IASA #4-19

Lunch at Motek Bakery with nā hoa hānau (L-R) Beryl, Galen, & Alisha. 

 

Merry Christmas to Me!

I was curious as to when I really did finish all available levels of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi on Duolingo. So I went back & checked; I had been thinking I got to that point about 2 months before I started the Mandarin, so around mid-March. Turns out I had actually reached the end of the available ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi classes on Christmas day last year! So more like 6 months ago! No wonder I was getting bored with the refresher courses.

I haven't shared what my mornings look like in a while. This is what I see when I wake up. I have no curtains so I can easily see what is going on with the weather. The cows are the only ones around who can look in to my bedroom window.

Forty-five minutes after sunrise.

I took a couple of photos of the māla kalo this morning as I was watering it. I have relocated the Palehua so they are now between the Moi & the Bun Long. I have not yet planted the ʻIliuaua; I still need to weed that end of the māla.

The big leaf in center is from a Moi kalo.

Here is how big it is!

This morning I went to a community talk story held by Kamehameha Schools. There were 17 of us there; 6 of them were opio from the local high school. I mainly listened, as I usually do. I think the underlying feeling is that there needs to be more support for the opio. KS is doing a series of these talk stories around the island & will report back to the communities later in the year.

Lunch at the kūkākūkā.

I had talked to Dane as soon as I got there, he needed to run some errands & asked me to water the plants at Lapakahi after the talk story. So I did. I will also water them on Friday.

Plants in goat exclusion area. 

The niu gets its own dedicated water source.

As I arrived at Lapakahi, Emily called. Moʻo had gotten loose! She had run up the road then disappeared down a side road. I was pretty sure she was heading to the pasture so she could play with the cows & chickens. When I got back to the house, I checked in with Emily; she was kinda upset that Moʻo got loose. Fortunately, I guessed right. As I was finishing talking to Emily, I saw Moʻo in the pasture! When I went to the gate to go into the pasture, she saw me & came running up to the gate; I put the lead on her & secured her to the fence while I unlocked the gate. Next time I won't be home when Emily comes to mow I will put Moʻo in her crate in the house so she can't get out of the yard!

Moʻo waits while I unlock gate.

 

I watched Episode 30 of Mirror: The Tale of Twin Cities tonight. SPOILER ALERT - In this episode we finally get to see the face of Lord Zhi Zhe who had appeared a number of episodes ago but wears a hooded cape that masks his form & identity. Even when he 1st appeared I was pretty sure he was being played by Zheng Ye Cheng based on the portions of his lower face & neck that were visible; I think its a biologist thing since we have to make quick identifications on birds flying by or fish darting away & not always getting a good look at the entire organism. Zheng Ye Cheng is also Crown Prince Zhen Lan; as Lord Zhi Zhe he speaks in a weird raspy voice. It sounds to me like it hurts to talk that way, but it is a good way to differentiate the characters & I give him credit for doing that. 

How Lord Zhi Zhe is usually seen.

Finally shows his face in Episode 30!

Its very early to tell when the next eruption episode at Kīlauea will begin. The window is currently between the 24th & the 29th. 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Sherry & Christina!

Floor Is Lava!

SPOILER ALERT - In today's episode of Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities, Su Mo & Bai Ying enter the Monument of Fallen Tears where the Splitting Sword is housed. And the floor is lava! I am wondering, is that a thing with children in China? Or was it just something that the show runners thought would be cool? In Hawaiʻi, Floor is Lava is a game that children play; or at least we did in my family. So is it a thing in places that have active volcanoes? Or perhaps a US thing because of volcanoes in Hawaiʻi? Wondering how widespread it might be & if it might be multinational? Did you play Floor Is Lava? Let me know in the comments, yes or no, & where. Coincidentally, Episode 49 of the eruption of Kīlauea started this morning about 9:30. So the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater really is lava!

Floor is lava!

Episode 49.

I met up with nā hoa hānau Beryl, Galen, & Alisha at Motek Bakery for lunch. The breakfast special was lox & bagels, that's what Beryl & Galen had. Alisha & I opted for the mushroom & Gruyere panini; the sandwich kind, not the cactus kind... After lunch they went to the Pololū Valley viewpoint. Then we met up again at Our Founding Farmers for ice cream! Beryl had My Neighbor's Lemons, Alisha had Surinam Cherry, Galen had Pralines & Cream, & I had Mango. 

(L-R) Beryl, Galen, & Alisha having lunch at Motek Bakery.

Lox & bagels.

Mushroom panini.

Since I figured out how to turn on the microphone, I started the speaking practice. Their attaboys seem to be given out quite freely. I even get them when I am mispronouncing half the words! I'm not sure why they don't tell me to try harder. Or maybe that's just my expectation of what they should be telling me based on growing up in an Asian household? (Duolingo is an American company whose founders have a European background.) At any rate, I have now reached Level 9 in Mandarin!

The blue ones are the correct ones.

Still getting most words right.

It still thinks I'm awesome when I get half wrong?

I still managed to get up to Level 9.

 

The microphone does not seem to do as well on the ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi though. I know I pronounced this sentence correctly, but it sure messed up what it thought I said. Kinda reminds me of how Google Maps mispronounces Hawaiian street names! Perhaps it is listening for Mandarin words & is getting confused when it hears ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi?

Episode 49 of the eruption of Kīlauea started this morning at 9:32; it ended about 5:05 pm after about 7.5 hours. The last dozen or so episodes have generally been lasting for 12 hours or less.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Mary Kay & Brian! 

Last Bunch of Things

I started the final clean up for this visit this morning. I needed to move the last of the things in the computer room in to my room or the hallway. The bulkiest thing was the filing cabinet; even though I could not figure out how to separate the drawers from the cabinet it turned out to be easier to move than I anticipated. I stacked Mom's printer, monitor & keyboard on it; the CPU was placed on the floor so it couldn't fall off of anything. 

Moved things from lighter square; rest is for Roommates to figure out.

New location of items to be kept. My room is at end of hallway.

In one of the boxes I looked through while consolidating boxes today there was some of my old schoolwork; someone wrote my name on it so that's how I could tell it was mine. Not sure why Mom kept them. Especially the report on China; I got a D+ on that one! I also apparently had to do reports on Bolivia (llamas on the cover), Australia (platypus), Albert Einstein (himself), & a bunch of other things. I did not look at the grades on any of the others. I think I turned out OK in spite of the D+. But I might be a bit biased ...

No idea what grade this was but it was written in cursive.

While cleaning up, I lost another small piece off of my laptop case. I did not think I was that hard on them since I have only had to replace 1 case in about 20 years. Phones, on the other hand, I know I am really hard on them. For my 1st phone, I destroyed 3 cases before I bought a Body Glove case. The sales guy was trying to talk me out of it because they cost $89 at that time; I told him I had already bought 3 of the cheaper cases he was wanting me to buy at a cost of $30 each so it was actually a better deal to get a more expensive case if it really protected my phone. I have stuck with Body Glove, then Otterbox that bought out Body Glove, & have not had problems with them except for the charging port flap falling off since I don't buy a new phone every year or so like a lot of other people do; I prefer to work them until the battery dies.  For the record, I have not killed any of my personal phones, though I did shatter the touch screen on my pre-cell phone era metal-cased personal data assistant; I dropped it on the metal deck of a ferry but I could still work it with key strokes. I have, however, drowned 3 work phones; that's what happens when you issue a non-ruggedized phone without a waterproof case to a field person who works in wetlands & streams all day. Just sayin'. I had a ruggedized phone for about 3 months, then they changed the service provider contract & the phone was taken away; I killed another phone before the end of the fiscal year. 

I packed my bags after I had finished moving things out of the computer room. I am taking back a bunch of cooking utensils, including 3 knives so I have real knives to use in the canning classes I am helping with. I also packed the muffin tins, a round cake pan & a baking sheet. 

Because of all the moving & packing I was doing today, I did not get a chance to watch another Episode of Chief of War. I will have to write myself a note so I can remember that I need to start at Episode 4. 

Bokuto says my jo & bokken wall stand has been shipped! Now comes the wait. 

 

Curtis picked me up around 4. We went to dinner at Paniolos in Kahala Mall. The woman making my bowl could not believe I said I would order the extra guacamole because Curtis was paying! We thought it was hilarious! I did not see the Jarritos sodas until after we paid; next time I will have to remember they have it. Jarritos is one of the few sodas I will drink; specifically their tamarind flavor. 

Curtis starts his order.

I think all management should support having this sign posted!

Directions for ordering. I did the Bowl.

They have tamarindo!

My bowl with extra guacamole! 😂  It reminds me of a cicada's face.

While we were eating, we were commenting on the signage on the dessert shop near us. The words on their awning indicated the broad categories of what they sold; it included "panini". I told Curtis until I had moved to Washington, I had not known that panini was anything other than Hawaiian for the fruit of the Opuntia cactus! He, on the other hand, only knew of the sandwiches & had never heard of the cactus fruit! Hard to believe we grew up in the same house! If you Google "panini fruit" it tells you, "'panini fruit' typically refers to the use of sweet fruits as ingredients in pressed sandwiches, offering a blend of sweet and savory flavors. The fruit caramelizes slightly in the heat, pairing well with melted cheeses and meats." In order to find the panini I am familiar with you have to Google "Opuntia panini" to get to the plant one.

Panini?

Panini!

I finally figured out how to turn the microphone on! I had to go in to the Apps setting on my phone. Then choose Duolingo. Then go to Permissions. Then to Microphone. Once there, I changed it to "Allow only while using the app." Now I can check how terrible my pronunciation is!  

Click on "All Apps".

Click on "Duolingo".

Click on "Permissions".

Click on "Microphone".

I am at Curtis' house as I write this. My plane leaves tomorrow morning at 7 am; since he lives 15 minutes from the airport & does not have to fight rush hour traffic this is the best option for both of us. We will leave the house around 5 am. Why am I flying so early? I have an agroforestry class that is at a farm south of Kona that starts at 9 am. Going straight from the airport is a lot easier than driving 1 & 1/2 hours from home to the farm! 

Episode 49 of the eruption of Kīlauea is anticipated to start b eteen the 13th & 15th.

IASA #4-18

Arrived at Kaimukī house & had to fix toilet ... just like good old days when Mom & Dad were alive!