Geebz the Whiz and Aunty the Unwhiz

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Aunty

Aunty went to a Social Media Marketing workshop on 11/16/2013 at the beautiful new MOA Wellness Center in Kakaako, organized by Lori Chaffin, publisher of the Hawaii Wellness Directory. The speaker was George del Barrio aka Geebz of PMI-International.

[Breaking news: Geebz will be having another workshop “Social Media Marketing and Content“ on December 14, 2014 from 10:00 – 1:00 at the MOA Wellness Center. Aunty already signed up – how about you?]

Here are Aunty’s notes. Aunty’s comments about the workshop follows: *please see update at the end

Aunty and Geebz Social media is about talking to the culture of your market share.

Younger people are not as impacted with 30 second spots the way the older generation has been conditioned. They are more affected by organic content – by asking questions, i.e. “how do I get cash flow”, “how do I change a power window regulator on a Nissan 1996” and entering it in a search box such as Google.

The call to action, “come to me because I am the best” is not as powerful as “I am helpful”.

Instead of screaming “buy from me”, successful businesses give the solution to people’s problems. This generates so much good will, viewers will want to support these businesses or sites, perhaps even buying from the solution givers. Answer the “why”, answer the questions that are the most asked, and you will be somebody’s hero.

Engage

Enforce your presence by telling an interesting story. The story of your business is important. What is it, why is it, who is it, i.e. back pain, make a video discussing lower back pain, or what drove you to do what you are now doing.

Geebz’s brother’s video “Golf Tips – Hit the Driver 300+ Yards” is on the first page on Google search because of the number of comments, both positive and negative (the haters). We are in charge of preparing content to battle. Prepare content for questions/answering/solving. You want to “own” the space that you are in, and you want viewers to understand your service and the spirit behind your product.

Be real

Credibility is huge. However, testimonial pages are seldom looked at. The average viewer will only look at 1.8 pages. Landing and index page must give solid information so they can figure out about you, what you do, it they like you, if they want to stick around from the very first page they land on. Become an expert or an authority. Get other people to talk about you.

If you have a Yelp presence, participate personally in the yelp discussions for your business– respond to the feedback. This shows that the business owner is personally involved. RESPOND, even if it is just a thank you for the kind words, or even more importantly, respond to the negative with a positive reaction or pro-active reply. Others will read these comments and your replies to them affect their own opinions of you.

Be able to be found – I have done this, I have done that. Have your friends write about you on their Facebook pages or blogsites.

For writers, use Ezinearticle.com to release an article to better brand yourself. Do how to articles without referring to your business, branding or whatever you sell or your article will be rejected. This site wants useful content, not self pitches. The author box will have your info and can have your business links. Being an author on an external site will give you more credibility.

Change, change and more change

Social media in new age marketing is fantastic, but ominous. The sociability of social media has now become part of us. The latest war in the Mid East started on Twitter. Young ones are all about snap content, moving away from traditional means of communication or news.

Geebz’s one page has the entire page on the screen, to be swiped horizontally because that is how smartphones and tablets are interfaced. The masses are not on the desktop or laptop computers nowadays as much as they are on tablets, phones, iPads.

[Some of Geebz’s clients/sites: *Haumana – George’s music *Martin & MacArther koa furniture * Healing Hula answers question what is healing hula *Gibi – meditation music *keyofGeebz *spinthoughts – Geebz wordpress site links to regular site]

On Facebook

Facebook is huge for 40+ age. The reason is that because they are older and don’t want to learn a new site or a new way to stay in touch. On average, people spend 20 minutes on Facebook every day. Facebook is struggling but now infiltrating our Timelines with ads, user defaults to Pages Feed, changes that are sometimes welcome, sometimes not.

Facebook Tips: If you “liked” a page, mouse over “Liked” button. This shows options how you want it showing up on your pages.

If posting for a reason, always post with a picture because people scroll through quickly and stop on engaging pictures.

Post content that is worth sharing, talking to the people that you know.

Share something that you think is cool.

Have something that stops people in their motion.

When posting a blogpost on your Facebook page, click to read takes people back to your site.

Use share option on Facebook to personal page, or business page, etc.

Get people back to your website

Facebook is great for sharing, but the goal of the marketer is to get people back to their own website because there is no “buy” button on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.

When you blog in your website, treat it like bits of information. Then post it outward on Facebook, etc. This brings people back into your blog. Even post other people’s neat stuff. Example: Geebz posts useful content from someone else, i.e. unfolding Chinese take out boxes into a plate. This gives people something to talk about it, share it, but it “came” from Geebz.

Post the most interesting stories of your business on your Facebook page once every 4 months because you have new Facebook visitors every 4 months. When they click on your Facebook post, it takes them to your website blog.

When you post a blog on Facebook pages, share it on your Timeline. When your viewers click on it to read, it will take you to your blogsite.

When you give content that answers questions that people might be asking, it ranks you higher in searches. Prepare content that promotes the popular culture, ie. using motocross in your title or content will show up in searches for motocross, even if your post might be about something else that has nothing to do with motocross, but the picture in the background is that of a motocross track.

Geebz Tip: Filter in your email: to stop receiving marketing email, filter by the word “unsubscribe”. This was a post by Geebz that got people sharing the post, bringing them into his website.

Evergreen – with traditional advertisements, you have to constantly re-buy, which is expensive and deteriorates and disappears with time. An alternative to traditional is to use Twitter to run a promotion “1st 3 people to find Waldo wins prize”, which takes them to your website or video on YouTube which then leads them to your page. Twitter is free. Facebook postings are free.

Give content

For Hawaii Music Supply, Geebz coached them to put out videos on how to play the ukulele, online sales for ukuleles went way up. No where in the video did anyone say “buy from me” – instead did passive branding with lead in of business, wearsing shirt with logo.

Need to be proactive about posting – every now and then, shows current supply/product, next step is to do videos on why, the story behind. Keep your fans informed and close to you.

Sometimes we have to be our own mascots and find current problems that you know about, i.e. doctors: put out video about latest flu epidemic.

The title of your content is THE most powerful element of search engine results

Figure out what words or queries people would search for, and put them in the title of your posts and/or videos. Think of the many different combinations of word/phrase searches. Even the order of the title words matters.

If you decide to change your title, it will destroy your current position so instead put a “thought bubble” in the video/content about the new title so you don’t lose viewers or ranking. If you do change your title, it will take 5-6 weeks turnaround for it to flush through the algorithms, and the content will need to be re-engaged.

The title has power words, repeat them in the content of your posts.

Description box under your Youtube video is HUGE – your title will have the keywords, so also have the keywords in the description body = keyword density = double bang.

Tags on the video sites – geotag if they must come into your physical site, such as a dentist’s office or massage therapist’s location. Tag with key words.

Giving away info

Give away info for free – you will get fans or subscribers. Can do push notification for free to subscribers at anytime, once a year remove restrictions to get things for free that they can download, prepping the market for when you do begin to sell something.

Resource videos are very powerful, how to videos are what people are searching for. When you do resource videos, talk to your viewers as if you know them already.

How to do videos

When doing video, film using interview style, looking away from the camera. This works because it is not intrusive to the viewer, and more relaxing for the speaker. Have a friend interview you, so it looks like you are talking to someone rather than directly to the viewer. If, however, you are doing an instructional video, then shoot head on and face the camera/viewer.

Go Pro cameras are now the rage, worn on the head to provide the viewer with the perspective of the one making the video.

After you do a info or instructional video, do blog content of 2 or 3 paragraphs. Do bullet points. This will lead in to your video, which will be imbedded into your blog. This hypes shared value of that page.

How and why they watch

Lead people in by giving answers, leaders are very important. People watch videos, the better the experience, the wow, the better the viewership.

Besides Youtube, there are currently 5 other powerful video companies: Vimeo.com – high end of compression, Metacafe.com – younger demographic, DailyMotion.com – European based, Videojug.com – very informational, educational, Viddler.com.

Take a video, make it work for you, flip keywords on all the different sites. This will get the content showing up in search engines five times more so your audience base can be even bigger, and your search ranking higher.

Geebz’s meditation music videos are language-less, so he went to google translate, entered keywords, copied, pasted, thereby puts the language copy in his tags. This works well if language were not important, i.e. for music videos, or demos that can be understood without the written or spoken word.

Get them interested

Reciprocal linking is good for algorithms for the blogging content that is linked to. Pick the conversation of the time, i.e. latest health concerns, price jumps, housing prices, interest rates, GMO. Engage conversation.

Instant sharing with your smartphone

How to use smartphone photos in real time: Take picture, post on page “had a great time today blah blah” on personal and business profile. Shows people in action, that you are active. Example: Diamond Head Surfboard page – picture of each customer/sale with surfboard and then posts on Facebook.

Last and lasting words of Geebz wisdom

Don’t get caught up in the disappointments if you don’t get a lot of views, hits, fans. Just keep going because it will happen. People will come.

Be organic, write, produce, give.

Make powerful titles.

Help people. Give solutions. Give answers.

Tell the story. Tell an interesting story.

Don’t sell, bring people to you without pitching but by giving away useful information.

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Wow! That was so much great information, Aunty’s eyes were bulging and even her lipstick wore off. This workshop was only 3 hours long, but the lessons learned will span years.

Aunty started blogging 3 years ago without any intention of being able to actually make money with her site. The original intention was to share free information to people in need of getting their financial lives in order by investing, and then the sharing expanded to household hints, beauty hints, funny stuff, other stuff.

However, a few months ago, after Chad Lamothe redesigned and advised on Aunty’s website, an inkling of what could happen to this website occurred – produce supplemental income somehow, someway, with Google adsense, affiliate ads, and now, social media marketing? From Mark Ford’s teachings of having multiple streams of income, Aunty’s blogsite might actually become a viable source of retirement income!

Aunty will be meeting up with Geebz to get ideas, suggestions, and guidance. Who knows where this can lead? People often use Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Grandma Moses as role models of late starters. Both lived for over 100 years. Maybe Colonel Grandma Aunty in Honolulu will follow in their example. We’ll see where this next adventure will lead.

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[*Update, update!!! Aunty met Geebz for a go-over meeting at Kapahulu StarBucks and WOW! – this man knows what he is talking about! Aunty is SO excited to begin working with him.

If you have a website or blog that you want to take to the next marketing step – see Geebz. There is a condition of people not knowing what they don’t know, and Geebz knows. Geebz has more than pearls of wisdom – they are wisdoms of wisdoms. Check him out as a composer producer musician at GeorgeDelBarrio.com or take his next class on Social Media Marketing if you want to get results doing what you love. Aunty is definitely going to be there. It was sold out the last time, so sign up fast so you can absorb the best from the best in a really fun and free flowing way.

Tadaaa!!! Aunty feels like floating now – still feeling uplifted from the session!!]

Thai Valley Cuisine Review, Kalama Valley

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Aunty

Aunty’s next dream car is Uncle’s nightmare. It is a sweet little SUV made by Mercedes Benz, the GLK350. Each time I see one on the road, I go, “Oooh, there it is!” and Uncle’s face puckers up as if he was sucking on a lemon. Uncle does not like Mercedes Benz. He likes Toyota, period.

Well, one day while parking at Costco Hawaii Kai, a black GLK350 pulls into the stall next to us, and Uncle hurries into Costco. Aunty, on the other hand, pauses to speak to the GLK’s owner, and asks how she likes the vehicle. Turns out she loves it, has owned several Mercedes Benz,and buys the full warranty package so she doesn’t pay for any repairs or maintenance. She then hands me her business card – Carole Thirakoun, owner of Thai Valley Cuisine in the Kalama Valley Center, 501 Kealahou Street, phone 395-9746.

Recently, Hot Deals Hawaii had a coupon special deal – $10 off $20 worth of food for lunch at Thai Valley Cuisine. That was as good a reason as any to take my Thai friend, Ahlin there for lunch. We arrived around 1:30 pm on a Friday, the lunch hour ends at 2:00.

The Kalama Valley Shopping Center is not a bustling place. Most businesses try, but fail because of the lack of traffic. The Thai Valley Cuisine restaurant has survived for 20 years! – a testament that they must be pretty good.

The restaurant is located on the Diamond Head corner of a sprawling shopping center. When we arrived, there were only 4 cars in the rather large parking lot. One of them was Carole’s sweet little black GLK!

A menu and some reviews are pasted on the plate glass windows. The interior is rather small and L-shaped. Only one table was occupied so we sat in a corner by ourselves. Thai pictures, figurines, knicknacks, and souvenirs abound on shelves, tables, and walls. Huge vases of tall lucky bamboo stalks added color and more visuals. Walking into this place felt like stepping into a funky Thai hole in the wall, with a touch of class. Pink linens on white china were folded into bird of paradise shapes – reminding Aunty of her old Pan Am days when we would fold first class napkins to house the silverware on our passengers’ tables.

Our table had a view of the kitchen, and I saw Carole in the kitchen, preparing entrees – so! the owner is the head chef who actually works in the kitchen! A rather pleasant surprise, since Carole does not look the part of a chef, with her nice car(s), stylish clothes and beautiful jewelry. (Note to Aunty: if you have nice jewelry, wear it!)

The menu seemed to have the standard Thai fare, broken into standard sections: appetizers, salads, soups, entrees, noodles, house specials, drinks, and desserts. It took us a long time to decide what to eat because many of the dishes did not have typical Thai names, rather a combination of English with a sprinkling of Thai with detailed ingredients. What made it even more difficult for us was that the font was difficult to read – rather fancy, almost Arabian or Egyptian type.

We ordered Pad Thai with shrimp, Beef Larb, medium spicy, and crispy fried fish fillet in ginger sauce, along with iced coffees and Thai iced tea. The tea was delicious, the coffee a bit too sweet, in Aunty’s opinion (iAo).

The Pad Thai was absolutely delicious. The flat noodles were seasoned delicately, not too dry, not too oily, cooked to perfection, surrounded with about 8-10 good sized succulent shrimp, and topped with a very thin sheet of egg.

The beef Larb, ordered medium spicy, was not spicy enough for Aunty, so a chili sauce (made with vinegar, fish sauce, chilis and garlic) was requested. We filled cabbage leaves with a spoonful of the ground veal Larb (Carole does not use hamburger – says it is too fatty). The Larb has been stir fried with mint leaves and something else – a touch of lemon or lime. Very subtle, delightful taste!

The crispy fried fish fillet with ginger sauce came to the table, and was not what we expected. It looked like the fish fillets were curled and drowned in soup with a hill of vegetables. This is one of those cases where you have to try it and put away your judgements. Turns out, it was SO ono!! Flavors bursting, slightly spicy, aromatic.

We also ordered Thai sticky rice, and it was purple! Ahlin said that was really good rice, and she knows her Thai rice. It was not as skinny and dry as the white sticky rice that I am used to – and at first glance and touch, it seemed like it would be hard, but it really was great rice, and one serving was more than enough for two people.

Since we arrived so late for lunch, the restaurant soon became empty except for us, and Carole came by to talk. She remembered meeting me at Costco after I asked about her SUV and we talked about cars (she knows a lot about cars) for awhile and then about food.

Carole is Laotian, and a plant and food connoisseur. Ahlin is also a plant and food connoisseur. They had a lively conversation about cooking, herbs, growing tips, culture, and news. Carole makes everything from scratch, from the best ingredients and plants that she can get. Carole shared a tubful of her special base of homemade shrimp paste with Ahlin, and we went out to view her herb and vegetable garden.

She cut off a stalk of pandan for Ahlin to plant, which made Ahlin very happy. It is used while cooking rice or noodles, imparting a nice scent to the food. Carole’s kaffir lime trees were short and full of branches and leaves, and Aunty’s tree is very scrawny and sparse in comparison. Tips for better growing were shared, and Aunty now needs to go to City Mill to buy insect and bug control as well as some super soil to top the ground.

Carole had bushes of basil, chili peppers, ginger, orange turmeric, papayas, and many other vegetables and herbs thriving in her garden bordering the sidewalk. She picks what she needs as she cooks. No wonder her food tastes so fresh!

Aunty’s ears perked up while Carole showed off her pots and pots of lemon grass. She said that lemon grass plants don’t have flowers – only very very rarely. Really?!? Aunty’s lemon grass plants flower all the time – they look like wheat flowers which later turn into seeds that start sprouting wherever they fall. Aunty used to think that they were a bit humbug (though easy to pull out), until Carole said that those with flowers bring good luck to the owner. That was a very nice thought…

Aunty and Ahlin drove home very happy, both of us with warm memories, leftovers, and lessons from the gracious Carole.

As we parted with a hug, Carole said to Aunty, “Life is too short to not have what you want.” She was referring to the car of Aunty’s dreams. Hmmm. Maybe one day – one day when Uncle is willing to hang up his nightmares and appreciate the smell of fine leather, a luxury ride, and realize that his fishing poles and fishing bucket can just as easily be accommodated in the cargo area of a GLK as it can in the bed of a Toyota truck. Until then, Aunty will wait. (This time, tell Uncle :))

Lipstick, lipstick on the lips

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Aunty

Korean dramas on DramaFever.com now have a LOT of commercials nowadays unless one subscribes to their Premium service for $9.95/month. No thank you, since Aunty uses those commercial breaks to get water to drink or restack a pile of papers that needs attention.

Anywho, one of the commercials was about long lasting lipstick by Revlon.

Okay, guys, this really isn’t a post for you. However, it reminds me of an incident at my favorite Bank of Hawaii branch (favorite banker Iz) while making a deposit and talking to a female teller. We were talking about men and how they still looked good if they gained weight, or when their hair becomes grey. It is a bit unfair, we agreed. “But,” Aunty said, “they envy us our underwear.”

That was like an AHAAA moment, don’tcha think? So now this has become a 2 parter for the beauty tips.

The first tip is to go out and treat yourself to some nice undies. Lacy, frilly, sexy, luxurious – and use it rather than put it in a drawer for “one of these days”. Nobody (or maybe not) will know how pretty you are under your clothes, but you will know, so enjoy!

The second tip is to go to Longs and look through the colors of Revlon’s Color Stay Ultimate Suede lipstick and see. Aunty bought #065 – Catwalk, a medium dark bright brownish burgundy color. It was $9.99 and not on sale. To Aunty, this was cheap because other long lasting lipsticks from Mac cost twice that amount and have 2 part applicators that are hard to control. Those also tend to dry up the lips and cake or flake after awhile (yuck when it does).

Aunty used the Revlon Color Stay last night before going to play some friendly hands of Texas Hold ’em poker with friends, using a lip liner pencil to outline. The color was less intense than what Aunty usually uses – but Aunty liked it! Easy to apply, not drying, one step, just like regular lipstick.

Aunty ate a plateful of ono food provided by poker pals (mahalo poker pals!), played 2 games of poker (one humiliating, one victorious), and came home to bocha (bathe) and sleep. The color was still on Aunty’s lips! That was a nice surprise!

This next morning, Aunty’s lips still had color, and lips felt nice – not all dried up the way those 2 applicator long lasting lipsticks feel after a few hours. (see picture on left of Aunty’s morning lips.)

Using makeup remover, Aunty removed all vestiges of the lipstick, just because. I don’t know if it is a lipstick to use every day, but for those special occasions when Aunty wants her lips to look nice with color, Revlon Color Stay will be Aunty’s choice.

Apologies in advance to the male audience – this was girl talk. Aunty feels rather smug now. Aunty is also wondering, do guys envy our underwear AND our makeup? Life is as fair and wonderful as we think it to be.

CashFlow Game Review

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Aunty

Aunty first played Robert Kiyosaki’s CashFlow game at a 3 day Rich Dad Education seminar in Las Vegas. Boy, was it fun! All of Aunty’s competitive juices kicked in, and everyone couldn’t wait for their turn to toss the dice and impatiently waited while people did the changes on their Income Statements.

Bam! Already, a lesson in accounting was built in, the kind of accounting that each of us really needs to do for our own circumstances. These income statement worksheets are available in each game box or a more scrutinizing one can be accessed online at RichDad.com/resources page. Career cards are shuffled and picked, each person having an occupation such as doctor, lawyer, teacher, truck driver, etc. with their own corresponding income and expenses. The goal of the game is to acquire enough passive income (income that your investments kick off) to cover ALL your expenses, thus eliminating the need for a job.

The game is played by taking turns rolling the dice and either landing on Opportunity, Market, Pay Check, or Doodad spaces. You then draw cards that correspond to those categories, and either buy, sell, trade, collect, or pay. Income Statement adjustments are constantly being made, with the goal of the game being out of the rat race of working to collect a pay check and using that pay check to pay for your expenses.

This game is something like Monopoly – on steroids. Usually it is limited to 90 minutes of play, otherwise people will want to keep playing and playing.

More lessons are learned when one loses than when one wins. People’s personalities and tendencies become very evident. That is perhaps the biggest lesson to be learned, your own tendencies, inhibitions, and faults.

Aunty HIGHLY recommends that everyone, no matter their age, to play the CashFlow game. It will change players’ mindset from self limits to what is possible.

One of the most dramatic changes Aunty saw was with Uncle. Uncle is like a rock. Solid, stable, careful, hardworking. When we purchased our Kaimuki house in 1985, it was to be our one and only personal abode. We weren’t ever going to move.

However, after the 2nd time of playing, it was as if a lightning bolt zinged through Uncle’s mind. ZAPPP!!! “Hey,” he says to me, “maybe we should sell our house…” WHAAAAT?? I was shocked. Uncle had done a 180 degree turn, willing to use our main asset (our house) as a vehicle to get better results for our future well being. THAT was progress, and all it took was a few rolls of the dice and some changes on a paper play sheet.

CashFlow games are played with friends, sometimes local organizations sponsor games (google search Cashflow game and your city), and now you can even play online. Play to learn. Learn in order to change. Change in order to grow and improve.

We haven’t sold our house – yet. However, we have used the maximum amount of equity that we had built up over the years in order to invest. Was it scary? You betcha, but it is turning out to be a great decision, building our passive income slowly and steadily until one day soon, Uncle can retire and get out of the rat race with enough perpetual passive income to support our lifestyle together.

Aunty has already used the CashFlow concept to purchase her latest (but not last) car.

Mahalo to Robert and Kim Kiyosaki for inventing this great way of teaching us in a really fun way.

Review of Bug Free Mind (in progress)

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Aunty

Many subscription based businesses present in Power Point fashion and read from the text – VERY boring stuff, even if the copy and content are excellent. Bug Free Mind has the best promo video* with state of the art elements that I have ever seen. Having someone voice the point first, and then having the text follow is a very pleasant learning and enforcing experience, and it was also very effective, since Aunty signed up after an enjoyable 12+ minutes of presentation. [*to view without entering any of your contact info, go to the sign up page, do not enter any info, and close the window, as if you were exiting the page. A window will then appear, “Are you sure you want to leave the page?” Click on “Stay on Page” and you will see the promo videos without signing up. The 2nd 12 minute one is a killer video!]

1st free lesson

The first free exercise is called “No mind” – in a 4 minute video. However, the exercise is not taught in this – according to the comments section, it will come in the 4th part. ??? I am a bit confused, but will stick it out and wait for the unfolding. Do not click on the “download” below the video because it doesn’t work – purposefully and unharmfully by the developers.

2nd free lesson

2013-10-06_13-35-02 Soon after, another video was sent via email “Tap the Magical Power of your Subconscious on Demand”. This was a 9 minute video about how our subconscious intuitive mind has slowly been discounted to the point of being unimportant. This is due to society, our environment, training, life in general. Thus, our thinking process tends to only listen to our mind, not our intuition. Our minds speak to us with words, our intuition whispers to us with feelings.

The homework or exercise to allow our subconscious magical powers was to look at a problem or dilemma, and ask for a solution, decision, choice; then forget about it. Our subconscious mind will be mulling this over, and the answer will come to us at some point in time. The best time to ask our question is just before falling asleep. Upon awakening the next morning, do not get up right away. Instead, drift between being asleep and being awake. Relax and allow your subconscious to speak to you in feelings.

Interesting – worth a try, don’t you think?

[note: each video will have an aggresive call to action to order, sign up, etc. Very compelling, but Aunty hasn’t signed up to join – yet.]

3rd free lesson

This one is entitled, “The ABC Guide to living a legendary life”, and is 12 minutes long. The secret to this is 1) figure out what you want, and 2) just work on that project until you succeed. It is important that you spend enough time designing what you want BEFORE you begin building it. This is important – figuring out what you want first. This rather long lesson ended with a sales pitch to reserve the books.

Notes from Genius Tour – Meir Ezra

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Aunty

Genius Tour June 14, 2013 Meir Ezra

Meir Ezra WOWed all of us. His presentation was filled with so many golden nuggets of information, splattered with exercises of both the mind and body, as well as some pretty funny dirty jokes in his rather strong and charming Israeli accent. When he comes to town again (he LOVES Hawaii!!), please go. [Update: Meir will be teaching again on August 17 and 18 at the Hyatt Place. To sign up, go to The Genius Tour and choose Hawaii.]

Here are the notes that I took from this intense 2 day seminar. Most of them are stand alone ideas that deserve time to absorb:

What do you expect from the seminar? If you don’t know what you expect, how will you know that you arrived there? We must define what we want.

Essence of genius is simplicity. Know the definition of words.

A professional is one who thinks it is simple.

What is truth? Exact time, place, form and event. Does not contain continuation. A Lie is the opposite time, place, form and event, and continues.

People are ethically good. We are the worst judge of ourselves, so when we do something bad, we feel bad. When we do something good, we feel good.

Must understand the mind – everything you deal with are minds.

How do you find a purpose, how do you find what your purpose is? It is your Fuel of the soul. What is your purpose? Write down your purpose. Look up the definition of purpose.

Ideas are conveyed by sentences. Sentences are conveyed by words or symbols. If you do not understand the sentence it is because there is a word or words that you do not know in the sentence. If you do not understand the sentences, you will not get the idea. Your IQ is defined by the number of WRONG words you know. Increase the number of words that you do know, and you increase your IQ.

People become criminal because of the number of words that they don’t understand. A good man comes across a word or symbol that he does not understand, which causes confusion, which causes sins. Once you go past a misunderstood word without figuring out what it means, your understanding goes away. The more words you do not understand, the stupider you become. Learn definitions of words from the dictionary.

The first dictionary was written by Webster in order to empower people to understand words so they have power and cannot be cheated.

Ethics – ability of the individual to uphold the moral code.

Justice – when an individual violates the moral code, the group puts force to get the individual to be ethical.

Moral code – a set of standards, laws, or rules that we hold ourselves to, based on our own group consensus.

If you have a problem, look at all the data of the problem in order to find a solution. For a problem to be a problem, it must contain a lie. If something becomes complex, it contains a lie. Find the lie and you will solve the problem. Simple brings the result immediately. (Task: change IX to 6 using just one continuous line *see solution at end)

An authority is someone who knows good P.R. Look at their result, by their actions, you can judge how they are.

Insanity is not being there – being in the past when you need to be in the present.

Spirit – this thing that knows. We need to clear false data.

Love is the flow of admiration and sympathy. Love is very close to hate, flipping very fast. Love can be used to control and cage. Use love to take the person to full potential, not cage or control.

The view point that you take defines your life. If you think you can, you can. If you think you cannot, you cannot. 99% of the people do not try, are not willing to show up.

Clever = ability to recognize truth. Smallest number in the universe is 2 = force, counterforce.

Greatness is ability to continue to love man despite all invitation to do otherwise. If you can continue to love them, no sorrow or pain. Handle the spirit, not the physical.

BREAK – after we came back, Meir had us do exercises – squat against wall, push ups for men

Prerequisite for success is to become unserious, charging toward your purpose and be sure of your success. Success is ability to experience motion, as well as the ability to control motion.

What is seriousness – when interest is intense because of penalty. Attention is stuck in the past. I better do that or else something will happen. When you are serious, you get slow and stuck on what you do not want – one always gets what his attention is on. You get what you validate. Look at the problem from an unserious point of view.

Child rearing. If they are doing something bad, ignore it (non validation). Every child has a job that they have to do – it is an agreement that they help – more than just chores, it is their job and responsibility. Let your children make their own decisions in order to complete their jobs.

Competence is the ability to do what you do when you are doing it.

Any area where you are serious about you are also incompetent. The past influences your present behavior to such a degree that if you are not aware of it, you cannot control it. A being causes his own feeling. Smile when you feel lousy. Force yourself to be the cause. After an impact you make a decsion – a resolution to act in a certain way “I will never do that again” = no-no because you have taken away your free will.

Whenever we do something wrong, rather than find or make excuses of why we did that wrong deed, just be able to admit that we are wrong.

Serious people are not serious because of what is happening now, but because of what happened in the past. To combat, look at data in front of you, not what happened. Evaluate with what is in front of you – look at everything as “interesting”.

When you are serious about something in your life, you fail. Measure by statistics, not by feelings.

When you make a decision, you feel better. Crisis is a moment of decision. People never lose their ability, what you lose is your willingness. Easy to ignite the willingness by igniting your purpose.

The less decisive you are the more emotionally bankrupt you are. Stress is the sum of all indecisions.

Cycle of action = Start, Change, Stop.

When you start something, you also need to have closure. Exercise = make a list of ALL the open cycles that we have in our life. Do a target list with closure date, and take one or two a day. Stress is only the sum of all your open cycles.

Unluckiness is too many open cycles of action. Close the cycles.

If you have a past time in your life that “money is bad”, and you change your thinking and decide that you want money, you must go back to the exact time, place, form and event that you formed your original idea and eliminate it – it is not your current truth. Anything that you know about, you can control it.

Example with daughter relationship: find the point in time that caused the problem. The problem is that you want to be right all the time, so people do not change because in order to change, you must be able to admit you are wrong. Learn correct data to make decisions to fix problems.

Production is basis of morale.

Knowledge, Responsibility, Control work together.

Fear – a state of imperception, almost always true that it doesn’t exist. Getting info from what is in your past, not the present.

Power is speed of particle flow.

A person becomes old when they think they can become hurt. Being careful = being serious = slow.

When you want cooperation, align their purposes with yours.

Force does not bring solution.

When you are in a painful or negative situation, you are missing tools. You are good in one area, but the other 6 areas you are not good at.

Coaching – what do you do, what do you want, what else do you want. Quantify with result of result and time. Define targets.

Training is key for success = getting better results with less effort. If no training = growing upset. Beginning of any upset is an incomplete cycle of action. Usually upset because not willing to communicate or look at the problem. Get the ability to look.

AFTER LUNCH BREAK

Difference between a professional and an amateur

An amateur

thinks things are complicated and unpredictable

happy with good enough

frustrated – he is the victim, bad luck, etc

operates from fear (state of imperception – what you do not see, feel, hear), and tries to win

avoids risk – does not confront. When you don’t confront, it becomes a lie, it stays

loves to be comfortable

focus on the past (insanity-stuck on the past)

being the problem – everything is a problem

they know what they know and accept that life is like that.

focuses on present time and future while he ignores the past being the solution –

A professional

knows things are simple and can predict the results and time

happy with perfection only, no plan B, only plan A

effective, he is the cause of the good AND the bad – trusting your decision

confident and knows he will win.

Manages risk – confronts.

Ignores current comfort level for future, higher comfort level (price of neglect is higher than the price of discipline)

Professionals learn and improve continuously.

Mind thinking

The past is always different from the future. We learn continuously to learn from our past, then we go forward knowing, and then inventing new truths.

Exercise to show the mind. Close eyes, imagine a cat, point to where the cat is, open eyes. We all pointed to out side of ourselves, not our brains. Thus, our mind is not our brain, but it is a series of pictures, millions of pictures that we have taken over our lifetime(s). Our brain takes 20 pictures per second. The purpose of our mind is to keep us safe. Sometimes, it goes coo-coo or on auto pilot and thus we do things that are not good for us out of fear or past conditioning.

Logical thinking is ability to see similar things as similar, different things asdifferent, identical things as identical.

Analytical is ability to take data and compute with it.

TONES (Aunty thinks this was one of the most powerful and useful knowledge of the seminar)

Did you ever try to communicate to a person and communicating to that person was like hitting your head on the wall.

The emotional tone scale – 24 tones on a scale from 0 – 4.0. People have 2 tones: chronic and social. The people with tones on the upper scale are more productive and those on the lower scale will try to bring you down.

The WORSE tone is 1.1 = covert hostility (hostile but they don’t want you to know about it) These are those people who Meir calls vampires. They smile at you but stab you in the back. If you have people like this in your life, get away, stay away from them, for they are the source of many of your problems, downfall. Traits of the Covert Hostiles:

speaks in generality (always, everyone),
finds the wrong source of the problem, makes other people wrong
cannot complete cycles of action, blaming others for incompletion
doesn’t improve
has friends and associates who do not succeed in life
are never sick mentally – only their children or their friends are sick
when act as relay, will only relay bad news
no sense of ownership, will take your things

(in Meir’s Ethics and Finance class – he will teach how to recognize these vampires)

People are operate at their own certain tone will not be able to communicate with others on different tones. Must be at same tone level or close to the same tone. If different levels of tone, lower tone people will want to take everyone down.

If a person is below antagonism (low tone), you cannot sell them. Low tone people will find anything wrong with everything.

To “read” the tone of the person, listen to their communication delay or lag. If there is communication lag, the person is in low tone, i.e. saying “I don’t know” or “I’ll get back to you”, or not answering the question.

To sell someone, you must be in the same tone as them to reach them, and bring them up to a higher tone.

Marketing

Most business do not need branding, they need marketing that sells whatever you are selling. To sell, survey your customers find out what they want.

Example of veterinarian’s business. Found out that people are upset about fleas and ticks, so put ad “FLEAS FLEAS FLEAS TICK TICKS We kill them all. Call 1 800 kill fleas”. Give mystery, and they will call.

Example of Sausage business: did survey: 2 most important: size of cases & grills well. Changed size of boxes, put “grills well” on box. New box sold 68 times more sausages than the standard. Tone of people who barbeque – very high – enthusiastic – used bright colors.

Use written, verbal surveys of the marketplace. If you know the tone scale, know the survey results, know the business organization.

DAY 2

Showed us pictures and asked what was wrong. Many of us invented what we thought we saw. We see a part of what is front of us and we assume the whole. When we assume, we are incorrect. To be able to observe without assumption is to be able to see what is really there. When we assume, we can be cheated. Our responses are automatic, but we must get off of our automatic responses and assumptions, but must raise our observational skills and really look.

All the pictures that Meir showed had nothing that measured data, such as scoreboard, control panels.

In business, you must have measurements at every time period of every department, every personnel.

Start – Change – Stop A robot does the tasks assigned to it. When you tell a person what to do and they do it, they become robots.

When you communicate what it is you want to have (the Stop), and they figure out what to do, and they become the person you need.

Start is what you are/mind

Change is the doing/body

Stop is the having/product

A product is an exchange, and exchange is a product. Product is a completed thing that has an exchange value within or outside the activity. It is not a product unless it has been exchanged.

Exchange is giving something for something else.

Exchange – four types

criminal exchange – stealing. Giving, giving, giving to friends and you don’t demand anything back is a criminal exchange.
Partial exchange – promise something but don’t deliver exactly what is agreed upon
fair exchange – payment for what is agreed upon
exchange in abundance – give more than what was agreed – they will give you something

Exchange either flows or it is stuck. You can improve exchange in any one or more of these ways:

1 .quantity

2. quality

3. give more time

4. extras

DRILL write a list of everyone that you are in an exchange relationship with and look at what type of exchange you have with them.

Make a table: list of people, what condition of exchange they are in, what am I going to do.

Look over the list, and give in abundance, i.e. thank you letter, gift, acknowledgement,

What is the product?

Must be able to identify the product in order to be successful. The product must be defined. Only if you can define the product can you measure it. If you cannot see or define what the product is, then you cannot achieve it. When you do not succeed, it is because your ability to name/define the product is missing. You can measure only if you define what the product is..

A product of a teacher = student duplicating the materials taught and uses it successfully to improve their lives and the lives of others bringing about a new civilization. A good teacher cares more about the students than cares about the money. “You are important to me” is what reaches people. Rather than “I am interesting” people want to know that you are interested in them. To be interested, you need to be a professional and not an amateur.

A product of a business owner = viable expanding, prosperous organization with increasing money to owner’s reserves and a very well paid staff.

A product of an army = an opponent with a more ameniable state of mind.

A product of a husband and wife is a spouse who maximizes their potential and is succeeding in their life. Should not be caging of the other person.

Business Structures

People typically do a business structure with the Director on the top with different departments under it such as marketing, management, sales, accounting, legal.

Meir’s structure is a very LONG big chart of columns that is on a continuum – a cylindrical chart, like a barrel. Steve Jobs got from E. Hubbard the cylindrical chart of 7 areas and Apple took off.

Every company needs 7 areas, even if the company is just one person. The area that is the lowest defines our overall product. Shows what they need to produce and how to measure.

Everyone pushes to same direction so the energy is output, not input = no fighting.

7 areas of the cylindrical chart:

Executive
Human Resource
Sales
Treasury
Technical
Qualitycontrol/correction division (corrected organization and its people) income/# of people
New public

Success definition: Achieving the postulated (self created truth) results or more of the desirable results compared to an earlier time. You become the CAUSE of changes, not the EFFECT.

An individual who is not working in life to remedy or to make better the actual conditions which he finds around him is not liable to succeed. And if you want a good definition of success, it would just be that: a person who can look around him and see what has to be done, what has to be remedied, what’s actual, and then actually can do and does do something about it. And that person is about eighty-four light-years above normal.

How does one know if he has achieved more, less or the same of the things wanted? By using MEASUREMENTS. Every area of our life is measurable.

Without measurement:

one cannot know who won
one cannot know if he failed or succeeded,
one cannot know what needs to be corrected
once cannot know if change is needed
one does not know what is right and what is wrong
you can not have management even if one measures but doesn’t inspect, one cannot manage. It is here that we have operating on opinions and rumors vs. operating on facts, or you are guessing.

The universe is divided in two:

those things that can be measured and;
those things that cannot be measured.

In business, only one thing cannot be measured: that which has not been done or produced.

A person who resists measurements: 1. is too unorganized and so has no time for anything and is already non productive, or, 2. is producing nothing of value.

Why do we need to measure our success? Without measurements we will make mistakes. Balance sheets are for the government – to show how much taxes we need to pay. They are not a true picture of success. Many businesses that measure with profit and loss statements and balance sheets show profit, but the owner has nothing in their account. Meir’s system is a different way of measurements, formulas, specific steps to give an accurate picture of how the business is doing, and how to improve production and profit.

STATISTICS

The purpose of statistics is to maintain accurate and continuous visual (graphed) records of the activities of the organization for the use of the executives and board of directors in planning future activities and analyzing past and current activities. To help the growth of the organization by maintaining a historical record of that growth.

Get your statistics, and you will be able to improve.

From info, put into graphs, look at the statistics. You cannot get the true picture just looking at numbers. You get the picture when it has been put into a visual picture, i.e., a graph line.

Statistics behave 6 ways. Conditions are states of operation. Each condition has specific steps, formulas in order to improve.

Non Existence – brand new, bankrupt (very low graph)
TheDanger – moving but not in control (not organized yet)
Emergency – handle it and go to normal, don’t handle, can go down
Normal – exact formula
Affluence (very fast up)
Power (affluence goes to new normal)

Affluence is most dangerous stage because many people cannot handle it. Most people will spend and lose their money when and if they win a million dollars. If you win a million dollars, first economize, then you pay down every possible bill, invest in what already makes income for you, find a new way of affluence and continue. This then becomes Power.

Beyond Non Existence is a liability, not helpful, but bad , then enemy, then treason (betrayal after trust), then confusion.

You inherit the condition that you fail to assign or deal with. In an emergency situation, you must promote promote promote. Use what worked in the past. Change your operating basis, get the employees working. Economize, find the cause of your problem.

Other ways for a business to succeed other than the org. chart, statistics, ethics and money, finance: 1) no ethics, cheating, 2) product is amazing (like Google), 3) unbelievable founder (like Steve Jobs).

When the explanation for lack of success does not push the statistics up, the explanation is incorrect.

The Source of Delays

Normally, the CEO shoots orders, the VP level is shocked/bypassed, and the staff does policy strategy from direct orders from the CEO. The CEO gets non compliance, leads to emergencies, leads the manager to want to know everything, leads the manager to stop the flow of production. Happening because of lack of control of the manager who blocks production, tries to recreate by themselves.

The inability to correctly manage workloads by staff and executives is the main reason for delays. The solution is to have a tool to manage the workload.

The purpose of time management is efficiency. Efficiency is minimum effort for maximum result.

Your power is defined by how fast you are. The more efficient you become, the more powerful you will be. The more delays, the less power you have. People delay because they do not want to confront. When you introduce a delay, you always bring about a problem.

The prosperity of a business is directly proportional to the speed of the flow of its particles.

To prosper, service must be as close to instant as possible. Remove delays.

Anything that stops or delays the flow of a business or delays or puts a customer or product on WAIT is an enemy of that business.

Speed of service is of comparable magnitude to quality of service, and where exaggerated ideas of quality exist they must become secondary to speed. Quantity before Quality.

DRILL: Write down all the places in your business where speed is slow – it can be customer service, issuing of quote or invoice, answering the phone, replying to emails, etc.

Your homework is: improve the speed of all the slow points.

Why are you not as efficient as you should be? Executives and staff lacking workable management tools. People don’t like a job if it has been assigned to them and they haven’t agreed to it. Important to make agreements that all parties accept and agree to.

CONFIDENCE

Money is an idea backed by confidence. If you can create confidence, you will have money.

Idea – a formulated thought or opinion

Backed – to support by material or moral assistance or assured.

Confidence – trustful; without fear or suspicion, faith that one will act in the right, proper or effective way.

How do you get confidence? Meir drew a triangle. These are the component parts of Understanding. Life is about understanding. Only life trusts life.

1st point is Affinity – your level on the tone scale, a scale of emotion, closeness to each other.

2^nd point is Reality – level of agreement (I like this, you like this too)

3^rd point is Communication – having your ideas accepted.

Confidence is reality. If you create enough agreements, you will have a sale. You need 650 agreements to get a deal.

To be successful in sales, you must learn to create reality. There is exact technology on how to get reality, confidence.

The next time that Meir comes to Hawaii, he will be doing a 2 day workshop for us, spending one day on Businesses and the next day on Parent Academy. His son Michael is a fine example of great parenting, as Meir, very proudly, showed us his graduation ceremony/speech to his fellow schoolmates at a school in Florida, with a curriculum program that you could only pass with 100%.

It was an awesome weekend. Time literally flew and Aunty’s brain felt like it was exploding in different directions. Wow. Hope you all can be there next time.

*2 solutions to make IX = 6 with one continuous line . 1. Add a “S” = SIX, or 2. Add a numeric 6 = IX6 = 6.

Has your Atlas shrugged? Review of Upper Cervical Hawaii

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Aunty

2013-05-27_22-22-48

Aunty read Ayn Rand’s book “Atlas Shrugged” way back in high school. I was reminded of this, not because of politics or literature, but because I learned that we have an Atlas bone! It is like a plate that holds our head in place, kinda like Atlas holding the world on his shoulders. It is also and more commonly known as our upper cervical.

Cousin Teresa let me in on a fantastic lead – Dr. Joe Breuwet at Upper Cervical Hawaii. Dr Breuwet adjusted her upper cervical. Teresa has had some incredible results – better hearing, better posture, and an unexpected bonus, weight loss of 2 pounds per month for the last year and a half!

Since Aunty has had chronic neck pain and shoulder pain for most of her adult life (that’s a long time), and tinnitis (like ringing crickets) in her right ear for about 5 years, a visit to see Dr. Breuwet sounded like a good idea.

The first visit was purely information gathering and giving. An explanation about the upper cervical, spine, posture, etc. was interesting – a cross between Chinese meridians and a spinal anatomy lesson. Aunty’s measurements were taken – not standard height and weight, but horizontal evenness of hip and shoulders as well as length of legs in proportion to each other.

Hmmm. Aunty was only off by 1/4″ between right and left shoulders and right and left hip, as well as only 1/4″ shorter on the left leg. Not bad, maybe? However, the weight between the left side and the right side of Aunty’s body (stood with one foot on one scale and the other on another) was a rather big 18 pounds!

Okay, maybe I was now ready to admit that I could be crooked and an adjustment might do me some good. Several x-rays were taken. I’m not a big fan of x-rays because supposedly the radiation never leaves the body or some such stuff, but for this treatment, x-rays are the order of the day. No adjustments were made, and a follow up appointment with adjustments was made for the following week.

Appointment #1

On the day of adjustment, Aunty was really feeling like her neck and shoulders were exceedingly tight and sore and looking forward to seeing what an upper cervical adjustment would be like. I was given a card of “Misalignment Factors” with numbers corresponding to my L(eft) or R(ight) atlas laterality, lower angle, frontal plane, atlas rotation, axis rotation, short leg L, and phase of degeneration at 2 (out of 3). I could check on what my numbers represented online at Dr. Breuwet’s patient website as well as see what the correction corrects. [It is a very cool tool showing exactly what happens with an adjustment. Go to www.chirocorrection.com/uppercervicalhawaii, click on “enter” and then choose “no I’m a visitor”. You will get an idea of what happens with the adjustment if you play with the boxes on the bottom (body, head, spine, etc.) and see the difference before adjustment and with adjustment.]

Aunty lay sideways on a little adjustment table and Dr. Breuwet made little pushes that felt rather wimpy to the area a little below and to the back of my left ear. And that was it. Really? That’s all? Aunty was hoping for a hallelujah cracking of the neck and a stretch and pull and shake rattle and roll! To tell the truth, after that adjustment, I didn’t know what I felt, and the next step was to get more x-rays done of my corrected upper cervical. I was then taken to a side room to lie down in the semi-darkness on super comfortable lounge chairs with soft hippy music until I was called out.

I still wasn’t sure if I felt better. I still had some ringing in my left ear but the sound is always much greater in the evening when it is quiet versus during the day when there is so much ambient noise. I left after some brief instructions about how to sleep and dos and don’ts about my computer posture. I felt taller.

Aunty went home and started doing her computer work (Aunty does a LOT of computer work) with her usual improper neck and body posture due to having a lap top on a standard desk and a dinky chair. After about 2 hours of sitting that way, Aunty looked up and felt a very audible “POP!” – almost like a crack below the ear. Then, all of a sudden, the ringing got loud (maybe louder?) and Aunty’s neck felt like it was caught in a very painful vise grip, which cause my shoulders to also become painful.

Pain is a funny thing. You really notice it when you have it, and you really don’t notice it when it has subsided. I had not noticed the absence of pain until after the “POP!” which brought on the pain that was absent earlier.

Aunty could have called and gotten a corrective adjustment but instead waited until her next appointment in 4 days. Meanwhile, the pain on my neck and shoulders had subsided but was still present. The ringing in my ears was still very loud.

Appointment #2

On Monday, Dr. Breuwet measured my leg lengths and said, Yup, the upper cervical went back to the original and that usually people’s initial adjustments last for at least a day to 4 days instead of a few hours. He also said that I should have called the next day to be scheduled in earlier. He did the same wimpy gentle adjustment, Aunty rested for 10 minutes on the soft comfy chairs, and felt a slight difference. For one thing, the tinnitis was less loud. I had a slight woozy feeling, not quite vertigo.

The following day, I had a headache – which is unusual for me. I took a couple of capsules of Nattokinese (see post on Natto) because that is what Aunty does when she has a headache. Aunty’s theory is that if the headache is caused by blockages in the veins or arteries, natto will clear it away. Perhaps having an adjustment on my upper cervical releases stuff, causing headaches that may be due to blockage. In any case, it doesn’t hurt and taking Nattokinese and having a short nap does wonders towards dispelling Aunty’s headaches.

The neck and shoulder pain were ….. hard to describe. Like it was there but not there. I felt the same, yet different. Because the adjustment is so gentle, it is hard to say if it was really making a difference.

On Wednesday, Aunty had a nice long wonderful massage at Hikari Shiatsu by Dick Murakami, and he thought that upper cervical adjustments were potentially awesome – the principle and practice of it could account for a lot of people’s problems. I was looking forward to the next adjustment, which was to happen the following day.

Adjustment #3

Yup, Aunty was off again – they first thing one does is lie flat on the table, draw up the knees, lift the butt, and then stretch out the legs. By looking at the feet being in or out of alignment with each other, Dr. Breuwet can tell if it went out of kilter.

Again, the very gentle wimpy pressure behind and below Aunty’s ear area, then up slowly, and a trip to the hippy music room of semi-dark to lounge on the big comfy reclining chairs. Again, a slight headache, though I do think the ringing in my ears are slightly less loud.

Aunty got a riser for her laptop and an external keyboard for the computer table so ergonomically the eyes are looking straight at the computer screen and the hands are at the right angle for computering. This should help except it feels strange having my head facing straight rather than down, and it also feels like I have more stress on my neck and shoulders because I am being so careful about not knocking it out of the position it was adjusted to.

I am keeping my head still so that it doesn’t go out of whack again – and I betcha it has. 35+ years of the upper cervical being slightly off means 35+ years of muscle memory that needs to be trained. However, the effort is making my head feel heavier. I better ask Doc about that the next time I see him. I also had an intense pain on my lower right cheek when I touched it. It lasted for about 2 days, and then it went away. What was that about? Gotta ask Doc.

Adjustment #4

Aunty wasn’t as out of whack as before! Only a little out of whack, and Dr. Breuwet did the same gentle wimpy touches behind my left ear and measured leg length to make sure he adjusted me just right. He said not to baby my head and neck – with each adjustment to the proper position, the muscle memory will become righter and righter (forgive Aunty’s grammar).

I asked about that intense pain on my cheek – I had remembered that I was hit with a hard object at that point 32 years ago. He said that with adjustments, people sometimes experience re-tracings – old stuff comes back. Stuff from before that the body compensated for. Headaches also can occur (Aunty does have more headaches now) and they go away.

The saga continues. Aunty’s head feels a bit like a bowling ball. A heavy bowling ball. My neck’s range of motion is greater without pain. Shoulders are still stiff, ears still have tinnitis. In fact, the ringing in my ears sometimes sounds like stereo – not just from my left ear, but in the whole head. And not all the time, but once in awhile, the sound would just jump into concert mode. Maybe that is good? We’ll see.

So far, the best bonus has been the new set up for my workspace with the laptop screen at eye level, and a new keyboard with numeric pad below.

Adjustment #5

Aunty’s leg lengths and her hips were even! What that meant was that the last adjustment was holding – even though Aunty’s head still felt like a bowling ball. Dr. Breuwet said I didn’t have to consciously keep my head in place, I could do my favorite neck rolls in moderation – hurray! Now Aunty can feel like relaxing a bit more.

This time, a few adjustments on the lower back and pelvis – similar, but much more gentle than chiropractic adjustments I have had in the distant past from crunch, crack traditional chiropractors. And this time, since Aunty didn’t need any upper cervical adjustment, I could bypass the resting period on the comfy chairs in the dim room with hippy music.

A young muscular man and his wife in the waiting area asked me how long I had been getting adjusted, and if it worked. I answered, “Not long, and not sure.” As Aunty walked out of the office, another woman came out and as we rode down in the elevator together, I asked her the same thing, “How long, and did it work?” For her, it was 6 months, and her shooting pain from an accident was relieved after suffering through other therapies for a year.

The crickets stereo in my ears are still singing. Something of a different pitch though. Hard to explain.

*Hoboy, Aunty went out of alignment yesterday. I could tell because my head now feels like it is crooked, and my neck and shoulder pain have returned – I had forgotten how it felt since it was actually gone (the absence of pain is not felt). Tonight, my left upper arm is feeling very sore – as if I had carried something too heavy. I am REALLY looking forward to tomorrow’s adjustment. **When I awoke this morning, the intense neck and shoulder pain have subsided, and the upper left arm soreness is much less. Seems like pain comes back intensely for about a day when it goes out of whack, and then moderates to slight pain. Will ask Doc.

Adjustment #6

Doc said I was a bit off and did adjustments – actually he did several pushes (still very gentle pushes), more than normal – after which Aunty went into the comfy chair room with hippy music for a 10 minute rest. Since my adjustments seem to be holding for 6 days, having 2 adjustments per week is a bit too many, but since I was already scheduled for 2 a week, I will be seeing Doc in a couple of days – and the upper cervical should be in the corrected position, for at least another few more days. What this gives Aunty is the opportunity to do more with her neck, head and body with less fear of having it out of whack with a long wait before the next correction appointment.

Asking Doc (notice I call him “Doc” now – getting friendly I suppose) about the intense pain that subsided the next day didn’t produce much conversation, more of a “hmmm” since I also mentioned how Uncle didn’t think much of this therapy in the next breath. [note to Aunty: sometimes some things are best left unsaid.]

So, anyways, Aunty’s head feels less like a bowling ball, I think I am getting used to this slightly different feeling! Also, the ringing in my ears have become stereophonic again. Neck and shoulders feel pretty good, with the neck feeling a bit stiff.

I did a lot of neck rolls and stretches tonight and am wondering if I did some misalignment. My left arm feels so heavy and weak – as if I had bowled 4 games. Interesting.

Adjustment #7

I think that I did a bit too many neck rolls, because Doc had to do his gentle pushes on Aunty’s upper cervical to get her into alignment again. I asked if my heavy sore left arm could also be a re-tracing of a past injury, and he said it could be. A lot of stuff is brought back out to the surface before it can go away.

I asked why my neck doesn’t crack as many times as it used to (Aunty’s neck would crackle pop crackle like popcorn popping before) and Doc said those cracks were caused by spaces between the discs, and now that Aunty’s neck is getting more into alignment, the spaces are also getting addresses and corrected. I kind of miss those crackling cracks, but it also feels like Aunty’s neck is much looser, less tight, and Aunty’s head feels lighter and sitting in a good spot. Tinnitis is still there, but a higher pitch coming from a bit higher than the left ear. Shoulders actually feel good! They only hurt if pressure is pushed onto them, like in shiatsu massage.

Went to a meeting last night and sat on the far right which caused Aunty’s neck to be fixed in a left turn face to the stage. Shoulders and neck quite sore. Can’t wait for the adjustment coming up the next day.

Adjustment #8

Indeed, Aunty was a bit out of alignment, and Doc adjusted. I can tell when I go out – a feeling like my shoulders are being gripped or my neck feeling very tight. A bit of adjustment was also done to my lower body. My head feels less like a bowling ball – more like I have a lighter head that wants to find its proper sitting place.

Adjustment #9

Slightly off again – I could feel a “crack” when I was in the shower and shampooing my hair after a very tiring garage sale on the weekend. I thought that I would be way off, but Doc said it was just a little. Am glad for that – seems as if it is wanting to really hold in place.

This has been week 4 and I still have ringing in my left ear, but it sometimes also feels like the crickets are ringing in my whole head. There is a blissful no-pain zone on my shoulders. My neck still feels a bit stiff – it may never feel 100% wonderful because of what my x-rays showed – years of being out of whack with my neck bones stuck in place have caused some spurs. At least this therapy will prevent further deterioration and discomfort.

Adjustment #10

After the bent legs, butt up, legs out check, Doc said I was holding the adjustment! That was a bit surprising, but good to know. Just a bit of pelvic adjustment and Aunty was out the door. Aunty kind of misses all the cracks and crackles that her neck used to make when doing rotations, but it is a good result – something about the gaps from being out of alignment causing the noise not being good.

Aunty is at a 2 day seminar and not looking forward to the stiffness of neck and shoulders that I usually get at these intensive learning sessions, so we’ll see how it goes after this weekend.

Adjustment #11

Doc said that I was only slightly out. It is actually not how much off my atlas alignment is – it is how much and how long my body is compensating for it going out of alignment. After a few gentle tweaks, Aunty was now ready to graduate to the next step – once a week rather than twice a week adjustments. That will be good, although Aunty always looked forward to the visits and has been very lucky each time in finding parking on the street, or at Don Quijote’s lot if necessary.

I still have the ringing in my left ear, but rather than 1 big cricket chirping, it sounds like 2 or 3 littler crickets chirping together. Interesting.

Day 2 after adjustment #11 – a very interesting experience for Aunty. See Aunty can’t look up for any length of time, so painting the ceiling or changing a light bulb is very very tricky for me – it would feel as if my neck is broken and then become painful with stiff aching shoulders for days. It used to feel like my head had toppled off my shoulders, like a puppet head on a string. However, on this day, Aunty had to paint a shower ceiling as well as the edges around it, and a corner curio unit which had 3 levels, and so it entailed looking up with head turned. These tasks were done – took Aunty all afternoon to finish painting (Aunty is a slow painter), and other than a slight “Crick!” in the neck a couple of times, Aunty was fine! Hmmm. That’s very good! Very good indeed! Except – I won’t tell Uncle otherwise he will be less helpful about changing light fixtures and painting rooms if he knows that I can do it now.

Adjustment #12

This has been the longest period of time between adjustments – 7 days. After the painting on the ceiling and not suffering extreme neck pain for days, this adjustment was very much looked forward to. Aunty also was doing a lot of lifting and carrying, and neck and shoulders are a bit tight feeling today.

Subsequent adjustments

Because Aunty would still go out of alignment every week, Doc did more x-rays to fine tune and change the adjustment. Since then, Aunty has had the alignment hold for longer than a week, and will soon be going on a schedule of once every 2 weeks! The new adjustment has brought on neck and shoulder pain again, which may be a retracing. One huge difference is that Aunty can bend her head back, looking at the night sky or while shampooing her hair in the shower without the normal pain of her arms and neck. The saga continues, and for the better!

Halfway there

Me thinks Aunty is not a good subject because of bad habits. Doc would tell me to limit my computer use, or sit properly, take breaks, stand half the time with a different set up, make sure my back is straight in the chair, etc. Well, Aunty would have fanatically long periods of time on Fridays playing Candy Crush Saga, and lately Aunty’s upper cervical adjustments were on Friday. This would result in feeling good right after Doc adjusted me, getting on the computer and clearing candies and jellies from the board for hours, and then feeling terribly sore and achy on the neck and shoulders.

As a result, Aunty will do the marathon playing of Candy Crush Saga on Thursdays, and go for adjustments on Friday. Hopefully this works and the adjustments will last because of good behavior during the week for the first 6 days after seeing Doc.

Constantly needing tweaking

I almost feel sorry for Doc, but my upper cervical still needs adjustments every week and the old neck and shoulder pain has returned, although not as intense as before. Sitting on the dentist chair for a couple of hours last week didn’t help, and my next appointment has been scheduled for the day after my crown replacement.

Aunty has also been under a lot of stress lately, and a much needed massage (wonderful deep shiatsu by Dick Murakami of Hikari Shiatsu 955-5125) with emphasis on neck and shoulders is happening tomorrow. Blissful gentle pain. Yum!

At the Senior Fair to help

Aunty went to help at Doc’s booth at Hawaii’s Senior Fair. It was very interesting and fun to talk to people in line waiting to be scanned. Every one had different readings. One that stands out in my memory is an attractive woman, probably Aunty’s age, who was born with one side of her neck muscles too short, and the other was long. She was born in Malaysia and never treated for her condition because of poverty. As a result, her head was always tilted to the side, and she grew up with ridicule and cruelty. She wore a little visor hat and it was not evident at first, but as Aunty listened and looked, the location of the woman’s eyes had evolved to be parallel with her shoulders – one closer to her cheek, the other closer to her forehead.

The wonder of human adaptation to whatever life throws at us! I am not sure if she made an appointment to see Doc Breuwet, because having that condition for that many years is not fixable, but it would be an interesting case for him. If only, if only, she had been treated with the good hands of someone like Doc when she was first born.

Long story short

This post started as a review of Doc Breuwet and the treatment received at Upper Cervical Hawaii. Over 7 months have gone by, and Aunty was unable to see Doc for any adjustment for the last 2 months (because Uncle had some health issues and Aunty was being Nurse Ratched).

During these last 2 months, Aunty’s neck, shoulder, and head have been feeling “normal” – even after helping to paint one of the ceilings in our home. After weeks of being Uncle’s nurse and dealing with the stress of being a full time caregiver, excruciating pain in neck and shoulders occurred, and an appointment was made for an adjustment a few days later.

By the time of the appointment, Aunty’s neck and shoulders were only slightly painful, and surprisingly, Aunty’s Atlas was only slightly out of adjustment!

So, although Aunty’s results have not been dramatically life changing, Aunty does believe that Upper Cervical Hawaii has helped get her head on straight. Less pain and tightness in neck and shoulder, with occasional reoccurance of extreme pain, and slightly quieter tinnitis – ringing in Aunty’s left ear. Years of poor posture and work habits have resulted in damage that cannot be reversed, but can at least be halted and relieved to a certain degree.

The last scan and diagnosis will be interesting.

Recommended!

Aunty would recommend this treatment – especially if people suffer from chronic headaches or pains from an accident or fall.

The downside is that most medical insurance companies do not cover most “alternative” therapies, and the full cost of the treatment is on the patient. Unfortunate, and hopefully that will change in the future.

Get your Atlas straightened up in order to get your head on straight, and get relief!

Fiverr.com is even better than kim chee soup!

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Aunty

auntyhonalulu (1) Aunty used Fiverr.com a year ago in order to buy a cartoon rendition of herself to use on business cards, as a logo, etc. I was looking for a hand drawn rendition since the Fiverr seller had a hand drawn self portrait on his profile. A few weeks later, a computer generated image of something that looked like Cinderella’s brown fairy godmother in a muumuu arrived (see picture on left). Aunty was not satisfied and thus put Fiverr.com in the “Nah, not now” category.

This year, Aunty decided to change the look of Aunty’s avatar (picture that links to an email address/user Guy's cartoon Aunty name when posting on other sites) so tried Fiverr.com again. Aunty can be cheap sometimes and $5 is cheap! Granted, Uncle did a drawing for me for free, but it looked a little bit too much like a happy witch with stringy hair, no lips and one squinted eye, so needless to say I decided not to use his version of Aunty.

revision cartoon aunty2 I paid $5 and hired a young female artist going by the user name Eliana93fer to make a caricature of Aunty from a photo. Shazaaam! I love it! It is now my new avatar, on my new business cards, and also on Facebook and this website.

I also met Chad Lamothe on Fiverr.com. His user name is chicagoslim. For $5, Chad did a 18 minute video critiquing the HonoluluAunty.com website, blasted it on almost every level, and also made many suggestions that were super duper.

So, Aunty hired him to redo the old blah website, and tadaaah! Aunty now has a better looking, better performing, more user friendly website!! The redo cost more than $5, a hundred times more, but it has been worth every penny. I am hoping that Chad will do a guest post on websites later on for Aunty.

I highly recommend Fiverr.com – with a caveat. Some of the vendors are mediocre, some are good, some are awesome! For $5, one cannot go wrong, unless you really rather have kim chee soup, mini serving, take out.

Favorite Restaurants

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Aunty

Recommended if you want to impress with reasonable yuppy yummy food:

2013-04-23_18-07-51 Lucky Belly, 50 N. Hotel Street in Downtown Honolulu on the corner of Smith and Hotel Streets. This is like high end food – what you would expect at Alan Wong’s if he really scaled his prices down – in a kind of grungy area. Once you are inside, it is very young and hip looking with small tables and big rectangle plates. Not only will it impress your out of town guests because of how it shines like a jewel in a dingy part of town, but the food, the food, the food! Simply yet fancy. The Shrimp Gyoza is to die for – only 3 pieces of gyoza filled with shrimp that you can taste surrounded by a delicious soy bean avocado and ponzu sauce. The salads are super beautiful, not sure if I like it, but they are super reasonably priced ($5-$9!). The ramen comes in a big deep bowl and the noodles and broth are wonderful. My mouth is watering just thinking about the food here. Aunty doesn’t really recommend the sandwiches – maybe because of the bread. Thanks to Pal Wanda for turning me on to this place!

Favorite local style eats:

Yama’s Fish Market 2332 Young Street. They have good plate lunches. I especially like their poke and pupu selections that you order by the pound. I always get at least a pound of their dried garlic/pepper ahi poke and their pulehu tako. Great as omiyage (gifts) to take to the mainland. Just make sure you put it in a cooler and bag each container in case of leaks. Have it belly loaded and it will be near frozen by the time you reach your destination. Just hope you don’t have delays…

Zippy’s. The local favorite with at least one in every part of town. Open 24 hours a day. Our kids love their chili rice, I like the zip pac, Uncle likes their oxtail soup. ~~Check out their weekly coupons at http://zippys.com/live/promotions/online-coupon/~~ (sometimes the coupon site is not available, boohoo!)

Times Supermarket in Kaimuki has great plate lunches! Surprise, surprise! I went there after an errand to pick up some eggplant and saw a man ordering a roast beef plate lunch at the “taste of times” counter. Thin sliced roast beef with sides of either rice, sweet potato, fries, mac salad, steamed veggies, and gravy. All for $5.99 and it comes with a free drink! I asked the man how it was, and he rolled his eyes and said, “Ono!” so I ordered the same thing. Very happy. Good food, not too many choices but everything looked good, cheap price, lots of leftovers. I’ll share with Uncle when he comes home.

Asahi Grill Ward Avenue. Speaking of oxtail soup, this restaurant has a good one. Lots of other good food too. Parking lot is small, so feel lucky if you find a space.

Kaimuki Grill in the Kaimuki parking lot behind Hokkaido Ramen (also great place to eat ramen and ono gyoza). Uncle and I went there – had our Groupon coupon (paid $7 for a $15 coupon!) and we had fried saimin noodles – excellent, and garlic steak – excellent, and a small salad – good! Uncle had a couple of beers. It reminded us of Side Street Inn, but it was 10 times better and half the price. Food was very reasonably priced, service was friendly, place was small and open but not as noisy as Side Street Inn. Parking is good – 75¢ for the first 2 hours, and after 9:00, you can even sing karaoke! I’ll spare you on that. They are closed on Mondays.

Hokkaido Ramen in Kaimuki right before Kaimuki Grill. Big bowls of ramen in either white or shoyu style. Gyoza is really good. Combo of curry, ramen and gyoza will fill you up. My favorite on hot summer days is their cold ramen platter. Big variety of toppings on a big platter of cold noodles with a ponzu-like sauce. MMMMMmmmm good! Get a card which they stamp for each bowl of ramen/or plate you buy, and after 10 stamps, you get a ramen free! [Update: They don’t do the card stamping anymore.]

Good to Grill at 888 Kapahulu Avenue in the Safeway Store complex has good meals. Everything is cooked fresh right in front of you if you stand by their huge keawe wood grill. I have had their hamachi kama – OOOONNNOOOO! although it is a bit pricey at $16, but it can feed 2. Uncle and I went there recently and had their evening special – prime rib! Regular price was $14.99 but we got it for $9.99, shared that and a baby greens salad and we were happy. Uncle had their kalbi – very juicy and tasty. Friendly staff, fast service. Good stuff! [new note: if you plan to eat at Good to Grill on Kapahulu Avenue, buy something at Safeway (next door) first. The Safeway receipt has printed coupons on the back, and one of them is for a free soft drink when you buy $7 or more at Good to Grill. That will save you $1.98!]

The absolute best buffet, unfortunately in the heart of Waikiki, is Kai Market in the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. Everything I ate there was fresh, cooked perfectly, and tasted wonderful. Snow crab, alae salt prime rib, miso butterfish, salt and pepper shrimp, risotto mushroom pasta, tons of shrimp and scallop on cake noodle, melt in the mouth short ribs, and that is about half of what they have on the main dish line-up. The chefs use local products as much as possible, so it also helps our local economy. The service was excellent. I tried a bit of this and that for dessert – all were good. I finally got to have chocolate mousse the simple way (the way I like it) and my favorite dessert was the taro mochi with crunchy peanut butter stuffing. SOOO ono! Take along a small ziploc bag so you can take home some of the mochi, unobserved. Locals get 25% off the tab so dinner runs around $30 without tip. Valet parking is free (just make sure you tip the aloha way). [update: June 2011, went to the Kai Market for dinner. Somehow it wasn’t as good as the first time we went. No miso butterfish, different menu. Perhaps they have different entrees for different days of the week.]

Tanioka’s in Waipahu. Oh my goodness, where to start. Okay, I’ll start with what not to order. Don’t order their mochi chicken plate lunch because it is kinda dinky – just a few pieces of deep fried chicken rolling around in a big plate lunch container. Just about everything else is DEElicious. I love their spicy ahi/tako on sushi rice that they have on their refrigerated shelves. Cone sushi, cut up roast pork, poke (all kinds), bentos, musubis with spam, chicken, fish, etc. Fish patties, other okazu. Always crowded but the service is fast and friendly.

Thelma’s is another eating place in Waipahu with good food. Thelma’s Special is an artery clogging delight of pork lechon (crispy oily crunchy pieces of roasted pork) with chopped tomatoes, onions and soy sauce. Drink CocaCola with it (I drink coke to cut the grease – can even be used to degrease your countertops, lol).

I also like Elena’s though I don’t know where they are in Waipahu anymore. Elena’s has a restaurant in Vegas! so when you are longing for good Filipino comfort food, drop in and have their huge Pork Adobo Fried Rice Omelette, mmm mmm good! Pal Patricia and I used to go to Waipahu once a week and eat the pork adobe fried rice omelette, pancit, and banana lumpia. Oh my, now I am drooling…

Favorite Vietnamese Restautants:

Hale Vietnam in Kaimuki – 1140 12th Avenue, phone 735-7581 open daily from 10:00 am – 9:45 pm. Their prices have gone up a little, but their pho is still one of the best. Savory tantalizing broth with fresh herbs and veggies served up with the meats (or non meat) of your choice. Uncle always gets the extra large combination. I usually order their vegetarian papaya salad (spicy, healthy and yummy!) or their mock chicken salad (yummy on sliced cabbage, also very healthy). Sometimes we splurge and get an order of spring rolls – these are served with lettuce leaves in which we put the spring roll, pickled carrots, cucumber, mint, basil, noodles, and dip in the vinegar sweet sauce. Absolute bliss.

Good friend Alan and wife Gwynne turned me onto another Kaimuki restaurant – Super Pho at 3538 Waialae Avenue across Kaimuki Park, open daily from 10:00 – 10:00. This is a place with ZERO street appeal so you can easily miss it, but there is ample parking in the back of the restaurant if you can find the driveway. Very large menu, prices are reasonable. Uncle had the pho, the broth wasn’t as rich and their combination didn’t have as much meats as Hale Vietnam, but he said it was still good (high praise from Uncle). I had their beef stew – more like a soup with an unusual flavor. It was very tasty and filling. The place is rather chilly with air conditioners going overtime, and the television screens are on at high volume – something that is totally not necessary for a dining establishment. It makes for a very bad date place because the person facing the tv screen almost can’t help watching tv during dinner rather than focusing on the person sitting across from them. *note – now they have only a small tv, not so distracting. Also, I think the cook has changed because the beef stew is thicker now, not as unusual tasting. I liked the old one better.

Saigon’s in Kaimuki = 3624 Waialae Avenue, phone 735-4242, open Monday – Saturday from 10:00 – 9:00. Parking is based on luck, or you can park in the municipal lot and cross the street. This is my favorite place for bun cha giao (pronounced BUN cha yao). This dish is made with rice vermicelli noodles on a bed of sliced veggies , and topped with pieces of spring roll sprinkled with peanuts and fried onion bits. Served with the vinegar sweet fishy sauce. Absolute wonderful combination of tastes in the mouth. They also have a vegetarian version of the spring roll, so for my vegetarian friends I order “vegetarian bun cha giao). I never tire of this dish and I think I could eat it every day. Nobody (imho) makes bun cha giao better, though Mai Lan on Keeaumoku is also very good. The trouble with Mai Lan is that it takes so very long for them to make the order, it can get a bit frustrating waiting, especially if you are doing take out.

Favorite Thai Restaurants:

Thai Valley Cuisine in Kalama Valley – my Thai friend Ahlin always likes to try Thai restaurants and is very picky since she is one of the best cooks that I know. We went for lunch and the food was excellent, fresh, and healthy! Lots of parking since the Kalama Valley Center is not a bustling place. 501 Kealahou Street, phone 395-9746.

Mekong II on King Street – I love their mango sticky rice. Yummmm. Very nice people. Next time, I will order just the sticky rice with coconut milk topping and put our own pirie mango slices over. OMG, I am so hungry now. *note – I think they went out of business……Sad.

Favorite Japanese Restaurants:

Sekiyas across from Kaimuki High School – my alma mater. We used to cut out of school and get the cone sushi, fish patty, shoyu hotdog. Okazu there is expensive now [very very expensive from Sekiyas], so Uncle and I don’t order that way. We sit down and eat from the menu. Uncle likes their oxtail soup and hamburger steak. I like their wun tun min or teishoku sets. Warning! Don’t EVER order their beef tomato. It comes in a huge bowl and looks good, but it is fishy tasting – like the base was made with shrimp based saimin broth mixed with brown gravy. Totally gross. What is worse is that I ordered it twice! If I order it a third time, I’m quitting. I love their stir fried vegetables with chicken. All entrees come with genmaicha (tea), tsukemono, miso soup, and rice with entree. Love it, love it. Like eating at home but you don’t have to do the dishes.

Fukuya Deli in Moiliili on King Street IS the place to order your okazu. Their selection is large, and the prices reasonable. Parking is a bit on the tight side, so plan to go on the off hours from lunch or park on the street (metered). Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays – somehow those are the days I am hungry for their food!

Zippy’s Sushi bar – one in Pearl City and one in Kahala. THE best sushi – especially the nigiri stuff. I have dreams about the hamachi nigiri – huge thick pieces that overwhelm the small bit of rice and your senses. They even have various teishoku specials – my favorite is their hamachi kama served with ponzu sauce. Yummm.

New kid on the block is G Sushi in the Market City Shopping Center. Pal Wandaful treated us to lunch, and Aunty had their $6.99 salmon bento. What a pleasant surprise it was!! The salmon was either fried to perfection, and came out hot and fresh with a delicious piece of gyoza and good rice (not too mushy, not too dry). We also had salmon skin sushi (excellent and just grilled), spicy hamachi sushi (yum, yum, yum), and soft shelled crab sushi (more yum yum yum) all for such a reasonable cost, that I had to drag Uncle (remember, Uncle does NOT like trying new places to eat) there, and he was really impressed too with the prices, the quality of food, and how we were full and happy!

Favorite Chinese Food:

Little Village in downtown at 1113 Smith Street, phone 545-3008. My go to place to impress people for lunch. Their honey walnut shrimp tossed in a mayonnaise/garlic sauce and served with candied walnuts is fantastic. Their eggplant w/ garlic sauce is not. I forget what else was good there, but everyone who I take finds something they like. The atmosphere is simple and classy. They even have their own parking lot in the back – a major plus for any downtown establishment.

Lam’s Garden across from Kahala Mall – 4210 Waialae Avenue, phone 735-3990. The former owners had a thriving business with excellent food and loyal clientele. When they sold their business, people stopped going partly out of loyalty and partly because of the change in menu. Years after the transition, Uncle and I decided to try the “new” Lam’s Garden. We were pleasantly surprised. I love sweet sour cabbage with pork (Uncle doesn’t). Theirs is the best – crunchy pickled mustard cabbage stir fried with thin slices of pork – always fresh and tasty, excellent with rice. Uncle like to order their roast duck, and lately he orders the combination duck with chicken on rice. Lots of rice, with a quarter serving of excellent roast duck and crispy skin chicken (nice and crispy thin skin on the salty side, yum yum). When we want to splurge we get their steamed fish fillet – sometimes flounder but it sure tastes like sea bass. Pieces of fish fillet with the delicate sauce of soy sauce, sugar, peanut oil, ginger and green onion. Melts in your mouth because it is always cooked to perfection. Best to eat family style. And I get to take home quite a bit of my favorite sweet sour cabbage that way.

If you like salty spicy deep fried chicken wings (I am salivating as I write) with sauted chili and onions garnish, then the New Mui Kwai Chop Suey in Kaneohe is the place to order it. They call it “salt and pepper chicken wings” and for some odd reason it isn’t on the menu, but everyone knows to order it. Located at 45-1052 Kamehameha Highway, phone 247-3230. Don’t know why it is called “New” because it has been there awhile. Not sure what else is good there – I’m a one dish kind of gal when I order from them. *note – the salt and pepper chicken wings got more expensive – $8 and you get only about 8 wing dings. Sometimes it is crispy and wonderful, sometimes not so crispy and not so wonderful. Still, it is worth taking a chance that Aunty will get a good batch, so we keep ordering when we are in Kaneohe.

Favorite Hawaiian Food:

Ono Hawaiian Food on Kapahulu Avenue. Always a line, because the food is so ono. Lau lau is good, but they always run out by the time we sit down to eat. Automatic raw onions with Hawaiian salt when you order. The owner is the best socializing PR for the place. Last time we were there, we had a great conversation going on with the owner who is only a few years older than us. All went well until we were leaving, and Uncle starts out the door and turns to the owner and says, “Tanks eh Uncle!” which is kind of an insult because that would mean he is way older – even though being called Aunty or Uncle is kind of a title of respect. Uncle to uncle proper way of addressing is “Brah”. Much easier on the ego.

Young’s Hawaiian Food in Kalihi near the police substation. To tell the truth, I don’t really like lau lau, but Young’s makes the biggest bestest lau lau I have ever eaten. Kalua pig, lomi salmon, and lau lau. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm. Gotta have the poi too.

Favorite Korean Food:

Gina’s BBQ in the Market City Shopping Center where Harding, Kapiolani and King Street intersect. The mini Family Pack used to feed our family, and the regular size Family pack can feed a lot of adults. Gina’s vegetables are always fresh and tasty, and although greasy, the meats are ono, ono, ono. After a concrete driveway pour, I ordered from their catering menu – the boys were very happy and their tummies were full.

While in the Market City Shopping Center, check out Duck Lee if you are hungry for excellent duck noodle soup. It is a small place tucked in the corner, but well worth looking for. Their roast pork has great reviews, but I’ve only had their duck so far. 5 quack star rating from me!

Aunty recently ate lunch with a friend at Red House in Honolulu – 835 Keeaumoku Street, phone (808) 944-0088. What a pleasant surprise! It was Korean food with a clean and modern twist. Prices were reasonable for lunch. Aunty had Bulgogi fried rice (perfection!) and mandoo, and friend Allan had hot and spicy tofu soup and the Chef’s special chicken. Everything was really good!!! Yum yum yum. Aunty will go again and try more items on their rather eclectic menu. [Uncle and I went there for our anniversary dinner. It is much pricier for dinner and the portions are the same size. Next time we’ll go for lunch instead.]

Youncy’s Korean BBQ at 888 Kapahulu Avenue has really delicious Kim Chee Soup and her sides are fresh and good. The owner is extremely nice (important to Aunty). An unexpected pleasant surprise was her hamburger steak plate lunch! The hamburger was really good and the gravy was what you would expect from a 5 star restaurant! This place has become our favorite take out dinner spot. Everything is good there!

: dinky servings of sides, if you ask Aunty…

Mama Woo’s on King Street – heard a lot about it, all positive, but Aunty was upset enough to write a 2 star review of the place on Yelp because of how skimpy they were for me, but piled on the food for the next person. Really plenty rice, chicken was good, but the salad tasted a little bit spoiled – maybe because Aunty was kinda upset. Mama (I think it was the owner) also needs a bit of friendliness in her attitude. Hopefully she will learn how to return a smile with a smile instead of a stare. This one is an unfavorite.

Fine Dining:

Uncle and I don’t go out to expensive restaurants. Uncle can be very embarrassing to be with if the food is very expensive, and the portions are small. He has been known to ask the waiter/waitress if they dropped some of the food because it looks like food is missing on the plate. It is with great trepidation that I go to a high end restaurant unless I know for sure he will enjoy the food, regardless of price or size.

Alan Wong’s at 1857 S. King Street, 3rd floor (808.949.2526) does not disappoint. Everyone who ever went there would rave about the food, but that held no sway with Uncle. However, since we had a BIG gift certificate from one of our favorite daughters and it was expired (they still accepted it), we had to use it all up at once. Pricey, but the service was good and not snobby. The Chopped Ahi Sashimi and Avocado Salsa Stack was to die for. A little bit spicy and with little crunchies, $19.95 worth of taste bud bliss. We had a couple of other appetizers but this Stack was such a winner, and the others were distant seconds. The tomato, beet, and avocado salad was a bit strange, though the table next door told us how much they liked the li hing dressing (served as dots on the plate). I think next time we’ll get the simple salad with Alan Wong’s dressing. Uncle had a nicely done Rib-eye steak, and I had a wonderful steamed opakapaka, kind of Chinese style with pork hash on top. Really heavenly. It truly was the best and worth every dollar. So much so, that Uncle said we should go back to eat there at least once a year. THAT says a lot.

Non local regional food:

Soul on 3040 Waialae Avenue (in Kaimuki) across from City Mill. Parking is limited and shared with a bunch of other eateries, so we usually park across in the City Mill lower parking lot for $3. Have gone there twice and plan to go back many more times. Soul has Southern style cooking with a modern yuppie edge. Not as oily and greasy as the authentic stuff – but it is ONO! Have had the pulled pork adobo with coleslaw sandwich, the vegetarian chili is good, fried chicken is excellent, ribs are good, cornbread is drier and coarser than what I am used to, collard greens are really good (and that is from someone who doesn’t like her vegetables!) and hands down it is just great food in a very nice homey atmosphere. Chef Sean Priester is usually on site, sometimes even taking orders before the crowd starts to arrive. Nice man, great food – what a combination! [Update: Soul is no longer here, boo hoo! He now operates out of a food wagon.]

Las Vegas Eateries

Mother’s Korean Grill at 4215 Spring Mountain Road, phone (702) 579-4745, has the absolute best yakiniku dishes – I order their beef brisket – thin thin slices of beef cook up crispy really quickly and then dipped in a sauce of sesame seed oil with salt and pepper. Daughter orders galbi – unrolled before you on the grill – sweet, savory, delicious. The side dishes that accompany are beautiful and tasty. So many wonderful side dishes!

Hedary’s Mediterranean Restaurant at 7365 W Sahara Ave (western part of Vegas), phone (702) 873-9041 has the BEST lamb shank that I have every had. Falls off the bone with a flavorful, almost vinegary taste that tastes like it took hours and hours to cook. Good side salad and grilled vegetables are standard and come with the meal. I wash it all down with my favorite – Coca Cola. Bliss.

On my last trip with friends, we stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for their happy hour pupus. For $5, you can choose from the happy hour menu. Our waiter helped us choose, and everything he recommended was unbelievably delicious and fulfilling. We had avocado rolls (SO delicious – rolled with salsa and deep fried), fire roasted artichoke with 2 delicious dipping sauces (probably my favorite), corn tamales that were quite wonderful, lettuce wraps with tamarind and other dipping sauces, and guacamole special mix. I think we ordered about 7 dishes, and we were happily stuffed. Washed it down with refillable cokes. Happy happy happy.

The Dalai Lama

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Aunty

The Dalai Lama is one of three people Aunty would pick if stranded on an island. He recently came to speak at the inaugural Pillars of Peace symposium in Honolulu on April 15, 2012.

Aunty delayed purchasing tickets, and they were soon sold out. Very sad, Aunty was almost resigned to not being able to go, and then good friend Ellie called out of the blue and asked, “Sistah, you like go with me to see the Dalai Lama?” Of course, of course! Uncle dropped us off before he went fishing that day.

We sat on the right side of the auditorium and had a fine view of the screen which ran subtitles of whatever was spoken. This helped a lot since hearing every word was important to Aunty.

The entertainment was very good. Jerry Santos of Olomana, Willie K (awesome awesome), Amy Hanaiali’i, Jeff Paterson, Henry Kapono together with Michael McDonald (sounded great together) and some video entertainment of Lanai school kids singing a song of peace and Jake Shimabukuro playing an original ukulele piece using only 3 strings.

When the Dalai Lama entered onto the stage as Michael McDonald and Henry Kapono’s last song was ending, there was a collective moment of goosebumps and everyone rose to their feet in applause.

He looked delighted, rather old and so very cute. With hands clasped together, he greeted us and everyone fell silent and was ready to be enlightened.

To tell the truth, Aunty fell asleep a few times while the Dalai Lama spoke at the podium about “Advancing Peace through the Power of Aloha.” He is not a dynamic speaker that keeps everyone charged in their seats, but rather a speaker that one strains to hear and understand just because of who he is. He is a leader of peace, love, and understanding and the way he carries himself is with humility and joy.

He had us entranced with his simple stories. One of them was about President Bush. He said he really loved Mr Bush, and when he was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal he held hands with then President Bush on one side, and Nancy Pelosi on the other. President Bush whispered to him about Nancy, “She always makes a problem for me.” Which made all of us laugh and whoop. Being a man of peace, he repeated how he really loved Mr Bush, a very nice man, but he didn’t love his policies (of war).

He spoke about the world in disorder and how difficult it is to find peace and to be able to love others that hate you. His solution to all of this was to be warm hearted to others.

What a beautiful and simple solution. Truly, if someone is warm hearted to me, I will be warm hearted to them, and vice versa.

During a question and answer period, most of the questions were from people asking the same thing – how do I deal with people who aren’t willing to forgive, or have hatred, or are negative. His answer to each was very similar – it begins with ones own self. Forgiveness is not the same as forgetness. Allowing the person to be who they are is love.

A question about dealing with anger as an indigenous people who had their land taken from them (this is an issue that Hawaiian people and the Tibetan people have in common) made the Dalai Lama reflect on his own situation. I do not remember his exact answer but in summary it was that one must move on rather than dwell on the past and its wrongs.

When asked if he always smiled, even when he was alone, his answer was an instant and loud, “Yes!” He expanded on that and said that he also smiles in the bathroom (much laughter). However, he said, when when he has a hard time in the bathroom, he is not smiling (big laughter from everyone). He then turned to his well dressed suited translator and asked him if he also had that problem (explosive laughter!)

After a keiki hula performance and some gift giving, the Dalai Lama waved to the left and waved to the right, left the stage and was whisked away in a security car. We all then slowly moved to the exits, found our transportation, and went home.

We did not see miracles. We did not participate in a life changing turnabout rah rah kumbaya experience. Instead, we were enchanted by a charming warm hearted man in maroon robes, maroon foam visor and red socks who truly walked the path of a man of peace and love.

Aunty had a wonderful day, and with each recall of something the Dalai Lama did or said, a smile and the remembrance of his smile lightens my spirit and recharges my joy.

May your days and life be blessed, and if the Dalai Lama ever comes to town again, Aunty is getting her tickets the very first day.

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmm

by Aunty

a lot of stuff about almost everything

Category Archives: Reviews