Whew. (that confession has lifted a weight off my chest)

Honopu Arch, Na Pali coast

With that being said, I’m not made of money and I don’t like to waste it, but time is money for me. Living in Italy I sometimes use travel agents (gasp!) to book flight/hotel combos (Istanbul & Berlin are examples of travel agent trips, as well as Thailand) because I prefer to spend the majority of my time focused on what I’ll do, eat, and see while I’m there instead of how I’ll be getting there.

Most of the places I want to visit have spent months or years on my “To See” list and when it comes time, I have a budget in mind already. If I find a solution in that budget, I go!

Thus is how Hawaii happened this summer. I didn’t have a traditional honeymoon, or any honeymoon, when I got married, and so we toyed around with the idea of going to Hawaii years later. I put this call for help on the Ms. Adventures in Italy Facebook page and got some great suggestions, but my mom ultimately sent me a few package options in my budget. Less than 24 hrs later, we were booked for Kauai. (If you’re curious, we went through Costco for a flight/hotel/car rental)

My good friend has a condo in Princeville that he rents out (definitely check it out – it was unavailable when we were visiting, so be sure to book early!) on Kauai so I had wanted to visit for years. I had been to Maui twice and enjoyed those trips but was looking forward to visiting “the Garden Island” and the supposedly quieter atmosphere.

It was exactly what we wanted – fewer tourists and very few crowds, very green, and plenty of relaxing and beach. At the airport on the way home, we even got a celebrity sighting when I ran into Evangeline Lilly (Kate from LOST) with her newborn and husband.

What more could you ask for?

Ha’Ena near Hanalei Bay

The definite highlight of the trip was our helicopter ride, which I strongly encourage everyone to try on the island. So much of the island is completely unreachable via car that you really get to see the island this way.

Doors off helicopter ready for takeoff

Manawaiopuna Falls (from Jurassic Park)

We chose the doors-off version of the helicopter ride (you are strapped in) and I couldn’t have been happier. Not only did you really feel “in” the experience, you didn’t have to worry about reflections or angling for great shots. PS: for the future, the right side of the helicopter on average gets better views, though he often does a complete 360 in place for those “money” shots.

Doors off helicopter ride

Kauai from the helicopter ride

We went on the helicopter ride on our second-to-last day, and I think if we’d had a little more time, and of course money, we would have booked another helicopter ride immediately. Props to Inter-Island helicopters – not only did we feel safe, their pilot was an expert tour guide and gave us a ton of great information. We wished it was longer!

Two waterfalls on Mt. Waialeale, one of the wettest places in the world

Below, a little video I made about some of the things we saw – fish while snorkeling, a double rainbow, and some video from our helicopter ride. Big thanks to Kodak Italia who gave me the PlaySport video camera which I used for all of the filming – my review of the camera will be going on my tech blog, When I Have Time, very soon.

Click through to see the video or go directly to my Kauai break video:

Disclosure: Nothing to see here. I didn’t receive compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this post. I received the Kodak video camera for free.

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Of course, I think about the absolutely fun time I had with Elise of Simply Recipes, Kathy of Panini Happy, Jaden of Steamy Kitchen and Deb of Lunch in a Box – their company made every course fun and we spent a lot of the time laughing.

But I remember the food, too. As Jaden said, it was a “Splurge of a Lifetime.” Definitely check out her pictures which are much better than mine – I left the DSLR at home for once, so I included some pics from my point-and-shoot below and an epic video of Grant making us dessert. Click through to see each photo bigger on Flickr.

I also reflected that I don’t want to eat like that often. Grant Achatz, the creator and chef, calls his type of dining “an emotional experience” and compares it to going to the theater or listening to a symphony.

I have to agree.

But it’s also a strong reminder that I rarely want to eat like that, so I can savor the times that I do, and continue to focus on how I want to approach food: real, simple, healthy.

Molecular gastronomy is at the opposite end of the spectrum of how I like to cook (with the exception of Parisien macarons and a few other sweets that definitely take some intricate steps), and it’s definitely the opposite of Italian food: simple, natural, and unpretentious. For fun, ask both an Italian and a French what they think of each others’ cuisine and sit back and be entertained (bonus points for doing it with them in the same room).

But.

But.

Much like being the guest at a very elaborate wedding, I was very pleased to be there but very glad that I wasn’t responsible for creating those dishes. And further confirmation I don’t want to go into the restaurant business. At least not doing that. (Hats off to those who actually attempted the Alinea at home cookbook)

And I admire people that put such passion and creativity into cooking. Grant Achatz’s memoir “Life on the Line” came out in March and I really enjoyed listening to his recent interview with Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air – if you didn’t know, he was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2007 and lost his sense of taste for quite some time.

One of the things he said about the small portions they serve really resonated with me, especially since you know I’m eating better all around. His courses are often just one bite, sometimes a handful of bites. His reasoning?

“..by your fifth bite, you’re done with [the thing you're eating]. You know what it’s going to taste like, the actual flavor starts to deaden on the palate. If we were to make you take 10 more bites, by the time you got to bite 15, [it's] just not that compelling anymore.”

I think this is absolutely true and something to remember especially with our indulgences, which we should still have – complete deprivation is not the answer (as long as it’s not making you ill in some way). We probably only need a few bites to really enjoy it, and it’s a great feeling to stop before you get palate fatigue. Moderation, and keep your palate fresh.

I won’t walk you through the entire menu (and I sheepishly can’t remember all the ingredients, there were so many) but here are a few highlights. Where I could remember I included the course name in quotes and bolded.

The first course “Roe” was obviously several types of roe – fish eggs. I admit my stomach dropped into my shoes as I’m not a big fan (though I’ve eaten roe) and I didn’t want to admit having problems already at the first course. But down it went, and it was helped by the wine pairing served with the course.

Luckily for me, everything only got better from there.

I loved the presentation of “Pork Belly” but couldn’t describe the taste after so long.

“Lilac,” “Crab,” and “Hot Potato” were also nice but didn’t leave a lasting flavor or emotional impression.

“Wagyu Beef” was one of my favorites, a sort of deconstructed barbecue: pieces of wagyu beef, a fried potato concoction, and powdered “A-1 steak sauce.”

The piece de resistance, a stone vase that had been sitting in the middle of our table until this course, and when water was added, barbecue/smoke-scented smoke came out from the dry ice within.

I loved the concept of this course, “Tomato“, a summer garden filled with many vegetarian delights – the Parmesan snow in the lower right was cold and melted in your mouth…

…but what affected me the most was the bowls of basil and tomato branches and the dirt they were sticking out of. That really made me feel like I was in a garden (and I love smelling tomato branches when I buy them from the market).

“Black Truffle” with one of the ingredients listed as “explosion” is one of the most known dishes (or perhaps at the time). Notice that the spoon is resting on a bottomless plate – you had to put the entire thing in your mouth, close your lips, and bite down to get the hot broth explosion which was as good as we’d hoped.

One of my favorites which I didn’t expect it to be – “Pigeonneau” which was, you guessed it, squab (young pigeons raised to be eaten). I’ve had pigeon before – in Tuscany it was cooked in a cast iron pan and I kept reaching for the brown sticky leftovers – but it reminded me how much I liked it. The meat was very tender and the rest of the pastry had little surprises like the onion you see there (love onions).

Two of my favorite courses served together: “Bacon” which wasn’t, on a swing, and “Sweet Potato” stuck on smoldering cinnamon sticks that smelled delicious!

We had a lot of fun with these dessert “cigars” called “Bubble Gum” and rocking our raspberry “Transparency” shards in their appointed rockers, as well as the cool “Watermelon” ball looking thing in a glass.

“Mustard” has been forgotten…

…but “Rhubarb” is notable because the plates were set on pillows filled with lavender-scented air that slowly deflated as you ate (Grant talks about this in his NPR interview).

The “Chocolate” dessert course was my favorite, of course. Where else can you get a chef like Grant Achatz to cover your table in silicone and spend several minutes creating the dessert directly in front of you? Thyme, tobacco, blueberry, maple, and freeze-dried chocolate mousse were the flavors in this dessert and we had a lot of fun eating it, but perhaps more fun watching it get made – art in progress!

All the ingredients ready to be used in our “Chocolate” dessert.

And we got to talk to him the entire time. If you pay close attention, he explains it all as he’s doing it and answers some of our questions very patiently. (Click through to see the video below on my site or YouTube]

I told him thanks in my own way.

We got Grant to sign our menus which have become a fun keepsake for that night.

Grant explaining to us how a masterpiece works

The lovely ladies: Elise from Simply Recipes, Kathy from Panini Kathy

Biggie from Lunch in a Box, and Jaden from Steamy Kitchen

I’ll be speaking at BlogHer 2011 in August in San Diego, so hopefully I’ll get to see these ladies again, and we can have some more emotional experiences together in the form of food :)

What about you? Have you eaten at Alinea, or somewhere similar, and do you dream of this type of dining experience?

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If you’re at SXSW I’d definitely like to meet you for a coffee, or better yet, we can meet up for a Pocket Coffee. As you can see from the picture below, I’ll have a few with me. It’s one of the few things my friends request I bring over, and luckily they are still in-season so I was able to pick up a few boxes before this trip. I like to bring them on trips for a quick pick-me-up in lands of dubious coffee. Some are already earmarked for friends, but the rest, I’ll share with you, so we can all stayed energized during what many call “Spring Break for Geeks.”

I for one will be enjoying the tech gluttony and the culinary gluttony, too, as I come back to a state I spent 4.5 years in for undergrad, and get my fix of Tex-Mex and BBQ!

Hope to meet up!

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My first trip was planned with a friend for an upcoming long weekend back in 2003. The only person I knew in New York, my cousin, was going to be away but graciously let me stay in her apartment on 57th and 7th across the street from Carnegie Hall, a location I could only squeal about. I was excited about my first time in New York, though it was not even two years after 9-11 and I knew it wouldn’t be the New York so many others saw before me.

Perhaps you’ve heard me speak about Life Lists & things I want to do before I die (if you haven’t, you really need to read my When I Have Time post about how to create and why to have a Life List) but going to New York fulfilled one of my goals: see more of the US’ big cities. After visiting almost 20 countries there were still some big cities in my own country I hadn’t visited (to this day, I have yet to see Boston).

So, when on the morning my flight to New York was set to leave, my friend had to cancel due to some family problems, I was crushed. I was ready to see New York, but I wasn’t ready to be there alone. I have no problems doing things alone (I went to school in Texas without knowing a single person, the same for moving to Italy) but I had planned this weekend to be with a girlfriend.

Needless to say, when I took off several hours later, there was a new plan, and it was just as great. Though I spent most of the first day alone, having a great time wandering through downtown and walking from 5th street back to my apartment, I wouldn’t be alone the whole time. My mother dropped everything, and we spent the next 3 days doing exactly what we wanted and nothing more. We saw a few museums, very few tourist monuments, and lots and lots of Broadway! Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, the original cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie, and one of my favorite plays, Into the Woods.

That New York trip ended up being a success, but it left an unfinished taste in my mouth so I knew I’d be back.

My second trip to New York was quite the opposite of the first: I was heading there for work, and I would be joined by my best girlfriends for a belated birthday weekend. I had some great friends load me up with suggestions for places to eat and things to do, including favorites from American chef in Paris and a pastry chef in New York, and I left with even less pressure than last time to be a tourist. I only spent a half-day alone the entire 9 days there, and I was so jet-lagged I didn’t know where I was anyway.

This trip ended up being a mixture of work, play, and eating during both, naturally. From meeting incredible individuals through WordCamp NYC, to others through colleagues and friends, and also through this very blog; to a slew of food-and-shopping pilgrimages to various locations with inevitable disappointments and some surprises with lots and lots of toasting, too. We had two birthdays to celebrate!

My one must-see for the trip was to visit every photographer’s mecca, B&H Photo Video. On a quiet Sunday morning before WordCamp NYC started, I waited in line with 100s of other hopeful buyers and really took advantage of my very helpful salesperson and loaded up my shopping cart (or conveyor belt as those who have been there know). I walked out of there with exactly the camera I wanted, a few other things I didn’t know I needed, and I left behind a lot of things I wanted but saved for NYC trip #3.

It’s now 3.5 years after I bought my first DSLR, and back then I didn’t know much about how to use it but I pulled myself up by a combination of reading the manual (RTFM, really) and various photography sites, experimenting and making fantastic mistakes. Now I feel like I’ll have to start yet again with this new camera. It has so many features and settings and feels familiar though it’s so different, that I’m going to have to dedicate quite a bit of time before I get back to the comfort level I had with my camera before.

But I’m really looking forward to it.

I can’t wait to feel the joy of sneaking a chance snapshot of something that turns into a keepsake,

of setting up a shot of a friend at the perfect time of day so the light reflects just so,

of whipping out the camera and with a few flicks and clicks it’s an extension of you,

and just playing around with a machine until it’s a natural form of my self-expression.

Yep, I’m looking forward to it. And I’ll be back for more of you too, New York.

Do you have a love or hate affair with New York? Have you been? Will you go back?

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