Hawaii, the paradise... (8)

I have come to realize processing these old pictures is a significant time commitment that requires tremendous persistence and discipline, so I am getting there slowly, but surely...

I am fully aware of the fact that I have not had a chance to show you the amazing coastlines of Hawaii. In fact, all 4 images I am sending today were taken on 11/30/13 by the Makapuu Beach in Oahu.  It is amazing how the volcanic layers can be so clearly recognized along Hawaii coastlines.

I remember it was our second day visiting those beaches.  On the first day, we went there just to check things out.  We were totally blown away by the unique landscape and the "angry waves."  Makapuu Beach is located at the southeast tip of Oahu, right on the south side of Manana Island.  Sitting there and listening to the waves makes you feel you are in a totally different world...  On that day, after some soul searching at that amazing place, we drove all the way up to the north side of the Island to the North Shore Sunset Beach (Haleiwa Beach), which is also called the "world capital of surfing."  When we got there, a 2-day world cup surfing event was going on, so you can imagine the chaos and the excitement!

We joined the crowd and ended up staying there until almost sunset.  In fact, we were so excited about the event that when we left there, we did not realize we had a flat tire until about 2 miles outside of civilization...  Yeah, it just had to happen when we were out on our own and when the darkness was approaching...  When we called AAA, the service rep was extremely nice.  I guess it was partly because it was the Thanksgiving weekend and, understandably, people were all out doing crazy things!  When the service rep pleasantly told us that there would be no problem for him to get us help right away, his first question was: "where are you in Naperville right now?"  I said: "I am not in Naperville."  "Oh, no problem, where are you?"  "I am out of nowhere in Hawaii by the ocean...."  Then there was a LONG pause at the other end of the phone...          

To celebrate the survival of our flat tire drama, we went back to the Makapuu Beach next day, and thankfully, I was able to capture these images!

Makapuu Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
November 30, 2013

Hawaii, the paradise... (7)

I wish there were words to describe the endless beauty of this amazing piece of land...

Hawaii

November-December 2013

Letter to Grandpa

July 5, 2014

Dear Grandpa, 

Happy birthday! I am thinking of you and hoping that you're doing well. I miss you very much. 

I have been very busy with rotations. For the past four weeks, I have been doing internal medicine at a small suburban hospital about a 30 minute drive from my house. It was a really nice place and I got along very well with the team that I worked with. I've been learning so much! Since the first day I started, they were willing to give me a lot of responsibility. I was assigned my own patients, which meant that I would be the first person from the team to see them when they arrived at the hospital, I would get to hear their story and figure out what was going, and I would present that information to the rest of the team. I would be the person that went in and checked up on the patient every morning. It was a lot like being a real doctor, which was really cool. I usually worked from 7am to about 4pm for six days a week - a lot of work, but I loved it!

Now, for the next four weeks, I am still doing internal medicine, but I am doing it at Boston Medical Center, which is a very busy urban hospital. It was a lot more relaxed at the old hospital, and the teams were smaller so I got to spend much more time talking to my superiors and learning from them. At BMC, everyone is always so busy, and the teams are so large that I don't get much time to ask questions or sit down and having learning sessions. They're also not as willing to give us full responsibility for our patients, which is a little disappointing. I just want to be able to do more and learn more! Unfortunately, this hospital is just not as conducive to doing that. 

After internal medicine, I will be doing surgery. I am assigned to the Veterans Affairs hospital for most of my surgical rotation, which is a hospital that takes care of veterans and their families only. I've heard from many people that this is a great hospital to learn at, so I'm very happy about that. 

The unfortunate thing is that I have not been able to enjoy my summer that much. I work all day, and then I have to be in bed by about 9:00 every night in order to get enough sleep for the next day. Also, after work, I have to come home to study because we have a test at the end of every rotation, and it's important that we do well on that test. It seems like I am ALWAYS studying for tests these days! Plus, I only get one day off every week, which does not leave much time to have fun. 

I have been trying my best. I usually see Trey on the days that I have off, and we have gone to the beach several times and we have plans to go to Vermont in a couple of weeks. The weather here has been very nice, so we try to take advantage of it when we can. I don't remember if I told you already, but Trey graduated with high honors and got a very good job in the Boston area, so he's been working a lot as well. He is doing chemistry for an oil company. 

My birthday just passed recently, and I had a very nice dinner with 10 of my closest friends here in Boston. My medical school friends were there, my college friends were there, and then Trey's friends were all there, so it was pretty much everybody that I love in Boston - it was very heartwarming. Trey and I spend our free time seeing each other, but at the same time, we make sure to stay very social. I like his friends a lot and he also likes my friends, so it's very easy to make plans with all sorts of people and have something going on at all times! I am recently really realizing how lucky I am to have that be the case, because some of my close friends from high school are now living in places where they don't know too many people, and it sounds like a struggle not to be able to be close to the people that you know and love. 

So despite having to work 9 hours a day and having to study afterwards, I am still definitely finding a way to enjoy life and to be very happy. And that is the most important thing, isn't it? Finding a way to be happy in all situations, and holding on to the things that make you happy. 

I hope that you are finding a way to be happy too. I miss you, and I am always thinking about you.  I will always remember how hard you tried to bring a very happy and special childhood to me...

Love,

A Bao

Poor Man's Sunset

I have been traveling for work this week, and through exhaustive but relentless trips to the mountains, I was able to taste the amazing monsoon season in the American Southwest!

The first 2 pictures were from 7/8 and 7/9 when I had to wake myself up at 4:18 AM and 4:22 AM respectively to catch the early sunrise.  Well, I didn't really catch it, but the effort was noted!!!  Not only did I try to get up early for sunrises, I also tried to go to the mountains after work to catch the sunsets -- thank goodness to the LONG summer days!  I caught the monsoon storms several times, and the locals tried to tell me how impossible it is to escape the desert flash flood...  

Thank God I was not caught in the flash flood, even though in one of the nights, when I got back to the hotel, the national weather service issued a flash flood warning for the area.

The very last night, because I had to work late, I didn't get to go to the mountains, and that's when the most amazing sunset occurred -- I almost killed myself for that!!!  But oh well, it wasn't meant to be, I guess!!  I stood in front of the hotel and took the 3rd shot -:(((((((

And... it's called "The Poor Man's Sunset"

Mt. Charleston, NV
July 9, 2014

Photos were taken with my SONY NEX-5

Hawaii, the paradise... (6)

Did I ever tell you that I would spend at least the next 3 trips to Hawaii on the Big Island?  On my next trip, I will definitely take better pictures of the milky way on top of the Mauna Kea, I will definitely spend an entire day at the lava field and sit on the 2011 lava for a while, I will definitely take the time to photograph sunset over Kona Village, and I will definitely go visit the black sand beach and the green sand beach again...

Talking about beaches, the Papakolea green sand beach gets it’s color from olivine crystals created from eruptions to a dormant volcano years ago. Nestled in Mahana Bay, this is truly a unique place and one of only two green sand beaches in the world.  We went there after visited the black sand beach at the Punaluu Beach Park.  It was amazing to see how the landscape and colors changed over an 1-hour drive. 

When we got to the entrance of the green sand beach, a local guy told us it would be a 2.5 hours hike to the beach.  So, he offered to give us a ride...  We got on his off-road truck and went through one of the most amazing and most unbelievable piece of volcanic ash lands.

The guy was born and raised on the Big Island.  He proudly told us that, for 55 years, he had never left the island.  In fact, he never went to the north or west side of the Island (the green sand beach is at the south tip of the island).  He told me that he could see everything around this small area and there was no need for him to go anywhere else.  You know what?  I agree with him, and I can truly see purity in his mind because he has been so content with everything around him -- the lava, the beaches, the colorful sands and the deep blue ocean...  

Don't you wish that some day we could all live a simple and relaxed life?!   

Trip to Papakolea Green Sand Beach, Hawaii
December 4, 2013

Picture 1 = Ocean around the black lava fields

Pictures 2 and 3 = The volcanic ash lands we drove through

Picture 4 = Papakolea Green Sand Beach

All photos were taken with my SONY point-n-shoot camera, and I am proud of that!!

Hawaii, the paradise... (5)

As mentioned to you before, I came to the Big Island with one hopeful image in my head -- the red-hot lava flowing into the ocean! 

I talked to friends and searched online to discover different ways to photograph this amazing scenery, and I was fully prepared to do whatever it takes to capture the image...  However, when we arrived in the Big Island, we learned that the lava had stopped flowing into the ocean about 3 months ago in September 2013.  Really?  Why??  After flowing into the ocean every minute of every day for almost 30 years, it just had to stop flowing 3 months before I got there?  Really??  Why????

You know, as I look back on life, I've come to realize that not once, not twice, but many times, I find myself arriving in a perfectly wonderful place just a tiny bit too late!!!

So, we went to the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park to see Kilauea Volcano.  Not nearly as dramatic as the flowing lava, but if I tell you there is no drama in my life, I would be lying to you.

As I remember, it was an activity-packed busy day.  We went to many interesting places including the black sand beach and green sand beach.  On our way back, we happened to pass the Volcanoes National Park.  We actually went there two days ago on a foggy, rainy night.  Since it was a nicer day this time, we decided to go in again to take a few more more pictures.  Before entering the park, I told Rudi to remember filling up the gas when we leave the park because the lovely little red warning light had been on for a while, and we were still 36 miles away from the hotel.

When we were done, it was about 3-4 hours later... and we completely forgot about the gas.  We drove out of the park, and 3 miles later, I realized we needed to fill up the gas.  At that point, we were driving in the dark with the volcano mountains on my right looking totally black!  We frantically looked up on the GPS trying to figure out where the nearest gas station was, and finally, the GPS told us there was indeed one gas station in the area -- 20 miles in the opposite direction...  Seemed like we needed to make a live-death decision at that point!  I would not bore you with Rudi's radical ideas... the bottom line is -- we decided to drive to the gas station!  It was the longest 20 miles I've ever been through, with nothing around us except for one gigantic volcano stretching miles and miles LONG!!!

When we finally arrived at the gas station, it was all dark -- no one was there.  The local police officer's mother-in-law told me "all gas stations here close at 6 PM."  I was totally puzzled: "What if you need gas after 6 PM?" "You just don't" she replied.  There were endless panic thoughts in my head at that point, but I was very clear with ONE goal: get gas -- whatever it takes!!!  Thank goodness for 1 kind local lady (not the officer's mother-in-law) who came to our rescue.  She told me she had 2 gallons of gas at home and she'd need to drive home to get it.  Wow, how could I let her drive home?  What if she never comes back????  But I let her go in trust of human kindness...

Long story short, she went home not just once, but twice to get proper tools so we could get the gas in our car!!!  With the 2 gallons of gas, the little red light finally calmed down, we drove through the darkness quietly and peacefully to the civilization!

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
December 4th, 2013

Hawaii, the paradise... (4)

Sunday, June 29, 2014 

I have a clear sense that the lava fields I sent last night might not have met everyone's definition of a "paradise..."  But to me, the uniqueness of the black, shinny lava in such a massive magnitude is beautiful in itself -- makes you feel a piece of land is forming right in front of your eyes, between 1986 and 2011 -- incredibly powerful stuff !!! 

Anyways, I feel obligated to make up to you with images meeting the conventional definition of beauty :-)

Hawaii Beaches
November - December, 2013