CAPITAL, MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS

In many ways, touring buildings, monuments and memorials can be utterly boring.  However, this is Washington, D.C., and everything is historic.  But we all forget history, and need regular reminders, for who remembers that the city of Washington was named after our First President, George Washington?  When I first arrived in our National Capital in 1979 to work in the U.S. Senate, I kept pinching myself, am I really here?  But because I lived in Falls Church (across the street one way was Arlington, and other, Alexandria) for three years, I never bothered to take a tour.

Today, according to Panda Travel (I'm one of more than 200 from Hawaii here to on Saturday attend the University of Hawaii versus Navy football game to be held at Annapolis), I will have a monumental experience, and it was:

• the U.S. Capitol

On the dome is the Statue of Freedom:

The Statue of Freedom is 6 meters (or 19.5 feet) tall, and by law, no other statue in D.C. can be taller.  Thus Lincoln, sitting in his Memorial, is only 19 feet high.  But, ah, if he stood up, he would be 28 feet 6.5 inch tall.  Right under the dome is:

Hawaii is represented by King Kamehameha:

We went into the cafeteria for lunch, and I just had to have the Senate Bean Soup, with the following meal costing $13:

Frankly, I remember not particularly liking this soup, and, in fact, The Best Soups in the World reported that "it unfortunately leaves a lot to be desired."  The soup is basically northern (Michigan) navy beans, southern ham hock and onions, but note that this bowl above also shows various vegetables, including celery, garlic, parsley, mashed tomatoes and carrots.  There is a hint of cumin.  It has been three decades, but I don't remember the soup being so fanciful.  To the left is what I recall, all whitish (I think they changed it!!!), and you can actually buy a can to the right.  Anyway, the visit was nostalgic, both the soup and the tour.

The next stop was the:

• National World War II  Memorial (there is no WWI Memorial, nor any Civil War Memorial, mainly because veterans of these wars needed to initiate the effort):

First opened in 2004, it has two "Kilroy was here" engravings.  

Next came the first war memorial, designed (beating 1,441 other submissions) by Maya Lin (photo below at age of 21) in 1981, who was still an undergraduate at Yale, and today is a prominent architectural designer.  Her father was dean of College of Fine Arts at Ohio University, while her aunt, Lin Huiyin, is said to be the first architect in China.  Maya was born of Chinese immigrants in the USA, and did not realize she was Chinese until later in life.

• Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

Note the Fall colors!  Next came the most popular monument in DC with 6 million visitors/year (the National Museum of Natural History draws 7.6 million/year, while the National Air and Space Museum gets 6.8 million--interestingly, the two sites I plan to visit before I leave DC--they are all free, although there is a charge for things like IMAX showings):

• Lincoln Memorial

The view from the Lincoln Memorial towards the Washington Monument and Capitol:

• Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in 1995:

• White House happens to be the first Federal building in DC, with the Capitol #2:

The thought of touring for 8 hours was intimidating, but, as I regularly walk 5 hours on a golf course and swing perhaps several hundred times (including those practice swings), I expected no physical problems.  However, 90% of the time involved standing or sitting and waiting.  No wonder I don't like tours. 

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Well, Super Typhoon Haiyan strengthened to at least 195 MPH, making this the most powerful ocean storm to reach land in history (Camille in 1969 into Mississippi reached just under 190 MPH--I drove by the coastline before and could not after, for the road disappeared):

Haiyan is just now blowing into Guiuan, then will go on to Ormoc, Bogo and Bantayan, finally into the South China Sea and towards Danang.  There will be a significant loss of life.  The country suffers from 20 typhoons/year, and, last year, Typhoon Bopha killed 1,100 and destroyed a billion dollars of homes and other infrastructure.

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COUNTRY #213: Palau

The 213th Google entity has visited this blog site:  the Republic of Palau (sometimes spelled Belau), which is a United States Trust Territory under U.S. Administration.  Note that this differentiates Palau from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), located to the east, and BOTH have seats in the UN.  The per capita income is double that of FSM.  A population of 21,000 lives on 250 islands, half on Koror

Quite a history:

• settled 3,000 years ago
• part of the Spanish East Indies in 1885
• sold to Imperial Germany in 1899
• conquered by Japan in World War I
• made a part of the U.S. Trust Teritories in 1947
• voted for the world's first nuclear-free constitution in 1981

Interesting that in 2009, Palau accepted 17 Uyghurs detained in Guantanamo as a humanitarian gesture.  However, they were all released for a variety of reasons.  American troops are based here...to it is believed, to balance the growing military force of China.  Palau gets around a quarter billion dollars from the U.S.

A few other notes:

• sea level rise is a huge concern
• salt water crocodiles up to 15 feet long live here (but only one fatality, and that was in 1960)
• created the world's first shark sanctuary (sharks cannot be killed in 230,000 square mile EEZ, about the size of France)
• Palau Saving Bank is shaky
• alcoholic drinks come from coconut on the tree and roots of the kava, plus betel nuts are chewed
• popular are Korean food and baseball
• there is a community college
• several "Survivor" series were filmed here
• islands mentioned in "Orinoco Flow" by Enya

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit another all-time high, up 129 to 15,747.  The S&P 500 also reached a peak at 1768.  This ebullience apparently has been linked to the sense that the Federal Reserve will not consider tapering until the unemployment rate drop to 6.5 or lower.  It was 7.2% in September, and will probably go up in October when this figure is reported on Friday.

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DENVER TO DC

Denver International Airport (DIA or DEN--I think both, which is really confusing) is the largest airport in the USA, with a total area of 35,000 acres, twice the size of Manhattan.  It is the fifth busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements and passes through more than 53 million flyers, double that of Honolulu International Airport (HNL).  The architecture is evocative of Native American teepees and snow-capped mountains:

Luis Jimenez's Mustang, all of 32 feet tall, welcomes you to the airport.  

Unfortunately, the head of the Mustang fell on him in 2006, and he died.  The sculpture had to be completed by his family, staff and professional race-car painters.  There is considerable controversy, and Mustang might be soon removed.

The airport has a 7 megawatt solar photovoltaic farm, which is the largest such system in Colorado, and provides 6% the energy consumed at DIA or DEN:

There is a half billion dollar adjunct terminal being built to, in 2016, house a railway station, and will include a 500-room Westin Hotel & Resorts.  The rail link to Denver will cost an additional billion.

Frankly, I think this is one of the worst designed airports in the world, as the hotel shuttle drops you off so that you still need to go up one floor.  My hotel was located further than my home to Honolulu International, but at least the ride and back were free.  You need to go up and down and up and....using a of escalator energy.

I was sitting in seat C coach, and somehow got this photo as the plane landed at Reagan National:

Note that Fall colors can be seen, although I suspect the peak of D.C.has come and gone:

Tree Fall Leaf Color:

• ash   yellow or maroon   
• beech   yellow to orange
• dogwood   scarlet to purple
• hickory   golden bronze
• oak   red, brown or russet
• poplar   golden yellow
• red maple   brilliant scarlet
• aspen (Colorado)   yellow  

How many of you knew this?  Maybe I'll see a forest of aspen trees flying into Denver:

Here is Pennsylvania:

I'm staying at the Willard Hotel, which is an Intercontinental:

President Lincoln stayed here, with the hotel history going back nearly two centuries.  The National Theater is close by, but Lincoln was shot in in Ford's Theater, three further blocks away.  Mark Twain of course slept in the Willard and so did Ulysses Grant, where a story goes that special interests camped in the lobby to influence him, leading to the term lobbyists.  But this is an exaggeration.  Today:

I would place the Willard right down there with the St. Regis in D.C., way past prime and sinking.  The staffing is fine and location okay (White House grounds only a block away--with the Metro Center a longish hike away), but a major makeup of the internals can be suggested.

As I lived here for three years, I've never taken a official tour.  Tomorrow, I will.

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Super Typhoon Haiyan (also known as Yolanda) is at a whopping 175 MPH, and will cause devastation wherever it churns over the central part Philippines, but largely sparing Manila:

Chances are that Haiyan will reach 180 MPH, but not challenge the 190 MPH of Tip in 1979.  Then, crossing the South China Sea as still a powerful typhoon, Haiyan will crash into Vietnam just about over China Beach, also known as Danang.

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D.C., HERE I COME: But First, SFO and DEN

I'm taking the leisurely route to Washington, D.C. this time.  First, tonight, an overnight in Denver.  Goodbye Honolulu:

To my dismay, United 72 first landed in San Francisco:

I'm always intrigued by the formations as you approach the runway at SFO:

We had to get off the plane and I now have a two hour wait for UA72 to continue.  Breakfast, even in first class, was mostly inedible, so as I will not be arriving into my Aloft at Denver Airport until 9:30PM or so, and this hotel has no restaurant, I splurged on curry salmon and sashimi at the SFO Airport because the United Club does not serve much in terms of food:

The above cost me $32, with that dinky sashimi at $13.  The ANA first class lounge at Narita (Japan) would have served this for free, to which I would have added three kinds of sake, and perhaps a Yamazaki single malt.

I used the United Club to work on my computer, and basically lost track of time.  I looked at clock on my computer, and it said 2:10.  But the plane arrived at around that time so it then occurred to me that the real San Francisco time was 4:10...and my plane was to depart at 4:20.  I calculated that packing my computer and getting to Gate 87 would take 10 minutes, so I probably would miss the flight.  I ran, walked quickly on two really long moving walkways and got to the the plane in 3 minutes.  The check-in attendant said, "Takahashi?"  Two minutes later, five minutes before the official departure time, the plane locked up and left.

So, goodbye SFO:

Turned out that the food on the flight was great.  The best cheeseburger I've had on a plane, with tomato basil soup and a beer.  Ate too much.  After baggage pick-up, had to wait 20 minutes outside in the cold until my Aloft shuttle arrived.  The temperature at the Denver International Airport was 25 F at 8PM.  I still have tomorrow to Reagan Airport, but I know I will never again use this itinerary to get to D.C.

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A very formidable Typhoon Haiyan is at 120 MPH and will strengthen into a Category 4 before making landfall in the Philippines, but, as currently projected, sufficiently south as to only barely affect Manila with some rain:

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STARS, CIGARS AND SCOTCH

The Kauai/Oahu Bailliage of Chaine des Rotisseurs enjoyed a "family" style dinner tonight at the Pacific Club.  It all started with a Scottish welcome:

The cigars were:

• Gran Habano #1 Rothchild
• Gran Habano #3 Vintage 2008 Toro

With Dan, Terry and Maurice, who is the Grand Poobah, or whatever his official title (Bailli, but more than that, is a famous surgeon in town with his Gamma Knife) might be of the Kauai/Oahu Chaine Bailliage.

In tandem came four single malt scotches, led by John, Vice  Echanson (who planned this scotch tasting--they have these great French titles--mine is Chevalier, which is the lowest ranking term they can find), and Mark:

• Glenchie 12 year Lowlands
• Dalwhinnie 15 year Highlands

• Aberlour 12 year  Speyside
• Bowmore 12 year Islay


Interestingly enough, I have all of these scotches. 

The meal featured:

• Maunawili Lettuce and Chef Eric's-style Vinaigrette
• Fingerling Potato Salad with Sundried Tomato
• Tapenade (chopped olives, capers and anchovies)
• Quinoa Kale Bistro Salad
• Lentils and Sicilian Fennel Sausage Herbs Vinaigrette

• Beef Bourguignon and Fresh Fettuccini
• Duck Leg Confit on Salardaise Potatoes (basically, potatoes cooked in duck fat)
• Seafood Paella

Sorry, forgot to take a photo.

• Apple Tart Tatin (upside-down tart)
• Chocolate Mousse
• Strawberry in Win

My table featured Mark (Bailli Honoraire) and Mirella (who is the catalyst of everything Chaine):

Also on the table were Sharon (of Punahou fame) and Bebber (Institute for Astronomy):

Note the wine glasses.  Sitting next to me were Bruce (who is the Bailli Provincial, meaning highest boss of Chaine) and Christel (my favorite dinner companion at these gatherings):

Christel also dropped me off at the end, for she does not drink as much as me, for otherwise, I might have had to walk home.

Yes, this was decadent, and I worry about our carbon footprint, but I'm off to D.C. tomorrow morning, and that is a very long trip.  I will more than make up for these extravagances by continuing to Save Planet Earth and Humanity on my next adventure.

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Out of nowhere  came Typhoon Haiyan, east of the Philippines, already at 75 MPH, to become a Category 4, and overwhelm the country, but south of Manila:

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ENDER'S GAME AND LAST VEGAS

The top three films this weekend were (Rotten Tomatoes ratings--reviewers/audience):

• #1:  Ender's Game (62%/78%)
• #2:  Jackass Presents:  Bad Grandpa (62%/73%)
• #3:  Last Vegas (44%/73%)

I last week reviewed Bad Grandpa, which was b-a-a-a-d.

Ender's Game is for the younger generation fixated on video games, while Last Vegas is best for old people, especially those in the range of 70.  At my age, I liked the latter more, although both were worthy.  They will do well at the box office and, for sure, there will be sequels:  EG will feature the young hero on a quest for peace, and LV, a similar foray in another town around another marriage.

By now anyone reading my postings knows that I don't really review films.  I just point out interestingly odd things to either attract your interest or steer you away.  Ender's Game:

• stars Asa Butterfield (remember the young boy in Hugo?), who is still youngish, with a small mean streak, which Harrison Ford, as the Colonel-in-Charge, recognizes as a positive.  The whole flick revolves around war with some formidable ants (known as Formics--formic acid smells like ants), which supposedly had previously invaded Planet Earth, but was beaten back by a flying warrior played by Ben Kingsley, who now, with the Colonel, trains the boy to beat back the next invasion.  

• I did not realize how much she has matured, but the boy's sister is played by Little Miss Sunshine, Abigail Breslin.
• Lots of purposeful misinformation here, as it turns out that we (us Earthlings--the Colonel and the flying hero) decided to attack the Formics and decimate them, using creative thinking apparently optimized in the minds of young teenagers.  
• The boy has dreams, which fill him with anxiety about perhaps brokering peace instead of fighting another war.  He thinks his final video practice session was to prepare him for the invasion.  Instead, this take was real, and he wipes out life on the Formic planet.  The dream turns out to be reality, for that race was trying to communicate with him for peace.  
• After the Formic massacre, this dream leads him into a cave where he finds a Formic Queen egg, which, in the final scene, he, now as Admiral, is carrying on a space mission to save the Formics.  
• This will be part two of Ender's Game.  The film is based on the Ender's Game series, by Orson Scott Card, of which there are thirteen novels, thirteen short stories and 47 comic issues.  You think there, then, might be even more than two?
• Oh, the boy's first name is Ender.

Last Vegas you'll love if you like to fantasize about high tech night clubs and love and can get over the fact that this is The Hangover with old guys.  Basically, four childhood buddies, played by four   Academy Award-winning legends, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Kevin Klein and Morgan Freemen (they had never before been in the same movie), have a reunion in Las Vegas for the first wedding of Douglas to someone half his age, and probably much less...more?  Mary Steenburgen is inserted as an attorney who chooses in the final phase of her life to become a lounge singer, sort of a payoff for some legal work she did for the owner of the Binion.  Okay, I give the plot away (SO STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW) by saying that there was a fifth buddy, a girl, who wanted to marry Douglas, but, out of duty to his best friend, De Niro, suggests she marry him.  The marriage is a long and happy one, but Douglas did not show up at the funeral of De Niro's wife, causing huge enmity.  This same thing almost happens again in Las Vegas, but Douglas this time gets the girl (Steenburgen), which will be the premise for Part 2.  Just a fun and enjoyable R-rated movie.

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CAN THE MARATHON RECORD DROP BELOW 2 HOURS?

In case you missed it, and live in New York City, you gained an hour because the nation is no longer on daylight savings time.  The NYC - Hawaii time difference is now 5 hours.  It was 6 hours yesterday.  Hawaii doesn't go through this nonsense.

Kenyans swept the New York City Marathon, which last year was cancelled by Hurricane Sandy.  Those Boston Marathon finish line explosions this year added to the drama, but 47,000 runners began the race.  It actually took longer for this mass of humanity to cross the starting line (about 2.5 hours) than for the champions to finish.  2.5 million watched.

Priscah Jepto completed the race in 2 hours, 25 minutes and 7 seconds, winning $500,000.  The first American woman was Adriana Nelson, at #13, but she was born in Romania.

Geoffrey Mutai ran a 2:08:24.  I think he only won $130,000 (the Boston Marathon has a first place prize of $150,000).  Much lower because the NYC Marathon was also the conclusion of the World Marathon Majors for females.  However, there is a plethora of other financial awards, ranging from just showing up to shoe contracts.

This was the third time Kenya has accomplished winning both races.  The only other country to do this was the USA in 1977.  Interestingly enough, the first American male was Ryan Vail, in 13th place.  As in tennis and a few other sports, Americans seem to be falling back.

The current marathon record is 2:03:23 by Wilson Kipsang, yes, of Kenya, set just last month at the Berlin Marathon.  The past five records have occurred here.  The last U.S. citizen to hold the record was Khalid Khannouchi in 2002, but he was born in Morocco.

Remember the four-minute mile barrier?  Roger Bannister of the United Kingdom finally ran 3:59.4 in 1954, and the record is now down to 3:43:13, set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morroco in 1999.  The women low is by Svetlana Masterkova of Russian at 4:12:56.

When will the marathon record drop below 2 hours?  According to scientists, the fastest a human can run this distance is 1:57.  If breached, chances are this will occur in Berlin or London.

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FROM CRAIGSIDE TO CRAIGSIDE

I'm transitioning from 31 years in my present apartment to a new lifestyle next door at 15 Craigside.  Sometime this month, Horita Realty will enter into the world wide web the availability of Penthouse A2 of the original Craigside.  This means almost nothing in the real estate market, but I'm trying to highlight rainbows and sunsets.  For example, this morning I awoke to a double rainbow:

How many of you can say you've ever had this experience?  That's Honolulu Harbor, plus the Pacific Ocean in the far background.

I had my first meal at 15 Craigside, lunch hosted by Ted Ozawa (left, whose professional life was in chemical engineering) and Daniel Kwok (a colleague from the Manoa Campus, a history professor, who just moved in this past week):

The food here I can best describe as a combination of Zippy's, Rainbow Drive-in, and a Japanese restaurant, with a soup, salad and dessert bar.  Not sure if all the elements will align for my move, but the worst case scenario is my remaining in a heavenly penthouse overlooking Honolulu and continuing my life of fantasy.

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Typhoon Krosa, at 110 MPH, remains potent, but should weaken a bit, mostly miss Hainan, and crash into Danang, also known as China Beach.  

Read about my experience there, for this is the most fabulous beach on Planet Earth.

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This is now November, two months until 2014.  As last night was Halloween, let me end this week with a makeover of one my favorite songs, Bobby Boris Pickett's Monster Mash:  click on Healthcare Mash.  Americans are split on Obamacare, and the website is an embarrassing mess, but there seems to be a reasonable sense that the program should not be ditched, but mended.

Co-written with Leonard Capizzi in 1962, the song was supposed to be a spoof on the various dance crazes of the day, such as the twist and mashed potato, from which came the title.  Pickett attempted to impersonate the voices of Boris (of course) Karloff and Bela Lugosi (and note this came at "Whatever happened to my Translvania Twist?).  Monster Mash hit #1 on Billboard two weeks before Halloween of 1962.  The return power shows, as MM returned to the charts in 1970 and 1973, selling over 1 million copies again.  There was also Monster's Holiday, which hit #30 in December of 1962.

I must have missed it, but then came in 1995, Monster Mash:  The Movie, featuring Pickett as Dr. Frankenstein.  The cast included Count Dracula, Igor, the Wolfman and, even, Elvis.  Rotten Tomatoes did not bother finding reviews, but 50% of the audience liked it.  I wonder if I can find this film?

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Typhoon Krosa is a Category 3 at 115 MPH, but is now projected to turn south and make landfall just south of Danang, Vietnam.

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