standing near the portable pottys. We all stretched, made multiple trips to the porta potty just in case and joked around to get rid of the nervous energy and then lined up. As a group, we stood in the back with the slow runners & walkers. At 7 am, after the national anthem and a loud cheer, the race started. It was amazing to see 7000 people all start running almost at the same time. The street was lined by people, both kids and adults, all cheering with bells in hand. For the first two miles, there were plenty of fellow runners all around us. As the miles increased, the runner crowd dwindled. The faster runners went way ahead and novices like us tried hard to maintain our pace. It was soo encouraging to see the cheering crowd, from the bagpipers to boy scouts to families handing out water and tequila shots and kids with their school bands. Every single cheer, every single bell, every single note of music and every single smile from a fellow runner added that much energy to my step. I stopped to take a bathroom break around mile 4 and then a few pictures at mile 6...god knows whose camera was used but at that moment it did not matter.

I had trained as a walker, but because of the varying elevation of the course I had to jog most of the way to maintain with my pace. Some friends ran past me. I passed a few friends. There were the three of us from our group who stayed together. Though still jogging, my pace slowed as I hit a wall around mile 8. It was 1 hour and 46 min since the race had started. The sun also came out and we started to really feel the heat. The runner crowd dwindled. Most of the fast runners had long gone past. Other repeat runners almost towards the end of their races. We the novice runners who were still midway were likely the ones who had something to prove to ourselves. For me, my race time did not matter, I just knew that I had to finish the race. Periodically, I slowed and waited for friends to catch up and then took off again. I saw a few fellow runners stop. This was the end of their race. They stopped and waved and became part of the cheering crowd. Still others ran past.

Mile 10 to 11 were the hardest. This was the biggest climb of the race with a 200 ft elevation. I was with two of my friends. There was no way we could jog up this hill so we three just walked together.

The last mile seemed the longest even though the finish was in sight. There were tons of people lined up on both sides cheering. My husband later asked, "when you saw the finish line did you get an extra burst of energy?". No, I replied, it was the people who were standing and cheering us along that last mile. Since it was too embarrassing to just walk amidst their cheers, so I simply ran that last mile. I now know what Forest Gump must have felt.

The finish was too sweet and the journey simply amazing. All I know is, this was only the first half marathon race, the last one is yet to come. I don't know why I will run the next race. I just know that I will.