Hawaiian Monk Seals

It's been our forth visit in Kauai and been to Poipu Beach many times. But this year we were stunned to see the Hawaiian Monk Seal on the beach where there were a lot of people. When we first saw it, we thought it was dead but after seeing and reading what the note says, we found out that it was alive. We then learned that it's been there for quite sometime already almost every afternoon... seemed like it was doing its siesta. So the Beach Guard put a rope around the area just to enclose the monk to make sure nobody touched him. Like a celebrity, that mammal was surrounded with curious spectators and we were one of them.

Beautiful!

Despite all the noise around, he seemed like a kid truly tired from his day activity that he just opened his eyes and closed again. We watched him until he was fully awake then he rolled back to the water. At first we saw him swimming around but later on he disappeared from our sight.

It was really an awesome experience having been able to come close to that kind of sea creature. We could almost touched him if we wanted to break the rule. He was just really a foot away from us. And then the following day, he was there again. There was even a day that there were two of them resting on the same spot but we no longer go there to see. We just watch the sea turtles on the other side of the sea. We hope to see them again next year.

Hawaiian Monk Seals

A Week in the Garden Island of Kauai...

Every year, we always look forward to spending a week in the Garden Island of Kauai. Sometimes it is hard for us to decide right away for financial reasons but "if there is a will, there is always a way," as the saying goes.

This year, the Wolfe family invited us to be their guests at Marriott Waiohai. They were entitled to have four more people to occupy the room. We did not give them the outright "Yes" to their invitation since we were still weighing how much more we were going to spend. We were not sure if we could afford it since we were tight on our budget after we came back from the Philippines. But the invitation came in a package with half of our fare paid by them as wedding gift. They even gave us money to pay for our check in luggage since Hawaiian Airlines already charges every luggage that goes on their cargo. It was a very generous package that there was no way we could say "No."

Morning walk in the neighborhood...

It was a perfect timing when we went there last July because of the week-long Koloa Festival. We were able to enjoy the night with Live-Band at the Sheraton Hotel compound where I got my first Lappert's Kona Coffee Ice Cream. We were able to go to the Kids' Festival hosted by Kiahuna Plantation which is just next to the Marriott.

We really had so much fun and a great time in just so short time.

A Week in the Garden Island of Kauai...

July 4th Fireworks...

My friends from Hayward joined us last July 4th to witness the Fireworks Display at the Central Park here in Santa Clara. They used to go to San Francisco just for the show but this year, they decided not to drive that far and headed down where we are. The show was scheduled at 9 PM so they showed up at around 4 PM. It's so hard to find a parking on that day so they drove straight to our house. We agreed to have hubby parked our car out on the street so when they arrived, hubby just moved it in the driveway. There's just too many people that the parking is always extended in our street every single year.

We talked for a little bit then we headed to the park to find a nice spot for all of us and the 5 kids. We brought our chairs, blankets and little snacks to munch while waiting for the show. The place was really packed with thousands of people but we were able to find a nice spot where we all could take pictures without any barrier.They have both nice cameras that can capture picturesque moments. I made an attempt with my little camera but I never capture a good one.

Here are the pictures that Jun took from his Nikon camera:

These pictures were taken at the beginning of the show.

the grand finale of the show...

We really enjoyed that evening. It's been our first time that we were joined by our friends from another city. We hope to do it again next year... hopefully.

July 4th Fireworks...

Just Fix My Computer Problem...

I got a problem after I posted my last article in September. All of a sudden, the text font on my three sites became so small that I could hardly read them so I went to the setting and try to enlarge the font. I thought I touched something that changed the layout or whatever. I was so frustrated that I lost my desire to come to my desk top. I tried to open my sites on hubby's computer and they all looked fine except for those I changed the font. They became so big and out of proportion.

I asked hubby to fix it but he is not a blogger that's why he did not seem to understand my problem. I finally decided to contact my designer and I am glad we both fix it. Had it not been of her computer ingenuity, I would still not be doing this now. Thanks Vhiel!

Just Fix My Computer Problem...