Rudolf Christine

Mui Mui's rendition of the Jingle Bells

I M Pei Influence

Excerpt from our building's newsletter, Volume 16, Number 5, December 2006.

By Deborah Rosenblum, Managing Director, Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, Architects

Ala Wai Plaza had its first residents in the early 70s. Since that time, the strong geometric forms, clean line of materials, and night time light-washed elevator cores have made AWP an iconic piece of Honolulu high-rise architecture.
The architectural firm of record was DMJM; however, our building bears some remarkable resemblance to the work of I.M. Pei, who, interestingly enough, was "in town" during the same period for the design and construction of the East-West Cetner and Kennedy Theater at UH.
Unusual design details seen at AWP, such as floor-to-ceiling windows and a deep concrete grid to protect against glare and direct sun, are design strategies seen in other Pei designs of the 60s, like MIT.
Pei is world renowned for his elegant proportioning of large scale buildings, such as the East Wing of the National Gallery or the Bank of Chinal, Hong Kong.
We'll never get a confirmation that I.M. Pei had a hand in the design of the Ala Wai Plaza, but the similarites are still striking, and we should all be proud of having such an attractive place to call home!

Unagi at Yanagi

Jocelyn enjoying her unagi sushi 鰻魚壽司

Sorabol Korean Yakiniku

Annie took us to this 24-hours Yakiniku place, but unfortunately we weren't able to go out with them this time. They really know how to order good Korean stuffs. We tried some self-BBQ (actually, the waitress did most of it for us) or Yakiniku and other Korean dishes. I really liked the soft tofu or 水豆腐 though.

Kahuku "Original" Shrimps Truck

We stopped by the Kahuku Original Giovanni Shrimp truck after visiting Dole Plantation. Unfortunately, they have already ran out of the spicy shrimps. Peter bought us the lemon butter shrimp scampi (w/o rice) and good thing it did come with two small containers of hot sauces. It was a good stop!

"Pineapple" Split

Not a banana split, it's pineapple! Strawberry and chocolate syrups on top with chunks of fresh pineapples on the bottom.

Make a bucket?

Look at Chrissie's tummy, she didn't even have lunch yet....

San Jose and Local Style Swimming

Ah-Fe 姑姑, Peter 姑丈 and Jocelyn swim in a funny outta-state manner, how strange? They no know local Hawaiian style...

Local -style swimming, according to Solar. Look, the okole is almost fully submerged into da, uh, real sea water, of course.

Wahine 1st Dips

Mui Mui's first swim in the Pacific Ocean

LOST: Digital Camera

We ate with Jody and Cheryl's families earlier at the Happy Days Chinese Restaurant. It was raining real hard around 8pm when I darted out in heavy rain to feed the parking meters. Must have dropped the camera with the pouch in the parking lot. I pray to God to let me find those videos of Jocelyn playing with the cousins.

Crew Chief Andrew

Andrew just finished training to be an Air Force airman over in Houston during the summer months. Can't believe how much he has grown throughout the years. One of these days, I am hoping to be able to visit his "office" at the base to see and touch the equipment that he's responsible for.

No Help No

The chin-up bar should around twice her height or more. Anyway, that did not instill any sense of fear into her mind.

Monkey Bar - Landing

After a full week of meditation and intense training, she's finally able to come down on her feet.

Wait, the problem was, her landing..... watch how she perfected her landing



Got to have the "body roll"...(applause)


See our initial attempt last week.

U-Shaped Funky Ladder

Solar had watched and learned from Mui Mui last weekend. This week he was able to conquer the apex of the funky u-shaped ladder, finally. Look how he navigate gingerly the last few steps.

Good job, Boy Boy!

Monkey Bar

See how the top bar on the ladder is just about her own height. We have a brave one here...
Don't miss the last 8 seconds and be sure to turn up the speakers to listen to the grunts!

Nat new pics

Peek-a-boo Michelle

An opportunistic snapshot after church this morning.

See Michelle and mom at Austin's party earlier in summer.

敬畏你的榮耀

Austin Powers

Hey, is the seat taken?

Why don't we look at the camera and give him a big smile?

Boys and Girls

School portraits.