…my nose in a bookFood, research, yoga and music. . . is there anything else?

So my flight was suppose to leave right now from Honolulu International Airport to take me back to Vancouver.  It has been a relaxing time with @nachoman, and we have watched most of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Games from the comfort of shaded lanais.

Tsunami Alarms, Finding Emergency Groceries & Water

At 6am this morning (the DAY we were scheduled to leave – Saturday Feb 27th, 2010) the Tsunami Sirens began to blare out over all of Waikiki beach.  Any of the beachfront hotels and residences within the Civil Defense Tsunami Evacuation Zones for Oahu were evacuated quite quickly and efficiently.  While the ABC grocery stores remained completely closed all along the Waikiki Beach Blvd, there were a few 24 hour convenience stores about 6 blocks inland that were open.  The grocery stores were packed, and there were 2 case limits to purchasing SPAM.  There were no bottles of purified water available even at 7:30am. Everyone was calm and civil, even though there were half an hour long waiting lines to pay for purchases.

Road Closures

By 10:00am all the streets within Waikiki had been shut down, with police car patrols using loud speakers to direct people back into their residences or to the temporary shelter at the Elementary school (which happens to be right beside our hotel/apartment). A rare occurrence, Waikiki beach cams were showing that the beaches were completely empty. The only thing visible on the water was waves and one or two surfers trying to catch a wave. (Extremely silly and dangerous of them).  The Honolulu Fire Department helicopters had an amazing response time in announcing to all the surfers or beach-goers that they should leave the water.

If people are residing within the evacuation zone they would have to leave their residence, hotel or workplace.  Luckily we are WAY out of the way, all the way beside the safe are of shelter.  On the map you will see Jefferson Elementary School, which is right in front of us.

Weather, Waiting & Wave Watching

At 11:00 am, the highway cams were showing police blockades and not a civilian vehicle to be seen otherwise.  On occasion from looking out of my condo window, I saw a stray car trying to leave but getting redirected by the police back to their home. Since we were supposed to be checking out an hour ago, we have a delay on our check-out since there is a vertical evacuation in effect for our area (we are not in the flood plane, and are in the safe evacuation zone). Upon the tsunami alerts being lifted, we will be moving ourselves over to the Aston Waikiki Banyan Hotel across the street (Our current hotel does not have any available rooms). Every hour, the tsunami alert sound rings through the city of Honolulu, bouncing off of Diamond Head, creating an eery echo in combination with the empty streets, and the lack of hustle and bustle of vehicles.

11:15am Waiting for the announcement about what is happening in Hilo. The weather in Waikiki has changed, the sunshine has vanished and clouds and a lack of rain has emerged.

11:30 I have been watching the tsunami television cams document the ebb and flow of the water in Hilo Bay.  There has been drastic and visually breathtaking inhales and exhales of water along the beach shores, yet there has not been any severe waves as expected.  While the forecast for the initial wave was for 11:05am, only about 20 minutes off was the visual beginning of the effects of the tsunami.

12:30 Watching KITV Breaking News on Channel 4 in Honolulu, their video camera just showed two people trying to ride the surf.  While the waves this morning would have been ideal for some amazing surfing, it really isn’t worth someone’s life to catch a great wave! The weatherman/surf reporter on the KFVE news on Channel 8 is an avid surfer and refused to announce the surf conditions this morning, Good for him!

12:45 It has been a continual day of telephones and email.  Telling family and friends that we are alright, and that everything will be fine.  Oahu has put into effect something like 30 Million dollars of tsunami awareness and preparedness recently. (So, Mom, see I will be just fine!).  We have called our travel agents, insurance companies and transportation to arrange our getting back to Vancouver, though nothing can be done until the Civil Defense department lifts the Tsunami warning.  At this time, Civil Defense is still stating that there still is a Tsunami warning, yet the effects of the tsunami don’t seem to be as extreme as initially expected.

Some Cars Moving, Things are Looking Better

So, as of right now, we are just playing the waiting game, watching all of the cars on higher ground begin to move down the hills.  It almost seems like the city is once again waking up from a complete freeze.  Our flight of course has been delayed, and we will have to wait for the announcement by West Jet that we will be able to catch a flight, but in the meantime, we will be up on the pooldeck of the hotel, relaxing in the cloudy & windless stillness that seems to have enveloped Waikiki.

Aloha for now. Keep in mind if you are trying to get ahold of a loved one or friend out here, the cellphone networks are pretty much down.  We are even getting busy signals from AT&T out here.  Our hotel phone lines are intermixed with the sounds of the radio signals.

It is currently 1:02pm, the tides and waves are relatively low right now, it looks like things are going to be okay.  Of course, I will be continuing to listen to the Civil Defense Department and the National Weather Service.

I will keep you updated. We are safe and doing wonderfully.  If you have any questions, email me at dccp@me.com!

~Deanna

Waiting for the Tsunami Alert to be lifted - In a Safe Zone

As I noted a couple weeks ago, I have planned a trip to Hawaii during the two weeks of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.  Aside from getting away from the grid-locked traffic, the excessive tourists, and the basic hectic insaneness that comes along with the Olympics, I feel @nachoman and I deserve some time off. We are heading out to Waikiki/Honolulu in Hawaii, which has its own masses of tourists, shopping and traffic, but at least we will be able to retreat to the beach, surf, and enjoy the hot weather.

The biggest problem with flying into another city to enjoy a vacation is the late night flights.  By the time you get off the plane, get your luggage from the never ending carousel of black bags, finding the sign with your name on it for your transfer from the airport to the hotel, and then finally checking in at the hotel front desk, you likely are famished and tired. Since we need to be careful about allergies, its not like we can just order a pizza to the hotel room at 2am, in fear of a vegetarian pizza having pork products on it (finding a hospital in a foreign or different city can be difficult when you don’t know where to go). So what am I going to do about it this trip? I made sure our hotel has a FULL kitchen, with rice cooker, microwave, stove etc.  But if we are arriving at the hotel at 2am, where am I suppose to find groceries? Problem Solved. I will do the same thing I do back in Vancouver, have my groceries delivered (sadly they wont all be organic and local – there goes my trying to only buy food within a 500km radius).

The Aston hotel chain in Hawaii has a partnership with a local grocery delivery service - Island Grocery Service.  Not only am I ordering my groceries ahead of time, when we arrive in our hotel room, we will have our fridge and cupboards fully stocked with the groceries I have ordered.  I can’t think of a better way to start our vacation.  Not only will I have my favorite snack foods available to munch on once arriving at the hotel room, I will be able to make a full breakfast of eggs, toast, waffles and orange juice without having to trek around the next morning looking for the grocery store. Yep, I would say paradise.

Hopefully it all works out. I will keep you posted after I return.

Mahalo for reading!

Aloha!

Deanna

Oahu is the third largest of the Hawaiian islands, and known as being one of the busiest vacation spots. I personally prefer Kaua’i for its lush tropical greenery and quiet solitude, but when planning a vacation on a budget I can’t be too picky.  Finding a decently priced vacation with flight and accommodations included can be quite easy when searching in the Waikiki area.

So this February is the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in our wonderful city of Vancouver, BC.  While I am extremely excited over the 2010 Olympics, I would much rather watch the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, though that won’t be happening. Okay, so in Vancouver it is a HUGE deal that the Olympics are here.  You cannot go anywhere recently without finding road closures, Olympic signs, and notifications about all the lovely road and parking closures to accommodate the large influx of travelers from all over the world.  While I think it is a wonderful thing for vacationers, tourists and sports fans to come to our fantastic city to witness the 2010 Olympics, I personally cannot handle the crowds.

As I do not want to brave the vast amounts of tourists which will incite a claustrophobic frenzy on my part, and @nachoman does not want to wake up at 3AM each morning to get to work on time, we have made an executive decision – get out of town!  Now while I considered speaking at some conferences I was invited to in Florida and Cincinnati, my health just hasn’t been up for it, so I started researching vacations.  (Yes! A REAL Vacation, where I wont be on a laptop – too much).

In researching vacations, I considered Air Canada’s Japan Flight Sale that was going on for the first couple weeks of January, though after much thought I felt that 2 weeks in Japan would not be enough.  I then found Jubilee Travel (a.k.a. Travel Best Bets) had a wonderful 12 night Bali trip including sightseeing for $1499 each from Vancouver. While that sounded great, I had to consider that @nachoman and I both have allergies, and that pork and MSG will run rampant in most Asian countries we go to.  Hmm. . . what oh what to do. I know! Hawaii! I just had to find a cheap hotel with a kitchen to cook our food.

O’ahu, Hawai’i has been a longtime favorite of mine.  I prefer some of the smaller islands for the quiet and calm, but O’ahu not only has the hustle and bustle of Japanese and American tourists, it has small secluded areas of peace and fantastic uncrowded surfing.  Waikiki is synonymous with busy, noisy and touristy, yet that is part of its appeal. So how does one find a hotel, motel, condo or accommodation that won’t break the bank, but won’t leave you itching with bed bugs or insomnia-tic from the noisy neighbors. Well, you research REALLY well. (Knowing the neighborhoods helps too – which luckily I have a bit of an idea of where I want to find a hotel).

Finding a cheap hotel in Honolulu with direct beach access and chairs is pretty much impossible.  From my experience (and snooping), the best mid-range beachfront hotels (for your $$$) are the Aston Waikiki Beach, the Outrigger Waikiki & the Hilton Hawaiian Village Rainbow Tower (Of course I don’t suggest booking directly from them unless you want to pay double what a travel agency, tour operator or online travel website will charge you).  Now of course I personally don’t care about being directly on the beach, since how much time do I really spend in the hotel when you’re that close to the surf. It is worth your while to book at a hotel that is 2 or so blocks away from the beach, book yourself in a room on the higher floors to get a view, and then go to the beach when you want the ocean!

In the end, I used Travelocity (the US version) and West Jet Vacations (Canadian) to finalize my flights and accommodations.  After much deliberation of hotels in Waikiki, I needed ones that had a FULL kitchen (not just a kitchenette with a microwave and mini-fridge).  Be careful when booking a hotel that states that it has a kitchen.  I considered several hotels in Waikiki that on their websites said they had kitchens, only to find out that a “kitchen” meant a hot plate, mini-fridge and rice cooker.  If you are on a budget, working with allergies, or just trying to feed a family, you want a FULL kitchen with utensils, plates, fridge, stove and potentially luxuries such as a can opener.

I finally decided on a condominium-style property called the Aston Waikiki Sunset (3+ Star) that has been recently renovated (it has 1 or 2 bedroom suites that have a full kitchen and a furnished lanai).  While I found a couple bad reviews about the hotel, they typically were pre-renovation and were calling for an updated feel.  A interesting side note to remember when booking at Condominium-style hotels is that some of the suites may be privately owned, so you will want to make sure that the suite you are booking is owned by the hotel itself.  By doing this, you will assure that there is some level of cleanliness and amenities to your room.

The room that I have booked is the 1-Bedroom Superior, which has been renovated with new fixtures, furniture and a new tv.  It is a roomy 560 square feet, with its own separate bedroom.  While I cannot tell you what it is like yet, I have my fingers crossed that it is clean and that the service at the hotel is above average.  I will keep you posted on whether it meets my expectations.  My advice for finding the best deal is to hop from site to site, and then call a travel agent to match or beat the price you found online.

I found an amazing deal for 12 nights accommodation, flights between Vancouver and Honolulu, and was able to book it all from the comfort of home.  I simply called the travel agent at Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and told them the deals I had found on West Jet Vacations and on Travelocity.ca.  The helpful travel agent answered my questions about the hotel, noting that one of her colleagues had happily stayed there. Upon hearing this, I told the agent to book the trip ASAP.  She took down my info, navigated through the travel sites I’d told her about, and booked me for 2 return tickets to Oahu and our accommodations, in a matter of minutes. Within seconds I had my itinerary in my Inbox!

We leave in a few weeks, so I when we get back, I will tell you how it was.

Mahalo for reading today,

~Deanna

So after all the hassle of waiting to get my Macbook Pro (Zappy the Lappy) fixed, between the problems with the zapping, the bad optical drive, the kernel errors, the glitchy mouse after the replaced logic board, the problem has been solved.  Well, the problem with the old laptop has not been repaired or figured out, but yours truly ended up getting a brand new laptop replacement!

I am the proud new owner of a Macbook Pro 15″ laptop (still waiting to name it). Since the Apple store doesn’t keep any old stock in their store, I ended up getting the newer swankier version of the 15″ Macbook Pro!  It has a 7 hour battery life, lighter weight, and a little bit speedier too. Ahh, after all the stress and hassle of having a glitchy laptop, I now have a happy, faster laptop.

So happy that everything worked out in the end. Though the funny thing is, this laptop emits a small electrical charge (zap/buzz) off of its top case as well. I think I can live with that though. I am just happy to have a functional laptop, with all my files, so I can sit on my couch, curled up with a blankie, and mark papers in peace.

Cheers everyone, and have a great weekend.

Deanna

It is the Thanksgiving (Canadian) long weekend, and one of the busiest traveling weekends of the year. Many people travel from Vancouver to Vancouver Island (Victoria) quite frequently, and even more so on this long weekend to visit family and friends. Yesterday the Spirit of Vancouver Ferry (the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay Ferry) had a standby generator set on fire, which of course has completely setback the ferry schedule for the weekend. (There were no available reservations for the ferry routes either)

If you were to arrive at the BC Ferries terminal in Tsawwassen (Vancouver) this Saturday morning, you would be in for a big surprise. Not only was the Highway leading to the ferry terminal backed up, but there was a 3.5 to 4 sailing wait looming over every vehicle waiting in the long line ups to even reach the toll booth to pay. While there was a ferry almost every hour, if you were trying to catch the 11am ferry, I hate to say, you likely were going to be arriving in Victoria (Swartz Bay) by 4:35pm at the earliest. (Not exactly the most enjoyable way to spend a Thanksgiving Saturday).

I have run into numerous problems like this over the years, going back and forth between Vancouver and Victoria, where there are 5+ hour sailing waits for a 1hr 35 minute ferry ride. Not my cup of tea.

So today I wanted to go and surprise my grandparents and have some dinner with them, just pop over on the 11am ferry and go home on the 7pm ferry. Between the outrageous price of vehicle fares and the long line ups and waits, I couldn’t justify spending over $150 on a day of travel. But wait!

Ahh the zen of motorcycle riding (so peaceful and relaxing), a little hint. . . You don’t have to wait in the line ups at the ferry, and you get a half price vehicle fare on BC Ferries. So @nachoman and I rode off this morning over to the island, to go visit in Victoria. Not only did we show up at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal at 5 minutes to 11am, we were able to hand the cashier our money and drive past all the lanes of waiting traffic and hop onto the 11am ferry.

Deanna Gets on the Ferry without having to make a Reservation or Wait in Line

We were able to arrive in Victoria shortly after 12:30pm, visit with my grandparents, have some dinner and then hop back on the Highway to get on the 7pm evening ferry (Which I must say is quite the nice ferry, it is one of the new Coastal Celebration Ferries;  cushy seats, ample legroom and a wonderful German sounding female elevator).  You really must try it out sometime, the regular seating is so comfortable that you don’t even feel the need to go to the Seawest Lounge upstairs.

All in all, by taking motorbikes to get to and from Vancouver to Vancouver Island, you save money, save a ton of time, and you also are helping help the environment by using a vehicle that has a lower environmental impact.  Best of all, it is a fun way of getting around.  Yes it is cold out, but with a heated jacket and layers of leather and Lululemon apparel, I am never cold (while on the bike).

So next time you are stuck in the long ferry line ups, wishing you had an easy way to get on the ferry sooner, take a peek at the front of the line up (usually in lane 1), where you will find some happy riders about to get on the ferry without waiting.

Cheers everyone, I’m going to relax with a cup of hot chocolate after a long day of travel and visiting.

~Deanna

Ahh. . . The 5 minute wait to get onto the ferry. How can you go wrong?

For the past 4 months, I have been waiting for my appointment for an MRI at the Peace Arch Hospital.  From talking to numerous people over the past few months, I have realized that 4 months is not really that long to be waiting for a scan of my head.  Several patients I know have been waiting for 6 – 8 months or longer for their MRI at St. Paul’s or Surrey Memorial.  Now, for anyone who has been waiting for a MRI, CAT scan or other procedure that will help figure out what is wrong with them, the waiting game is absolutely frustrating.

I know that the hospitals and MRI machines are overloaded with people on wait lists, and that emergency scans take precedence (as they should), but after waiting this long, I am actually excited about going in for my MRI. Yes, I am looking forward to being shoved into a large claustrophobic machine and listening to a noisy racket while magnetic fields penetrate my skull.

After my 4 month wait, and fingers crossed that everything is okay, I am going for my MRI tomorrow morning. Hooray!

Over the past several years I have been using a grocery delivery service called Spud!, that sells local, organic, minimally packaged products. It is not that I am lazy (well I do prefer a more relaxed pace), but it is more out of necessity that I have used this service.

I have found that going from store to store (Choices to Whole Foods to Save-on-Foods to IGA to the farmer’s markets) to get all my foods that I need for the week takes a ton of time, travel, driving, and most importantly, effort.  On top of it all, many of my trips to some stores or markets are futile, as many of my “organic”, “wheat-free” and “specialty” items are typically not in stock, or “on order”. Ugh!

I mean, I am happy that there are stores out there that actually have organic, wheat-free, dairy-free options, but not only are they overpriced, but most of the time, the expiry date on the item is from last month!

So I began using Spud!.ca (and other grocery delivery service Ladybug Organics), and I was more than excited.  I also love shopping online from the comfort of home.

Now the thing is, of course since there is a ever changing stock of fresh produce and items each week, you can’t always get the same items from week to week, but there is always a good substitution.

I pick my breads, veggies, wheat-free pizza etc. online, and order however many I want, and low-and-behold, they all show up on dry ice at my door first thing Friday Mornings, which make me tickled pink to not have to drag myself out of the door to go buy my Almond Spelt Bread and Gluten Free, Soy-free Pancake Mix from a store that is over a 30 minutes drive away.

Okay, so there isn’t just “health” food either, I buy @nachoman beef burger patties (from a local, antibiotic-free, and organic beef supplier), and yummy fresh made wheat bread from bakeries all over Vancouver.  Did I mention they deliver all over North America.

Okay, so if you are signing up for Spud! any time soon, use this coupon code:

CR5-100006103 or CRVAN-PELDEA

It will get you $25 Savings towards your Spud! Orders.  It gives you $5 off your first 3 delivery/orders, and $10 off your 4th Delivery.

So this week’s grocery delivery provided me with some yummy Poblano Chilli Peppers and Refried Beans, therefore I think I will be making Mexican food tomorrow night. Once I decide what I’m making, I will post pictures and the recipes of course.

I also have found a new brand of wheat-free bread that I am in love with. It is the Food For Life brand of Rice Bread, and it is very tasty, and has a great texture to it (not overly dense at all.

Ooh and if you want a local bakery to check out, The Artisan Bake Shoppe in North Vancouver is absolutely wonderful. (Make sure to try their Organic Spelt Bread)

Well now I am off to have some yummy fresh blackberries.

Ciao

~Deanna