Donate, Donate, Donate
Nov 1
by Karen Soo, Newsletter Editor
One of the best ways you can help Maui and its affected residents is by simply donating what you can to trusted donation funds. While so many have already donated, the amount of funds that will be necessary to help rebuild what was lost, and assist those who are hurting, is truly staggering. We recommend giving to established funds and organizations, such as the Maui Strong Fund, the Maui Humane Society and Red Cross Hawaiʻi, which are all directly involved in the recovery of Maui.
Solve This…
Nov 1
Please email Karen at newsletter@niseiskiclub.org if you have the answer..
by Armand Gutierrez, President
Ahhh, Once again the neighborhood is slowly making its annual transition to “the Dark Side”. Witness the incursion of creatures of the night and from beyond. Dare I walk at night not knowing what lurks behind every bush? The custom of visiting houses with ghoulish characters for purpose of being rewarded with confectionary treats escapes me, but I’ll take that risk just to be rewarded with my favorite candy, chocolate of course!
Upcoming Events
Get your calendars out and mark these dates down for planned events for the remainder of the year.
October 28 – 65th NSC Anniversary Dinner – We had a great time at our 60th Anniversary Dinner so be sure to sign up for this Anniversary Dinner. There will be great food and the opportunity to see friends and members you probably haven’t seen in quite awhile. Take a look at the flyer and get your checkbook handy.
November 4 – NSC Pickleball Event – Tina Woo and Jeanne Katsuro are at it again with another Pickleball Event. At the rate these two are going with the ever-popular Pickleball they’ll be in the Summer Olympics. See the flyer for details.
November 11 – NSC Bowling Event – Jeff Honda, one of our new board members, has arranged for NSC to occupy a few lanes at the Homestead Bowl where we can show off our dexterity at rolling a ball to hit a bunch of lined-up ten pins. Now, I haven’t put on a pair of bowling shoes since the late 50’s and this will be a test to determine if I’m left or right handed. Come join the fun and laughs at this first-of-a-kind event. And yes, there will be lunch afterwards. See the flyer for details.
Website Transition
Morgan Hua, our behind-the-scenes Webmaster, discussed with the board that our web site hosting service is going up in price and that we should eventually move to another hosting service. Plus, our mailing capability is getting outdated and that service should also be moved to another host. So, in the next few months we’ll be looking at how to best transition from our current services to a newer service. As we progress to implementing a transition you will be notified of any changes.
2024 NSC Jackson Hole – 27 January to 3 February
The Jackson Hole trip is fully booked with 6 2-bedroom units and 4 3-bedroom units. However, there are additional 2- and 3- bedroom units available. New applications will be accepted but put on a Waitlist until a condo can be filled. So if you’re interested in going then now is the time to let me know because by the middle of October there will be no more applications accepted.
QotM: Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
by Jeanne Katsuro, Vice President
Join us and celebrate – Nisei Ski Club’s 65th Anniversary.
Date: Saturday, October 28, 2023
Location: China Stix Restaurant https://www.chinastix.net/
2110 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95050
Time – 5:00pm
Come out and get reacquainted with past presidents and your NSC members.
It’s going to be a fantastic evening!!
For more information, please send updated emails to
Jeanne Katsuro vicepresident@niseiskiclub.org
Here are some pics from our NSC 60th Anniversary DInner in 2018
by Tina Woo, Membership
Join us for our 2nd annual Nisei Ski Club Pickleball Event. Our inaugural event (held in October 2022) was met with such enthusiasm and success we decided to organize a second club event. Grab a paddle and join us on Saturday, November 4 from 9-11 am.
Pickleball’s popularity has skyrocketed in the last two years. What is pickleball? Pickleball is a mash-up between tennis, ping pong and badminton and is played on a court smaller than a tennis court. It offers a safe, socially distanced form of exercise, is low impact and is accessible for people of all ages. Sign up and join us!! Even if you don’t play, you’re welcome to join us for dim sum lunch afterwards. All are welcome!
by Jeff Honda, Board Member
by Tina Woo, Membership
It’s time again for the 9th Annual Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest. Once again, Nisei Ski Club is proud to be a sponsor of the event. The Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Filmfest is a project of the Contemporary Asian Theater Scene, known as CATS. This year’s festival is taking place at the AMC Sunnyvale Dine-In Theatres Friday, October 20 through Sunday, October 22. Online film screening is also available October 20-29. https://svapfilmfest.org/
GET YOUR TICKETS HERE https://www.tickettailor.com/events/contemporaryasiantheaterscene/1021288#
Films can be viewed in-person or online (October 20-29 for online viewing). Thanks to your generosity and support the SVAPFF is able to present the best in Asian American films to the Silicon Valley community. The SVAPFF is an all volunteer-run effort.
INSTERESTED IN HELPING OUT?
The organization is looking for volunteers to help their in-person 2023 Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest. Location: AMC Dine-In Sunnyvale
Volunteer duties may include the following: set-up, ticketing, ushering, crowd control, check in, questionnaire distribution, video and photography, and clean up. Please choose the day and times that you are available to volunteer. Information provided will only be used for coordination during the FilmFest. (Minimum age to volunteer is 14 years old).
Film Schedule as follows :
Friday Oct 20th
Opening Night – includes bento dinner and gift
6:30 pm – 10:00 pm – Feature Film Love in Taipei and Feature Short, Gifts are my Love Language with Q&A afterwards
Saturday Oct 21st
10:00 am – 12:00 pm – Feature Film: Staring Jerry as Himself and Feature Short: Year of the Rat
12:30 pm – 2:30 pm – Feature Film: A Great Divide. Q&A with Director, Jean Shim
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Featuring Bay Area Shorts with Q&A
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Feature Film: Chindia with Q&A
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Feature Film: Shortcomings with Q&A
Sunday Oct 22nd
10:45 am – 1:00 pm – Feature Film: Hito Hata: Raise the Banner and Feature Short:1970s: The Fight For Little Tokyo. Q&A with Duane Kubo
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm – Featuring Bay Area Short Documentaries with Q&A
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Special presentation of Documentary Short, Every Day After with Q&A
by Karen Soo, Newsletter Editor
Hey Fellow Bakers,
I’m always in search for recipes made with fresh blueberries.
Fresh blueberries are low in calories and incredibly healthy, potentially regulating blood sugar levels and aiding heart and brain health. Often marketed as a superfood, blueberries are an excellent source of several vitamins, beneficial plant compounds, and antioxidants. I use a handful for my smoothies. pancakes and especially for blueberry muffins.
I’m really looking for an excuse to have dessert for breakfast. Honestly, Jordan Marsh’s blueberry muffins are light, cakey in a good way and so easy to make. I make them often for the weeklong ski trips. Want one? Come over to our condo at Jackson Hole.
Try them out and let me know how you like them. Enjoy!
Bon Appetite – Julia Child and Karen Soo share the same birthday.
Ingredients
Yield:12 muffins
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 cups blueberries, washed, drained and picked over
- 3 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Cream the butter and 1 1/4v cups sugar until light.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk.
- Crus1/2 cup blueberries with a fork, and mix into the batter. Fold in the remaining whole berries. ( I skipped the crushing)
- Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with cupcake liners, and fill with batter. Sprinkle the 3 teaspoons sugar over the tops of the muffins, and bake at 375 degrees for about 30-35 minutes.
- Remove muffins from tin and cool at least 30 minutes. Store, uncovered, or the muffins will be too moist the second day, if they last that long.
by Karen Soo, Newsletter Editor
I guess you can figure out where Curtis and I spent our vacation in September, Walt Disney World. (WDW). We had sunshine, 80% humidity and the temperature was in the 90’s. Its was HOT but its was still a happy place for us.
Walt Disney World Resort (WDW) is a world – renowned entertainment complex located in Orlando, Florida. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, drawing millions of visitors each year.
Walt Disney World Resort is a significant economic driver for the state of Florida. It generates substantial revenue and has a significant impact for the local economy in various ways.
Thanks to our charge cards, we spent our share of “Benjamin’s” on park tickets, accommodations, dining, shopping, transportation and other tourism related expenses which benefited the local businesses and the state’s economy.
This is Curtis’s first trip to the Sunshine State. My 8th time to WDW.
I started planning our trip after the ski season. I subscribed to Ear Shots YouTube videos. Read all the blogs on Facebook and tried to understand what people do to plan for their trips.
We picked a week after Labor Day when all the kiddies were back at school and of course we went during the hurricane season. ( Less crowded) What are the odds of Hurricane Ian 2022 hitting land again? We got lucky, no hurricane in sight. We had the occasional thunder shower downpour.
We used my miles to fly down to Florida. We purchased advance park passes for 4 full days. DING $99.00 a day for the theme parks which includes. Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Just like a ski resort, walk up ticket prices were $150.00 a day. OUCH!
We spent 14 hours in the park. We did rent a car and drove to the parks – DING $25.00 a day for parking. We walked 26,000 to 28,000 steps a day, that’s 11 to 12 miles. Good sneakers are advised.
OUT is the traditional Fast Pass. IN is the Genie + – A reservation system for select rides. The plus side of Genie + is the lines were shorter and the wait was quick. I think Genie + was worth it. DING $15.00 – $20.00 a day per person, depending on the park.
Curtis was a champ in reserving the rides. Believe me, we did not miss a thing. We rode almost all the rides and seen all the shows and attractions.
We stayed at my friend’s time share, Club Wyndham at Bonnet Creek, which was on the Disney property but not a Disney affiliated accommodation. DING $80.00 a night / a bargain. 10–15-minute ride to the parks.
The disadvantage is we cannot go into the park 30 minutes earlier. We did go to the park early for rope drop (7:30am-8:00am)– this means we were there at the front of the line when the parked opened up. Once the rope drop we did our power walk to our first ride.
The 4 parks offer various shows, parades, character meet and greet. At the end of the night, the fabulous fireworks show took place at 9:00pm – People were already waiting at their spots at 7:00pm.
Epcot has the new Guardian of the Galaxy roller coaster ride plus the international food festival.
Magic Kingdom has the Tron Light cycle ride- A ride on an individual motor cycle. See Video
Hollywood Studio has the Star Wars theme rides.
Animal Kingdom has the Pandora – The world of Avatar. Fly on the back of a mountain Banshee.
(Watch the Avatar Movie and you will understand what a Banshee is.)
We packed sandwiches for lunch and we carried a lot of snacks with us. We each had our own Camel bak so we were hydrated throughout the day. Plus, Florida tap water is nasty.
I had my smoke Turkey Leg on steroids. It was tender and not dried at all.
Epcot had their annual food festival around the park. Different kiosks had different types of food.
Again, Curtis researched and ate and drank his way around Epcot.
We invested in the Disney photo pass package. DING $169.00. Photographers were stationed all over the parks to take your pictures. Standing in line, we got our pictures in front of various place like Cinderella Castle and the Millennium Falcon. We didn’t do take too much pictures with the Disney characters – a long wait and we had no time for that. We did get one picture with Mickey Mouse. There were 275 photos of us from the package, in addition to our own pictures.
We had one day of rest after 2 days in the parks. We just laid by the pool and walked around Disney Springs and had dinner there.
Overall, It was a fun,, well planned trip. You definitely need to plan ahead. We were like 2 kids running around from ride to ride. Did we get dizzy on the rides? Not really, but some of the ride effects were amazing. If anyone wants to take a magical trip to Walt Disney World, send me an email and I’ll share my notes with you.
Here are some pics taken by the Disney photo pass Package.
