When I was a kid I used to read American comics like Spiderman, Batman & Superman. Sometimes in those comics there were ads for a kind of snack called `Twinkies`. However they weren`t (& still aren`t) sold in Australia, so I was really curious about them. What were they? Were they tasty? They looked tasty!
Similarly, when Snoopy drank something called `Root Beer`, I was really curious about it. What was it? Was it tasty? If Snoopy drinks it, it must taste great!
Finally, after so many years, I got to try these two things in Hawaii. Twinkies are just small sponge cakes with cream inside, & actually we have `root beer` in Australia, but it`s called `sarsaparilla` - in the end I had tried it but didn`t know it.
Visiting Hawaii was very educational.
Not too far from Waikiki Beach is a place called Hanauma Bay. It`s an excellent place to go snorkelling - you can see all kinds of colourful tropical fish, and coral too. I had a great time taking photos of them with my underwater camera.
The beach is very scenic, isn`t it? So it has appeared in various TV shows and movies, such as `Blue Hawaii` in 1961, featuring Elvis Presley. I`ll look for it next time I`m at the DVD rental store!
Our hotel, The Imperial, was in a convenient position - a five minute walk to the beach, & five minutes the other way to shops & restaurants. We didn`t have a great view of the beach, but we had a bit of a view, & I was able to take these photos. It was interesting to see everything change colours as time passed. Also, we were in a great position to see the fireworks [hanabi] display (for APEC). Lucky!
![Hawaii Holiday]()
Last week I went with my family to Hawaii. It was the first time any of us had been there. It`s a popular holiday destination, and as I expected, Waikiki Beach (Honolulu) - where we stayed - was pretty touristy [kankouchi], but it was nicer than I expected - everywhere looked clean and well-maintained, the people were polite, the traffic was orderly, and there was no annoying noise, like loud music or shouting people.
It`s very different from the last place I went on holidays - Bangkok, Thailand. What a difference!
What else would you like to know about my trip? Let me guess:
How was the weather? Did you get sunburnt?
- Good; warm but not too hot - 20-28 degrees C. No, fortunately I didn`t get burnt.
Did you go to Ala Moana shopping centre?
- Yes. I bought a pair of shoes, a pair of jeans, a top, & some postcards.
Were there lots of Japanese people there?
- Kind of, but I also noticed a lot of Koreans & also Australians.
Did you go surfing?
- Unfortunately not. I really regret it, because the waves looked absolutely PERFECT for beginners (that`s me).
Do you want to go there again?
- Of course!
Actually, this car is not really cool, but it gives me a chance to tell you that a camera crew from local TV station ICC came to our school recently. They filmed a segment featuring Samantha`s small kids class.
Do you get ICC? If so, please watch it!
番組名： いちのみやTV
(30分番組)
コーナー名：いち★コレ
チャンネル：ICCチャンネル 地デジ12ch(121ch)
放送日 ：１１月１４日（月）〜１１月２０日（日）
放送時間 ：9:00am
/ 12:00pm / 16:00pm / 20:00pm / 23:00pm
Making my refrigerator halloween costume was a lot of fun, & inspired me to make something else.
This time, though, I wanted to make something which:
- is useful
- is long-lasting
- doesn`t make little children cry
- doesn`t make my wife roll her eyes
- involves cutting lots of wood with a big saw while not wearing a shirt
By chance I found an old metal children`s chair frame, so I decided to repair it using recycled wood.
It only took a few hours, & looks pretty good I think.
What do you think?
To help erase the awful image of my halloween costume from your mind, here is a nice picture of a flower.
Eriko, one of our fabulous staff, has arranged a lot of nice plants & flowers around the front of our school. If you`ve visited us recently, I`m sure you`ve noticed.
The pot in this picture is full of herbs - mint, rosemary & lavender, which is flowering now.
Lavender... Hmmm, that colour reminds me of... Argh!!!
This year`s adults` halloween party was excellent! Lots of people came, and the costumes were amazing - I was really impressed.
I didn`t wear my refrigerator costume from the kids` halloween party; it was too damaged and I couldn`t be bothered [mendokusai] repairing it. But I think my replacement costume is pretty funny and stupid too, right?
Aaah... I`m a bit embarrassed about it... Nevermind!
Anyway, it was a really fun event. Did you go? If so, I hope you had a good time, and if we chatted, I hope I didn`t say anything too silly to you (I blame Henriette`s delicious cocktails).
If you didn`t go, please join us next time!
You can see more photos from the adults halloween party here .
Yes - my costume this year was... a refrigerator-freezer!
There were lots of activities for the kids to do at the party. When they finished each teacher`s activity, they could get a stamp on their card. When they collected all the stamps they could get a prize. As usual, I made a big puzzle. When they finished the puzzle, they had to open the freezer to get the stamp for their card... Some kids were too scared to open the door. Other kids just opened the door, took the stamp and barely looked at me - not scared at all!
Anyway, it was an interesting challenge making my silly costume, and everyone thought it was funny, so I`m satisfied.
Unfortunately I didn`t win the `Best Teacher`s Costume` prize. Stuart (dressed as an American football player) won it this year. Congratulations Stuart!
And thanks everyone who came - 104 kids this year! Our best attendance ever!
You can see more photos of the party here .
* click on the picture to enlarge
By the way, New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup final.
If you care.
Congratulations All Blacks!
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