Photo/Video of The Day

After hearing With My Own Two Hands by Jack Johnson (featuring Ben Harper), I was inspired to create this slideshow of Ensen.

-KK

Ride on the H3 Freeway is beautiful

Growing up in Hawaii, I often take for granted just how fortunate we are to live here. So I did something unusual on the way home today from Kailua after watching the UH football game at Kelly’s dad’s house…I video taped the ride home. Why? Don’t know, but I felt compelled to share some of the beauty of Oahu with the world. Maybe it’s the PR executive in me. But in any case, I made this video and put it on YouTube. It wasn’t the best weather, but the Koolau Mountains were just amazing. Enjoy!

Photo/Video of The Day

-KK

It’s fall premiere week!

I can’t believe how fast time flies! Last night was the first episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Ensen (15 weeks) and I rushed home from Aunty Kim’s house because we couldn’t miss the premiere. I think Ensen enjoyed the show as much as I did!

-KK

Photo/Video of The Day

With Ensen growing up so fast, I decided it was time to teach him how to pay bills.

 -KK

Our first real play date!

After months of planning, my good friend Julie and I got together for our first real play date with our sons. Oh yeah…our husbands Nate and Brandon were there too. Our first play date back in July was when Ensen was only one month old so that one didn’t count. This time, Ensen (3 1/2 months) and Dane (10 months) got to roll around and sort of play with each other. I can’t wait for Ensen to start crawling so that he can really play with Dane!

Who knows, crawling and walking might come sooner than we think. Look at Ensen standing up. His feet are flat on the ground!

-KK

Photo/Video of The Day

I finally got a good video of Ensen rolling over. He’s going to be crawling before we know it!

-KK

Feeling a bit inspired…

After a not so successful photo shoot at Sears yesterday with Ensen, Kelly and I were inspired to try taking some “professional” photos of our own with our Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX3 digital camera. This camera takes some really nice pictures and video and is really easy to use. To be honest, I think these photos turned out 100 times better than what we saw at Sears. Here’s a sampling…

-NGK

Quite a busy weekend

Where do I begin? This weekend was like a whirlwind and flew by too quickly. As you can see from the photo above, I’m poop’d! The weekend started with Kona grandma (Rhonda) and grandpa (Gary) flying in from the Big Island on Saturday morning and spent the weekend with us. It’s always good to see them and like I’ve said before, you gotta love those $9 airfares…this time we thank Aloha Airlines.

Emmi Meyer, Gwen Ochikubo (Amy’s sister), Kelly, Amy and Jon Hung.

Well actually, I take that back…the weekend really started with me dropping Kelly off at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel to get ready for her friend Amy’s wedding on Saturday. She was part of the bridal party and it was an all day affair…crusing with the girls, hair, makeup, and the whole nine yards. I on the other hand had “take care of Ensen duty” during the day with my parents, so we visited Great Grandma Kam (my grandma) in Aiea before coming home to relax so I could get ready for the wedding. Kona grandma and grandpa graciously agreed to baby sit Ensen for the night…thanks again mom and dad!

Wedding Ceremony on the Ocean Lawn. Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Hung. Kelly and her escort John.

It was a beautiful day in Waikiki and Amy’s had a really nice wedding on the Ocean Lawn. After the ceremony, we moved into the Monarch Ballroom for the reception, which include a Chinese lion dance and all traditional wedding stuff. I even got in on the act giving the banzai toast from the guests to the bride and groom - SHINRO, SHIMPU, BANZAI! Who would have thought the Chinese/Korean guy would get to do the Japanese toast…but oh well…it was fun! Things ended around 9 p.m. so we headed straight home

View of Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach. Emmi and Brandon Meyer. Kelly and I.

But that was just Saturday and we had a busy Sunday ahead…this entry is getting long so I’ll make this part quick. On Sunday, we took Ensen to get some photos taken at Sears. Although he looked really cute, the photos didn’t turn out so good. He wasn’t in his usual smiling self and the photos just didn’t seem right (Kelly took him back today, Monday, to try again and they turned out better…so those will be up soon). Here’s a few “behind the scenes “photos:

After Sears, we headed to my buddy Brad Araki’s 30th birthday BBQ at his in-laws house in Makiki. My parents came too. It’s crazy to think Regan, Brad, and I all 30 years old now…just seemed like yesterday we were turning 21…but I’d like to think we’re all aging handsomely. Brad and his wife Tricia are expecting their first child in December…a baby girl…so Ensen will have a playmate shortly. As usual at any Araki/Ogimi get together, we ate, drank, talked story, and had a great time. Here’s a few pictures to remember the day:

Brad and his niece Sarah. Regan, Ensen and me enjoying a beer. Ensen spending time with Uncle Regan.

Aunty Cathy and Ensen. Tricia presents Brad his birthday cake.

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. I’m tired all over again just thinking about it. Back to the ‘ol grind at the office and I hope next weekend is a bit quieter.

-NGK

You know what they say…

…about neighbors with big trucks…the other neighbors (US!) that park next to it barely have any space to get in and out of the car! HOLY COW! I came home the other day and saw this massive truck parked in the stall next to us. I told Kelly we had a “Big Foot monster truck” intimidating our poor RAV and she kind of laughed it off…until she saw it for herself tonight following our trip to Costco.

It literally left us speechless pulling up next to this truck. For one, the driver’s seat is as high as our roof…two, it makes our RAV look like a compact car, and three…the darn thing doesn’t even fit in the stall. I used to see these kinds of trucks all the time in Kona…but something doesn’t quiet look right here on Oahu!

-NGK

Photo/Video of The Day

Right before this video, Ensen rolled over a few times from his back to his tummy. Of course, when I tried to get it on video, he was too shame to roll over. But his cute smile more than made up for it.

-KK

R.I.P. Mr. Shoyu bottle…

It was sort of a sad night at the Kam Family household lastnight as we lost an irrelevant member of the kitchen. Jabbey decided he could no longer co-exist with Mr. Aloha Shoyu and did the unthinkable. By the time Kelly and I realized what had happened, it was too late. Mr. Aloha Shoyu had joined the other shoyu bottles in shoyu heaven. We’ll miss his salty and dark attitude!

R.I.P. Mr. Shoyu – 09/17/2007

-NGK

Photo/Video of The Day

Not that there was any doubt, but this photo evidence is conclusive…Ensen IS my son! We’re both having fun watching UH whip UNLV at Grandpa’s house in Kailua!

Don’t worry people…it’s empty!

-NGK

Golf is good…but better when you win something!

Francis Ho-Ching, me, and Mike Murray taking a break before teeing off.

It’s been a busy last couple of weeks at the office, but I was actually able to get out on the golf course this past Friday to play in an American Resort Development Association (ARDA) tournament at Honolulu Country Club. ARDA is a client of the agency and McNeil Wilson was a silver sponsor of the event. So what does that all mean? It means I had the opportunity to team up with some clients for an afternoon of pure pleasure.

Mmmmmm…notice anything funny about our McNeil Wilson signage? 

Our team was pretty solid. I recruited my client Mike Murray, vice president of sales and marketing (corporate meetings and incentives) for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) and Francis Ho-Ching, director of westbound sales for the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). The problem was we all had relatively low handicaps and we’re not the “sand bagging” type, so we didn’t exactly finish on top. But the scramble format made for a fun day out in the hot, hot sun. Between cigars, corn dogs, corn nuts, a couple of beers, Gatorade, tons of water and Snickers bars, we somehow managed to finish the round and post something respectable

And we did. In the end, we shot a gross 5-under par 67. With our handicaps thrown in, our net score was 58.4. Not too shabby and good enough for 21st place and Panasonic microwaves for the team. Oh, the lowest score that was shot…a net 44…can you believe that? How can these guys actually look at themselves in the mirror the next day? But since this was the 3rd annual tournament, the third place team got the top prize. So all was fair in the end.

A good time was had by all and I look forward to hitting the links with these guys again. Maybe next year…

-NGK

Photo/Video of The Day

Here’s another video of Ensen showing off.  Doesn’t it sound like he’s answering my question?

-KK