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Tuesday & Wednesday, March 11 & 12, 2003 Tege!   Richie and I had the pleasure of spending some time with Gil the past couple of days. Gil and his lovely wife Yoko (see right) are here from Okinawa, mostly on business, but partly for pleasure.  I was glad that they were able to squeeze some time in with us while they were here. On Tuesday night, we had a leisurely dinner at Okonomiyaki Chibo Restaurant in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. It has been about three months (gasp!) since I've been there, but I was glad to find that all of my old buddies still remembered me. It was also a nice surprise to run into Bob, who I haven't seen in nearly a year because of his new work schedule. The food was delicious as usual and Gil was quite mesmerized by the chefs at work in front of us. I hear that Yoko makes a mean Okonomiyaki and they invited us to visit them and have some next time we're in Okinawa. I just may take them up on that offer in the next year or two. On Wednesday, I took the day off from work to play the Puka Shell Tour Guide for Gil. We hiked Diamond Head, had lunch at Utage with Myron and visited the Valley of the Temples (Byodo-In Temple). It was a full day and we all had a blast! Maybe a little sore after the hike, but it was fun nevertheless... ;-) Here are some photos from the 2-days' worth of events... Tuesday, March 11, 2003 @ Okonomiyaki Chibo Restaurant My first Sake. I don't drink, mostly because I don't like the taste of alcohol, but also because my tendency to get inebriated quickly is quite strong. I try not to get drunk for obvious reasons (I like to be in control of all of my faculties), but I was also driving tonight. I had the shot glass full (literally) of sake and had a slight buzz, but nothing out of control. Richie kindly drank the overflow which was in a red box which he said looks like the same type of box that he uses to measure rice with at home. Needless to say, the sake must have been good because it was $10 a serving and it was smooth going down. There wasn't the "bite" that I was expecting. We drank it cold and I must admit that it wasn't a bad experience. (In fact, I could claim it as a "good" one.) This is much better than my first run-in with Awamori which tasted much like rubbing alcohol on my tender palate. Pictured to the left is myself, Yoko and Richie giving you the famous shaka sign. In Okinawan, you would probably say "tege" as you make this gesture, which means "hang loose" in English. Tege happens to be Richie's philosophy in life. If only I could adopt a similar credo. My lifestyle is probably the antithesis to the tege philosophy as one can be. I think that's one of the secrets to the long life of the Okinawans -- it's tege. I need to learn how to add a little more tege to my life. Gosh, it was crowded. So many tourists today, it was hard to enjoy the scene with so many sweaty bodies in my way. According to Gil, there must've been like 60 Japanese tourists to every 1 American tourist. It probably wasn't much of an exaggeration either. Here's a view from the other side, the inside of the crater and a shot of the shoreline. Look at how crowded Waikiki is! Hawaii's very own concrete jungle... Richie and Gil on the top of the mountain! Wednesday, March 12, 2003 Diamond Head. We headed out to Diamond Head Crater (an old dormant volcano in Honolulu) to do a "quick hike." The last time I did this hike, it was years ago with Wade. I must have been younger, lighter, and a lot more fit because I don't remember the hike being as tough as it was. The sun was fierce, even at 9:45 am and 5 minutes into the hike we were already sweating. The trek was mostly uphill, as you would imagine, and comprised of a killer 100-step staircase. In addition to that, there was a tunnel and a tight spiral staircase to navigate in the dark. Although my legs held out pretty well, I found myself pretty winded after the 100 steps and had to stop for a minute before continuing on, for fear of fainting. Gone are those carefree days of blazing those stairs and running up the side of the mountain. At least for me, that is... Richie was way ahead of us, trekking like an old pro. Gil held up the back, walking behind me to make sure I didn't trip and fall on my own feet. (Which, incidentally, was exactly what I was doing by the end of the hike.) Nevertheless, the view was spectacular and made me realize just how crowded Waikiki really is. (This made me appreciate my recent trip to the Big Island all the more.) As I get older, I'm finding that I'd much rather gaze into acres of pasture land dotted with grazing cattle, a vast ocean of waves ebbing and flowing, or even miles of a barren lava field rather than look out over a large metropolitan city teeming with crowds of people, cars piled up in traffic, and buildings built practically on top of one another. I must be mellowing out. Tege. Whatever the case, I enjoyed the hike immensely, but even more than that, I enjoyed the company. Gil and Richie are my faithful cohorts in our Okinawan website endeavor, internet-okinawa.com otherwise affectionately known as "i-o". (Don't try to go to i-o.com, however, that's somebody else.) We did some brainstorming for future features for the site and other entrepreneurial projects. I can't wait until the next time, whether it be the next time Gil & Yoko visits us in Hawaii -- or when we visit them in Okinawa! Until then, as Richie would say... "tege!" © .top.

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers for them in the desert!" -- Isaiah 43:18-19 about the author Search Champuru.com  powered by FreeFind ::Show your Love:: Please be a dear and  indulge yourself in a few grains from the rice bowl before you leave. Your clicks help to rank me higher on the Rice Bow Journal directory and that makes me happy. :)