2022: What a year! The world slowly came off Covid restrictions and people could get back to their “normal” life.
Cliff and I took several trips this year. In Feb to Tasmania and Sydney Australia. In May to Arizona to visit friends. In June to NYC for Noakai’s graduation. In Sept we cruised the islands of Croatia. In Oct and Nov we flew to Japan.
High school students were lucky to go back to traditional activities such as proms and graduations. In May Madisen Yasui graduated from Moanalua HS with high honors, Azlyn Hernandez graduated from Punahou in early June. In late June, Cliff and I flew to New York for Noakai Aronesty’s graduation from Stuyvesant HS at the Arthur Ashe tennis stadium. In the fall, Madi went to San Diego State, Azlyn went to UCLA and Noakai went to UCIrvine.
As for myself, I continue my taiko (Japanese drum) lessons, took UH zoom classes, serve as president of our Wilder Tower board, took taichi and zumba classes, go dancing with my brother Bruce, went to Kaimana beach every week to get some vitamin sea, and generally keep busy with friends and family. I don’t know if this is a new career, but I was on YouTube, on KITV, and in a BOH commercial. I leased another blue Audi Q5 which happens to be a plug-in hybrid, which doesn’t use much gas. I am retiring from my part time job at Chinen&Arinaga Financial Group at the end of this year.
Besides our trips together, Cliff and I enjoy beach sunsets, going to theater plays, movies, art museums, jazz concerts and out to dinner/lunch with friends and family. This year we went up to the remote Ossipoff cabin twice. It is high up in the Makakilo mountains where the views are breathtaking and the architecture is amazing.
We wish you an enjoyable holiday season with loved ones and a most wonderful and healthy New Year!
Love & aloha,
Lari
Archive for the ‘Christmas news’ Category
2022 Christmas Newsletter 8 comments
Christmas Newsletter 2021 22 comments
2021 Holiday Greetings from Lari & Cliff
Hopefully we are slowly coming out of pandemic mode, so we can return to traveling, sporting events, concerts and partying with family & friends.
My daughter’s family: Yvette, Erik, Noakai & Marlowe returned home to Battery Park City in early September after spending almost 2 years in Margate City, NJ during the pandemic. Marlowe is in second grade at Battery Park City public school and Noakai is a senior at Stuyvesant High School nearby.
My son’s family: Ryan is an instructor at Shipfitter Shop 11, Pearl Harbor Shipyard. Kara teaches kindergarten at Holomua in Ewa Beach. Jensen is a Junior at UH West Oahu. Madisen is a senior & varsity cheerleader at Moanalua HS. Allysen is a 6th grader at Salt Lake Elementary and is in club Cheer.
My brother Bruce Kimura and I used to go dancing before covid and now we occasionally have dinner together. He loves to sing karaoke. He is retired but still does small jobs for friends and family. He helps me around my condo whenever I need odd jobs done. We are each other’s airport shuttle. His baby is Sweetie, a lovable Yorkie.
My sister Christine lives in Boulder, CO with her hubby Phil Shull. Her daughter Desmonne lives nearby with her hubby Brian Bennett and their son Coen, who is now 5 years old and in kindergarten. They usually come to Hawaii in February, during their winter to warm up at our beaches.
My nephew Kazu Hernandez, who is a doctor at Schofield, reserved KMC (Kilauea Military Camp) for the Veteran’s Day weekend for Cliff & I, my niece Claudine with her daughter Chloe, and his two younger daughters, Ailah and Aulia. We took a day trip around the island to Punaluu, Kona, Hapuna beach and Kamuela. We also visited Pahoa, Kalapana and Hilo. During the summers we go tent camping at various beach campgrounds around Oahu with Claudine and Kazu & their kids, along with Madi &Ally. Last year, we camped at Malaekahana and this summer we camped at Bellows.
Grandma Lari’s Camps: Three times a year, I invite 7 kids to sleep in my condo for 5 days-during spring break, summer break and winter break, starting in 2020 & continuing in 2021. They love to come to play, swim, and have fun together. I taught them how to sew in March of 2020, and now they come with sewing projects of their own. Most of them already know how to cook breakfast and dinner, so they can prepare meals while they are here. They love to bake cookies, swim in my condo pool, take bus rides around town, play in Makiki District Park nearby, play board games, create skits & plays, play scavenger hunt, card games and more. We usually have a movie night with popcorn and Grandma chooses the movie. They love Uncle Cliff’s Instant Pot spaghetti, so they request it each time they come.
This year for Thanksgiving lunch, I ordered a delicious meal from LCC (Leeward Community College) culinary school. Cliff’s family came to enjoy Thanksgiving with us at his home in Kapahulu. Cliff’s son Jordan with Easton (5), daughter Dayna with her hubby Cayce and sister Liane with hubby Paul came for turkey lunch. (sorry, but I forgot to take a photo of Cliff’s family) We ate another turkey dinner at Ryan & Kara’s home in Salt Lake with Kara’s sister, Kandyce and her family.
On Fridays & Sundays I go to Tsutomu Nakao’s Dragon Beat Taiko classes at Jodo Mission. His classes are so much fun! Saturday mornings I go to the Kakaako Farmers Market on Ward and Ala Moana Blvd. Later in the morning I walk with neighbors to Sandra’s condo’s heated pool at the top of Wilder Ave, where we swim & do water exercise-sometimes we do more chatting then exercising!
Cliff Kimura and I met on Match.com in September 2020 and celebrated our One Year Anniversary this September. Yanagi Sushi was Cliff’s hangout late at night while he was working swing shift at United Airlines Operations office. He was a late night regular there for years and now we go there every Saturday night. In May his St Louis class of ’71 celebrated their 50th Class Reunion. We go to art museums, galleries, to the beach, dinners, enjoy wine (beer & sake too), watch movies & enjoy sunsets. Cliff enjoys his photography hobby and goes out often for various photo shoots throughout the year, which include Astro Photography, surfers, Raptor planes, sunsets, sports and more. When he is not taking photos, he is editing them on his computer and sharing them on Flickr and on his WordPress blog.
We traveled standby on United Airlines together for the first time in August. We went to LA for 3 days & flew to Denver for 3 days. In October, he couldn’t travel, so I went by myself on standby to New York to visit Yvette and her family for a week. On the way home, I visited Marcus and Linda in Kansas City, MO for a few days. We can’t wait to travel to Japan & hope to enjoy many future trips together.
May the holidays and the New Year bring you much peace, health & happiness.
Love and aloha,
Lari & Cliff
Christmas Newsletter 2020 1 comment
2020 Holiday Greetings from Lari
Who knew? That we would be stuck at home for months? We are living in unprecedented times and will never go back to the old “normal”. Hopefully, the “new normal” will be much better. I love how Mother Earth has been rejuvenated since we all stayed home… we need to keep caring for Her with less abuse. Traffic has been so easy. We have many blessings during this pandemic.
Who knew? That I would cancel 4 trips: to Australia with Madi in March during spring break, to Myanmar to visit friends in April, to Fukuoka with 3 girlfriends in May and to Switzerland with 3 Pohakea teacher friends in June. Side benefit: saving money!
Who knew? That I would find a new romance in this pandemic? Cliff Kimura and I met on Match in September and are in a happy and loving relationship. We both enjoy travel, wine, jazz, photography and more. In fact, he is an avid photographer with a big camera and belongs to 3 photo clubs. We go on photo expeditions to Kewalos, Sandy Beach, Diamond Head, Pipeline and more for surfing & sunset photos. He gets some nice sunset photos from my lanai. Because we are not traveling, we are spending most of our days and nights together, meeting each other’s families/friends and watching Netflix and Prime Video. His son Jordan has a daughter Easton and his daughter Dayna is married to Cayce.
Who knew? That my new boyfriend would cook for me? And because Cliff retired from United Airlines, that he would share his flying privileges with me? We can’t wait to travel together! We walk to Kaimana beach from his home in Kapahulu, so we get our exercise and enjoy the ocean getting some vitamin sea.
I invited 7 grandkids to sleep over for 5 days for Grandma Lari’s Spring camp during spring break in March. The “Bigs” are 3 high school girls, the 3 “Littles” are girls in elementary school and 1 boy in middle school. We had many fun activities: daily play in my condo pool, playing in Makiki District park across the street, board games & movie nights in the evenings. I taught them to sew their own pillowcases on my sewing machine. They wrote in their journals each evening.
In July, I had them over again for Grandma Lari’s Summer Camp for 5 days in July. More fun activities and this time, they each sewed their own masks. They loved it so much, they requested a Winter Camp in December. End of July, Kazu & Claudine invited me to a camping trip at Malaekahana for the weekend. The 7 kids spent all day in the ocean, we ate delicious food cooked by Kazu and Claudine, crab hunts at night and slept in tents.
I miss my daughter Yvette’s family in New York/New Jersey. They are fine and doing well there. Noakai is a Junior in NY and Marlowe is a 1st grader.
Both Cliff’s family and my family are safe and healthy. We are thankful for our many blessings. Here’s wishing you a wonderful holiday season filled with love!
Love and aloha,
Lari
Slide show has many photos including many friends, families, visitors and activities during the past year.
Christmas Newsletter 2019 1 comment
2019 Holiday Greetings from Lari
Greetings to all from this “Townie” It has been a wonderful and exciting year for me, adjusting to life in Honolulu after living in Pearl City for over 50 years. Although I miss my Pearl City friends and neighbors, my life is so exciting with so many opportunities for fun right here in town. I am close to my doctors, my hair salon, my karaoke gang, theater shows, concerts, seminars, foodie events, birthday parties and much more.
As for my travels, this year, I did seven domestic trips and two trips to Japan. In January, I flew into Long Beach airport, a new venue for Hawaiian Air, to visit friends and family in LA and Orange County. In March to Seattle to visit friends and family. In April, Shari Tamashiro and I met in New York and did fun things there-mostly eating! and I also spent time with Yvette and her family and took a bus to MD to visit Shiomichi family to meet 2 new babies and Sharmaine and her family. May was a short trip to Kona with Roger’s ’58 Waipahu HS classmates, hosted by Buddy Barcelo at his home in Kona Palisades.
In June, I flew to Denver to visit my sister Christine and we both took a trip to Omaha to visit Kaitlin and her family. In July, Valerie Wabinga, Linda Burgher and Marcus Dowty went on a trip with me to Hokkaido. September was a Pahoa HS reunion in Vegas with my brother, Bruce. In October, I did a spiritual journey with 6 friends to Osaka, Koyasan, Kumano and Tenkawa. I learned about the Shingon Buddhist sect headquartered in Koyasan, a very spiritual place. After the week-long spiritual tour, Gloria Uyehara and I spent a week in small onsen villages, Kyoto and Kobe. We were lucky not to be affected by Typhoon Hagibis, which devastated other areas north of us.
For more in-depth information/photos of trips taken, please keep scrolling down to past trips for this year and many more previous trips.
This year, we are looking forward to having a white Christmas in Dillon Keystone area of Colorado. 24 family members (5 cousins with 11 grandchildren ranging in ages from 18 to 3 years old) will be housed in a huge lodge with 8 bedrooms, 5 baths, jacuzzi, pool table, and more. We will go on a sleigh ride on Christmas Eve, and skiing, snowboarding, and tubing.
I am so blessed with good friends and family whom I love, and they love me. My mission in life is to nurture those relationships as much as I can by spending quality time with the people in my life who mean so much to me. My life is full, and I am very thankful for my wonderful life and good health to enjoy it.
Love and aloha,
Lari
Opening day of Hawaii State Legislature with Wanda & Roy Takumi on the House floor
Shari Tamashiro is Uchinanchu of the Year for our Itoman Club
Wearing my traditional Korean dress at Halekulani banquet
Chinese New Year’s party
With Kathy & Derrick at Growlers USA
Ryan puts flowers for his grandparents
Oscars party sponsored by HIFF-Hawaii International Film Festival
Part of Guy Sibilla’s book club: David Jones, Marie Milks, and Judy Segawa w/Guy at my condo
We joined Kim Click at the Intrepid Museum in NYC
Shari gave me an edible birthday bouquet!l
Kiera gave me an edible bouquet for my birthday too!
Jensen graduates
Pohakea teacher luncheon
At Wahine Volleyball game
Pahoa HS reunion in Vegas
We enjoyed the food and beer in Victoria Ward
Wine event at Hawaii Convention Center rooftop
Moanalua HS cheerleaders win!
Lari’s 2018 Christmas News 23 comments
2018 Holiday Greetings from Lari
This was a year of big change for me. In April, moved from my Pearl City house to a 2-bedroom condo in Honolulu. It was a huge job downsizing from my 5-bedroom, 3-bath, 10-closet house where we lived for almost 50 years. My new address: 1325 Wilder Ave #9 in Honolulu, HI 96822. Email: lariyasui@gmail.com
Willy & Sue Okimoto invited me over for a farewell dinner with my neighbors, Flora Nohara and Lisa & Wayne Shibata. Chef Willy cooked a delicious dinner for us! I miss my wonderful Pearl City neighbors. Houdini misses me and I miss him since moving to town.
Houdini & me
But now I save on time, gas and mileage on my car because everything is so close and convenient being in town. I leased my first luxury car, a Q5 Audi SUV. I am still learning how to use all the high-tech computer features on 2 screens.
John Ohtani from Audi delivered my new Q5
In January, I went to Tuscany with Leanda Santos, and since it was her first time in New York, we toured a few sites in NY city before and after going to Italy, staying with Yvette and family in Battery Park City.
Leanda & I enjoyed Cinque Terre in Italy
Then in early April, I took Yvette, Erik, Noakai and Marlowe to Osaka, Nara and Kyoto.
Riding rickshaws in Arashiyama bamboo forest
When I returned home from Japan, Garrett Mozolic and his brothers of Mo Movers moved me into the condo. I didn’t finish settling into my condo and flew off to meet Mary Ann Kadooka in Barcelona. After Spain, with help from a few friends, I got my apartment all arranged and organized with paintings hung, and cabinets and closets filled.
In May, (I’m a Taurus) friends and family celebrated my 75th birthday with 4 parties!
Party #2 at Sunrise
Most of the summer, I stayed home. Yvette and Marlowe came to stay with me (in my condo for the first time) in July. Noakai and Erik couldn’t make it to Hawaii this year. In August, I flew to New York and took Noakai on a 12-day tour of Norway which included a cruise up the coast to the Arctic Circle.
My son Ryan, Kara, Jensen, Madi and Allysen moved from Mililani to Salt Lake to live with Kara’s mom, Kathy Iwao. Jensen is finishing his senior year at Mililani HS, Madi started 9th grade at Moanalua HS and Ally is at Salt Lake Elementary. Ryan is especially happy to have a short drive to Pearl Harbor Shipyard. In September, we celebrated Ryan’s 50th birthday and Ally’s 9th birthday at Hilton Hawaiian Village for the weekend.
In October my sister Christine and brother Bruce met me in Tokyo, and we flew to Kumamoto on the southern island of Kyushu to visit my mother’s Hokada relatives. My cousin Fred and family and my nephew Kazu with 2 daughters joined us there. We all had a wonderful time meeting and getting to know our Hokada cousins’ families, who entertained us royally. We scattered some of Sue and Kongo’s ashes at the Hokada gravesite. Fred’s wife Fumiko (from Nagoya) translated for us so we could communicate with our Kumamoto relatives.
Hokada relatives in Kumamoto made a fabulous dinner for us in their beautiful home.
Then Fred left and cousin Elvis Kimura came to meet us and Kazu drove 7 of us in a van to Kurokawa onsen village and Yufuin onsen town along the way and finally to Oshima Island in Yamaguchi Prefecture. We visited Okabatake family (our Kimura relatives) and visited the Kimura grave, where we scattered more of Sue and Kongo’s ashes. They hired a translator to help us communicate. Okabatakes have a large orange grove and let us pick tangerines, which we took with us for the remainder of our trip back to Tokyo.
It was Bruce’s first time to Japan, and Christine’s second time. We did some site seeing in Tokyo before returning home.
At Halloween, I visited different friends, house-hopping in the Bay Area. For Thanksgiving, I stayed at Aronesty’s home in Manhattan Beach, LA with Yvette, Erik, Noakai and Marlowe who flew in from New York.
My “townie” life in Honolulu is very busy with all kinds of activities! Theater, luncheons, dinners, festivals, movies, Apple Store classes, Red-Light therapy, facials, massages, pedicures, karaoke bars, farmer’s markets, and more.
I am on the Wilder Tower condo Board and attend meetings concerning our condo. I am an “Okinawan at Heart” member of the Itoman Club and help plan their activities. I still work part time for Chinen&Arinaga Financial Group.
In October, I attended the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival for 5 days at various venues around town. It was exciting to meet many celebrity chefs at their booths. I am a member of Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) and in November, I was at Dole Regal theaters for 10 days and saw 36 movies using my festival pass. On Veterans’ Day, I loved the fantastic Bruno Mars concert at Aloha Stadium with 30,000 of my closest friends.
To all my friends and families, may you have a wonderful and blessed holiday season! For more details about my trips, please read my travel blog by scrolling down on this page or clicking the archives on the left side.
Love and aloha, Lari
lariyasui 