Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley Come to Life

Artist’s rendition of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley from the hypable.com site.

I just made a new blogpost on another site on which I make occasional contributions, SQPN's Secrets of Harry Potter. There has been a lot of excitement about the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter—Diagon Alley theme park opening up at Universal Studios Orlando on July 8, 2014. Fr. Roderick messaged me a couple of days ago to let me know about a great collection of images and videos of this new park, and in the post I made over at the Secrets of Harry Potter, I give a list of links to what is essentially a sneak preview of this new park. They all point to the work of Dave Parfitt over at Adventures by Daddy.

Click here to read the post and check out the links.

And yes, this makes me really want to go back and check out the new HP-themed park... but when the crowds die down. I admit that the last time I went to explore WWoHP—Hogsmeade, I didn't enjoy it because of the huge crowds. For me, the only highlight was seeing Tom Felton up close twice whilst I was there. And the butterbeer. Mmm, butterbeer.

Does travel need to be that traumatic?

Earlier today, I helped a friend do the last of his packing before he was to leave for a 20-day trip out of the country. Since he was going to see relatives in two countries, I was not surprised at what he was packing. (Filipinos, when travelling, have a tendency to pack, in addition to necessities like clothes and toiletries, gifts we call pasalubong for relatives, and those things can range from toys for the kids to candies for the women... and my dad used to get tons of cartons of cigarettes for his brothers who were moderate to heavy smokers.) He had even asked me to do some last-minute shopping for him.

When we finally loaded his suitcase into the car, I had the feeling his suitcase would be grossly overweight. It took two of us to load it into his car.

When we got to the airport, I had dropped him off at the departures area while I went off to park the car. I joined him in the ticketing area and noticed he had his bags opened, and he was taking things out of the very heavy bag and trying to stuff it into the second bag. I couldn't help but smirk. Apparently, no matter if you're travelling domestic or international, you still have the same weight limit for bags: 50 lbs / 23 kg. He had significantly exceeded that. In the end, he chose to pay extra to have up to 70 lbs / 32 kg in the bag. Whatever he couldn't fit in, I ended up taking with me back to his place.

I wonder if his stress could have been reduced had he actually planned what he was going to pack and how in advance. I was shocked when he rang me up last night and said he hadn't started packing yet. How can you not be all packed up and ready to go less than 12 hours before you're scheduled to step on that plane to spend a little over 3 weeks abroad?

The last time we did this, it was more or less the same process. He really has a tendency to overpack. He ended up leaving me with an entire box of chocolate... which, I'll admit, I still have floating around someplace.

I'll be travelling across the country myself in less than a week. I know I definitely will start packing way earlier than he did. I'll have to. Once I start playing the Christmas Eve services, I should have been packed and ready to go. I know I won't have any time (or energy) to pack after I finish all services. And yes, I'm travelling on Christmas day. At least I'll be home in time for Christmas dinner with the family.

Choral Evensong at the St Nicolaaskerk, Amsterdam

Well, gentle reader, I didn’t get a chance to see Casavant Frères Opus 3695 while in Japan. But I did make it to the St Nicolaaskerk in Amsterdam for Choral Evensong! If one day you should find yourself in Amsterdam on a Saturday afternoon, I highly recommend you drop by and enjoy some delightful music in a beautiful setting. (Saturdays, 5pm, by donation.)

There is a website with more information on the various groups that sing at Choral Evensong (in English & Dutch):

Muziek in de Nicolaaskerk – Amsterdam

Choral Evensong for the Eve of the Third Sunday of Advent
Sung by the Collegium van de Cappella Nicolai
St Nicolaaskerk – Amsterdam
Organ Prelude
Introit: Rejoice in the Lord alway – Anon. from The Mulliner Book, ca. 1560
Preces: Richard Shepherd (1626–1669)
Office Hymn: Verbum supernum prodiens II – Sarum Plainchant
Psalm 121 Levavi oculus
Canticles: Thomas Weelkes (1575–1623) The Service “for Trebles”
Responses after the Creed: Richard Shepherd
Anthem: Hosanna to the Son of David – Thomas Weelkes
Closing Hymn: Lo! he comes, with clouds descending (HELMSLEY*)
Antiphon: Ave Maria – John Parsons (1530–1572)
Organ Postlude

* Ordinarily I’d link to hymnary.org but the version there is doubly incorrect (deliberate simplification of the tune and accidental transcription errors). I transcribed a “better” version from The English Hymnal (1906) which I might post here once I’m satisfied with it.

Everything was sung and accompanied beautifully, tastefully and with excellent English pronunciation. I’m a bit thrilled & embarrassed at the same time to say that their English pronunciation (by a Dutch group!) would put many choirs in North America to shame.

I regret that I had to fly home the next day, and thus couldn’t attend Mass. Ah, well – there’s always next time!

And because there are just so many beautiful pictures of this church on flickr, here’s a small sampling:

Travelling to Washington, DC

I had a very interesting experience travelling to Washington, DC today. Perhaps I should have considered bringing in a sub to cover for me today. I should have known better than to try to travel to the nation's capital on, of all days, the 4th of July. *headdesks*

After I tied up a few loose ends, I finally started the drive to Washington, DC and the AGO Convention. Armed with Mapquest directions and plenty of water, I thought I should be able to make it in time to be all checked in and registered so I could see some 4th of July fireworks.

Alas and alack, it just wasn't to be. As I approached DC, much to my alarm, the exit I needed to take was closed due to the 4th of July festivities. So I took the next exit and wandered around until I found the Crystal City Marriott. I figured they might be able to figure out how to get me to my destination. A really nice person named Tony helped me sketch out a route to get to the Washington Wardman Park Marriott, which is where the convention is taking place.

After passing by a heap of cars and people lounging about, waiting for the fireworks to start (at 9.15 pm), I managed to find my way to the Key Bridge, which should, hopefully, take me to my destination. Not surprisingly, the road was crowded. Unfortunately, I missed my turn and had to figure out how to come back. By this time, it was already dark and I had a hard time reading the map. I took a wrong turn and ended up in the southwestern part of the city. (The hotel is located by the zoo in the northwestern part). I stopped at a gas station and asked a person there how to get back to where I needed to go. He simply said, "Make a u-turn and follow the road. It should lead you directly there." (I mentally scoffed.)

As I started, people stopped because the fireworks display was just starting at that point. A lot of the cars just pulled off to the side of the road, and the people left their cars to have a look. My thought: I'd already been riding around the city for at least 2 hours. It would be nice to find the hotel and settle in. So I saw some fireworks. Definitely heard them. Then I turned around, away from the fireworks and hopefully towards the hotel.

Interestingly enough, the road was eerily empty. I figured everyone was watching the fireworks. By this time, it was so dark that I gave up on reading the map. Somehow, I serendipitously found the hotel and pulled into the first entrance I saw. (That would be the bus entrance.) I flounced out of the car and towards the lobby.

The person who checked me in was sympathetic. Now here is where the squee-worthy stuff comes in. :) She said that because I am a Marriott Reward member, I get wi-fi for free in my room. :) I knew wi-fi was free in the lobby, but it was an added bonus to have it free in my room.

Speaking of the room... Oh. My. Goodness. She said she upgraded me because they were running out of space. So my room was in the Wardman Tower. I walked in... and it looked like a luxury apartment! I walked into a foyer. Further exploration revealed the bedroom with a very comfy-looking king-sized bed, a walk-in closet, a very spacious bathroom, a living room/dining room (!!!!), and a kitchen, complete with refrigerator, stove/oven, microwave oven, dishwasher, and coffee maker...!

I was *gobsmacked*. She certainly wasn't kidding when she said, "Upgrade".

Admittedly, all of this made me realise just how useful a GPS or a SmartPhone of some sort would have been. I'm sure I would have been able to find an alternative route more easily if I had either. And yes, I still haven't a cell phone. Admittedly, an iPhone is really looking very good right now... so now I know what I'll be saving up money for.

I suppose I've gone on long enough. It's an early start tomorrow... well, later today, by the time I've finished posting this piece. It'll be the Opening Convocation at the Washington National Cathedral...

A wonderful day in Charlotte, NC

A friend and I started off bright and early in the morning to drive off toward Charlotte, NC. After collecting him from UNC Chapel Hill and noting that the parking guards were already up and about, readying themselves for the Football game (against whom, I don't really care ...), we started off for our journey west.

On the way, we noticed cars and trucks and the like sporting flags and banners from both East Carolina University (ECU) or Virginia Tech. This had us puzzled ... perhaps the VT fans were heading toward Clemson? That would make sense as both are ACC schools. After stopping at a rest area and chatting with a couple of die-hard ECU fans, we realised that both the ECU and VT fans were heading to Charlotte to watch a football game between these two schools. For some reason, ECU was considered the home team and VT the visitors. What didn't make sense to either me or my friend was, why not play the game in Greenville instead of going all the way out to Charlotte?

We just shrugged our shoulders and hoped that we wouldn't be in the thick of football traffic. Remembering how crazy traffic would get on football game days in Raleigh when NC State, Durham when Duke or Chapel Hill when UNC plays at home, I certainly was not fancying the thought of sitting and stewing in traffic.

Luckily, we got off I-85 before the rest of the football-crazed fans. So we spent the morning at Brodt Music. That place is huge. I felt like a kid in a sweet shop, looking over the organ literature, and choral pieces in their inventory. I managed to buy a couple of pieces the NC Filipino Choir is preparing for their annual Gala. (For me, I feel far more comfortable having "legal" copies of the music, as opposed to illegal photocopies of the same.) I also managed to find a couple of other things I was after ... as well as checking over what two-part choral music they had on hand. (For any chorally-inclined person reading this: have you any suggestions as to what choral anthems I could have my choir try? I have a small group, ranges between 3-5 people on any given Sunday, and I've discerned that two-part anthems would be suitable for them at this point in time ... comments would be highly appreciated in the combox.)

My friend ended up spending lots of money there ... but was chuffed when he came across boxes of used music and found reduced orchestral scores of a few pieces he had been after for a long time. He looked like he was going to die of ecstasy when he came across a Hohvaness score ... and after having purchased it, continued to go on and on about how happy he was to have found it ...)

After having spent too much money at Brodt, we made our way to Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. This church is huge! The carpark alone gave an indication of just how ginormous this church must be. The size of the building is another ... it's a many-storied building ... well, at least 3, really. We met the resident organist, a friendly fellow named Monty Bennett, and he gave us a mini organ crawl through their equally ginormous organ.

It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. (And this coming from someone who has been up close and personal with the Flentrop at Duke Chapel and seen from a distance the wonderful outdoor Austin organ at the Spreckels Organ Pavillion, Balboa Park, in San Diego.) The lovely instrument that currently resides at FMBC is a 5-manual (yes, you read that right) Ruffatti organ.

Monty was very generous with his time as he explained to us the history of the organ, the process in which the organ came to FMBC, and played a few pieces for us, showcasing the features of the organ. It pretty much has something for everyone. It even has theatre organ-like stops. It was quite interesting to hear that. It's a beautiful instrument, not a harsh sound from it at all. It is voiced quite nicely for the room (although it really is such a shame that the place is carpetted wall-to-wall, plus the pews are padded ... which is a sentiment that Monty also echoed, but financial restraints caused them to make the choice of carpet over slate flooring ... and the financial differences was shockingly like night and day ...)

Both my friend and I had a go at playing the organ. Such a wonderful instrument, and I'm sure if I had regular access to such an instrument, you'd see me practising there every day. In fact, you'd have to peel me off that instrument.

Oh yes - the building itself seats 3,000 people. Yes, you read that right. Three thousand. The balcony alone accomodates ca. 900 people, and the choir area seats 200. I have never been in such a huge church before ... well, okay, that's a lie. I've been to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, as well as St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Yes, they are large, but as far as a continuous worship space (so to speak), I'd say FMBC has to be the largest I've been in. It was amazing.

I'm still drooling over that organ. Monty did invite us to return if we ever found ourselves in the area and wanting practice time on this lovely instrument. I'm sure I will probably take him up on his offer at some point in time in the future.

The drive back to the Triangle area was, for the most part pleasant ... with one exception. We had the misfortune of having left about the time the VT-ECU game was finishing up. So we were caught in the post-football traffic along I-85. Even worse - it was on the stretch where it was down to 2 lanes, so we did more stopping than we did moving. Now that was very frustrating.

Note to self: stay away from football-crazed areas on game days ...

Manila, circa 1930s

H/T to Carmen Castaneda of the N.C. Pinoy Choir.

Here are a pair of YouTube videos, featuring Manila as it was in the 1930s. I watched it with a sense of wonder ... my grandparents would have been in their teens to early 20s when these films were made.

Enjoy ...

Manila, Queen of the Pacific, 1938


Manila - Castillian Memoirs 1930s

Yay, Denver International Airport!

My trip home included a stopover at the Denver International Airport. I will admit to being very tired. The hike I took Monday morning, combined with the travel made me very tired. It was essentially an overnight flight I took from Honolulu to Denver, so when we landed at some early hour in the morning (it wasn't 7.00 am local time yet when we landed), my connecting flight to Raleigh wasn't even posted yet. Not wanting to walk around the airport lugging my backpack (including the haupia mix and Hawaiian salt because including those in my suitcase would have put me 8 lbs over the 50 lb limit for checked luggage) and Chemistry books, I decided to find a quiet place to take a nap.

Two hours later, my connecting flight was listed, so I took the moving sidewalks to my connecting gate.

Now here is why I'm blogging on my (relatively boring) travel back to the Mainland. DIA provides free wireless access! I thought that was really really nice, and wondered why doesn't other airports offer something similar. Of course, you'd have to live with their advertisers, but AFAIC, it's a small irritation, and would much rather have to deal with that in order to have free wireless access. It enabled me to reschedule a meeting with a prospective bride, once I realised my one-day delay in returning to the Mainland would impact my church job.

So kudos to DIA for providing the wireless access! I sincerely hope other airports may consider following suit.

My Hawaiian Vacation, Continued

Once the wedding was over, I felt like I was able to enjoy myself. The reception took place at the Nehelani Banquet Centre at the Schofield Barracks. That was a nice reception. The food was great. Let's see ... salads, the wonderful Hawaiian-style macaroni salad (I can eat that all day), a really nice spicy and sweet calamari salad, and a wonderful seaweed and tuna sashimi. There was also fresh pineapple slices (and considering we were in Wahiawa, near the Dole plantation, you have to know that the pineapple was amazingly good, the best I've ever had) and poi. At first I thought it was some sort of blueberry yoghurt, but upon tasting it, I realised it had to be poi. There was also Okinawan Sweet Potato (purple fleshed sweet potatoes. I know it as ube), Jasmine rice, Hawaiian-style pulled pork, lemon fish, and a couple of other things I don't remember any more. Dessert consisted of haupia, which I initially mistook for almond jelly, and a lovely coconut cake. The wedding cake tasted like it had elements of Kona coffee in it. That was nice also.

It was a short reception because the Nehelani Banquet Centre had other parties to prepare for. Initially, another party was supposed to have started at 9.00 pm, but they cancelled, giving the staff ample time to prepare for a midnight party for a group of high school graduates (they'll start off with a night of bowling, followed by their midnight breakfast). That got Iris and me reminiscing about our own high school celebrations - mine took place at Disneyland, where we went for the traditional "Grad Night," and were joined by high school graduates from all over the state of California for an all-night party there.

Sunday morning saw us having a brunch at the lovely Wai'oli Tea Room. We had atrium seating and were treated to wonderful food (Guava French Toast, amazing stuff), exquisite views of the lovely gardens (mango and macademia nut trees, amongst others), and wonderful company.

Once we finished brunch, a group of us went on to the Obispo's old house in Mililani. They sold it to a friend once Iris' father received his transfer orders to an air force base in Virginia. It ended up being a reunion of sorts for the Girl Scout mothers. Quite a few of them apparently stayed in Mililani, and so this was the first time Lori had seen them for at least 15 years. We had wonderful views of the mountains and the ocean. We were able to see the mango trees that Rudy had planted when they lived there, and appreciate how much fruit it bore today. The next door neighbour brought over these wonderful pickled green mangoes and even provided the recipe for it. I'll provide that recipe in another post.

Once we bade good bye to Leilani (the current owner of the house), we headed off to Costco to look for flowers to place on Rudy's father's grave (we were going to pay a visit as we found out the area cemetaries will be choc-a-bloc full of people for Memorial Day). Amazingly enough, Costco was sold out of their flowers, but it was really neat to find some Hawaiian-specific items there. I came away with a 3-lb bag of haupia mix and a 5-lb bag of Hawaiian salt. Why the salt? Why not? I wanted to try to make that wonderful pickled green mango.

We then visited the gravesite of Rudy's father, Severo, who died February 1983. I noted that next year will be the 100th anniversary of his birth. We arranged the flowers and greeneries from Iris' and Jared’s wedding around the graves of Severo and his friend, Charles Sims, who is buried next to him. They both served in the Air Force during WWII together. We then said a prayer over the gravesite, then left in search of dinner.

Before that, we went to a shopping outlet - the girls (Elena and Lourdes) wanted to find some Coach bags, so we dropped them off at the Coach outlet, and then Lori and I sat and cooled our heels (and our parched throats) at McDonald's. After being rejoined by Rudy, who dropped off his mum and his uncle and aunt back at his mum's house in Wahiawa after our Mililani trip, we then collected the girls from the outlet shops, and then went to a Malasadamobile. Rudy and Lori wanted us to sample some Malasadas, which is a Hawaiian fried dough. My impression: it's better than Krispy Kreme! We then finally found dinner at Zippy's, which is another Hawaiian fast-food joint. I had an abfab plate lunch with chili and chicken. Their chili apparently is quite famous, and I can understand why. It was excellent. Their fried chicken, apparently done Korean style, was quite good also.

After returning to the hotel, I spent the time packing as I would be leaving Monday evening back to the Mainland.

Monday morning, we had an early start - 8.00 am, we were to hike at Diamond Head. It was a bit challenging for me, I will admit that - winding, uneven paths, lots of stairs (271 I'm told) ... but the breathtaking views at the top made it all worthwhile.After we finished our hike, our sweet reward was a visit to Leonard's Bakery for more malasadas. I had two: one filled with mango custard, and the other filled with haupia. The stuff is amazing, and it only confirmed in my mind that it was far far superior to anything Krispy Kreme could ever hope to put out.

We then visited the Pali Highway, to Pali Lookout, in the Nu'uanu Valley. It was quite windy, but picturesque. I'll have to admit to being quite winded still from the Diamond Head hike, but still appreciative of the wonderful view.

Our last stop was the Valley of the Temples on the Windward side of Oahu. It includes the Byodo-In Temple, which is a replica of one that is in Japan. It was built in the 1960s in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to settle in the Hawaiian Islands.

On the way back to Waikiki, we travelled along the Likelike Highway. At the top of a hill was located the Kamehameha Schools, which includes a Hawaiian curriculum to ensure perpetuation of the Hawaiian language and culture.

After that, it was back to the hotel to clean myself up in preparation for my return to the Mainland.

In closing, I'd like to thank Rudy and Lori Obispo, Iris' parents, for their wonderful hospitality and their care of me during my stay in Waikiki. Thanks also go to Iris and Jared Peak for their warm welcome, and also for their friendship. I also enjoyed spending time with Elena and Lourdes, sisters from Vancouver, B.C. It all made for a wonderful and unforgettable time in Oahu.

Friday Fireworks!

I was sitting at a table in my hotel room on the 21st floor, looking over a Powerpoint presentation I'm going to present to my Chemistry 111 students next Wednesday when I hear something that sounds like fireworks. So I went out to the balcony, and noticed that yes, indeed, there were fireworks. Apparently, the Hilton Hawaiian Village has the fireworks every Friday evening. So it was just my wonderful luck that I got a chance to catch some of that from where I'm at.

Here's a YouTube video of one such fireworks display, filmed sometime last year (but not by me ...)

Another day, More observations

A six-hour time difference seems like such a huge thing.

Whenever I can, I've been making some time to prepare for the General Chemistry class I'll be teaching next week. I think I have enough to be getting on with on Blackboard, and I emailed the syllabus to my students. Waking up at 5.00 am to ensure I can contact people before lunch Eastern Daylight Time wreaks a little havoc on my sleep schedule as well. But then again, that's what glorious afternoon naps are for ...

So I decided to take a long walk today. I had hoped to walk all the way out to the Ala Moana Mall. I know, I could take the bus, and it looks like the #8 bus would have taken me there, but I felt like I needed the walk. Breakfast was a mini Loco Moco. That's definitely one thing I'll have to try to make for myself once I get back to the Mainland. The macaroni salad seems simple enough, but I'm sure there must be something about the dressing they use that makes the very simple macaroni salad uniquely their own. (I'm speaking of the way L&L Barbeque does theirs.)

So I walked, made a few stops at the various ABC Stores to check out what Hawaiiana they might have ... imagine this, Poi English Muffins ... and decided that perhaps it was a bit of an ambitious undertaking, turned around and started back. At least I found that the Wailana Coffee House isn't that bad of a walk. It's a 24-hour eatery on Ala Moana Blvd. I'm sure they get heaps of business, given that they are located within walking distance of some pretty big hotels, the Hilton Hawaiian Village amongst them. The evening I wanted to have supper there with the Obispos, they actually closed for "maintenance." Lori said that was the first time she ever heard that the Wailana was closed for any reason. Hmmmm.

Interestingly enough, as I was walking back to my hotel, a couple stopped me and asked me if they were any closer to some egg place along Ala Moana. I said, sorry, I'm not sure. I suppose I should be flattered. That's how well I blend in here - people think I'm native.

And as I was thinking about it, I realised that I do feel entirely in my element here. I think I could be happy living in Hawaii, just as long as I have a job that would keep me interested. It would be a half-way point between relatives in the Philippines and relatives on the Mainland.

But it's just a thought. I do know that Jared is seriously considering moving to Hawaii (Wahiawa, perhaps? Or perhaps the North Shore ...) once he finishes his Pharm.D. programme at UNC Chapel Hill.

Well, I'll be biding my time until a 4.00 pm wedding rehearsal in Wahiawa. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying my Poi English Muffins, and having a bite or two of Collon's Kona Coffee Biscuits.

Random Observation

Here's my random observation of the day. I was walking down Kuhio Ave. earlier this afternoon, and couldn't help but notice that a lot of the signs about were bilingual English/Japanese. Admittedly, I've gotten so used to seeing bilingual English/Spanish signs and such that I stopped paying attention to the fact that the signs were bilingual. It was a bit of a surprise to see the Japanese. Well, not really a surprise - Hawaii attracts a lot of tourism from Southeast Asia, and I gather a lot of the tourists come in from Japan. They even accept yen in some of the shops. (Near where my parents live in San Diego, they're so close to the U.S./Mexican border that the shops there accept Mexican pesos ...)

My Hawaiian Adventure

... I was about to title this My Big Fat Hawaiian Wedding, but it's not really my wedding. That distinction would belong to my friends Iris Obispo and Jared Peak. In actuality, they've been married for what will be five years this coming weekend. They wanted a church wedding, so that they will have this Saturday in Wahiawa, in the church near where Iris' grandmother lives. I suppose you can call this Iris' childhood parish; she started her schooling there before a move away from Wahiawa caused her to transfer away from the school.

My adventure started with a pair of aeroplane rides, which took me from the Raleigh/Durham airport to Chicago's O'Hare to Honolulu International Airport. As my RDU flight left at 6.52 am Monday morning, I ended up not sleeping at all the night before, getting some packing done, and doing some last-minute searches for music that I thought would be appropriate prelude music. (What was that my organ teacher told me: ah yes, appropriate wedding prelude music: anything Baroque in a Major Key.) The church doesn't have an organ, but they do have a piano, so I decided to search through my piano literature, as well as my manuals-only literature for ideas. Perhaps it's just as well I didn't sleep at all the night before. I generally have no problems sleeping on aeroplanes, which I very happily did on both legs of my trip.

By the time I landed in Honolulu, I felt very well-rested. I ended up waiting approximately 40 minutes for Jared, Iris, and Maile to come though - the plane landed a good 40 minutes early, so I sat in baggage claim, waiting. I wasn't concerned ... I ended up looking over a syllabus while waiting.

Jared greeted me with a hug, and Iris slipped a beautiful fresh lei over my head, and after meeting Iris' parents, we went off to drop my stuff off at my hotel (Aqua Island Colony in Waikiki - with a breathtaking view of a canal, Waikiki, and the mountains in the distance). Iris and Jared then took me to Wahiawa, where we drove along a street that apparently is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being a street densely populated with churches. Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church was one of those churches on this street. We continued onto the North Shores, specifically Hale'iwa. Iris was craving Matsumoto's shaved ice, which is the most awesome concoction. Iris and I had one in a paper cone, consisting of adzuki beans, vanilla ice cream, and topped with "rainbow" shaved ice infused with lemon, strawberry, and pineapple syrup. Jared had his minus the beans, and Maile had one with the shaved ice and rainbow flavours only. It reminded me of a Filipino dessert called halo-halo. It was great. Huge sugar rush though, since that was the first thing I had since a large breakfast in Chicago. (As I slept through most of the ride from Chicago to Honolulu, I didn't eat anything during that 9+-hour plane ride.) We then went off to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue for their famous plate lunches. I noticed the Hawaiian plate lunches were featured on the Food Network relatively recently, and decided I wanted to try the loco moco. A typical Hawaiian plate lunch consists of two scoops of rice, macaroni salad, and a meat of choice. The loco moco had two hamburger patties, topped with two eggs, over easy, and a generous amount of brown gravy ladled over the entire lot. My taste buds were in love. I hope to enjoy more plate lunches whilst here. For that matter, I'd love more of the Matsumoto shaved ice whilst here! I'm salivating just thinking of it.

We took our plate lunches to one of the beaches and saw a wonderful sunset over the Pacific. (IMHO, it's just as God intended. I'm still not used to the idea of the sun rising over the ocean. I guess that's what happens when you're raised in San Diego and are spoilt with the constant opportunities to enjoy beautiful sunsets at the beach.)

Day Two saw Iris' mum Lori and I heading off to the Hard Rock Cafe in Honolulu for a Welcome Orientation, thanks to Expedia.com. It included a free continental-style breakfast, a useful guidebook to Maui, Oahu, the Big Island, and Kauai, and an equally useful coupon book for some really nice discounts off some of the larger dining establishments all over the Hawaiian Islands. We also had a nice little tour of Maui Divers Jewellry. Lori was very much taken with the Tahitian chocolate pearls. I agree, they're striking, but I will admit that jewellry does nothing to excite me.

We then collected Iris' father's uncle and aunt from Hickam AFB, where they landed after a flight from Coronado, CA (North Island NAS), and after lunch at the very nice Navy Exchange/Commissary complex at Pearl Harbour (Yummy Korean B-B-Q, specifically. They're not kidding - the place is aptly named), we drove up to Wahiawa and spent the rest of the afternoon there. After an exercise in cracking freshly roasted macadamia nuts (that is hard work!) Iris' parents and I then went on our tour of the Navy, Army, and Air Force exchanges in search of the elusive muumuu for Iris' mum. Dinner was at the Hard Rock Cafe, and thanks to a coupon from Expedia, I received a Hard Rock Cafe collectible pin.

So now this is Day Three in Waikiki. The Obispos are going to be engaged with collecting people from the airport all day, and I'll be at OLS, practising. I'm hoping to have a chance to nap; insomnia is catching up with me here as I can't seem to sleep very well at night, plus I have to continue preparations for the General Chemistry class I'm going to be teaching starting next week.

More later ...

Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal

Okay, so shoot me. I, along with 5 other friends, decided to play hooky from the conference goings today and go into Montréal. We hired a van, total damage was 575$ plus tip. Not bad, especially as the van driver was an excellent tour guide as well.

One of the places we visited was, of course, the Notre-Dame Basilica (http://www.basiliquenddm.org). Much to my surprise, they charged a 4$ admission fee. According to their guide:

An admission fee was introduced in January 1999 to help defray the costs of conserving and restoring the building. No contribution is required, however, to attend Mass, participate in other religious services, or for personal prayer.

Hmmm. So if you just wanted to go in to pray, and not to be a tourist, could you get out of paying the 4$??? I didn't feel that strangely about going into a church since I visited St. Patrick's in New York, when I got a definite moneychangers in the temple feel when I walked in there.

Anyway, I picked up a bulletin, and I started to drool. Here's why. If you're going to be in Montréal over the next couple of months, you ought to swing on by for their International Festival of Organs of Notre-Dame of Montréal (my rough translation of the French).

Here's my rather rough translation. Read it and drool.

Every Sunday nights at 7.00 pm (except 24 June), there will be organ recitals presented at the Basilica of Notre-Dame. For its fourth season, the festival will present three special concerts (***) and two concerts (**) dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the priests of Saint-Sulpice.

24 June **Studio of Ancient Music; Benoît Marineau, Titular Organist, Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours

1 July Frédéric Roberge

8 July ***Marie-Claire Alain, France

15 July ***Olivier Latry, Titular Organist, Notre-Dame-de-Paris, France

22 July Laurent Martin

29 July Pierre Grandmaison

5 August Isabelle Demers

12 August **Pierre Grandmaison (Le chemin de croix de Marcel Dupré)

19 August Yves Préfontaine

26 August ***Daniel Roth, Titular Organist, Saint-Sulpice de Paris

... drool ... makes me wish I can afford to stick around after my conference is over ...

Montréal, here I come!

I'll be heading to Montréal early tomorrow (6/26) morning to attend a conference organised by the International Cannabinoid Research Society (http://www.cannabinoidsociety.org/). It will be held at the Manoir Saint-Sauveur (http://www.manoir-saint-sauveur.com/ENG/index.html), a 4-star hotel that is located about an hour northwest of Montréal. If I remember, I'll take my camera (my trusty Canon AE-1) and take as many photos as time permits. I hope to be able to duck away from the conference and explore Montréal, but from my experience, this conference keeps you busy, and there are always some very interesting talks and poster sessions to attend.

The program is posted here: http://www.cannabinoidsociety.org/SYMPOSIUM.2007/2007.ICRS.Program.pdf

And yes, my work will be presented; however, my esteemed colleague Dr. Herb Schuel will be doing the presentation.

Once the conference is over, I will be on a train, headed to Toronto to visit my friends Raymond and Roselle Chua and their two daughters. It should be a wonderful week, starting off with July 1 being Canada Day.

More later ...