Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Prediction

Okay, so I know it's been a while since I've posted (why do so many of my posts seem to start out this way?) but I've been on vacation and there hasn't been anything really exciting during my vacation (I got new screens, a new stove and hopefully my door will be fixed soon). If Keao will give me some pics from this past weekend's Children's Church choir's performance I'll write some little observations on what I learned from the kids. But anyway, I digress.

I know it's a little early to make a prediction on the Hawaii Bowl, but this dude Ryan Parker has already made one through a song he wrote (or parodied). It's called Charlie Weis Island. Have a listen. It's quite enjoyable.

PS-less than 10 days until Christmas!

Everybody Scream, Everybody Scream in our Town of Halloween

Halloween, a holiday based on trying to get as much candy as you can all the while dressing up so no one can see what a greedy glutton you are. The more I think about it, the more I think Halloween is really for sneaky freeloaders. I mean, it's not like Christmas where you're expected to give a gift in return when someone gives you a gift. You really don't need to do anything at all (except maybe dress up and really, you don't even need to do that all the time) to get candy except say the magic phrase, "trick or treat". Of course there is a chance that you may tricked, but in my thirty some-odd years of life, I have never seen a trick played out on someone, so I would say your chances of getting candy are pretty good.

This year, since Halloween fell on a Friday night we decided to come to church in costume and then go bowling in costume. Unfortunately for us, some people are lame and not everyone dressed up. The bowling part was really fun though. It was neat to see people roll balls down the lanes in costume. Here are some pictures from the night:

I guess if you're not really Japanese this is the next best thing (Tricia and Keao)

John is God's gift to women and Tiffany happens to be a woman (I wonder if she enjoyed the gift?)

Kelli, the forest queen, with her Jack 'o Lantern, Rob

Angry Grant, James dressed up as who-knows-what and Jasen didn't even try

It's a little early, but here's Mrs. Dina Claus and Mr. George Claus

Here's Markis on his high horse and Rob and Kelli again

Joy, the sunburned tourist, is sitting next to Matt (but I keep forgetting who he's supposed to be)

Finally here I am with my costume that I bought from a street vendor next to Battery Park in New York and some radio DJ dressed as Mayor Hannemann

Overall, it was a great night at Aiea Bowl. The costumes were fun and the bowling was even better. Next year we'll see if we can get even more people to dress out.

To view the rest of the pictures from the night click here.

You Don't Look a Day Over 60!

So much has been made about my brother and I. What I mean by this is that Stanton and I are full brothers but we don't look or act alike. In fact, despite having the same last name and the same parents and we live in the same house and work at the same place (you get the picture) many people never put it together that we're related. Then when they find out that we're brothers they often ask us which brother is older. You see, Stanton dresses much hipper than I do and he also is smaller (petite?) so many people assume that he's the younger brother. It usually comes as a shock to them that he is indeed the older brother.

This is actually not that big of a deal, but it does cause some gentle ribbing amongst us (what's funnier is one of our friend's kids asked why I'm Japanese and Stanton's not). So yesterday I got some funny news in the mail. It wasn't addressed to me but hopefully it will once and all end the debate of who is older.

This letter came in the mail yesterday

No big deal you say? You get junk mail all the time? Sure that may be true, but look who the letter is from! It's from the AARP! In case you don't know, the AARP is an organization for old people. AARP stands for the American Association of Retired People. What's more, you need to be over 50 to be eligible for the AARP. Of course as I mentioned earlier the letter wasn't addressed to me. Let's take a closer look so you can see who the letter is for.

That's right, it's for a Mr. Stan Sunaoka

Apparently Stanton has been hiding his real age afterall. So this year on November 10 (his birthday) I think you should all help him celebrate his 50th birthday!

Now all kidding aside. A few weeks ago we had our church's 25th anniversary celebration at the water park. They showed a few videos that helped to celebrate what we've accomplished throughout the world. I got to play an FBI agent in the first one (I'm FBI agent #2) and got interviewed in the second.

Getting Punched by the Flyin' Hawaiian

Today we celebrated 25 years of Hope Chapel in Hawaii! Last year we had an all-church picnic/celebration at Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park and it was such a success that this year we decided to repeat the celebration but because it was our 25th anniversary we decided to also invite all of the other Hope Chapels in Hawaii. Needless to say, it was a big party that we called Splashdown '08, the Reunion.

It was a wonderful day full of wonderful people. I got to ride all the fun rides with some of my friends (Keao hadn't arrived yet, more on that later) including the newly built Tornado and the other favorites like the Shaka and the Cliffhanger. Keao's sister Cassandra was also coming along with us as well as our niece Lauren so I dropped Keao off at her sister's house so they could go together because she wanted to drive separately in case Lauren (who was trying to get over a cold) had to leave early.

So I met up with some friends and we rode some rides for a while and just as the park was about 15 minutes away from closing Mikey came up to me and told me that Keao was looking for me. So like a good husband I went to go look for her. Well, sort of. I decided that since the Flyin' Hawaiian was along the way and since the park was closing soon, I might as well get one last ride in. Well, that was a mistake.

Doesn't look dangerous, does it?

So as we're going up the stairs to go on the Flyin' Hawaiian Mark Matsumoto challenges us to do some sort of free style as we exit the slide and launch into the water. Of course, I had to accept the challenge because I couldn't let him think that he was tougher than me. So as I get ready to get on the ride, I decide that as I fly through the air I'm going to do some sort of twisting motion.

So I go down the slide and as I fly through the air I do some sort of acrobatic twist. The problem is that when I hit the water, I hit the water still twisting. That means that while I was underwater I was still twisted up. No problem right? All I have to do is return to the surface. Ahh, that part was a little harder than I anticipated. You see because I was still twisting under the water I apparently got a little disoriented. Basically I didn't know which way was up. In scuba class they tell you that when you're disoriented all you need to do is look for your bubbles because the bubbles always go up. But what do you do if you're holding your breath?

After being underwater for a few seconds I decided to surface by kicking my way up. Unfortunately for me I wasn't pointed up! In fact I was pointed sideways. And to make matters worse, I was very close to a wall. So I kicked hard to get to the surface and all I ended up doing was kicking my way very solidly into a wall. Ouch. By then I was really disoriented and I really had difficulty finding the surface. Luckily for me, I didn't panic and I made it safely to the top before a lifeguard had to jump in. Unluckily it left a nasty looking bump on my head.

I'm not going to lie...it was really painful

For the rest of the night I had everyone asking me what happened. I got pretty tired of telling people that I swam into a wall so finally I just started telling people that Keao hit me. Pastor Ralph had another theory. He told people that since Keao and I are still newlyweds she gave me a big hickey. Hee hee.

Of course Keao couldn't let me have all the attention. She had to get in on the action as well. So while we were under the tent getting ready to eat she decided to change in to a dry t-shirt. Well even though it was a huge church picnic my wife got a little racy. Even though we were on dry land and there wasn't any outside influence she still managed to somewhat lose her top. Hee hee. She was calling out for help and the only one near enough was her kind sister. That's what family is all about...helping each other.

Here's Cassan lending a hand

The rest of the night went without incident. We had a great dinner surrounded by great friends and finished the night with great worship. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us during the next 25 years!

Everybody's Got a Laughin' Place

Ahh, Saturday. Saturday brings so much joy. Saturday is the end of the week. Saturday is usually a day off or a fun event. And of course, during the fall, Saturday is college football. This week, I really needed Saturday.

It had been a long draining week. First Charlie would not behave. He kept finding ways to bite his paw even though we had extended his collar and tried to do everything we possibly could. At night before I go to sleep, I check his collar and paw to make sure everything is okay. But when I awaken in the morning I find that his bandage is all mangled. In the words of Keao, "it's just defeating". My sentiments exactly.

It was also a long week because I had to have some heart-to-hearts with some of my good friends. Don't get me wrong, it's not like they were bad heart-to-heart conversations. They were actually quite good. But after 5 or 6 of them, you get a little exhausted.

So I just needed something little to pick me up. You know, something to get me laughing again. Luckily for me, I married a wonderful woman with a wonderful sense of humor. She makes me laugh all the time. That's one of the reason I love being married to her. We laugh a lot together.

So earlier this week Keao noticed that Stanton, my brother, brought home a big bag of Doritos. You know, one of those Costco sized bags. Now for the most part we don't eat each other's food unless it is made known that this food is up for grabs. In other words, we treat each other like roommates.

So on Monday or something, I noticed that Keao was eating his chips. I warned her that those were not our chips and she shouldn't eat them without his permission. Instead of just asking if she could have some she comes up with this theory: 1f she only eats a few at a time he will never notice that any of his chips are missing. Good theory right?

Well as the week continues the bag is getting less and less full. Kind of noticeably empty. I actually didn't think much of it until Friday night when Keao was getting ready to go to work. Since she works the overnight shift she gets ready to leave at around 10:15pm. We just got home from church and she was getting her dinner ready. As I head toward the kitchen to keep her company I hear the unmistakable sound of a chip bag crinkling. Then I see what she's doing. She's emptying the Doritos into a zip-loc bag. I couldn't contain my amusement. Is this what she meant by taking a few here or there?

With a shocked look on her face she crumbles and confesses her guilt. Not only is she taking more than a "few" chips, she also has been eating them for breakfast when she comes home. The once full bag of Doritos is now reduced to a remnant of crumbs. At this point I couldn't stop my laughter. Even know as I'm typing this, I'm laughing to myself (not too loudly though because Keao is sitting right next to me watching a movie). I wonder if Stanton even noticed.

Arts and Crafts are Fun!

Hi. Welcome back. I know it's been a while and I haven't even gotten any Japan pictures up yet, but since I've been home I've been crazy busy. Not just busy, crazy busy. So sorry for the delay. We'll return to our regularly scheduled program. Oh, and sorry this post won't be about Japan either. I mean to get some pics up since it was an amazing trip, but there are more pressing matters at hand. Actually, there's one pressing matter. His name is Charlie.

Charlie is my dog. For the most part, he's a good dog, he just has had some unfortunate injuries. Now you would think that since he spends 99% of his life in a yard with a fence, how injured could he get? Well here's a picture of him that I took maybe 3 or for years ago.

He's a handsome dog isn't he?

Notice the white tip of his tail? Umm, yeah, that's no longer there. Apparently one night, Charlie was chasing his tail and he got lucky...or unlucky I suppose. At some point, he managed, we think, to catch his tail and chomp down on it. Soooooo, to make a long story short, we had to take him to the vet and chop off the tip of his tail. So now his tail is a little shorter.

Fast forward to July, 2008. We were at Keao's sister, Cassandra's, party at our house and we noticed that Charlie had a bump on his toe. It was pretty big, but we just figured if we leave it alone it would eventually heal and go away. Of course, as you may suspect by my great job of foreshadowing, it did not go away and it turned out to be a tumor. So we took him into the vet and had it removed. That part was easy.

We brought him home and put on one of those collar thingies (for the record, they're called Elizabethan collars). Here's a particularly evil looking picture of Charlie taken by my brother Stanton.

Note the pink bandage on his right paw

So we bring him home and we notice something a bit odd. The cone that's supposed to be protecting him from himself doesn't quite work right. It's just a little too short. He can still reach his paw. Let that sink in for a bit. The protective cone doesn't protect his paw. It's useless. Of course since he can get to his paw we scold him everytime he gets near it.

Well yesterday morning we wake up and find that he did indeed get to his paw. In fact he got into his paw a little too much. The bandage was shredded and there was blood everywhere! Keao said it looked like a crime scene (except we know how the guilty party is). So we panic and call the vet only to find out that the vet is closed on Wednesdays. But she has a pager for emergencies and we figured this qualifies as one. Of course she calls back and doesn't offer much sympathy. Like it's our fault. We only had what she gave us. So she tells us to use some manila folders and to extend the collar. Umm, it's a good thing we have manila folders...actually we don't have manila folders so we had to get creative. Good thing I was a summer fun leader with a certification for arts and crafts.

After a few cuts with a scissors and some masking tape this is what we came up with.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

I think he can now get cable on that thing (or at least hear very well)

It's kind of gross, but can you see the blood everywhere?

So anyway, Keao took him back to the vet this morning. I'll let her fill you in on the rest of the morbid details. Meanwhile I think we need to figure out how to permanently extend that collar.

I Toll You This Would Happen!

So this is our last day…kind of sad to see the trip end, but I really am excited to go home and see my wife, sleep in my own bed and most importantly, get out of this Florida heat!

Since John had never been to Florida or Walt Disney World, we decided to check out Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s a theme park that’s kind of part zoo and part Disney. In other words there are animals, as well as rides. It’s a pretty unique place. I enjoyed it quite immensely.

But before we could enjoy the park, we had to get there. Scott was nice enough to let us use his van so we left at like 8:00am to try to get to the park early. The Walt Disney World resort was about 80 miles or so away so we Googled the directions and off we went. Because the van had driven from Palm Bay (where the Whipples live) to Gainesville and back, we knew at some point we’d need to fill in gas. What we didn’t know was how to manage all the toll booths along the Florida turnpike.

Actually, how had could toll booths be? You give them money and they let you drive on their roads. We actually it turned out to be a lot harder than we anticipated.

We got to the first toll booth and gave the lady like $1.25. No problem she let us pass. Then we started to run low on gas and we were looking for some area where we could fill up. We drove for miles and miles and nothing looked promising so we kept on driving. Finally we saw a sign that said, “Orlando International Airport”. Bingo! They must have gas stations near there since people have to fill their rental cars before they return them back to the rental car companies.

So we take the airport cutoff and head toward the toll booth. Here’s where the fun began.

Unbeknownst to John and I, not every toll booth has someone in them. This one didn’t. It was completely unmanned. Then to make matters worse it asked for exact change (the toll was a dollar). It would only take loose change and $1’s and $5’s. Now, I had given my last $1 to the lady at the last toll booth so the smallest bill I had was a $20. John had lost his wallet at the football game (he found it later completely intact except for all his cash) so the smallest bill he had was $100.

Great, we thought, what are we going to do? We thought about reversing and trying to find another exit, but by then another car was behind us and we couldn’t back up. So the only thing we could do was go forward and take our chances. Of course we go through and the alarm sounds. So we pull over and check for cameras. Yup, there they are, pointing right at us. So we walk back to the machine to see if there’s number we can call to explain the situation. Negative, no number.

By then we don’t know what to do. We don’t want Scott to get a fine or a ticket so we start scrounging around the van looking for loose change. We manage to find a few quarters and some dimes and tons of pennies. So we count them up and we still are a few cents short. We scrounge around some more and John looks in cups and other containers and he manages to find a few more dimes. JACKPOT!

Now we’re feeling good. All we need to do is reverse and pay the toll. So we back up to the machine and throw in the dollar comprised of loose change. Nothing happens. We wait some more. Nothing happens. Now we don’t know what to do. We tried to rectify the situation, but we still don’t want to Scott to get a ticket.

John goes, “Maybe we need to reverse some more so that the machine can detect a car.” Sounds like a good idea so I back up and re-enter the toll booth. It works! Well, it worked, but now it’s asking me for another dollar. Augh! Stupid machine! I throw in a few pennies just to make sure that the machine is working. The pennies disappear and now the machine reads: Toll 0.97. It definitely works. At this point, we had exhausted our change in the car except for a few pennies so we decide to just screw it and drive away. Of course, the alarm goes off again and we speed away as fast as we can. Yeah, we’re law breakers, but we left the state of Florida so I think we’ll be okay.

Finally, we get gas and head back to Disney.

After an interesting adventure we arrive

The Animal Kingdom is divided into different lands (like the other Disney parks) with the Tree of Life right in the middle. Overall, it’s a fun place. We were told to do the safari first so we headed off to Africa to see what kind of animals we could see.

The tree of life

A rhino

Some hippos cruising under water

A croc trying to cool off

Some beast with big horns (I can't remember what it's called)

This giraffe was literally right outside of the tram

Some elephants doing their thing

A lion stretching on a tree

Of course Disney has to make it exciting and we can’t just ride a ride with out some kind of plot point, so on this ride we go after poachers.

Poacher central

After the ride we went on a jungle walk. This part is most like a zoo. Here you just follow the trail and you can see different animal exhibits. There were one of these in Africa and another in Asia. Both have animals specific to the continent.

It's a meerkat, like Timon

Ahh, what a life!

I think he knows we're watching him

Yup, he knows

After that we went to Rafiki’s place. This is mostly for kid’s as it has some characters like Jiminy Cricket and Pocahantas and a petting zoo. They also had some cool behind the scene looks at things and other neat animals in big tanks.

Here's a snake of some sort

A not-so-hidden Mickey

These ant looking bugs are really wasps

Not all the bugs are in glass tanks

Then we walked over to Asia to check out Expedition Everest, one of Disney’s newest roller coasters. But along the way we saw a crowd gathered around with their cameras out. It took us a while to see what was attracting the crowd. Can you see it?

She has the best holloween costume

By this time we were hungry so I had to have a turkey leg. What else would we eat at the Animal Kingdom?

Mmm, turkey legs...

These guys kept begging us for food, apparently they can't read the signs

On to Asia!

There's Expedition Everest

Like the jungle walk in Africa, Asia’s one had its fair share of cool animals.

That's a Komodo Dragon

A giant hanging bat

I can totally see why these guys cause nightmares

When I asked what kind of tiger this was, the lady just said, "Asian"

After the walk we did go on a few rides in Asia. Of course we tried Expedition Everest. As far as roller coasters go, it was pretty good. There were some neat surprises and other tricks. But I must say, I was most disappointed at the length of the ride. It seemed really short. Luckily the lines were short (we went as single riders and we the longest we waited was only 15 minutes) so we rode a few times.

We also did the rapids. It’s one of those “you will get wet, you may get soaked” rides. One particularly funny moment happened when we were getting in our seats. There’s a covered bowl in the middle of the raft where you can put the things you want to keep dry. Well this Asian fellow puts in his camera and phone like most other people. But then he doesn’t stop there. Much to the chagrin of the other riders on his side, he took off his socks and put them in the bowl as well. Then he put his shoes in there too! This girl made a funny face (actually it was more a face of disgust) but he didn’t seem to care. Good thing he put it on his side of the bowl.

Then we went to Dinoland USA. I think it’s a play off of a roadside attraction. As usual it’s very well done. There were some really cool rides here as well. There’s s ride called Dinosaur in which you go back in time to bring back a dinosaur. It’s very similar to the Indiana Jones ride except you go back in time.

It’s sponsored by McDonald’s so they had some fun with it.

We also went to the Finding Nemo show which was excellent. It was probably one of the coolest shows I’ve ever seen Disney do. We also saw “It’s Tough to Be a Bug” which is like “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” and “Captain Eo”

There's John with his "bug eyes"

Lastly, did you ever wonder how they determine what the wait time for a ride is? I found out when we went on a ride and the lady handed me this:

So that's the secret!

And that concludes Scott and John’s East Coast trip. In addition to Florida and New York, we also passed through New Jersey, Arizona and Washington. That makes five states, five boroughs, four stadiums and one theme park. Whew, it’s no wonder we’ll need a vacation from our vacation. But all in all, it was totally worth it.

To see the rest of the Disney pictures click here.