My work sent me to New York this past week. It was my first trip to New York. It was work during the day and most times after work, I was too exhausted to do anything but have dinner then go back to the hotel to sleep.

While in New York, I was planning on meeting this girl I used to date in Hawaii. We met about 15 years ago when she was a student here in Hawaii. We went out a couple of times and when I thought things were going to get more serious, she graduated and moved to New York to be a stock broker….

Over the years we managed to keep in touch. She would come back to Hawaii to visit and would always ask me to visit her in New York but I never had the time nor did I have the desire to travel.

I was staying in Manhattan and decided to give her a call. I wasn’t sure if she kept the same phone number. I tried calling and was pleasantly surprised to hear her voice on her voice mail. I left a message and hung up. (Your cell phone number is like your Social Security number I guess…You have the same number till you die….)

She called me back and was really excited to hear from me. She scolded me for not visiting her once since her move to NY 13 years before. I apologized and told her, “Well, HERE I AM!!”.

She laughed and told me, “This is the first time you’re visiting me in 13 years. What’s so ironic is that I moved to San Francisco about three months ago!” She had resigned from her job and moved to San Fran with her second husband. She invited me to visit her if I was going to stop at San Fran on my way home from NY, but I told her I was going through LA back to Hawaii. We had a good laugh about our timing throughout the years.

In April, on my way back from Switzerland, I will stop through San Fran and I told her we can meet then. She said she is looking forward to it.

Looking back at our track record, I won’t hold my breath!

In Honolulu, outside of Waikiki, there’s the Pagoda Hotel. It’s a hotel where locals stay when they visit from the neighboring islands. It’s an inexpensive hotel that has a long tradition in Hawaii.

The Pagoda Hotel is known for their buffets and fish ponds. The fish ponds are filled with brackish water where HUGE KOI and saltwater Jacks (known as Ulua and Papio) swim.

I went to high school with the daughter of the owner, Mr. Harry Hayashi. Mr. Hayashi was known for his hospitality and he always greeted his customers. He was proud of his fish pond that surrounded the restaurant.

His daughter is one year younger than I am but there was a time when we used to hang out. I remember her telling me a story about the Ulua in the pond. She and her father caught the Papio (juvenile Ulua) when she was five years old and let them go in the ponds at the Pagoda. Over the years, the papio grew humongous! (Once Papio reach over 10 pounds in weight, they are considered Ulua.) The biggest one was something like 90 pounds. I believe there are about 7 or 8 of them swimming separately from the Koi.

When I was into shoreline fishing, I used to go to the ponds and watch the Ulua in awe. They are such powerful fish. Papio and Ulua are considered prize fish for any Hawaii shoreline fisherman. The fight that they put up when hooked will make your knees week.

The Ulua was separated from the Koi with a mesh divider. Whenever the hotel tried to introduce any new fish to the Ulua side of the divider, the Ulua would kill the newbie. There is one different type of fish that swims along with the Ulua but that fish was with the Ulua from early on so I guess they consider it one of them.

The Ulua have been living in the pond for over 30 years. Back in 2000, Mr. Harry Hayashi passed away. Ironically, that same week the biggest of the Ulua died as well.

I don’t know how to explain it in words but I understand.

           

My body took all types of abuse from sports while growing up. Surfing, football, baseball, basketball, biking, golf. You name it, I pretty much played it. I may not have been the best athlete, but I was decent at whatever I did. I was never the last guy to be picked for a team. ; )

When you’re young, you’re invincible. Recovery time is almost nil. You can play for hours and hours with just the occasional water break. I never went to the doctor for check ups.

In my 30′s, I started feeling the effects of all of the hard play of my youth. I’d wake up tight in the morning, my mobility on my right side was not the same as my left.

I am left-handed and golf left-handed. My left hip started hurting from firing it through impact on my downswing. I vowed to myself that I would make myself more flexible all over so I would have less tight days and increase my distance on the golf course. (Now one of the main sports I play.)

I try and stretch at least 10-15 minutes a day whether I play golf or not. I do simple yoga moves and breathing exercises. I try and eat well too. My goal back then was to do it everyday, but I simply couldn’t. Those of you who do stick to your routines, I applaud you!

In my late 30′s I started seeing my doctor regularly again. He was pissed that I didn’t go and see him for over 5 years. He gave me a blood test and we found out that I was borderline diabetic! My cholesterol was something like 240. I had high blood pressure as well. I looked OK on the outside but on the inside I was a wreck.

I rededicated myself to fitness and a good diet as well as breathing right. My friend introduced me to the Phiten Bracelet from Japan. He said it would help with my sore body and stuff. Of course I was skeptical but decided to try it.

Immediately after putting it on I felt dizzy. He told me it’s because it’s improving my blood circulation so that’s why I feel dizzy. It was kind of scary at first. I wore it for a couple of days and noticed in the morning that I wasn’t as tight as before. My energy was up and my overall well being was good. (FYI. Pro golfer Ernie Els uses the necklace.)

I am not sure exactly how it works, but it says Titanium on the packaging. Since, I have gone back to the doctors and my cholesterol is down to about 205. (Still a little high) and my blood pressure isn’t as high as it used to be. 

I am sure it is a combination of exercise and dieting that has caused this change. A little of my success might be the Phiten Bracelet.

I am a superstitious kind of guy so I won’t be taking off my Phiten Bracelet any time soon. 

I’ve been selling on eBay for almost 10 years now. So far so good. Each year, my income from eBay has gone up. I am now up to almost $45,000 in sales. Part-time. I hope to hit $50,000 in sales this year. Although my income has increased, the time I spend on the computer has not increased that much.

I spend on the average (I’m guessing) 5-10 hours a week doing my business. That includes posting auctions, packing and shipping and research. The amount of time thinking about how to increase my income is much more though….

I have about 3700 feedbacks. 99.9% are positive. I have 4 negative feedbacks. All four of them are from buyers that never paid and gave me negative feedback. I don’t know why they did that. Maybe they anticipated me giving negative feedback to them?

Here’s some “common sense” tips that you might find helpful. It will increase your selling price and have your customers coming back for more!

1. Take Clear Photos. Take photos that have good lighting, centered, and clear. Learn how to use the macro setting on your camera. Often times after uploading my photos onto eBay, I end up retaking photos because it just doesn’t look right.

2. Write clean and concise descriptions. Be polite and positive in your description. Be professional even when selling something for $5.00. Make sure to use paragraphs and spell check. Remember, you are selling your product with the description and photo.

3. Ship in a timely manner. I usually ship within 48 hours after payment is confirmed. If for some reason I cannot ship within 48 hours, I send an email to the buyer letting them know that their package might be delayed.

4. Pack your items well. Put the tape on straight. Don’t make it looked rushed. Write the address legibly. If you have messy handwriting, take the time to print it out on the computer. Better yet, just print your postage out on the computer. That’s what I do. I pay a little more than if I were to stand in line at the post office, but it looks cleaner and I save a ton of time not having to write out labels or stand in line.

5. Answer emails quickly. My experience is I can answer eBay emails in about a minute. Be polite and gracious when answering emails.

There are many more things I can write about but these are what I call my “pillars” when selling on eBay. Whether you just want to sell some of your junk or thinking about being a full-on eBay seller, the bottom line is you want to get top dollar for your item.

Without sounding like I am bragging, I’ve compared other sellers selling the same things that I am. Time and time again my items sold for more because I practice what I’ve just preached. Aloha!

Last night for dinner I made a seared Ahi Tuna rolled in spices. Kind of a Cajun style. I seared all four sides of a block of Ahi for about a minute or two each side. I then dipped in cold ice water for a few seconds. I then sliced it semi thin.

The outside of the fish is cooked and the inside is raw sashimi style. The Japanese call this “tataki”. Don’t ask me what it means.

To get an even block of tuna, I had to trim the edges off a chunk of tuna. With the extra pieces, I made POKE! (Poh kee!)

I wanted to get a different taste from the first dish so I cut the fish in cubes, added green onions, sweet onions (sliced thin) and grated ginger root. For the sauce, I mixed shoyu, sweet mirin and a little sugar. I mixed the ingredients together then topped with chili pepper flakes. I don’t like baste my fish in the sauce but just coat the fish with the sauce. I drain the sauce sometimes too before serving.

           

The poke complimented the other dish well. Two totally different presentations. We had a bottle of Pinot Grigio with it along with salad and soup. It was a light yet filling meal. YUM!

                       

I just came back from grocery shopping 5 minutes ago. I went to the Japanese grocery store Don Quixote about 3 minutes away from my condo. I don’t really like going there but because it’s close and I needed to pick up dry cleaning, I did some grocery shopping as well. I’ve got to say overall quality of customer service in the US doesn’t even come close to the quality of customer service you receive in Japan.

I used to travel to Japan quite often for my eBay business. I also work in retail so I take notice of little things like customer service and nonverbal communication and stuff.

In Japan, customer service is so important because of competition. It is so easy to take your business elsewhere and business owners know it. “The customer is always right.” holds true in Japan. (Even though the customer is wrong, you just suck it up until they leave satisfied.)

The Japanese for most part, work with a sense of urgency. They move quickly and efficiently. They don’t want to make you wait. Talking to your coworker about non work related stuff in front of customers is a no no.

There is no tipping in Japan either. Maybe I’m being too harsh but a tip is for good service at restaurants, bars and any other service industry. Not for someone taking your order at a fast food place. I am not exactly sure, but in Japan most jobs that requires tips in the US is worked by part-time workers in Japan. Waiters and waitresses among other service oriented jobs in Japan are held by students and other part-time workers. Salaried full-time workers are management or office jobs.

 The level of customer service that Japan I see, in Hawaii anyway, is at higher end retail shops. Working with a sense of urgency and going beyond what is asked for is what high end retailers in the US do.

I am talking in general terms in this blog. There are people in the US at the lower end of the service industry that actually do care about their job and customers. These people are the ones that will be successful at whatever they do. At the same time, I’ve had bad service in Japan as well. (Actually just once out of so many positive experiences.)

It just goes to show, I remember that one bad experience in Japan very clearly. Bad experiences stick out because it’s disturbing, just like exceptional service sticks out because it’s so pleasurable.

I had the day off today. After running around in the morning, we went to go practice golf. We usually go to Kaneohe’s Bay View Golf Course because it’s covered and two storied driving range. This time we chose the toughest course in America to practice. We went to Koolau Golf Course.

                             

It’s a beautiful mountain course nestled in the foot of the Koolau mountains. Whenever I feel my game is good, I go to Koolau Golf Course to test my skills. The course ALWAYS kicks my but and puts me back in my place. I think the slope rating is something like 167. The greens are bent grass and the fairways are Bermuda. There is a challenge there. Drop $10 (?) and if you birdy the long 18th hole, you get a golf bag. If you take the conventional route, there are two very long carrys to reach the green. If you are exceptionally long off the tee, you can take your tee ball off the right over the mango trees to about 130 yds. to the green. You still have to make a good second shot and a putt to win the bag though…

                            

Today we lucked out and got to practice off the grass. Koolau and Hawaii Kai driving range are the only two public places I know of where you can do that.

My swing was not bad today. I am working on making my swing a one plane swing. I was swinging one plane about 5 or 6 years ago without knowing it and was playing GREAT. I wanted to swing the great Canadian golfer Moe Norman. He had an instructional DVD called…..I forget. I didn’t get the DVD but was amazed after watching a short clip about him on the golf channel.

That’s what I’m working on now. I need instruction though. I think I will take a few lessons soon. I expect my swing to get worst before it gets better. That’s what I hear anyway.

The golf range like the course is breathtaking. You actually can see the ocean from the range. I believe you can see either Kailua Beach or Bellows Air Force Beach. You’re hitting down hill so your ball goes farther than normal. It’s good for your ego.

After hitting two buckets, we went to the putting green and practiced for a while. It was really relaxing and although we were out in the sun, it wasn’t hot at all.

It was GREAT to get away today. Practicing at Koolau was peaceful and calm. Playing there is another story!

                                

                                      

It‘s been what, 4 days since I had a day off….Seems like FOREVER!! I speak pretty good Japanese, (My Mom is from Japan, living in Hawaii for about 45 years.)I’ve always worked in the retail or service industry. Service and retail in Hawaii is open almost every day, so I don’t have the normal Saturday and Sundays off. It’s been like this since I started my working career during high school.

During high school, I worked as a bus boy at a high end Japanese restaurant in Waikiki. That was just part-time, maybe 3 or 4 nights a week. It was really good money. Just on tips alone, I would make about $75.00 a night. That was incredible money for a junior in high school.

During my college years, I worked for a Japanese travel company. That was during the early “bubble” years for the Japanese in the late 80′s. They would come to Hawaii by the thousands weekly. During the holidays when I was off from school, I worked insane hours. Start at 4am and leave at 8 or 9pm. I remember at the peak, I worked something like 110 hours. IN ONE WEEK. I was a ZOMBIE during those times. It was wake up at 3 am, go to work, be slammed busy all day then leave at about 8 or 8:30 if I was lucky, get to bed at 10:30 at night then wake and do it all over again. That continued for two or three weeks past January 1st each year. I made BANK during the holidays but I was so glad to go back to school for the Spring Semester.

After college, I worked for this local stevedore company at the docks for about three years. We would load fresh food to the Japanese longline fishing vessels that would stay out at sea for months catching tuna. That was one of my favorite jobs because we it was a physical job and it was outdoors. I was probably the in the best shape of my life that time. It also gave us special treatment when we went fishing in restricted areas. Me and my peers used to fish almost everyday. We caught huge Jacks known in Hawaii as Papio as well as Weke (Goatfish) and Menpachi. (I don’t know the English name for that fish : )) That was good times.

During that time, my coworker John also worked part-time as a cashier at Salvatore Ferragamo. He brought me aboard as a cashier. That was my first taste of high end retail. We were still in the “bubble” era for the Japanese. Working there brought back memories of working at the travel company. That memory also kept me sane during my shifts because it was CRAZY. It was so BUSY! It was nonstop ringing up sales from start to end.

Three months after starting as a cashier, I got promoted to sales. What I thought was bank before was nothing compared to the sales we did then. On average, we would make about $500 a day selling shoes and handbags.

I was in my mid 20′s then. My peers were about the same age as well. We would go out and party every night after work at a restaurant called “Side Street Inn“. Back then, they weren’t as big as they are now. Anthony Bourdain just filmed a show there that will air on March 3, 2008.

It was a pretty wild time for all of us working. Eat, drink and be merry. That’s what we did.

Then the Japanese “bubble” burst. That sucked big time. I had two condos by then. I had some bills to pay and my self esteem was low. All of our self esteem was low. I fought through it and had a little help from family. I needed more cash flow to stay afloat. Many times I thought about bankruptcy. I couldn’t do it though. I thought about my credit rating and I couldn’t pull the trigger.

It’s about that time my friend introduced me to eBay. That’s when the clouds parted and the angels started to sing. By that time, I left shoes and worked at COACH. I started working there when they were still a part of Sara Lee. Right after I started, Coach started booming with the start of the iconic SIGNATURE C product line. Coach later split with Sara Lee and they offered stock to employees. That was a GREAT thing. I stayed with Coach for 6 years. 2 of those years in management.

My ex-boss later recruited me back to sell shoes. What ticks me off a little is right after I went back, she left to start her own business. She now has a super successful business in Kahala Mall called In My Closet. I’m happy for her success.

I stayed there another two years. It was fruitful but there were a lot of problems. I left there and all of my experience till now has landed me where I am currently working.

Uber high end French jewlery. It’s a good job. I get paid good. I am trusted and the management is down to earth and I like them very much. It’s been almost 6 months since I started. I’ve been appointed watch specialist. I’ll be flying to NY and Switzerland soon.

It’s Friday and yes, I have the day off today…Finally!

Something famous in Hawaii is the plate lunch. Traditional plate lunches consists of two scoops of white rice, some kind of meat and macaroni salad. Why macaroni salad? I have no idea. Growing up, I would go to buy a plate lunch based on the taste of the macaroni salad though…..Ask a person from Hawaii living outside Hawaii what they miss the most. I’ll bet “Plate Lunch” is in the top 10. Top 5 even…..

The plate lunch has evolved where the buyer can create their own individual plate lunch. Brown rice, white rice, a scoop of each? It’s up to you. Macaroni salad, potato salad, pasta salad, tossed green salad? It’s up to you! I guess because people are getting more health conscious, vendors are giving more healthy choices in their menu selection.

I might eat a plate lunch maybe once a month so for me it’s “two scoops of white rice, mac salad, teriyaki beef with gravy all over!” The pinnacle of local calorie indulgence! No holding back when ordering a plate lunch!

Saying that, for lunch the other day I had a mini teryiaki beef plate lunch from Yummy’s and substituted the mac salad for Choi Sum!! : ) I was working so I didn’t want to feel too full so I chose the substitute. The photo above is a mini plate from Yummy’s. For the regular plate at Yummy’s, you can choose 4 side orders among about 12 different choices of veggies and salads along with two scoops of rice and a main meat dish.

Some of my favorite plate lunch places are Rainbow’s Drive Inn right outside of Waikiki, Yummy’s Korean Barbecue, L&L Drive Inn and Diner’s Drive Inn. Diner’s in my opinion has the best mac salad out of all of them. These places are brick and mortar places where you can sit down and eat. There are lunch wagons that serve some pretty good plate lunches as well. These are frequented most by workers without a place to eat nearby or if near the beach, by surfers, picnickers or random people just driving by.

 Any way I decide to eat it, I still crave it from time to time and probably cannot live without it!!

Ala Moana Shopping Center, to my knowledge, is the largest open-air mall in the US. It is the highest grossing mall per square foot in the US!! (Or the world?!! Anybody know for sure?) 

Anyway, in the length through the middle of the mall, there are fish ponds. In the ponds there are Koi! I love watching Koi because it relaxes me.

My wife begs to differ. Kois scare her. She says they have beady eyes and scary lips. I see her point but I still think they’re relaxing to watch. I can watch them for hours and not get bored.

Some of the Koi in the pond are as old as I am. 30+ years old. I am not sure what their actual life spans are but I was talking to the person cleaning the pond one morning and he told me that Hawaii has Koi that are the oldest in the world. Older than Kois in Japan even. Ala Moana Shopping Center and the Pagoda Hotel nearby are among the leaders of the Koi longevity game.

A lot of fish collectors in Japan import Koi from Hawaii for their collection. Something about the colors and disposition of the Koi are superior for the Hawaii bred Koi.

The art of breeding Koi seems really complicated. Like along the lines of raising Bonsai plants, maybe. It is something that I really appreciate, but something I don’t really want to indulge myself in. It would probably take me years and years just to become a novice at it. Maybe I might take it up when I’m retired…..Nah, I don’t think so. I love golf and surf too much!