Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Tummy Tuesday

Chani and 9 have been displaying their beautiful, soft, fuzzy tummies quite proudly.

You bet I snorgled them.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

That's much better

Mom felt a little bad (not really!) about that rather unattractive photo that she posted of me.

To make it up to me, she took this photo (I posed rather nicely, didn't I?) and posted it. Yes, she gave me lots of love and squishes. It was 'huggle' time. Sometimes, Mom wishes I enjoyed huggle time. Oh well.

Happy weekend everyone!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Heehee... Mom, how could you???

Dude, what is up with you?

Itchy, ear, blinky eye! Don't look at me!!! Moooom! Why are you posting this picture???


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Last bit of Maui

Some last few photos of Maui. Above you see Iao Needle in Iao Valley.

Another view from Iao Valley. If you hike over this mountain, you can get to Lahaina. I think I'd rather go around via car than foot. And there have been some hikers who have gotten lost there. Still, it is pretty gorgeous.

Now, Sam Sato's is a restaurant that I've been going to since I was a little girl AND my father used to go when he was young too. It's good old local style plantation food. I love it. It's my favorite place to go and I would highly recommend it to anyone. It does get crowded and it's only opened for breakfast and lunch. They're famous for the dry saimin (ramen type noodles) but I always get their won ton mein or their chow fun. Tasty. And the fries which come with this Best Foods Mayo and French's mustard dip are really really good.

Now, for dessert, we go to Tasaka Guri Guri in the Maui Mall. This is another one of my childhood favorites. "Guri-guri" is a sort of Japanization of the words "goody goody". It's an ice cream/sherbert/sorbet type of mixture that only comes in strawberry and pineapple. I usually get 5 scoops mixed, but that seems to be a lot for some people. My parents usually go for the 3 scoop. When I was a kid, I preferred the strawberry, now I prefer the pineapple. Guri-guri does melt quickly, so it should be consumed right away. Love love love this.


Remember Mika from last year? Well, she still wasn't too happy that I was taking photos of her. I did attempt to snuggle with her later in the evening. She let me, but she wasn't pleased at all.

And then there is Patches. Sweet woofie who really enjoyed hanging around while we were eating dinner.

Finally, a rainbow seen from the entry of our hotel, the Sheraton Maui at Lahaina.

I am very happy to be home with my kitties, but a part of me is still in Maui.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Yay! We are together again

Last night, Mom came home and snuggled with both 9 and myself. I even put up with it. It was somewhat shocking to Mom, but she was so happy to see us and to be fair, we were happy to see her.




9 kept love nomming on her fingers. And I was just being me. However, today, I have been constantly talking to Mom. I'm not sure she's understanding everything I said, but that's ok.

Last night, I was so happy, that I let 9 do a lot of cleaning on my face and ears. I purred instead of growling.



Life is good now that we are all together again :D

Sunday, August 14, 2011

I am back!

I am back from Hawaii and a bit heartsore that I'm back in San Jose. Sigh... 9 and Chani come home from the Kitty Hotel tomorrow. That will truly help, but I really missed them a lot while away.

I have a few more pictures from Maui, but I'm a bit busy and jet lagged, so those will have to wait.

More pictures of 9 and Chani when we get back together!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Oahu

This flower is blooming near our hotel. I'm not sure what kind of flower it is. I'm really not all that knowledgeable about flora. But, it's pretty and I have to say, it is fun to play with my 50mm lens. The depth of field is so neat to see when captured on film.

I think this one is a red ginger. Also blooming near our hotel.



Finally, this is the view from my room at night. I like taking long exposure shots. The images that come out are pretty neat. It's amazing how much detail can appear in an image when you keep the aperture open for a long time.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Marlene is in Hawaii

Aloha, everyone! While 9 and Chani relax at the Kitty Hotel, I am in Hawaii again. First, my family and I went to Kona. Right outside our hotel, we had these really lovely waves crashing against the rocks. They were quite loud, so I couldn't leave my sliding glass door open at night. Still, they were magnificent. One can really stand in awe of Mother Nature while watching these waves.

Mom wanted a photo for the Christmas card, so she and Dad posed for me. Lovely photo, yes? We also took photos of Dad and me and Mom and me... Oh boy, do I need to start working out. Ah well, isn't that always the case?

We are traveling with my cousin and her fiancee who has never been to Hawaii. So we're doing all sorts of tourist stuff like going to see the volcano (Kilauea) and Rainbow Falls (above). You'd think that driving around an island would not be too tiring, but it did take all day and we were exhausted by the end of it. Still, with such beautiful sites to see, one can't stay tired for too long.

A plumeria (edited from before... don't know what I was thinking by calling this a hibiscus!).

A 'honu' or sea turtle petroglyph made by the early Hawaiians.

Hibiscus.

Fiddlehead fern.

Fern... I'm not sure what the name is, but these ferns always grow perfectly symmetrical... it's pretty amazing to see fractal math like this in nature.

Finally, this is Lola, the woofie at Greenwell Coffee farms. She's a smart girl who comes down to where the local historical society makes Portuguese sweet bread the old fashion way. Yes, she naps in the sun and waits for some scraps from the bakers. And, if you have never had a taste of Portuguese sweet bread, you are missing out. I cannot recommend enough going to Greenwell farms to try this bread, especially when it is fresh and warm from the oven.