Air and Sea China Tour Luncheon

(Post written on Saturday, April 27th)

With the H9N7 bird flu problem going on in China, it was with some trepidation that I was looking toward our trip in about a week and a half.  I wondered if they might cancel it.

When I spoke to our son, Jon who is studying international epidemiology in Baltimore he said, "Mom, there are 1.2 billion people in China and I think 18 deaths so far.  I would go, but just be careful and take the necessary precautions."

Suddenly Jon laughed and said, "Mom...It doesn't really matter where you go, does it?  You just like being with people and getting to know them.  Dad will love seeing all the new places."

We drove into Honolulu to the Mandalay restaurant for the Air and Sea Tour orientation luncheon.

As we entered the building we met a couple named Richard and Janet.  I could already tell we were going to enjoy spending time with them.

We were the first ones at the Chinese restaurant.

Derek arrived from Air and Sea.  He brought our lanyards with our names attached along with a detailed instruction booklet detailing what to expect, do and bring.

When I asked about the bird flu Derek reassured us repeating what Jon had said that we should be fine just taking the usual precautions and that Air and Sea was following the CDC's (Centers for Disease Control) recommendations.

In the midst of Derek's instructions a large party downstairs began with a lion dance.

It was fun to watch children feeding money to the dancing lion.

Derek warned us not to expect American type Chinese food in China.  He wanted us to understand that the food would be blander and that we might be craving McDonalds by the end of the trip when we reached Hong Kong.

However, he advised us to enjoy the culture and the differences and not worry because they would be handling everything.  Our tour guide in China would be Charlie Wang who Derek said would remind us of Kung Fu Panda.

Derek also warned us to leave our smartphones at home to prevent possible data charges. 

He said easily accessible free wifi would be available at most of the hotels for laptops or tablets.

Air and Sea would provide us with bottled water every day as well as most of the meals.

After meeting several of the people at our table, we were feeling excited about spending time with so many of these friendly travelers. 

Derek suggested we start exercising and getting used to walking quite a bit because the Forbidden Palace would require us to wear out our walking shoes.

He also said we could wear shorts, jeans, gym shoes and whatever we wear in Hawaii.

With a happy farewell wave to everyone, we all looked forward to seeing each other again at the airport for our departure.  (And oh yes, I forgot to mention that we ate way too much delicious American-type Chinese food at the luncheon.)

Trip to China Worries

(Post written on April 14th)

I'm actually writing this post in April before our trip to China in May.  As always, I don't like to broadcast when we're gone since you just don't know who might take advantage of our absence.  We are very aware that burglars are always watching.  There's no longer much to steal in the house, but I wouldn't want anyone coming in to have a look either.

As I write this I'm feeling quite worried.  There have been 11 deaths from the H9N7 bird flu.  There's no human to human transmission YET, but who knows anything for sure.  H9N7 is in Beijing and Shanghai where we will be.  There's also extremely bad smog.  Mom is frantic about our going.

We haven't told her yet that my cousin, who was going to go with us has cancelled taking the trip.  I'm hoping his mom will delay telling my mom for as long as possible because it's going to freak her out.

I've written to my cousin who works in Shanghai and he says he has to work there so there's no choice.  However, he would advise us not to go for just sight seeing.

After we told him that we would be going anyway, he advised us not to go near any poultry or animals.  We've also been warned by others not to drink the water, not to breathe the polluted air, not to use the chopsticks at the restaurants, and so on and so forth.  

We'll be going to an orientation luncheon in a couple of weeks.  I hope their reassurance can calm me down a bit more.

Helpful Idea

My friend, Myrtle just sent me another hint that I thought was rather interesting to pass on to you.

Put your car keys beside your bed at night.  

If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your

house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off,

and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car

battery dies.   

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It's a

security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no

installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house

and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it

with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway

or garage.   

It's just rather comforting to know you have something at your disposal that could call your neighbors attention.

Wine Stain on His t-Shirt

Art was pouring a bit of wine for mom.  She and I have wine for dinner on alternating nights mixed with carbonated water.

When Art saw the wine stain, he was aghast!  He doesn't like his white t-shirts to be marred by any spots.  I immediately looked up how to get rid of wine stains on my iPhone.

Art first tried to clean the red wine stain off using Dawn dish soap.  It turned the wine stain to a deeper Dawn blue.  Then he tried baking soda and vinegar which didn't work either, but in retrospect he thinks he didn't do it long enough.

Finally he mixed hand soap and hydrogen peroxide and soaked the front of his t-shirt with it for a few minutes before rinsing it off. That did it!

You can't even see where the spot is anymore.

Actually, I wasn't all that upset about it since it was a Training t-shirt and not a Finisher t-shirt.  However, I'm not the one that came in #10 in his age group at the Great Aloha Run.

What is Charm Anyway?

Art and I were having a conversation about what makes people appear charming.  What is charm anyway?  We thought about people we are drawn to.  I guess our definition of charm is that special something that makes you want to spend time with someone.

We came up with a few ideas.

First and foremost is that perception certain people give of being interested in you.  They ask questions and show an appreciation for what you're willing to share about yourself.  Then they share of themselves as well.

It's not how physically attractive a person is.  Charm makes everybody beautiful.

Vivacity.  I think a charming person shows enthusiasm, energy, life.

Charming people smile warmly and meet your eyes.

Another part of charm is an interest in a lot of subjects that they are happy to share.

I believe a little touch is something that makes a friendly connection.  I put an emphasis here on little because not all cultures would appreciate it. As a teacher (in the U.S.), I made myself remember to shake a parent's hand or give a friendly touch at conferences or meetings.

Our charming Tiffany

I admit I'm very biased in this, but I think my daughter is very charming.  She is always trying to do nice things for people.  Her face lights up when she talks to anyone and she is quick to convey an interest in their well-being.  She listens intently to what is being shared and responds with caring.

What do you think charm is?

What Does WD40 Really Do?

A good friend of mine sent me a Forwarded E-mail purporting that WD40 would do a number of things including taking stains off of stainless steel sinks, removing lipstick stains, cleaning leather dashboards, etc.   These uses proved to be false.

I have this rather unsightly safety bar in our bathtub wall that's been annoying me for a while.  It was supposed to be stainless steel. We bought the safety bar at Home Depot and it doesn't even get much water splashed on it.

I sprayed WD40 on it and even scrubbed it for quite a while.  It didn't do much of anything.

This shower dial in our guest bathroom has also annoyed me forever with its water stains.  So I decided to spray it too.

You know... It did work for a while.  The water stains disappeared, but I think it's only because of the petroleum in WD40. 

Still, a light coating of oil does make it better to look at.

The Forwarded E-mail said the big surprise is that WD40's main ingredient is fish oil.

I decided I'd better check with SNOPES.

Fish oil is not the main ingredient.  However, though it doesn't do some of the things it is purported to do by that e-mail, it does do a number of other things according to the WD40 manufacturer.

It protects silver from tarnishing.
Removes road tar and grime from cars.
Loosens stubborn zippers.
Untangles jewelry chains.
Keeps scissors working smoothly.
Keeps terra cotta/ceramic garden pots from oxidizing.
Spraying umbrella stems makes it open and close easier.
Keeps pigeons off the balcony because they hate the smell.  (I wish I could spray it on my roof.)
Removes all traces of duct tape.
Removes bugs from car grills and bumpers.
Keeps saws and tools rust free.
Removes black scuff marks from kitchen floors.
Lubricates electric fans.
ETC.

So now that I've got the can out, I'm looking at the door hinges.  I've also sprayed my silver jewelry.  Now the pigeons won't land on me.  Then again, will I be able to stand the smell too?

My Trader Joes Weakness

One of my dear friends came back from Vegas and brought us a box of these Dark Chocolate Edamames.

It's really candy when you get right down to it. However, I've justified eating it by saying it's dark chocolate.  Isn't dark chocolate good for you?  It's edamame which is soybeans and it's got 7 grams of that soy protein.  Then again, is it GMO soybeans?

It wouldn't be bad if I could stick to just eating a few beans, but there's something about that little crispy crunch in the middle of the dark wonderful chocolate that makes me lose all will power.

Oh well, at the rate I'm going I'll be finished with this carton in no time.  It's a good thing we don't have Trader Joes in Hawaii.

GMO Papayas

I don't know what to believe about GMOs anymore.  GMOs are Genetically Modified Organisms.

In the 1980s a ringspot virus was threatening to devastate the papaya industry in Hawaii.  The University of Hawaii developed a new genetically modified papaya that would be resistant to that virus.

I attended a class at Kapiolani Hospital and the speaker was against GMO products.  We were careful about avoiding GMO papayas for awhile, but then gradually forgot about it.

Recently, I've heard more advisories from friends about GMO papayas and looked up which varieties are GMOs.  However, they say 75% of the Hawaiian papaya crop are GMOs.  Japan is now OK with importing GMO papayas but Europe is not.

One of the NON-GMO papayas I've heard about is the Kapoho Solo.  However, they tell me that sometimes there's cross pollination, so what do you do?

There might be a sticker number on the papaya showing how the papaya was grown:

• Conventionally grown: Four numbers, for example — “1034″
• Organically grown: Five numbers, starting with the number 9 — “90123″
• Genetically Modified: Five numbers, starting with the number 8 — “80123″

We eat a third of a papaya every morning because we thought it was good for us.  We also drink soy milk which come from soybeans that could be genetically modified too. Then there's corn...

Arrrghhhh!

POSTSCRIPT:  I just talked to the owner of Honda Tofu where we buy our tofu every week.  He told us that all tofu made in Hawaii are from NON-GMO soybeans.

Pretty Glass

I confess that I used to have this little fascination with shiny things... crystal, diamonds, cubic zirconium, glass, glitter. I collected glass and crystal vases, cups, etc. when I was younger.  When we moved to Hawaii, much of it was sold, donated or given away.

Recently, my aunt's friend was downsizing and my mother was drawn to a set of glass plates.  She was convinced my nephew's wife would love it.  As it turned out, she didn't want them.  Neither did anyone else.  I told mom I didn't want them because we already have too many dishes that we don't use.  As you know I'm now into practical dishes like Corelle or Corningware.

I brought them to our Tai chi class and no one wanted them until finally somebody offered to take them if nobody else wanted them.

I had a set of beautiful china at one time that I ended up leaving with our daughter, Tiffany.  They're tucked away somewhere and unused.  I'm thinking beautiful china that you can't put in the dishwasher is becoming a thing of the past... just like these glass pieces.

Broccoli Salad Memories

Isn't it funny how certain recipes will bring to mind the beautiful person who shared it with you?

Mrs. H and Jonathan

Mrs. H was introduced to us about 30 years ago by Dina of Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo.  Mrs. H had once been Dina's teacher and they became family to each other.  Our children loved going to Mrs. H's woods.  Mrs. H had planted thousands of daffodil bulbs in her woods and she invited us to go and pick them in the springtime.  Mrs. H loved sharing nature and all she knew about it with her friends and neighbors.  Mrs. H died last year and will be sorely missed.

A couple of days ago I made the broccoli salad that she brought to one of our dinner parties in Illinois.  Everybody loved it.  I remember when I first tasted it and asked if she would teach me how to make it.

"Oh... but it's very difficult," she said with twinkles in her eyes.

Here is the recipe:

Broccoli Salad

From: Mrs. H

3 bunches of broccoli (raw and sliced)

1/4  cup red onion  (diced)  I leave this out.

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup water chestnuts (sliced)  I don't usually use this either.  The stems of the broccoli are similar to the water chestnuts so I just use that.

Sauce:

1 cup light mayonnaise   I use either light or regular.

1 Tablespoon sweet and low   or just plain ol’ sugar

1 Tablespoon vinegar

Now whenever I make this recipe, I see those twinkles in Mrs. H's eyes and it makes me smile.