Took the car to the north-east shore for a visit at our favorite beach, Moloa Bay. We spent a wonderful day there, enjoying the sun, sand, ocean and shadow.
Moloa Bay
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Category Archives: USA
Kiahuna Beach
We have spent most of the day time at the beach since we got here. We’ve done that even though the weather has not been so good so far. Winds from the south bringing VOG (Vulcano + Fog) from the Big Island, low clouds and quite a lot of rain.
Today the weather has changed, the normal trade winds are in place again and the sun is again shining in Sunny Poipu 🙂
Boat to Na Pali Coast
On Friday we made an impulsive decision to take a boat trip to the Na Pali coast. We picked the Blue Dolphins cruisers since we’ve been in contact with Naiya and Roy before, and they helped us get booked for a morning trip were Roy was captain.
So today we woke up early, got to. Port Allen and got on the boat. First we made a brief stop to snorkel. The water was clear and I did some dives to the bottom 6-10 meters below but had really big problems with my ears. Very painful. So I got out of the water and rested on the boat. Unfortunately for me was that as soon as I was out of the water a big sea turtle showed up. Chie could have a close look but I saw just a bunch of snorkelers from the boat 🙁
Halfway to the Na Pali coast we were joined by a large pod of spinner dolphins. The cruised along in front of the boat for a while and then left us. We all enjoyed their company a lot.
On our way back from the Na Pali coast we saw something rare. A Hawaiian Monk Seal at the surface, eating an octopus. It is rare because there are only 1100 of them (one of the most endangered species on earth) and only about 35 of them around Kauai. And they are nocturnal. But not this one, or at least not today. We spent around 10 minutes watching him eat, and then we had to continue our trip back to Port Allen.
Afterwards we went back to Kiahuna where we ended the day by relaxing on the beach and playing in the waves.
BizTrip to San Francisco, Napa and San Mateo
Departed Narita on Sunday afternoon and arrived in San Francisco on Sunday morning. First thing I did was to put my bag in a locker and jumping on the first BART for San Francisco’s Union Square. The weather was great and I enjoyed walking around, relaxing and soaking in the atmosphere.
Once we got a rental car we were off for Calistoga in Napa. That’s where this year’s Open Source Think Tank was held. But before arriving in Calistoga we had a stop in Napa where I had a Buffalo Burger – tasted just like a normal burger though 🙁
The Think Tank was good, but not as good as the previous years. However, I attended a side track the first day – Community Leadership Summit by Jono Bacon. Great!
Tuesday in the afternoon of the second day there’s usually a social activity and I had signed up for the bike ride. However, it was raining so it was cancelled. Instead I went out for a run in the Napa valleys. Beautiful run. Though I had a plan to take the Oat Mill Hill Trail but I decided not to when I read the sign at the trail head… Warning rattlesnakes may be on the trail and mountain lions may attack humans, don’t go out on the trail alone. Well, I was alone and though it was not a day for rattlesnakes to be sun tanning on a trail I kind of thought it was best to take a safer route. And so I did.
After a 7-8 km run and a shower I was back at the conference where I joined with my case study group to finalise our presentation on the role of open source in the Internet of Things for Automotive.
At 6 pm we all were loaded into busses and shipped to a nearby vinery where we had dinner. The vinery was built as a castle in an old Spanish style, though it had an Italian name (Amoara or something like that) and many of the staff spoke English with an Italian accent. The food was great and I had a chance to talk lot with a super-long distance runner (50-90 km) from Red Hat. Nice guy and interesting talk!
Oh, across us were a Korean couple. She was a teacher back in Korea, dinner etiquette teacher. Perfect for us simple people as we could ask her how to use all the forks, knifes and spoons that they had lined up at each table seat 🙂
Before heading to San Mateo we had a lunch in Calistoga. Then a 2.5 hours drive passing by Oakland, Coliseum (home of the Oakland Raiders) and the Half Moon Bay Bridge. Once checked in at the hotel we had a quick dinner at Redwood Shores, then back to the hotel for some sleep.
Thursday we spent at our office in San Mateo that is now at the same buildings as PlayStation. So there’s a lot of monsters hanging around the complex to promote PS games 🙂 Most of the day we spent in meetings. Very good meetings.
However, the evening we had off. And we headed to Stanford Shopping Center for some serious shopping. Well, I did actually not buy anything for myself but I bought a lot of things for Chie. Just as it should be, according to her 😉
Friday morning I headed to the airport again. Spent some time in the Delta Lounge, eating breakfast and watching some videos on my tablet. Relaxing. Then it was a looooong flight back to Tokyo, without much sleep.
Saturday evening and I am back in Tokyo again. Arrived at home and was welcomed by Japanese hoe cocked food. Life is great!
San Francisco
This week I was on a business trip to our office in San Mateo. A busy week with many meetings. One of them with a colleague at a sister SONY division.
I arrived at the San Francisco airport on the 20th and had a plan to take the BART to downtown San Francisco. However, BART was on strike so I had to revise my plan. I got on a Super Shuttle instead and it dropped me off at Union Square. It was a wonderful day with blue sky. I enjoyed it walking around doing some window shopping… Well, I did some real shopping too. At the Icebreaker shop. Stocking up for the winter.
In the afternoon it was time to return to the airport to join my colleague from Lund, he was arriving late in the afternoon. So I got on a bus back to the airport. It took about 25 minutes longer than what was mentioned on the schedule and I got about 5 minutes late to the planned meeting time at the SFO rental car station.
The rest of the week was filled with meetings, American food and sleeping. Had a plan to go to the gym but never made it. Too tired. After a week in the US it is really nice to return to Tokyo, even though the flight was long. Once I got home Chie had prepared a Japanese dinner, which I enjoyed very much!