Asian Carnivores, Behold the Ramen Burger
Ramen fried to a shape of hamburger buns along with a juicy burger. Add in secret sauce, and that is the ramen burger.
Coffee While Cruising (Part 2)
The first installment of Coffee While Cruising covered the early FAT leg of my vacation. Like I mentioned before, from FAT we headed to YVR in Vancouver, Canada. Before the trip, I learned of a Starbucks Clover location on Robson Street. Oh, and I managed to get a Groupon for Starbucks Canada. Bonus!
What did I see when entering a Canadian Starbucks? A scene not much different from that in America, but Starbucks CA is promoting their True North Blend. True North is a blonde roast that’s “named by Canadians for Canadians.”
While I’m not sure if True North is merely a Canadian-version of the regular Starbucks blonde roast, I had to pick up a bag just because. I also got a Canadian Starbucks card featuring the iconic maple leaf.
Not a bad introduction to Starbucks Canada, eh?
And although we stayed in Vancouver for less than three days, I managed to go back to the Robson location for yet another Clover brew. 🙂
But Starbucks definitely isn’t the only coffee game in town. There are independent cafes and coffee bars on each city block, and I came across many Blenz locations. While hiking back from Stanley Park to the hotel, I had to take a pitstop for an iced mocha. Damn good stuff I must say.
That’s it for Part 2. My Coffee While Cruising series will conclude in Part 3 as I stay caffeinated in Alaska and onboard the Disney wonder.
Finding Croissadas
By now, you’ve surely heard of the craze for cronuts. But being New York based, getting an authentic cronut is simply too hard in the islands. I had a remote chance of sampling Canada’s frissant during vacation but too much to do in too little time. So here in the islands, there were two cronut contenders, the cream-filled croissada from the Pacific Beach Hotel and the suggestively named BUTTerNUT from Regal Bakery.
I planned to make a side trip for some Buttnuts, but lo and behold, a pack of croissadas came my way! No, not those croissadas from Pacific Beach Hotel but instead from the Sunday brunch at the Halekulani. Yes, this posh hotel serves their own version of the croissant-malasada hybrid. And they are tasty, like a malasada on the outside but on the inside, layered and flakey like a croissant. The Halekulani croissadas are tiny sized to complement, not outshine the brunch menu. I’m not sure if these are available at other Halekulani dining locations or at other times, but if you happen to brunch there, you must bite into a croissada for me.
Finding the Fifth King Kamehameha Statue
Did you know there are only four commissioned statues of King Kamehameha? The four are located at:
- Downtown Honolulu, Oahu
- North Kohala, Hawaii’s Big Island
- National Statuary Hall, Washington D.C
- Hilo, Hawaii’s Big Island
So what was this I spied at the Castle junction on the Windward side?!?
Sure looks like a statue of King Kamehameha…
Heh, yes, this non-commissioned replica was erected on Friday, August 2, 2013 for a Hawaii Five-0 filming the following day. I might have seen Scott Caan in front of the statue but couldn’t quite tell (except for that hair). By Saturday afternoon, this fifth statue of King Kamehameha was already gone but an urban legend.
Finding TC’s Chopper
There it was flying overhead, none other than TC’s infamous helicopter from the past hit Hawaiian television series Magnum P.I.
Yes, the distinctively patterned helo, aka “The Chopper” is “back” in Hawaii, doing tours for Paradise Helicopters. As a fitting tribute, this restored helicopter is even signed by Magnum’s Roger E. Mosley (TC) and Larry Manetti (Rick). So while you’re cruising the highways in your red Ferrari, scan the Hawaiian skies for this nostalgic sight, and sing along.
Coffee While Cruising (Part 1)
While going on vacation typically means new experiences, it doesn’t necessarily mean old habits are forgotten, such as getting a healthy intake of coffee.
The only real way to start time off is with good coffee and good kicks. That means a cup of Kati Kati Blend from Starbucks while wearing (gasp!) New Balance MO673.
From HNL to SFO and stuck there for a bit due to continued delays from the Asiana Airlines accident, I partook of a Peet’s Iced Coconut Latte. I didn’t take a pic of this sweet (and airport-overpriced) concoction though. From SFO, we flew to FAT to spend a few days in the scorching heat.
I have my usual coffee sources in Fresno but changed it up just a bit, visiting Barnes and Noble (remember bookstores?) and its cafe.
From FAT, the next vacation leg was to YVR in Vancouver. Did I mention FAT now has two Starbucks locations? There’s the one in the forest check-in area and the newer location is inside of the security gate, making it easier to stay caffeinated while waiting for your flight.
This location still seems new with newbie employees. While the workers were courteous, asking each other to how assemble a sweetened iced coffee was a little disconcerting for me. But if you’re still looking for that limited edition wooden Starbucks cards, I found a cache for you!
Hmmm, I have more coffee pictures from my trip than I originally thought, so I’m gonna break this up into a series of posts. Part 2 will cover coffee in Canada, but here’s a peek of my pictures without all the backstory.
Found in Skagway, Alaska
Canada SBUX card
While in Canada…
Clover brewed and a bag of True North
Clover location on Robson St., Vancouver
Enjoying a mocha on a cool day at sea
Crepe Escape but here just for the coffee
VH07V and Starbucks in Skagway, Alaska
Closed already at 3:45pm
Inside Cove Cafe
Starbucks in a bookstore (remember those?)
Starting vacation with coffee and kicks
Clover brewed!
Good Coffee Company, only open coffee place I found in Ketchikan
Cache of wooden SBUX cards
Simple but refreshing
Another FAT Starbucks location
Introducing True North Blend
Cove Cafe that connects to Cove Outlook
Serves Starbucks but is not a Starbucks
Bus Stop
I’m stopped at an intersection for a red light, so is the Da Bus two lanes over. What’s wrong with this picture?
Buying a Cable Modem
The cost of leasing a cable modem from Oceanic/Time Warner Cable was never that glaring for me. If I had problems with the little box, I’d take it in and get another little box or a different box. I don’t remember how many cable modems I’ve had in the past. But then two things happened – I had signed up for Extreme Internet service in 2011, and Oceanic is raising its modem lease price.
When I signed up for Extreme internet, I got a different cable modem entirely, a Motorola SURFboard SBG6580. Capable of higher bandwidth, this modem included an integrated WiFi router – convenient but unnecessary since I already had a WiFi router. But then I began seeing similar cable modems sold in stores.
In my July 2013 statement from Oceanic, I saw this little blurb:
Beginning with your next statement, Internet Modem Lease will be $5.99/mo. As an Oceanic Time Warner Cable customer, you have the choice of leasing a modem from us or buying your own. For more information about your modem options, please visit twc.com/approvedmodems.
Six bucks a month to rent my commercially available cable modem? Hmmm…Then I read The Wirecutter’s review of the Best Cable Modem, the Motorola SB6141, this Squidoo lens, some Lifehacker articles, and was convinced that buying was the way to go. And yes, the SB6141 is on Time Warner’s compatibility list.
There is some confusion about the various models of the SB6141. There’s a version provided to cable companies and the retail version for purchase. Supposedly, you can buy “second hand” models that originally came from cable companies but while functionally equal to the retail version, the item’s warranty may be suspect. I wasn’t exactly sure, so I went with the retail version (available in black
The SB6141 only has one Ethernet port, mainly for an existing home router or a single computer so I had to pickup a cheap Ethernet switch (TRENDnet Gigabit Switch
So while an additional investment, the modem will pay for itself in little over a year and my home network will be getting a Gigabit Ethernet upgrade. Are you convinced? Are you going to buy as well?
Update: I originally had a typo regarding the monthly lease fee. I corrected the mistake to reflect $5.99 per month, not $5.95. Thanks Damon for the catch.
Damaged by Flossie
Although Hawaii escaped catastrophic damages by tropical storm depression Flossie, you can’t take these weather systems lightly and should expect the worst. Case in point, I pshawed the dwindling effects of Flossie as drizzles of rain fell on Monday night.
But the next morning, I was welcomed by this damage.
Downed plumeria branch
Break point
Weight taken down by wind
Anyone want plumeria cuttings?
What Are Speed Humps?
I’m guessing the Fergilicious Fergie named these neighborhood speed bumps. And no, they didn’t look like lady lumps.
Because The Cure Is in Concert
And Facebookers’ timelines are blowing up with The Cure concert highlights, I feel compelled to buy The Cure Greatest Hits
