October & November, sans travel

October & November had ever more performances, birthdays and fun...and again, this a pictorial display without much commentary, as I'm on a mission to catch up! The next set of photos will be our second international trip of the year...

The two younger cousins have joined taiko, and now go to weekend practice with Ryan.

Halloween 2023! Jasmine and a scary witch!

Ryan reprised his hamburger costume for the third year in a row, so we will stick with this Halloween carving photo intead...

I think they went to about 3-4 houses nad then got 'tired' of trick or treating.

There was a concert in Hilo that the kids participated in. My friend took this pic of Ryan and said he looked like a K pop singer, hahaha!

Ryan's first Homecoming with Abbi-chan!

He had three bouquets that night...one for Abbi, Momo and he couldn't leave out Sei!

My friend Hiroko took these professional shots of the kid's for promo pics!

Celebrating their friend Yukino's birthday!

And now he's a black belt...

In June, after about 9 years of practice, Ryan earnd his black belt. What made it even more special, was that both his cousins made a special effort to surprise him and gear up that day to join him at practice.

Ryan's two instructors- Shiroma Hanshi and Sempai Yamamoto

Ryan & Riki

A few days later after the ceremony, we hosted a party for a few of his closest friends and family...

The archives...when and how he started off, as a very tiny person.

Hard to see, but I ordered a curtain of gold twinking lights for the backdrop of the evening...but what I got, were stubborn colorful Las Vegas blinking lights that we could not stop. Tacky City.

My brother Jon was the unsung hero of the day with his massive array/variety of sushi platters!

 

It was the day I had been dreaming off when he was six years old...in fact, it was better than expected. We missed a few friends (one was in Japan, a few got sick), but nearly everyone important to him was there, and it was such a gift to be able to host the celebration. 

August & September

 

Our August & September in pictures...as I am about 6 month delinquent in posting all of these pictures! Good grief. It kicked off with a joint birthday with my BFF, Yuri-chan, hosted by our friends, Ayako & Hiroko! SUCH FUN!

We also had a family birthday dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant...

And I got caked in the face at work!

Bougie family dinner at Huggo's...at sunset...

First day of school for our sophmore!

Attending a final bon dance for the year at a sister temple...Daishiji!

The premiere of the Barbie movie with friends...

Performing at a ceremony at Daishiji...

Celebrating Livi's birthday at Kai Eat + Drinks!

Ryan has met this group of college students visiting from Hiroshima a few times now...and he got to practice his Japanese a little.

We had a few of Ryan's friends over to the cottage for some holo holo time in the sun, surf and sand.

Every year during Ironman, the kids get booted out of the regular practice facility and relocate the Civic Center, which is quite beautiful. It's not waterfront like his normal facility, but this will do!

More pizza, more food...more fun at Kai Eats + Drinks with this friends.

Celebrating a friend's birthday at the new boba place in town...

I got some sun shades to make my succulents procreate, and it worked! They are now going crazy with more shade/cooler temps.

Tateishi Tours took the kids to Hilo for an adventure, that included feeding a couple of ducks. Couple dozen, I mean. ;-)

Days 12 & 13 - Petronas Twin Towers & the Journey Home

This was our final day in Malaysia, and our final day of sightseeing on this trip. Our intended destination was an elevated walkway that would take us all the way over to the Petronas Twin Tours, in half-covered/cooler way than via the streets.

We were not out early, and were quickly distracted when we passed a family favorite spot (Five Guys), which we don't have on island. I consider place 'fancy In N Out' and it was as always, delicious, fresh...something we don't get unless we're traveling. Fortunately for us, Five Guys has exploded internationally over the last 10 years and they're in nearly every country you could imagine. 

We did not easily find the pedestrian walkway, but once we did, it was pretty amazing. Partially air conditioned, nearly empty...it removed the need to stand on the steamy hot streets waiting to dodge traffic.

About a half mile in, it went underground (again, it got semi-confusing and you had to really look for those little signs that directed you to the Twin Tours). We passed an adorable grou of preschool children on a field trip. You can see there, that they have employed a safe strategy to keep from losing anyone.

We figured it would be best to employ the exact same strategy, as we had two seniors and a child in our group. Safety first, guys.

At one point, we spied the Twin Tours through the glass, which we were still a half mile from, but were still impressive to see peeking through the foliage of this small park.

Eventually we made our way to an underground mall directly under the towers, and were able to walk outside and check it out. It was a wonder to see, but none of us really felt the need to go up and see it from the observation tower (these views tend to be anticlimatic after awhile, no matter where you are).

Again, it was not very crowded at all, but there were roving photographers constantly asking you if you'd like your photos taken.

This tower was just covered in greenry, which I loved.

After taking our photos, we checked out the mall while Ryan tried on ever more clothes at a Uniqlo and a few other stores he likes.

This was a grocery store- pre cut fruit you cold just bag up! So jealous! And below, was another type of 'bag what you want' insalta, olives, etc.

We decided to head to the rooftop pool bar of our hotel, where we had an early dinner before our travels the next day.

We ended up hitting the train one more time for a final visit to the Chinatown.

The next day, we set off the airport...and it was pretty interesting. I want to say we went through security more than 3 times, but there was also a lot to see.

These were al frescos on the walls of the airport!

Can't really capture it, but this was a super cool souvenir shop...

Cutest bathroom sinks ever...

We had a 7 1/2 hr flight back to Tokyo, and 3-4 hours to kill before our bus ride to the airport. So we stayed below Tokyo Station and ate a final delicious meal...we went to a few different sections of a department store gathering our favorite bites and bentos.

I found Kenichi a steak (cookie) there as well! He loves a good steak!

At least our long journey home was in great comfort, as we splurged on lay flat seats fro Tokyo to Oahu.

Back home...someone unpacked his $489,823 of souvenir Starbucks mugs. Those mugs are ridiculously overpriced. Yet he must get one on every trip! I would prefer we buy a car instead of the mugs.

All in all, a very hot/sweaty trip, a very successful trip.