Okinawan Festival

The 35th Okinawan Festival was this weekend. I was originally going to go yesterday after lunch but went to the ER with Dad instead. So I went this morning after breakfast. I caught the shuttle at Kapiolani Community College; I could have walked but I did something to my knee yesterday while helping Dad and it has been hurting if I walk too much or sit in the wrong position.

Leahi #34: Waiting for the shuttle bus at Kapiolani Community College.

This is the 35th festival, not the "35th Annual" because it didn't happen last year. Hurricane Lester was predicted to make landfall on the first day of the festival. Since it is a bunch of tents and it takes time to take them down, the organizers waited till the last day possible to call it off. The day after they did Lester shifted directions and moved away from the island and the weekend was beautiful! But its better to be safe than sorry. Today was beautiful, too. Here's Leahi overlooking the festival which was held in Kapiolani Park.

Leahi #35: From the Okinawan Festival.

If you're wondering why I left Dad after he fell yesterday, its because he was back to his usual habits, sleeping between breakfast and lunch. When he is on his normal schedule it gives me about a 3 hour block of time to do things. I decided to go to the festival to check it out and pick up some Okinawan food for him. What I learned is that there are multiple lines for each type of food, so instead of standing in the first one you see, look for the shortest line for the food you want. I picked up andagi first, it had the longest lines; it's an Okinawan version of the doughnut. (They make 75,000 of them fresh at the festival!) Next I got yakisoba, it was Okinawan-style soba which is thicker than Japanese soba. I ended with the yakitori and maki sushi bento. Then I headed back home; all total I was gone for 2 hours.

L to R: yakisoba, yakitori & maki sushi, and andagi.

The other thing I learned, after reading the Uchinanchu newsletter they gave out at the festival, was that I should have gotten the champuru plate lunch. While I was at the festival, I was looking for the shoyu pork but didn't see it listed at any of the booths; turns out it was part of the champuru plate. I also found out that, new this year, the Okinawan Genealogical Society of Hawaii and the Okinawa Prefecture Library were at the Cultural Tent assisting people with tracing their genealogy. I never got to the Cultural Tent or the other tents; next year I will coordinate with Curtis to stay with Dad so I can be away longer, like I did when I went to see the Hokule'a return.

I made a plate for Dad for lunch but he didn't want to get up to eat; he said he wasn't hungry & just wanted his juice. When he decides to get up and eat this is about as much as he eats at a meal. Frequently after eating this portion I will ask if he wants more and he'll say he's too full. Then 15 minutes later he'll eat a bunch of Nutter Butters!

Here's what our dinner salads look like.

Mine is on the left, Dad's is on the right.

I found a pair of two-way radios while I was cleaning up last night. I gave them to Mom & Dad a few years ago because Dad had fallen in the yard while he was raking up leaves and Mom was in the house and didn't hear him; she found him when she went out to call him for lunch. I think Dale helped her pick him up that time, too. Obviously they never used them. I plugged the radios in to charge them up; tonight Dad & I tested them out. He did okay but I think I will have to make him practice every night until he gets used to it. I also need to find out what the range is on these radios; the instructions say don't use them closer than 5 feet, but it doesn't say how far they transmit.

Yesterday I posted a photo of my bloody finger. Here it is today. As I said yesterday, it was not bad, it looked a lot worse than it really was.

The tiny little mark by the corner of my nail is where Xander "bit" me.

Happy 1st Birthday to Darien!