closet cleaning
Useful link for cleaning winter clothes before packing them away:
easy how-to-hand-wash wool. key: hot water, no swishing, dish detergent.
I did some serious sorting through my closet and dresser and ended up with 5 paper bags full of clothes to donate. This included the black outfit I wore to symphony concerts back in high school and early college. I used to feel fancy in it, but looking at it now ... a scoop-necked pant-skirt one-piece is probably not the most flattering thing in the world.
I took a photo of it before I gave it to Goodwill (photo-taking of sentimental things is an excellent idea I read somewhere for packrats like me).
sleepy sheep
I need to start remembering to go to bed on time.
I'm trying to see if S will make this into a Google Desktop alarm clock gadget for me :D
Recent trips - Hawaii
We went to Maui and Kauai for our honeymoon (8 months late).
The Maui Revealed and Ultimate Kauai guidebooks were our best friends. The Mio GPS gadget we brought along was pretty handy too. The food was not awesome, as expected, but it was ok. The shaved ice was tasty, and you could find ahi poke in the grocery stores (but not in restaurants).
In Maui, we stayed in West Maui a few days, and South Maui another few days. We spent a lot of time going to the beach and snorkeling. The water was so clear, and the sea life was so interesting!
West Maui had a few good areas (by Black Rock / Ka'anapali) and South Maui was full of great places (Kama'ole I,II,III, Wailea). We also went on a Molokini cruise, but I think we saw more by the beaches. Lesson learned: only snorkel on South Maui beaches in the morning when it's nice and calm. Wind in the afternoon blows the fine sand all over you and makes scary surf for snorkeling (though it's good for boogie boarding).
almost didn't see a resting turtle tucked into the coral
We spent a day also driving around North Maui and hiking a bit. The Olivine Pools were a big highlight .. if you make your way down the huge rocky hill, you get to swim around some natural clear pools right by the ocean with spray coming in every once in a while. Little fish dart in and out of the hole-ridden pools. Reef shoes are helpful.
Kauai also had really good snorkeling up by Tunnels beach. The sand was a lot rougher, and if you looked closely, was made up of tiny bits of shells. Kauai is more about the hiking and nature sight-seeing if you're into that sort of thing.
I liked the beaches and snorkeling better.
Some of the reef life seen while snorkeling: green sea turtles moseying around (one had a really long tail), little blue and orange saddle wrasse, humuhumunukunukuapua'a with pursed lips, yellow fish with black stripes (tangs and butterflys), a brown puffer with white spots, long long thin silver needlefish
fun link
A set of 16 photos about what families around the world eat.
Interesting bits:
- packaged vs. fresh foods
- extended vs. nuclear family
- the nice neat row of coke bottles in one of the pix
- the happy family with matching hats
- how does the Beijing family have 2 kids?
squirrel blog
Not too lazy I guess.
→ 
A new-old design for the blog.