It is hard to believe my sweet granddaughter is turning 5 years old today. Where does the time go?
How special is this day? Well, in Korea it is a national holiday. Appropriately called “Children’s Day”.
Happy Birthday Gracie!
Had some nice weekend weather. Took advantage with a 3 hour bicycle ride along the Hangang Saturday and on Sunday afternoon made the journey across Seoul and then hiked up to see Dosonsa Buddhist temple. Let’s go to the photos:
I don’t often ride the buses here in Seoul, but I did on Sunday. And here’s a photo of the bus stop in Itaewon to prove it.
An Itaewon street scene
“where is that damn bus anyway?”
oh, here it comes…
There ain’t nothing wrong with riding the bus by the way. They are clean and relatively comfortable. And sometimes not crowded…
But as it turns out this bus wasn’t going to where I wanted to be, so it was off the bus and onto the subway…
Ok, I think this train is right…
Maps are quick to note “you are here” but rarely shed much light on where you are going…
Not many travelers joining me on the platform…
Fellow riders…
Transferred to another bus and an hour later was on the streets of Uidong…
Old style house…
Bukhansan Park attracts lots of hikers traversing the numerous trails…
…but I followed the road that followed the stream flowing down from the mountain on which the temple sits…
…where I observed some of the last blossoms of my last spring in Korea…
After a walk/climb that tired me out more than I care to admit, I reached the temple gate…
I’m not a Buddhist so I can’t tell you much about these idols…
But it was a fine day to be out and about enjoying them..
Nice overlook of Seoul from the temple grounds…
Buddha’s birthday is May 21 and his follower’s have purchased traditional lanterns to hang on the temple grounds. I’m thinking you write a wish for blessings to hang with the lantern or something like that.
Some of the detail on a temple building…
The man of the hour. You can see the discoloration on Buddha’s belly. See folks stick their thumb in the navel and rotate the hand counter clockwise and receive Buddha’s blessing. It was probably a good thing that I kept my shirt on to avoid any possible confusion…
And so ends another fine Sunday adventure in Korea…
In the news today a couple of more examples of the double standards of the media I’ve been talking a lot about.
I mentioned in a recent post that it was odd that critics found fault with the Tea Party because it allegedly consists primarily of angry white men while the President got a pass for saying “It will be up to each of you to make sure that young people, African Americans, Latinos and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again.” I was taken to task by a commenter for playing the race card myself. But what I was trying to point out is that the left sees a racial motive for any dissent to Obama’s policies, while liberals are given a free hand to play racial politics without criticism. I find this hypocrisy disgusting.
Now comes this opinion piece in the Washington Examiner noting the same thing:
Two front-page lead headlines appeared in Washington newspapers this week bearing on race and politics. One passed without notice, the other inspired a minor outpouring of the usual overheated commentary that is typically aimed at journalistic critics of political correctness. The unnoticed headline appeared in Express, the commuter tabloid published by the Washington Post. It said civil rights leaders wonder if Arizona’s new law aimed at stopping the flood of illegal immigration into the state is “borderline racist?” The other headline appeared in the Washington Examiner atop a story reporting President Obama’s partisan appeal to the groups that “powered” his 2008 presidential victory, namely “young people, African-Americans, Latinos and women” for their support in the 2010 elections. The Examiner head said “Obama disses white guys.”
The reaction to “Borderline racist?” was silence. The reaction to “Obama disses white guys” was typified by the hyperventilating Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, who called the Examiner “reactionary,” then nodded in agreement as his guest, “political analyst” Richard Wolffe described our headline as “a sad and pathetic attempt to distort, with this toxic mix of malice and ignorance.” Strangely, Olbermann didn’t bother to tell his audience that Wolffe, a former Newsweek reporter, is now Obama’s pet propagandist and is granted exclusive access as he writes adulatory campaign tracts like his recently published “Renegade: The making of a president.”
Which headline was more accurate? Express insinuated racist motives for Arizona officials because they approved a law that directs local police to do something that is already legal, which is to stop somebody on reasonable suspicion that they may have broken a law. Whether the law is racist is a matter of hotly contested debate, yet the Express headline can be read as declaring it definitely so. By contrast, the Examiner headline simply stated a truth made clear by the 2008 election returns. Exit polls show that about 47 percent, or 32 million of Obama’s 69 million votes for president were cast by men, 18 million of whom were white males. Thus, about one fourth of Obama’s total vote came from white males. Yet in seeking to re-energize for the 2010 campaign the voters who “powered” his 2008 victory, Obama ignored this constituency. Does Obama consider white men a drag on his coalition, or has he given up on them because of their declining support for his policies in opinion polls? Either way, “disses” is exactly the right term to describe it. The double standard is clear: Those on the left who routinely describe voters primarily by their racial and ethnic identities have no problem when their favored candidates do so. But they get bent out of shape whenever someone else reports the rest of the story.
The other example is the media’s portrayal of Tea Party participants as potentially dangerous anti-government terrorists encouraging violence against political opponents. Of course, not one example of actual violence has been offered up in this demonization campaign. Now, when might we expect the headlines and hand wringing over stuff like this:
Three people were attacked and at least two others were arrested. The people assaulted were part of the Minutemen demonstration, a group in favor of Arizona’s new immigration law.
They said a large group of immigrants’ rights supporters followed them to the BART station on Market Street and started punching and kicking them, and calling them names.
“They said we were racists, and we were against them, and against their town, and against San Francisco,” said Parker Wilson with the Bay Area National Anarchists. “What they were saying, they said we need to get out and called us racists, and that we need to go home. And then they just attacked my friends and me.”
I rail against the double standard because it is dangerous to ignore what is happening here. It is a blatant attempt to stifle legitimate dissent and debate.
Hey, I know I’m late with this week’s Yoja. What can I say, the weather turned nice and I’ve been outside doing stuff. So, don’t blame me, blame Ms. Park Eun Ji.
That’s right, our yoja this time is a working girl….as in a television weather reporter.
To be honest, I can’t understand much of what she says.
I haven’t seen the HBO series yet, but these photos are pretty awesome…
And really, who can blame her?
And she is a citizen.
Continuing the photo essay of my recent adventure on Oahu…
Oddly enough, most of the vegetation in Hawaii is not in fact native to the islands…
but it’s all good as far as I’m concerned…
“way better than Cheju-do!”
Blue on blue and some happy canines…
“don’t bother taking a picture because those telephone wires are ruining the vista. What? Oh well, never mind.”
Ready for lunch? Actually, the restaurant takes it name “The Crouching Lion” because the rocks behind the restaurant are alleged to look like, well, a crouching lion. I honestly couldn’t see it though. I’m that way with constellations too.
Still, the restaurant was quite charming…
The view from our table was, er, appetizing…
“bago payo!”
“ah, now that’s more like it!”
Next up, the Waimea Valley…see you there!
A sweet and sad story you might enjoy.
What a bunch of pussies. If defending your own f’n freedom is too scary for you maybe you should go live in a cave with Osama bin Laden.
Meanwhile, have a read of what Ayaan Hirsi Ali has to say.
Me? I’m with Chris Muir on this one.
And if any Islamic fanatic is offended by my posting this let me sincerely say I don’t give a fuck.
I’m asking all you white males in the USA to stand together this November and vote as one to defeat any member of Congress who supports the President’s policies.
What? You think that is racist? It can’t be, because the President himself said:
This year, the stakes are higher than ever,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks provided by Democratic officials. “It will be up to each of you to make sure that young people, African Americans, Latinos and women who powered our victory in 2008 stand together once again.
Racist is as racist does.
Continuing our Majestic Grand Circle Island Tour, we visited a Buddhist Temple established around the turn of the century by a Japanese monk.
Quite beautiful don’t you think? And that’s a million-dollar backdrop…
A little closer and different angle. What you can’t see from the photo (or in real life for that matter) is the nails used for construction. That’s because no nails were used. Don’t ask me how, maybe it was a freakin’ miracle.
The Temple’s primary resident…
There was of course the traditional bell…
…well I’m not a particularly religious man, but nothing ventured nothing gained…
…I mean happiness and long life are worth the effort…
Of course, some would argue I’ve already had a long life, but why take chances?
Next stop was the nut farm, but I escaped. Not before buying some chocolate covered macadamias for the folks at the office and a bag of nuts for my pal Jenn of I Got 2 Shoes fame.
If I understood correctly, these are the founders of the nut farm. The current owner greeted us warmly, gave out free samples of Kona coffee and various varieties of his nutty concoctions. Real friendly guy and seemed genuinely happy to have us visit. But then again, we all were spending money. But I’m sure he would have been nice regardless.
Anyway, that’s it for tonight. I’m off to the first round of the playoffs which will feature the Rubbies versus Cake Mix at Dillinger’s Bar. I’m there as a fan rather than a player this time…
I had the honor of attending the wedding ceremony of a great couple, Alastair Tarbett and Juri Jeon. I’ll let the pictures tell the story…
As Joe Walsh REO Speedwagon (thanks Nomad) said, “you can tune a piano but you can’t tuna fish”. We did however enjoy tasty morsels from this one after the ceremony.
Some of the guests hanging around outside on the deck. The wedding took place on a floating wedding hall docked alongside the Han River.
Alastair’s parents flew in from Glasgow, Scotland for the big event. Another big event, the Iceland volcano, almost prevented them from getting here, but they persevered through various trials and tribulations and made it to the “church” on time.
This trio regaled us with fine music…
Jee Yuen poses with the parents of the groom…
One of the more handsome guests in attendance…
Alastair awaits his cue…
The bride is escorted up the aisle by her soon to be father-in-law.
Ain’t she sweet?
I’m not sure what is going through Alistair’s head as he makes his way up the aisle…
The traditional bow before the vows…
They both said “I do”. Well, technically Juri said “nea” which we all understood to be “yes”.
A kiss for the bride…
…a bow to the parents…
…and a demonstration of strength as required by Korean custom…
The cutting of the cake which symbolizes the joining of the two families…
I’ll be attending Margaret and Matt’s wedding in June…
The Orrico family minus Dan who had TDY in Hawaii…
Jim Dewey looking dapper as usual…
Even all the ducks were in a row… (ahem).
The newly married Alistair demonstrating his ability to multitask.
Juri and Jee Yuen.
The bride shows off her sexy shoes…
Alan’s kilt was a real chick magnet. I’m thinking I should celebrate my Scottish heritage and get one too….
So the wedding party moved from the Han river to Dolce Vita…
…and of course a dart tournament broke out…
…and a good time was had by all…
Congratulations to Alastair and Juri!
Hey, that’s what they called it in the brochure. It was your standard circumnavigation of Oahu kinda deal. It was an all day affair and a 120 mile round trip. Actually, quite nice. It was good to be out of the city and see some of the Hawaiian back country for sure. Here’s the first part of the trip in pictures:
That would be the Pacific ocean near Diamond Head…
This would be one of the more popular attractions on Oahu, Hanauma Bay. Here’s a nice little video of the area.
I hear it’s a great place to snorkel…
…and has a nice sandy beach.
Seeing as how we were driving along the coast of an island, I took a fair number of ocean shots. The ocean didn’t seem to mind at all.
Now this beach may look familiar to you. It was where the famous beach scene in the film “From Here to Eternity” was shot. Remember?
Now you do…
Yes, the ocean has many moods.
You see more beaches like this one with lava flows than you do with sand…
If you look closely you can see the lighthouse at the Makapu’u Lookout, which I believe is the southern-most point on the island…
Then we drove up into the mountains to the Nu’uanu Pali lookout for outstanding vistas like this one. There was a battle here in 1795 which ended with the defeated warriors being thrown from the cliff face. Read about it here.
This is on the windward side of the island. And the breeze was stiff to be sure…
It was an Oahu, Hawaii mountain high. Although it wasn’t raining fire in the sky…
Those would be the tunnels we drove through to get to the mountain top.
And now I’ve got to get ready for a wedding. We’ll continue our island tour soon, ok?
Played in the Dolce tourney last night and actually had fun. I guess throwing half way decent contributed to my joy. That and winning (a first and a second place finish).
On the long plane ride back from Hawaii I decided it was time to get back to basics and try to relearn all that I’ve apparently forgotten about the game. Actually, I am committed to going out and practicing again on a regular basis. That and pull my head out of my ass and start throwing with some confidence. Although the two might be related.
I’m hoping to rejoin Take it Easy for the upcoming season. Kind of back to the future as that is where it all began for me. And since my time in Korea is rapidly drawing to a close, it makes sense for things to end with Take it Easy. I’ve always been fond of the symmetry of bookends.
This can’t be right, can it? I mean, that would mean everything the Dems said about Obamacare was a lie.
Say it ain’t so, O.
President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law will increase the nation’s health care tab instead of bringing costs down, government economic forecasters concluded Thursday in a sobering assessment of the sweeping legislation.
And there is also this:
In particular, concerns about Medicare could become a major political liability in the midterm elections. The report projected that Medicare cuts could drive about 15 percent of hospitals and other institutional providers into the red, “possibly jeopardizing access” to care for seniors.
Hmm, “jeopardizing access” = rationing = death panels.
Someone owes Sarah Palin an apology.
Back from vacation and time to renew the feature that at least one reader missed. I proudly present the Yoja of the Week, Ms. Park Jung-Ah.
What’s not to like?
And especially for my Canadian readers here she is playing hockey and singing! (not at the same time. and probably only pretending to play hockey. but then, I wouldn’t know the difference. hockey wasn’t that big when I was growing up in Southern Cal…)
There is just something wrong with the lyrics that go with this video. I mean, I don’t even see a cat.
But the girl can dance…
Saturday morning is was up and at ’em for another Echotour, this time a hike to the top of Diamond Head.
As might be expected, we began our trek on the floor of the crater. What struck me was how arid this location was. The day before maybe 10 miles away I had been hiking through tropical terrain.
Did I mention this was a pretty popular tour?
Maybe you can make out the early 20th century fortifications. These were designed to protect the Oahu from a southern seaborne attack…
A vista
You can see the walls of the volcano cone, right?
Winding the way up to the mountain top…
Looking out at the wide Pacific…
An operational lighthouse keeps the ships off the shallow reefs surrounding Oahu.
Looking westward…
Waikiki from the summit of Diamond Head.
A closer look at the old defenses…
“Yo, the attack will come from over there…and it won’t be by ship!” Advice comes easy with 20-20 hindsight…
This fire control operations center is built 3 stories into the mountain. It didn’t help much on that day of infamy, but still quite impressive. The ol’ Walrus had a heck of time crawling in and out of the damn thing though…
Headin’ back down the mountain. Watch your step!
Alright, tomorrow we are gonna get out of town and journey around the island of Oahu. See you then!
Ok, so I managed to catch a cold somewhere along the journey, but what are you going to do? I signed up for some half day tours that involved hiking just to keep the exercise regimen going while on holiday. This enabled me to take some great naps in the afternoon, which after all is part of the vacation experience as well, don’t ya think?
So Friday morning I took the “Manoa Waterfall Hiking Adventure” through an outfit called Echotour. On the way out to the trailhead, we drove past President Obama’s high school and the tour guide said he had been a classmate of Barack’s. He said they didn’t really run in the same circles and he was a year ahead of the Prez in school. He told a story about how during one class assembly some guy sitting behind Obama was throwing pieces of paper in the future president’s Afro. I thought how things hadn’t changed much except now it was two bit dictators and despots from around the world bullying the world’s geeky nerd. Ah well. On with the hike:
So, we parked in this foothill neighborhood to begin the hike. According to our guide, one of these modest houses could be purchased for $700,000 or so, but they rarely came on the market.
Soon enough we were into the woods, a moist rain forest like environment. I don’t recall the name of these trees, but they were soft to the touch, almost sponge like. Also, we were warned that the tree could not support the branches and a gust of wind would snap them off like twigs. Although there was evidence of limb failure along the trail we luckily did not witness any first hand.
You know, things always look cooler in real life than they do in the photograph. At least that’s true when I’m holding the camera. This was a natural bowl within the trunk of a tree retaining water from a recent rainfall. Although it doesn’t look too tasty, I’m sure in a pinch it would suffice. But then, we were hiking along side a babbling brook so I guess dying of thirst wasn’t much of a risk anyway. Never mind.
Yours truly taking a break beside a stand of wild bamboo…
Look up there in the distance, can you see it? Yes sir, I do believe that is our destination!
Manoa falls in all her glory. Ok, so it isn’t exactly Niagara. Or Yosemite. But it is water. And the water is falling. So, technically speaking you have received what was advertised, right?
So, what we have here is what I call the “upper falls”…
Which inevitably winds up in the lower falls and pool. It was sorta pretty although I mighta been a tad disappointed.
Wanting to get my money’s worth I claw my way to very end of the trail.
And so ended my Manoa falls adventure.
Tomorrow I will bring you the harrowing tale of my hike to the very top of the famous Diamond Head crater. Stay tuned!
Hale Koa in the Hawaiian language means Warrior House. That was the name of hotel where I stayed during my just completed visit to the island of Oahu. Since the Hale Koa is an Army MWR (morale welfare and recreation) property, I suppose you could say it was aptly named. Although nice place to stay works equally well, but I guess that is a pretty lame name. Unless it translates to something cool sounding in Hawaiian. Here, see for yourself:
I paid extra for the ocean view room, and this was the view of the ocean from my balcony.
From another angle I could also see the hotel sprawl that is what makes Waikiki Waikiki.
This pigeon was enjoying the view from my balcony every morning I was there. I don’t expect he paid extra though.
This big old Banyan tree was a dominant feature in the courtyard.
And the coconut trees were nice as well.
As far as that goes, the entire property was pretty nicely landscaped.
The Hale Koa also features a big open air lobby, in the Balinese style…
All in all, not a bad hotel to spend a few days at a decent price (although you have to be military or a DoD civilian to partake).
Yes, I have returned safely from my adventures in Hawaii, aka America’s Cheju-do.
The weather was cloudy and cool most of the time. And I was also sick for most of the trip. But other than that I enjoyed my first visit to the 50th state. Well, technically, I saw only one of the eight islands, Oahu. But it was quite beautiful. I especially enjoyed the parts that did not include Waikiki.