Corona Updates --Week 1 (MAr 16-Mar22) 2020

The time of uncertainty. The life and freedom taken for granted has been snatched away from us in a way we never dreamt of.
The Corona which started somewhere in China has now spread all over the countries.
As a measure it is advised for all of us to stay at home, keep 6 feet distance from others, wash hands often, schools have been closed from 16th March onwards.
Week 1: 16th-22nd March:-
It was a new experience for us both to be working from home and for the kids to be at home also.
Trying to have activities for the kids, keeping them engaged plus managing work was very stressful.
All activities got converted online, 9 rounds workout was online too, so everyday by 5 ish we started the workout, then had tea, then took bath and by that time it was almost 7pm and it was time t cook for the next day.
Cooked dishes like normal pav bhaji, paneer pav-bhaji, mutton curry, banana bread, dosa and sambhar.
Taught Rivi to play rummy so that we can have one more company

Hawaii 2nd Visit: Part 4

Dec 13th 2019:
We woke up in the morning, refreshed and then tried to finish all the food that we had bought + water as these could not be taken on the flight. We then bid adieu to the valet drivers at the resort, clicked few pics and headed off to drop our Rental.
After a quick 30 min flight we were at Maui by 12:30. By the time we got our rental at Maui we were starving and hopped on to a nearby Panda Express for Lunch.
Our check-in time to the hotel was 4pm so we drove by stopping at various lookout places and finally reached our Honua Kai resort & Spa by 5pm.
On the way we topped at Walmart and got some grocery stuff.
It was a beautiful mini apartment like with a master bedroom, kitchen, living room, 2 additional rooms and a huge balcony.
After getting refreshed and sipping some coffee we decided to check-out the pool swimming pool. By this time it was 6pm and a cool breeze had started flowing about.
The kids jumped in an out of the hot-tub and swimming pool, we then went to a nearby strip and bought some fresh fish which I decided to fry and the hubby ad kids got Subway.
We returned back, fried some fish, eat it out in the balcony and then relaxed for the night.

The next day the daughter had a slight cold  and I wanted to avoid having her go in the beach, so we went to the resort and decided to book a Submarine tour. We drove to Lahaina harbor, there was a small boat which took us in the middle of the ocean where the submarine emerged and we all were oooh and aah about it. Finally we boarded the submarine and went nearly 300 ft under water, it was not all that bad as I expected, we did see a Tiger shark and we also saw a diver(which was a bonus).
After we docked back to the harbor we took some pictures under the huge Banyan tree which is the largest banyan tree in USA.
We then went to a nearby Indian restaurant and had some fish fry and tomato rice which was super good.
We then decided to go to the Nakalele blowhole, by the time we reached and parked the daughter was asleep, so me and Rivi decided to trek down. It was good exercise and the view was breath-taking. Blue skies and green oceans, it was picturesque.
We had promised the boy he could do some surf boarding and so we rented a surf board from near our resort and then went to a nearby beach. The father-son tried a lot but could not get the hang of it but the sunset view was beautiful.
After a lot of wave crashing, we returned back to the resort, got ready and went to a nearby place for some Mexican food.

This day we woke up early in the morning as we had booked a Snorkeling tour to Molokai Crater. Our reporting time was 6:30 , we drove to Maalalea harbor and boarded our sail ship--the Four Winds. They had complimentary breakfast and then we set sail, on the way over we saw some huge whales an the humpback whale season had just began. this is when whales from Alaska migrate to the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean to mate and give birth.
Finally after an hours drive we reached the Molokolai Crater where we got ready with our vests and fins. The boy and hubby jumped down, the daughter not so keen, though she did pad up in her vest, finally after much cajoling, she got into a see through boat and went with Dad for some coral viewing.  I too got comfortable after some time and we spent the 1 hr in the water. Finally it was time to get back on the boat- we all did do the water slide, which was fun except that the water was too salty. They had some good burgers out for lunch and then started our return journey to the shore.
Once we were back we returned the surf board and then decided to go a Falls which the hubby saw in TV. It was a long drive but when we neared the location it was just a view to the water fall and we really could not go near it. We decided to return back and on the way stopped at a much smaller, much more scenic waterfall. At one place we saw many cars parked and without knowing what it is we too stopped, turned out to be a bamboo forest. We took some pictures and then headed home.
Once back the rest of the family went to the ocean while I rested out in the bath-tub. For dinner we went to the famous Duke's Beach House and had some yummy seafood. We were so full we did not order dessert. Returned and slept peacefully the last nite at Hawaii.






 

Hawaii 2nd Visit: Part 3

12th Dec:

For Part 2: Go to http://myendeavours.blogspot.com/2019/12/hawaii-2nd-visit_24.html
For Part 1 go to
http://myendeavours.blogspot.com/2019/12/hawaii-2nd-visit.html

We woke up and after eating a quick breakfast at home, we went to the resort swimming pool. it was practically empty and we had a great time swimming and then lazily relaxing in the hot tub. After getting fresh we decided to go visit the Wailua Falls. It was raining a bit as we headed out. The Falls were beautiful but since it was muddy we could not do the trail down.
We had some coconuts and then went to the Lydgate Beach which a 10 min drive.

This beach is good for kids as it is protected from the ocean by rocks. The kids had a great time playing and they even saw some big fishes. We then went to the Coconut Thai and had Fish tacos and grilled fish which was very tasty.

From there we drove back and stopped at the Lighthouse but it closed at 4 and we reached there at about 3:45, so there was no point in going to the trail, we took some pictures and left. We then wanted to visit Hanalei beach but it started raining heavily so we went to the resort.
But since we had loads of time and the rain kinda settled down we did drive to the beach. However there were some really huge waves coming so we returned back to the small shopping strip and admired the shopkeepers getting ready for xmas, we also ordered some pizza and had the much famous shave ice.

We then returned back, did some packing as the next day we were heading out to Maui.



 

Hawaii 2nd Visit : Part 2

For Part 1 go to

http://myendeavours.blogspot.com/2019/12/hawaii-2nd-visit.html

Dec 10th 2019:
We lazily woke up at about 6:30 am which is 10:30 am our time and then started looking at the guide books on where to go. Finally we decided to go to the Napali Coast as that is near the North Side where we were.  As we left I was reading the books and realized that since the flooding in early Aprile they had day passes to enter the park which had to be booked well in advance. Everything for December was sold out.
We quickly stopped at a juice stop nearby , got some yummy local juice and asked the server for some good locations to visit.
She suggested the Kokee State Park and some falls. We decided to go to the Kokee State Park which was 2 hrs to the other side of where we were. We started driving, on the way packed some fish and shrimp tacos and took them with us.
Soon we were at the bottom of the mountain and then it was a uphill ride with the weather getting very pleasant, there were lots of lookout on the way and we stopped at a few and went in like the Waimea Canyon Ridge.
The color of the canyon were beautiful, red and green shades. We even saw a local Hawaiian there who gave us some information about the area.
We then stopped at the Park and visited the small museum there, had lunch, took a small trail hike and then drove back.

On the way we stopped at a beach as the kids were insisting but there was no swimming there, so they played in the waves for few minutes and then we went for the Luau ceremony that we planned to visit.
Luau is one  food, lively music, energetic performances and displays of Hawaii's native culture and across Polynesia. It's where friends and strangers unite to become one ohana (family) as is customary in Hawaii today.

The charges for the 4 of us were $230. We reached at 5:30 and were greeted with flower garlands and Mai Tai's and fruit punches.
Then there was the imu ceremony where they had caught a wild pig and buried it underground in a clay mould with some spices and banana leaves. At 6pm , after 8-9 hrs they took it out and salted it and was ready for the buffet. The buffet was served with a lot of local dishes like rice noodles, chicken teriyaki, salmon salad, macroni, pork(which was delicious), desserts like coconut pudding, pineapple cake etc.
After we were done we had the performances which were spectacular. There was even a fire dancer which the boy enjoyed a lot.
All said and done we were out by 8pm and back to our resort to rest for the day.

Hawaii --2nd Visit_Part 1

Year 2019 and once again we booked a trip to Hawaii, but this time it was with the Kids.

Hubby did all the booking. November we all got sick with flu and then we had work like crazy so there was no time to plan or prepare for anything.
One nite before Dec 8th Sunday we packed our bags.
Monday morning we took the kids from school by 1, went to the airport to Sun Country for a 3:40 flight which left at 4:40 and had a 3 hr flight from MSP to SFO.
It was 6pm PST when we reached SFO, took our rental car, drove to San Jose and checked in the Wyndham.
Baby girl thought this was Huwaii (pronounced by her)  and was not impressed with the hotel room, she wanted to go back immediately.
We went out to dinner, and at first stopped at an Indian place where all they had was buffet, I couldn't eat so heavy at night and we ended up going to Denny's. We had pancakes and eggs and chicken burger, came back and slept off for an early morning departure.

9th Dec 2019:
 We woke up and left to airport by 7am. Did all the check-in and waited for the 9 am flight Hawaiian airlines flight to Maui Island.
It was a 5 hr. flight which went pretty good with breakfast served and finally at 12 pm island time, we were at Hawaii. We took our baggage and got ready for our next flight at 3:40 to Kauai Island.
We reached Kauai by 4:30. Took our convertible and went out in the sun for a 1 hr. drive to the Princeville Resort.
We were welcomed with traditional Lei's and Hibiscus Tea and then we went to our room which was beautiful. We again ventured out for dinner to the top Fish serving restaurant at Dolphin's and had Ahi Tuna and some calamari.
Kauai does not have any street light as they believe in natural surroundings and night is dark which does make driving difficult for first - timers.
By this time we were very tired as it was way past our bedtime and we came back and slept off.

 

Carmalized Banana ice-Cream

I saw this this simple recipe in one of the food blogs..still searching for it and will definitely put it as a link..for now will also put my measurments in preaparing this yummy and simple ice-cream.

Ripe Bananas - 3

Sugar - little

Butter - little

Milk- 1/2 cup

Condensed milk- 1/4th cup.

Walnuts

Here is what I did:-Sliced bananas in a oven sprinkled with sugar and butter and then kept in oven at 400F for 30 mins.

Once they were carmalized and cooled took them out in a bowl, added condesed milk,milk and whipped them.

Garnished with walnuts and went right into the fridge for freezing.

Voila! your yummy ice-cream is ready

The Hawaii Vacation - Part I

Point to be noted is that I am writing this post after almost 6 months after our Hawaii Trip, so obviously I will not remember all the place names clearly but will try my best.

We had left our baby in India for the winter and as soon as I returned back I knew we had to have a vacation. Hawaii was the top contender as I had heard lots of praise from my manager. So after booking our flight tickets and making reservations we finally set out on Jan 13th 2011.

Firstly we had a 3 hr flight to Seattle and after a wait of 2 hours another 6 hr flight to Honolulu. With the time difference by the time we reached there at 9pm it was already 3 am for us. The first thing when we came out of the airport was the tall coconut trees alongside the road and ofcourse the pleasant weather. We were coming from the winters of Minnesota so obviously the weather was beautiful. We picked our convertible from the rental and drove to our hotel. Immediately noticed the expensive gas price(yeah, we are cheap that way). The room in the hotel(a 4 Star one) just had the bare necessities, like a bed, tv, something you would see in a very normal hotel .We were so tired, we both slept off immediately.

Next day morning after getitng ready we checked out the view from our balcony and it was like any Indian city :)(yeah, I am hard to impress)
We decided to go to Pearl harbour also known as USS Arizona. After buying the tickets we could visit the musuem which gave us a brief on how the US was atacked by the Japanese. We were then taken in a boat to the middle of the sea where we could see the submerged naval ship. By the time we left there it was noon. Now the hotel did not give us any complimentary breakfast unlike US hotels so we were very hungry and the heat was killing us.
After grabbing a sandwich we decided to drive around the island.
We went to Diamond head and along the way stopped at various spots to click pictures. It is very picturesque what with the blue ocean and the green trees lining the roads. We wanted to go to Hanuma Bay as that spot is very famous for snorkelling. but it was full and so we did not get parking there. Moreover we did not have any snorkelling equipment with us, so we just drove along the entire stretch. At one of the beaches G changed into shorts and went into the water but I did not. After a while it got boring seeing the beaches(the same blue water, blue sky, though you may ooooh- aaaaah the first few times) and the heat was unbearable.(I know I am repeating this, but I was coming from -20F, what did you expect?) We decided to go and visit the Byuodo-inn Temple. This temple had a huge Buddha statue and the place also had small ponds with ducks and fishes in them. A very calm and peacful place. If you watch the series Lost, one of the episodes has this temple where the Chinese/Japanese couple gets married.

Evening we decided to go to Waikeki beach were there are fire-works every night. There was traffic rush to reach there but once we got there we noticed the posh shops. We wandered around the beach and finally the fire-works started. It did not feel all that spectacular as we both missed our baby a lot. From there we drove to the Makaha Resort Golf Club that we had booked for the night.
This place had little cabins which were very cozy. When I woke up I went outside and there was this huge golf area with the mountains in the background. We did click a lot of pictures here. We decided to explore the other beaches and just rode around the entire island stopping here and there. We did visit the Dole Plantation which is famous for the pineapple facility. We bought a Pineapple icecream but I think a pineapple fuit would have tasted much better.
Evening we drove to the airport as we had to catch our flight to Maui Island.

More in Part II