Cliff and I planned to fly to New York City to attend my grandson, Noakai Aronesty’s graduation from Stuyvesant High School. It was scheduled for Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens. Cliff found a flight for us on Sunday June 19, which happened to be on Father’s Day. We got up very early to catch a morning flight to San Francisco, connecting to Newark, NJ. We arrived in New York on Monday morning. My daughter Yvette with husband Erik and 2 kids live in Battery Park City, across the West highway from the 9-11 Memorial and next to the Hudson River. They have a lovely view of New Jersey across the Hudson.
The first day, I was exhausted with jet lag and while Cliff went for a walk around the neighborhood, Yvette and I got a spa treatment near home and I took a nap after that. Noakai was at camp so we stayed in his bedroom. That evening, we took a leisurely walk along the Hudson south to the Wall Street area where we met Erik for wonderful taco and margarita dinner at Tacombi. On our walk back home, we enjoyed the sunset on the Hudson river.
The second day, Yvette, Cliff and I took a bus to Chinatown, where we walked around & bought some fresh fruit from the street vendors. We went for foot massage and Yvette and I got body massages. Yvette went home while Cliff and I had a dim sum lunch. When we got home, Noakai had returned from camp for his graduation the next day. Cliff took photos of Noakai and friends in front of his Stuyvesant building. Everyone left, and Cliff and I stopped for dinner at Seamore on the walk home. We moved over to a hotel for 2 nights while Noakai is home for his graduation.
On graduation day, we took a cab back to their house and Yvette had delicious smoked salmon breakfast all prepared. We packed up all the leis, some snacks and drinks and hired a car to take us to Queens for the Commencement. When we got there, my shoes broke apart, we threw them in the trash and I walked barefoot to the stadium. We met up with Erik’s Philadelphia family. We all went into the stadium and found our seats next to the family of Tomas, Noakai’s best friend. Tomas’s mom, Michelle, had a spare pair of shoes to lend me. Wah-la! what a miracle! The speeches and the recognizing of each of the 800 graduates took 4 hours long. We met at the fountain out front and Cliff took photos of everyone. I had leis for Noakai, Tomas, Michelle, Yvette and Marlowe. It was a festive and happy time together. Then we hired a car to take us to family dinner at House of Joy in Chinatown. Our group of 15 people had so much fun and ate a lot of delicious Chinese food. I gave massages all around. We took a cab back to our hotel.
The next morning the family met for breakfast at Hudson Eats, a food court next to their apartment. But Cliff and I overslept and missed saying goodbye to Noakai, who went back to camp in NH where he is a camp counselor. We walked to Hudson Yards and went up 100 stories to The Edge, where they built a triangular viewing spot over the city. You have a bird’s eye view of Manhattan from Central Park down to Battery Park and views of the East River and the Hudson River. Then we went down to experience The Vessel. We checked out of our hotel and returned to Yvette’s apartment where we stayed in Noakai’s room. That evening we took 8yo on an East Village crawl. First to Veselka, a Ukrainian restaurant famous for pierogis. Then to Cafe Mogador, for middle eastern fare. She entertained us with games and she gave her thumbs up for each dinner item we tried. She was our official food critic! We had a lovely time with her. We didn’t have time for a 3rd place… we took her home because she had school the next day.
The next morning we got up in the wee hours to take the PATH back to Newark for our early morning flight to SFO. We connected to our flight home. We had a short but wonderful trip to enjoy family time in NYC.
Cliff wanted to see an exhibit by Yayoi Kusama in NY Botanical Garden. It was on for several months and ended in October. But circumstances with his rental units, prevented him from traveling in September and October. He encouraged me to go by myself, so I could visit my daughter in NYC. I decided to visit Marcus Dowty and Linda Burgher in Kansas City on my way home from New York. It was my first time traveling alone on standby. Cliff chose flights for me that had ample open seats, so I didn’t have any problems getting on the flights. My first flight was a 10-hr non-stop to Newark. Luckily, I had a whole row to myself near the back of the plane, so I could sleep. On Friday evening, Erik and Yvette left for a romantic weekend getaway in the Catskills. I took the 2 kids on an East Village Crawl. We ate small bites at 4 different restaurants, including Moroccan & Japanese. On Saturday, I taught them how to sew by hand with a needle and thread. They sewed their journals to bind them and wrote in their journals. After lunch Noakai had to leave for a track meet and Marlowe and I had the whole afternoon to ourselves. She showed me how to make bracelets with colorful rubber bands. We got dressed and took a Lyft car to the theater to see Lion King. That evening after Noakai returned from his track meet, we ordered take-out for dinner and watched Avatar for movie night. The family Sunday morning routine is to take the PATH train to NJ across the Hudson River and have a wonderful Indian brunch at Sapthagiri. That afternoon, Noakai had to study and I took Marlowe to a Halloween party sponsored by their building. Later, Erik and Yvette came home & we had pizza rolls for dinner. Monday, Erik went to work & both kids went to school. Yvette and I had time to pamper ourselves by going to Chinatown for massages followed by lunch. My last day in NY, Yvette & I met her friends Anisha & Tara for tea next door at the Winter Garden. Wednesday morning I took the PATH to Newark and a Lyft to the airport to catch my flight to Kansas City to visit my friends, Marcus & Linda. It was rainy in Kansas City. The next day, they took me to the Johnson County Museum. That evening Linda and I had dinner with my other KC friends, Anna & Lynn. Friday was still rainy, so we went to 2 art museums. I loved both the Kemper & the Nelson Atkins museums. I learned the history of the N-A: Mary Atkins donated money to build an art museum and William Nelson donated money to purchase art from all over the world. The result is that N-A Museum has one of the most extensive Asian art in the country. That evening, after we enjoyed famous KC BBQ dinner at home, Marcus & Linda took me to the lovely KC Concert Hall for an amazing Symphony Concert featuring a gifted young violinist. The sun finally came out on my last day there and we drove to some lovely parks in the neighborhood: Parkville, Kaw Point & Wyandotte Co Lake. We hunted fall colors & found a few trees here and there, but they said in a week, everything will be in full color, so I missed the full glory of fall colors by a week. I am so fortunate to travel on standby thanks to Cliff’s generosity.
Roger walking from BnB to Yvette’s apartment in Battery Park City
We took Noakai to the top of Freedom Tower
We had dinner at Miko’s restaurant, Serafina Meatpacking
Roger at Hudner’s home
Sharmaine and I having wine in Severn, MD
Roger with Addie and Collin
Bryan Voltaggio’s restaurant in Frederick, MD
Matt and Audrey wedding
Dinner with Dennis and Janne Hudner
Las Vegas Waipahu reunion w/ Nani and Reto
4 L’s taiko sisters at UNLV
Taiko class with Tiffany at UNLV
Presenting the latest episode of
“Hawaiians on the East Coast and Vegas”
starring: Lari and Roger
May 27 to June 15, 2015
We were invited to a wedding in Maryland, so we added on New York City and connected to Vegas for a class reunion making our trip three weeks long. First, we flew to NY to visit Yvette, Erik, Noakai and Marlowe (YENM) for a few days. We stayed at an AirBnB apartment close to their apartment in Battery Park City, right near the World Trade Center. We went to the broadway show “On the Town” and I saw “Kinky Boots”. We watched Noey play little league baseball, just a couple blocks from their apartment. We took Noey to the top of the Freedom Tower the day it opened and saw the awesome views from 104 stories up. We went to the World Science Festival at Greenwich Village, where the kids could do all kinds of hands-on science activities.
We took the Chinatown Bus from New York City to Arlington, VA. It cost $27 each and took 4 hours non-stop. Dennis Hudner picked us up at the bus depot and took us home. We stayed with Janne and Dennis for two nights and they loan us a car for a week. The first night, Janne prepared a nice supper and the second night, they took us to Clarity, a very nice restaurant in their neighborhood. After that we moved to an AirBnB in Hyattsville, MD close to University of MD campus in College Park. From there, we drove up to Laurel to visit and have dinner with cousin Gary and Sally. And the next night, we drove up to Severn to visit and have dinner with cousin Sharmaine, David, Collin and Addison.
I went by myself on the metro into DC one day to Senator Mazie Hirono’s coffee hour and another day to Congressman Mark Takai’s coffee hour. I got to meet other guests at the coffee hours and both the Senator and Congressman shared their goals and committees that they sit on in Congress. I discovered the Postal Museum right next to Union Station, and spent a couple of happy hours there.
Then we drove to Frederick MD staying at another AirBnB so we could attend the wedding of Matt and Audrey Shiomichi. The visit to Frederick, MD was so much fun! It is a small town about an hour NW of DC. We lucked out because they were having an Art Festival, which is held there the first weekend in June. On Friday night, we went to Volt, Top Chef’s Bryan Voltaggio’s signature restaurant. We sat at Table 21, only 8 seats in the kitchen, with 21 courses! It was fabulous and we enjoyed watching the chefs in the kitchen. After dinner, we went to a local bar to join the bride and groom-to-be having drinks with their friends. On Saturday, we spent the whole morning at the Art Festival, then drove out to see two covered bridges and get some fresh ice cream at the South Mountain Creamery dairy farm. Then we got dressed for the wedding and drove to the Stone Manor country club for the elegant and charming wedding and reception. Everyone (except Roger) danced the night away. We all had a grand time! Note: Roger has a difficult time walking, limiting his activities.
We returned to the Hudner’s home in Vienna on Sunday to return the car and the next day, Dennis drove us to the airport and we flew to Las Vegas for Roger’s all-class Waipahu HS reunion. At the California Hotel, we had fun at the hospitality suite talking stories with old and new friends, watched the slot tournament and attended a banquet where everyone gathered for a final dinner. I made sure to get a $20 massage almost every day while in Vegas. Roger and I rode the huge ferris wheel, The High Roller at the Linq before I dropped him off at the airport.
I stayed back for 3 days in Vegas to attend a Taiko Conference at UNLV. It was fabulous! There were hands-on workshops for us to learn techniques and exhibits and sales at the Marketplace and awesome performances at lunchtime and after dinner. My taiko sensei, Kenny Endo was one of the workshop leaders. I made friends with Leslie, Lorin and Lovelle, and we were the 4 Ls. We had so much fun, talking and laughing. After the conference, everyone left, and my flight was late at night, so I spent the evening with friends Danette and Jason, who live in Vegas. We went to massage together and then to dinner at Hikari for AYCE (all-you-can-eat) sashimi and sushi.
I am so happy that we took this last trip together before Roger died a month later.
Lari’s Top Ten:
10 Meeting the 3 L’s at Taiko conference: Leslie, Lorin and Lovelle
9 Enjoying the Art Festival in downtown Frederick, MD
8 Seeing Kinky Boots on Broadway, such a wonderful musical production
7 Taking Noey to the top of the Freedom Tower
6 Seeing friends at the Waipahu HS reunion at the California Hotel in Las Vegas
5 Attending coffee hours at Senator Hirono and Congressman Mark Takai’s offices
4 Matt and Audrey Shiomichi’s wedding
3 Taiko conference at UNLV
2 Visiting with family and friends
1 Table 21 at Volt (Top Chef Bryan Voltagio’s restaurant)
lariyasui 