Hawaii vacation blogging - escaping the snow is Da Kine · Tuesday December 23, 2008 by colin newell
I feel for you folks back home – and initially we felt a lot of guilt abandoning every loved one and friend…
they have all quipped – like the Terminator, “You will be back…”
Hopefully when it is raining again.
Being a radio geek I have packed along quite a few portable radios for taking advantage of the awesome radio reception here – so if you are into picking up AM radio from the Marshall Islands Tahiti and Tonga – and Micronesia… this could be your cup of kava!
The bulk of the coffee tours have yet to begin but we did talk story with Mark Santiago – one of the roasters at Kona Mountain – had a single origin Kona espresso mighty fine – will visit their farm next week… as well as others.
Winter follies countdown to Hawaii boast #6 · Sunday December 14, 2008 by colin newell
In the likely event that you are bored and want something to listen to, check out my Buyers Guide to Coffee Stuff Parts 1, 2, and 3…
Talking coffee culture Buyers Guide Chapter 1
Talking coffee culture Buyers Guide Chapter 2
Talking coffee culture Buyers Guide Chapter 3
It’s all a load of fun and sure beats the tedium of reading my articles!
Currently it is an unusually cool -6 Celcius outside, -16 with the wind-chill. Which is unusual because the average winter temperature in Victoria B.C. Canada is 42 degrees (F). Friends to our immediate south assume that North of the 49th parallel is a frigid wasteland… Well, it sure as heck is today.
That we are headed to Hawaii on Friday is little consolation if the air particles themselves freeze in place.
Winter follies countdown to Hawaii boast #5 · Friday December 12, 2008 by colin newell
Starting the seven day count-down to departure for the Islands of Hawaii. Have not been blogging much lately – in week 4 of a persistent head and chest cold – got to get this whipped before next week for obvious reasons.
Maybe going to a Hockey game tonight was not the brightest move.
Oh well.
The official Hawaiian trip name for this expedition is “The Hell or High Water” tour. As soon as the plane lifts off the runway, the call sign will change to the “Hawaii Five Oh” tour – I think some close friends will get this – it is pretty obvious.
It is funny about travel. You would think we were leaving the Planet for 3 months in space. It is little more than 2 weeks away and I feel like I have spent the last 10 months working out the details. It is not rocket science.
Anyway – the biggest challenge is deciding how many radio type gadgets to take along. And you know… and I am almost ashamed to say this – I have given very little thought to the coffee aspect of this trip. And that is supposed to be a big part of the visit to Kona. I have done very little in the way of arranging tours or contacting anybody – which is a shame. I have some special friends in Honolulu who are going to be guiding a few tours and they are in the coffee business (on an academic basis) but not necessarily with the farm in mind. Better get on that so as to not entirely shred my credibility.
Thankfully, our digs, one condo in Waikiki and one in Kona both have wi-fi so staying on the grid will not be a problem. We will have one night in Hilo so as to take advantage of the Volcano.
Stay tuned.
Things that make us go Ewwwwww - part 1 · Saturday December 6, 2008 by colin newell
I do not eat out a lot… but when I do… I like to check out the loo.
Because the loo is the window to the food-safe savvy of the place. If the john is filthy, I can only imagine the microbial army that is massing for another attack on the kitchen tiles.
So… when I was at a local Victoria Greek deli (there are a few in town), I was horrified to run to the lav for an pre-victual ablution. Only to find… the dreaded continuous roll recycling cloth towel thing.
And I thought to myself – have I entered a bathroom time tunnel? Do people actually still service and install these germ dispensers? Does this same time paradigm also hold all you can eat buffets without sneeze guards? Or self serve bakeries without tongs? Yeah – I can name a few of those in my Universe.
Folks. I would rather rinse my hair in a public toilet bowl than dry my hands on one of these disease treadmills. And yet here it was… in one of my formerly favorite Greek joints.
It makes me go Ewwwwwwwwww. How about you?
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