by Armand Gutierrez, President
Reunions. A lot can be said about reunions. Reunions come in two basic varieties: the family reunion and the high school or college reunion, with the high school reunion reigning as the most popular. Family reunions serve the purpose of getting the family together, feasting on a grand dinner or a picnic, and visiting with your favorite sibling, grandparent, or grandkid, or perhaps you are the favorite grandparent. High school reunions are usually at 5- or 10-year intervals and organized by a “reunion” committee. Generally the first two reunions have a great turnout, but as years pass the attendee list gets shorter and shorter due to the passing of long-lost friends or just not being in position to attend due to health or distance factors. The last high school reunion I attended was my 20th in 1986, and I don’t recall if there was a 50th a couple of years ago.

The NSC 60th Anniversary Dinner was a different type of reunion, sort of a hybrid between the family and class reunions. Held on September 8th at the China Stix restaurant in Santa Clara there was a great turnout with over 70 attendees. Scheduled like a high school reunion but it exhibited family characteristics. After all, the Nisei Ski Club is like family. Our Happy Hour went over an hour because old and new members were busy chatting, meeting new friends, and reminiscing about the old days in the club. There were members present long before I joined NSC and it was a pleasure to see them attend this dinner. Reunions like this are events in our lives to be cherished and remembered, for they don’t happen often. The picture shows the ex officios that were in attendance.

Upcoming Events
Aki Matsuri – October 6th
This Fall Festival is being held at the Wesley United Methodist Church on Fifth St. in San Jose. Although not as big as the Nikkei Matsuri, there will be Japanese cuisine, marketplace, entertainment, kids zone, and a silent auction. If you can attend please do so to show our support for this great cultural event.

Big Sky Ski Week 2019
The final payment for the Big Sky trip is due October 10th so grab those checkbooks and send in your payment. Rick Dumlao was in Yellowstone National Park at the end of September and took a side trip to Big Sky. Take a look at his article and see the snow that’s already accumulating on Lone Mountain at 11K.

by Rick Dumlao
In late September Patt and I took a road trip to Yellowstone National Park. I didn’t realize until after we were there that Big Sky ski resort was a little more than an hour’s drive away. After a few days of touring the park, we decided to check out the ski resort.

It was a scenic summer drive that ended in a long uphill grade to the resort. I first went by the Big Horn condos where we will be staying. There are individual and double condo units and most them are two stories. There’s a Poma Lift on a slope that seemed a bit steep about a 150 ft from our street. Couldn’t see what the inside looked like, but the outside appearance looked nice and the road looked recently paved.

The resort itself is about a quarter-mile further up the main road. There was some summer activity going on like skateboarding, mountain biking, miniature golf and rock climbing. There was also some winter preparation going on in the general village business area. They are also installing a new 8 chair lift from the main resort. I spoke to one of the employees who said they were expecting a good winter this year. He said the phrase going around the resort this year was “steep and deep”. Of course I checked out the local watering holes and determined my first beer off the mountain will be at Montana Joes! To my surprise I also saw there are gambling slot machines there as well. This is also connected to a small mall with the typical gift shops, sport shops, clothing shops, first aid and grocery store.

There was already a dusting of snow at the mountain peak that you can see in the photo above. The employee I spoke to said that it just happened last night and this morning. Within the hour I was there it started to lightly snow again. At that point we decided it was time to leave in case it started to get worse, (in September!!)

by Tina Woo
Paddlers! Drummers! ARE YOU READY? Attention, please. Air Horn, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Up, Up, Up , 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Up, Up, Up. READY AND REACH, REACH, REACH. This is a very typical race start chant to get the dragon boat from a stationary position and out of the water to a race pace. This is followed by a POWER 10, NOW! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, READY and REACH, REACH, which helps paddlers to focus and synchronize their strokes. And, finally, FINISH IT NOW, when paddlers “dump” everything we have into every stroke in time.

Live, Love, Survive is a dragon boat team founded in 2005 by Jenn Eng and is comprised of those who have been touched by cancer (survivor, caregiver, family member). We participated in the 23rd Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival held on September 15-16 at Lake Merritt in Oakland. This is the largest competitive dragon boat festival in the United States. The event was hosted by the California Dragon Boat Association and sponsored by Kaiser Permanente. The race included over 120 teams locally, out of state and international teams (one from Germany). The championship included novice, rec and competitive races for middle school, high school, college, corporate, mixed men and women adult, masters teams, and super masters who came together to participate in this annual event.

Origins of Dragon Boating
Dragon boat racing is one of the earliest known forms of boat racing and is celebrated at festivals and races worldwide. The roots of dragon boat racing go back 2000 years. Legend has it Qu Yuan, a scholar and advisor to the emperor of the Chu Kingdom jumped into the Mei Lo River to protest against government corruption. Local fisherman raced out in their boats to save him by beating drums and pounding their paddles on the water. They also threw rice dumplings (aka “joong”) into the river to distract water dragons from eating Qu Yuan.

Boats and Races
A dragon boat is a large, canoe-like craft made of wood and fiberglass that is colorfully painted and decorated with a dragon’s head on the front of the boat and a tail on the back. These boats hold an average of 20 paddlers seated two per row. A drummer and steersperson accompany the paddlers along the course. The average race course is 500 meters and usually takes anywhere from 2-2-1/2 minutes.

It’s easy to see why dragon boat racing is one of the fastest growing sports. It’s an impressive sight to see an elaborately adorned dragon boat surging towards the finish line with its engine of 20 paddlers pulling hard in unison. Combine the competition and excitement of the races and you have a great event for participants and spectators of all ages. It’s a great way to celebrate community.

Dragon boat paddling is a wonderful off-season ski activity. It builds cardio-endurance, strength in the “core”, lower back, legs, shoulders and arms. Are you interested in learning more about dragon boating? There are numerous meet ups which meet Saturdays mornings in Foster City and the Berkeley Marina. Please contact me if you’d like to try dragon boat paddling.

In the meantime, PADDLES UP!

by Sandy Kiyomura
Did you know that San Jose Taiko is celebrating its 45th year? Last year they performed for the Golden State Warriors during Asian American Heritage week. They have performed in 44 states and 250 cities! I had never seen them perform, but Edna Koyama invited some of us to see her daughter perform. You have to watch these videos to get a sense of what they did. There was a Jazz band, dancing and singing throughout the performances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z62wWoaKCg

Their Swing routine wanted to recapture some of the times during the Internment Camps of WWII. As you know 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned. Life behind barbed wire fences was harsh and we may never know the exact toll it took on the lives and spirits of those incarcerated. However, they had some fun times too. Some of the detainees played musical instruments. Bands were formed and provided music to dance to. This must have been the best therapy many had.

San Jose Taiko also performed with the Aswat ensemble. This is an Arab music ensemble composed of diverse multi-ethnic musicians. The Japanese were one of the first to stand up for Muslims when our president wanted to exclude them. It was quite touching to see the bands join together.
The founders are Roy and PJ Hirabayashi. I remember them from my college days and it was wonderful to see how they have made San Jose Taiko grow. Thank you to Edna and her daughter Alix Koyama for a wonderful evening. San Jose Taiko rocks!

by Hoyt Nelson
1. The Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco (top of Nob Hill at 950 Mason, 800-257-7544). It was converted from a hotel swimming pool in the 1940s and it’s unique, but expensive. It’s dark and Tiki style with tables around the pool and a small dance floor with large overhanging fig trees at the end next to the bar. There’s a $10 cover charge and make sure to get your hand stamped if you go to the bathrooms. Even so, it gets crowded and loud, so go early unless you enjoy a crowd. Every half hour or so, there’s recorded thunder and flashes of lightning. Then a perforated pipe around the edge of the pool showers the pool with a five minute rain storm. When this is over, The Island Groove Band is pulled out on a float to the middle of the pool and the music begins. The Mai Tais ($10) are the thing here. It’s possible to get food, but the last time I ate there, it was not memorable. Go on the net for hours and other details and good luck finding a parking place nearby. I suggest the train to San Francisco and Uber to the place.

2. Shadowbrook in Capitola at 1750 Wharf Rd. It’s the most romantic place in California, if not the entire west Coast which I’ve had the pleasure to visit. Go up the hill from the only bridge in town to a large parking lot on the right. Follow a zigzag stone path down the steep slope past gardens to a rambling 5 level old building among the trees with rooms scattered helter skelter. There is one large-ish dining room and several cozy smaller dark dining nooks tucked in the middle of a stairways and elsewhere. The food is fairly expensive traditional American, but VERY good. And reservations at least one week in advance are a must. Not sure if they still do this, but if you dined there on the documented exact day of your birth, you get a free birthday cupcake. At the bottom of the hill, there is a terrace a few feet from the river where you can enjoy a drink while waiting to be seated. When you exit the building, take the small funicular back up to the parking lot and back to reality. The only possible further embellishment would be to go after seeing the beautiful yearly Begonia festival when about 10 floats decorated with said begonias float down the river and under the aforementioned bridge. Sadly, this festival ended its long run last year when the source of the water for the begonias dried up. However, you can still walk along the magical path by which the decorated floats passed. Nearly all of the quaint bungalows along the San Lorenzo River will make you wish you could live in this paradise. To do this, go back down to the bridge and follow the path next to it up the river as far as you can. Parking in town is usually a problem, but drive over the bridge and up the hill for lots of timed parking. There are also a couple of other designated paid lots in town.

3. Bistro Roux (was Fi-Fi’s) at 1188 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove 831-372-5325 was an authentic French Bistro. The décor, the wait staff, the food, everything was what you would expect in Paris and the price was amazingly low for the prix fix weekend dinners. For those who fondly remember this gem, it now has the same chef and wait staff (for a while) but a new owner. Although there are still some great Yelp reviews, there are too many bad reviews for me to recommend it any more until I check it out.

4. Mon Ami Gabi on the strip at Paris, Las Vegas next to the sidewalk 702-944-4224 is another place for true French upscale food and atmosphere. There is inside dining as well. Everything is first class and expensive (but no more than many places in this town). The only potential barrier is getting there if your hotel is not in easy walking distance in the typical Las Vegas heat. Many places serve scallops, which are actually stamped out circles of skate wings, but Mon Ami proudly calls a spade a spade and shows how the French are known for exquisite meals made with lesser materials. Do not forget a side order of pommes frites.

5. The Supatra River House in Bangkok is probably the very most romantic restaurant ever for me. It’s out of range of Yelp, but the Lonely Planet Guide book talks about it, or just Google it. The converted home has been awarded as having one of the best Thai cuisines in the country and the view over the Grand Palace and Rama 9 Bridge are not to be missed. Get started just before dark for the best experience and so that you can more easily find the place. From the boat landing near the north end of the Royal Palace grounds, take the ultra cheap commuter ferry across the Chao Phraya river and walk R along unlit gravel streets (when I visited it in 2005), as close as possible to the river on the other side. Within a few hundred feet, you will find a dimly-lit restaurant with rickety stairs up to the roof dining area, which is within 30 feet of the water. It’s dimly lit with strings of Christmas-style lights. Tasteful Thai decorations can just be seen in the semi-darkness. There are always lots of boats going back and forth on the river and some tourist boats are lit with more strings of lights. The ultimate experience would be to do this during the Loi Krathong festival in late fall. During this time, people buy (or make) little decorated floats with lights on them on which they symbolically put all their troubles and bad thoughts and float them away down the river. Lots of boys will sell you one of these, and if you watch carefully down stream, other boys can be seen with long hooked poles with which they retrieve your float to sell to the next sinner. This restaurant has just reopened after renovation, so I can’t guarantee the same experience, but the owners would be crazy to change the atmosphere (except the prices).

Editor’s Note: Hoyt claims that these restaurants are the “most romantic” that he has ever visited, and not necessarily the most romantic in the world!

by Sandy Kiyomura
Did you know that you could be skiing in Japan next year with the Far West Ski Association? Nisei Ski Club is a member of BAC, the Bay Area Council of Ski clubs. BAC in turn is a member of Far West. Each year, Far West puts together an international ski trip. Several NSC members have skied in Europe with Far West. These trips usually include one or two weeks of skiing and an optional week of touring the country. In 2019 the pre-trip ski week is at Niseko in Hokkaido, Japan, and the basic ski week is in Hakuba/Nagano where Jonny Moseley skied in the 1998 Olympics and performed his famous Iron Cross aerobatic trick. The optional post-trip week will include a tour of Kanazawa, Kyoto and Tokyo. Far West allows the flexibility to join the basic ski week and either or both of the optional weeks.

Niseko is a town on Japan’s northern Hokkaido Island, near the dormant volcano of Mt. Yotei. Major ski centers like Niseko Mt. Resort and Grand Hirafu occupy the slopes of Mt. Niseko-Annupuri. The surrounding mountains are dotted with numerous hot spring resorts, known as onsen. The Shiribetsu River is known for its whitewater rapids. The area also features several golf courses against a backdrop of snowcapped peaks.

Hakuba Happoone Winter Resort is a ski resort located on Mount Karamatsu in Hakuba, Japan. For the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, it hosted the alpine skiing downhill, super giant slalom, and combined slalom events. Happoone receives an average snowfall of 11 meters (36 feet) per season!

Several NSC members are going on this trip with me, including our President Armand. If you have any questions about the trip, feel free to contact Armand at president@niseiskiclub.org or visit the Far West website.

by Tina Woo
The recent NSC Newsletter in August featured an article by Sandy Kiyomura about her Wednesday afternoon ballroom dancing class held at the Alameda Mastick Senior Center. There was information on how dancing benefits us physically by getting us up and moving, cognitively by helping the brain in remembering steps and variations, not to mention, socially, where we meet new people.

On a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, Margaret Wong and I decided to visit Alameda and Sandy’s dance class. When we arrived at the Mastick Center. We were pleasantly surprised by the welcoming atmosphere. There was a costume jewelry sale and an ice cream social. Margaret found some nice pieces of jewelry to add to her collection. The facility has several classrooms in addition to two bocce ball courts, a pool room and an exercise area. There are dozens of classes such as computer classes, foreign language classes, stained glass making, line dancing, hula and bridge club.

Sandy is an excellent resource and has been teaching as her “retirement job” for 8 years. Her beginning waltz class covered the basic box step, quarter turns, the underarm turn variation, in addition to a progressive step enabling you to move around the ballroom. Highlights included the all- important frame, posture, and heel-toe, toe, toe heel footwork. Sandy works with an excellent assistant, Jim Kawasaki, and provides both leader and follower instructions. The class was divided accordingly, and we practiced with a variety of partners. Sandy provided feedback to all. This was a very fun, welcoming, non-threatening experience, with great music to boot! And all of this was reviewed in an hour (for $5).

So, whether you’re a newbie or experienced dancer, this is a great opportunity to learn the basics or get a valuable refresher! Margaret and I thoroughly enjoyed the class and plan to return. Want to join us?

Armand Gutierrez, President

Ten years ago NSC celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a ski week at Vail, staying at the Vail International Condominiums. Later that year, in June to be exact, NSC had a grand 50th Anniversary dinner at the Holiday Inn in San Jose. This year NSC made a return trip to Vail, again, staying at the Vail International Condominiums, and this month we will be having our 60th Anniversary dinner at the China Stix restaurant in Santa Clara. These events are not by coincidence, but by design. Does the word tradition come to mind? A tradition is a belief or behavior that is passed down from one generation to the next, and can be for a special occasion, cultural aspect, or an event with great significance. Past NSC traditions could include the yearly ski races and the Nikkei Matsuri fundraiser. Unfortunately, traditions, like the wind, come and go. Tevye (from Fiddler on the Roof) struggled to maintain his religious and cultural traditions when outside influences encroached upon his family’s lives. Over the years NSC had similar outside influences that affected the yearly ski races and the Nikkei Matsuri event. Perhaps it’s time to start a new tradition, a tribute to NSCs ability to succeed as a club for all these years, and the years to come. Looking forward to seeing you, off and on the slopes, in 2028.

Upcoming Events
60th NSC Anniversary Dinner in September – September 8th
The Anniversary Dinner is completely booked with 70 people looking forward to meeting old friends, reminiscing about the good old days in NSC, and, of course, dining on fine cuisine.

Big Sky Ski Week 2019
The Big Sky trip is moving along well and on track. Thanks to those that sent in the second payment and the final payment is due in October. If you had one of those escapable moments and forgot about the second payment then you can redeem yourself by sending it now. An even better idea would be to send in your total payment and be worry-free.

Here are a few ideas for September “things to do” in the Bay Area.

Sausalito Arts Festival Labor Day Weekend: Enjoy one of the most prestigious art festivals in the country with over 250 artists in 14 different mediums at the Marinship Park waterfront in Sausalito, September 1-3. Fine art, music, food and wine come together for the perfect way to celebrate the end of summer. Admission: $25/day, $20 seniors 62 and over, children under 12 free.

Come out to paddle or cheer at the 23rd annual Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival September 15-16, 2018 at Lake Merritt, Oakland. It’s the largest competitive dragon boat festival in the United States. For more information: sfdragonboat.com

If you’d like to purchase tickets for San Jose Taiko’s 45th Anniversary Concert, you can do so here:
https://sjtaiko.squarespace.com/45thconcert

Hoyt Nelson

We live in a wonderland of ethnic restaurants in the Bay Area. Indian and Pakistani places have lately become much more popular– partly because so many folks from these places have come here to work in Silicon Valley and because this cuisine is so delicious. I remember in the late 60s when we had to drive to San Francisco to Taj of India and later to Pasand in Emeryville for these cuisines. At that time, there was a place called the Khyber Pass in Berkeley which claimed to be the only Afghani restaurant in the Western World. Now, the San Jose, Berkeley and Fremont areas are packed with such great places.

Unless you habitually seek out new places however, you may not know about Flavors of India, an Indian place in Santa Clara on Saratoga Ave. It’s just 100 feet in back of Applebees (which is 100 feet just S. of Hwy. 280). The listed address is actually the cross street, Moorpark. You might remember Tony Roma’s BBQ, which was one of its previous incarnations. The old cowboy decorations are still there. Many Indian folks have found it, with good reason, and I suggest you do too for its high quality food. It has most of the typical favorite Northern specialties like tandori and curries, but we go there for the dosas (a southern specialty which is not yet as popular in this area). If you find any, they will probably be just the Masala dosa, and I suggest you start with this popular version. It is an enormous thin, crispy semolina pancake rolled up into a 2 inch diameter tube which will probably overhang your plate on 2 sides. Inside, is a large dollop of spiced potato, but the pancake is the thing. Caution: You may have to ask for the separate dosa menu which lists about 8 different types. Like many local Indian places, there is only a buffet at lunch, but a thali (house combination of either veggie or with meat) will do for the most part.

Just W of India on the map is Pakistan and lately, our hands down favorite is Zareen’s Pakistani in a strip mall at 1477 Plymouth in Mtn. View – several hundred feet from a nearby large movie complex just E of 101. It is pretty small and gets very crowded during peak times, so plan timing accordingly. There are a few political messages scrawled on the walls and the seating is informal at picnic tables, so you might have to ask a 2-some to share a table. Otherwise, just take it home since it already comes in a takeout clamshell. The chai (spiced milk tea) is very good and is self-serve, but a sign says to limit yourself to 3 small paper cups per person. It’s not fancy and there may be as good or better Pakistani places in the Fremont area, but for my money, this is the very best Pakistani food within easy reach of San Jose.

Continuing N on Saratoga Ave. just N of Hwy. 280 is Harry’s Hofbrau at 390 Saratoga, one of our standby places for fast, large servings and which stays open till 11 PM. It’s not out of the way, but the same building houses a Persian grocery store (at the right end). Enter this store and go through an unmarked entrance in the back into a large, dark, cave-like Persian restaurant called Stone Stew. The atmosphere is quite nice actually. There is a well-equipped commercial kitchen to your right, but strangely, cooking is done in a lunch coach permanently parked just outside. The kabobs, breads and salads are pretty good, but the signature Stone Stew is just chunks of spiced meat and potato with some onion in a small stone mortar. You use a decorated stone pestle to mash the bits together with a few veggies into an un-appetizing mush. It’s an interesting presentation, but don’t bother.

Finally, if you have an itch for Thai on a Sunday, go to a Thai temple at 1911 Russell St. Berkeley from 10 till 1 PM. It’s called Wat Mongkolratanaram (wat means temple) at 1911 Russell St.. In the back is an open area filled with about a dozen long (communal) picnic tables. There are separate lines to enclosed tents for each of veggie, non-veggie and deserts etc. with 4 or 5 selections in each category. You pay for each with wood chits. There is a non-church cashier where you purchase these chits, and this allows all the other church members to serve you without touching money (which this sect is not allowed to do). It’s excellent and cheap, so the place is usually mobbed. It’s well worth the wait.

Snowbomb Festivals are held around California in November and are a great way to get psyched for the upcoming ski season. At the festival you will find free lift tickets, ski and board sales, climbing walls, entertainment, vendors, beer and wine. Admission tickets are available online.

The Bay Area Council (BAC) of ski clubs will have a booth at the shows and we will be looking for help at the booth. This is a great opportunity to promote Nisei ski club and meet members of other clubs. Please contact Armand if you are interested in volunteering for a few hours at this fun event.

Here are the dates:

Santa Clara County Fairgrounds:
Nov 10 2018 12pm – 8 pm
Nov 11, 2018 | 10am – 6pm
San Francisco Pier 35:
Nov 3 – Nov 4, 2018 | 10am – 6pm
Sacramento Cal Expo Center:
Nov 17 – Nov 18, 2018 | 10am – 6pm

Nov 5 — Winterfest — The BAC Winterfest will be held at the Englander Pub on Monday November 5th. This is a great opportunity for club reps and travel directors to speak with ski resort reps. There will be great raffle and silent auction items.

Armand Gutierrez, President

August. Hot August Nights. Kids returning to school. Still summer, but heading into fall. What does August bring for you? For me, it’s a minor milestone: my 5-year anniversary of being retired, and I often forget that it’s been five years. Many of you are probably thinking that I’m still a newbie at only five years, and you would be correct. After all, there are many members that have been retired for 10, 15, and 20 years or longer. So you see, that still makes me a youngster. Getting older is unavoidable, and NSC is no exception. Witness the fact that we are now having our 60th Anniversary Dinner next month. Yes, our club is getting older, as is the membership. But that doesn’t mean we have to stop doing the things we love, especially our love for skiing/boarding. My passion for skiing is what keeps me young (along with 5-6 days at the gym each week), and skiing with members of NSC is always something I look forward to each season. Hope to see you on the slopes this season.

Upcoming Events

60th NSC Anniversary Dinner in September – September 8th
Karen Soo, our trip director, has been working very diligently on the upcoming 60th NSC Anniversary. So far there have been 60 signups and we have room for 80. So, if you haven’t signed up yet what are you waiting for? Do you really want to miss this opportunity for meeting old friends and acquaintances and reminisce about the history of NSC?

Big Sky Ski Week 2019

The Big Sky trip is completely booked, unless you are a single and would be willing to take a sofa sleeper. If more people decide to sign up then I’ll make an inquiry on the possibility of getting an additional condo or two. As a reminder, August 10th is the deadline for sending in the second payment. Here is the link to the flyer: Big Sky flyer

Armand Gutierrez, President

Summer has officially arrived and we’re experiencing unusual weather. You may have noticed that there are warm-to-hot days followed by cold days. This is caused by alternating high and low pressure systems over the bay area, and is not typical for our summer pattern.

NSC Annual Membership Meeting and Luau Picnic, June 10^th

Once again we had a great turnout for our annual membership meeting and luau picnic, and the weather was warm and sunny. And once again I didn’t win the Left-Center-Right game that Karen sponsored. Congratulations to Patt Dumlao for being the big winner. Thanks to everyone that showed up and had a great time.

Upcoming Events

Mt. View Obon Festival is on July 21^st  and 22^nd. This is an annual volunteer event that NSC participates in and is always a fun event. After all, there’s a variety of food, carnival-style games, cultural events, lots of people, and the famous Beer Booth. If you’re interested in volunteering here is the link for signing up: http://signup.com/go/KTroJEG

Big Sky Ski Week 2019

Plans are moving smoothly for the Big Sky ski week trip for 2019, and the date is 19-26 January. The Big Sky flyer has been posted and you can now send in your applications. This trip will be limited to 36 applicants so be sure to send yours in early.

For 2018-19, Big Sky will be on the Ikon Pass, and is also good for Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows. Here is what you need to know about the Ikon and Epic Passes for the Big Sky trip:

• Purchase the Ikon Pass (Big Sky, Squaw/Alpine) from Sports America and receive a discount on the Big Sky trip. Go to this link to purchase: https://www.sportsamerica.com/ikon-nisei
• Purchase the Epic Pass (Northstar, Heavenly, Kirkwood) and receive a discount on the Big Sky trip. The Epic Pass cannot be used at Big Sky, but if you go on the Big Sky trip you will receive a trip discount. Go to this link to purchase: https://www.sportsamerica.com/epic-nisei

Patt Dumlao

On June 10th 2018, the Nisei Ski Club had their annual picnic celebrating the club’s 60th year. It was announced that we are one of the oldest ski clubs on the west coast.

It was a pretty good turnout with members, family, and friends showing up. The weather was warm and breezy. A lot of entrée and dessert dishes were brought in by the members as well as varied liquid refreshments. You couldn’t stop eating (LOL) umm..umm..good! Karen Soo was our terrific grill chef for the day. As everyone enjoyed the food, it was a good time catching up with new and old friends.

“El Presidente” Armand made a few more announcements about the next weeklong ski trip to Montana. More on that in another article. Thanks and gratitude were given to those that volunteered in making this picnic successful and he also mentioned some changes in the Nisei Ski Club including new members of the board.

Once the club business was done, the traditional Left-Right-Center game commenced. Those that were new the game had fun learning how to play as well as being enjoyed by all. About 30 people circled around and participated. The winner of the game is typically “volunteered” to write this article about the picnic.

It was a great social day. Thanks everyone. . .

Greg Wong

This is my last article as Membership Chairperson.  It turned out to be a three year tour that went in a blink of an eye.  The membership ended the year with 74 members.  It has roughly been the same for the three years.  Long gone are the years of 200+ members.  Now, the club is a core group of people with some new members.  

I like to welcome Tina Woo as the new Membership Chairman this year. If you have not met her, say hello.   She comes in with new and needed enthusiasm.  Tina has some new ideas for the club to bring in new members. You will hear about them in future articles and events. I hope other members join in her membership activities.  I wish her good luck.    

Judy Hom

This is my last edition of the newsletter. It is hard to believe that I’ve been your newsletter editor for three years. It’s even harder to believe that I’ve been the Nisei Ski Club newsletter editor on and off for 11 years. Indulge me as I walk down memory lane.

My first stint started in 1997. Ron Nishimura decided that he needed to recruit a bright-eyed and bushy tailed new member to be the newsletter editor otherwise he would be stuck with a second term. It sounded interesting and not knowing any better, I said yes. Here’s a link to my first column as newsletter editor.

Back in 1997, the newsletter used to be quite a production. Articles were collected and laid out for printing on 11″ x 17″ paper. Four pages fit on 11″ x 17″ paper double-sided. The ideal number of pages for the newsletter was in multiples of 4. The smallest newsletter was 4 pages long and the typical newsletter was 8-12 pages. If push came to shove and there was not enough content, then 8.5″ x 11″ inserts were used.

The newsletter couldn’t be too big otherwise it would be heavier than 1 ounce, which would require additional postage. Once the newsletter was laid out, I took it to the copy shop to get 300 copies made. I organized the collating and stapling of the newsletter instead of paying extra to have that done for me. I used to recruit club members and even family to do that every month. Later, my husband Winston bought a used washing machine sized HP laser jet printer and we did the printing at home. I have fond memories of Winston dropping collated copies of the newsletter on the floor and sometimes on my head for stapling and stamping.

In 2004, the club offered a PDF version of the newsletter as an option to the printed newsletter to lower printing and mailing costs. In 2007, the club made the PDF version standard and the printed and mailed version an option with a small fee to cover costs. Finally in 2013, the club dropped the PDF version and made the newsletter online only.

It’s been interesting to work on the website only version. I’ve gotten a chance to learn new tools like Word Press and brush up on my HTML. In addition, the website version allows me to correct and revise articles any time. I used to feel badly when I found mistakes in the printed version after it went out — no more!

I’ve done this job for so long because Nisei Ski Club is a wonderful group of people. After all, that’s how I met my husband Winston.

In closing, I would like to welcome the brand new newsletter editor Judy Bracken. Some of you may have met her on the weeklong trip to Vail. In fact, Judy B. wrote the article about the club’s 60th anniversary trip to Vail. I find it serendipitous that the incoming editor is also named Judy. Please give this new Judy a warm welcome and your support.

Hello Nisei Ski Club! Thanks for selecting another Judy to be newsletter chair. I’ve got a tough act to follow after the awesome job Judy Hom has been doing for a very long time! I will do my best to keep you all informed with club happenings via the online news.

Skiing is one of my favorite pastimes and has been since I began to ski at age 8 in Utah. I always took it for granted that skiing was easy and accessible, living where it was a 40 minute drive to the top resorts of Deer Valley, Park City, Alta, Snowbird, Solitude or Brighton. Then when I spent four years at college in Colorado, it was more of the same. It wasn’t until I lived in Texas for a couple years that I realized how lucky I had been! I was overjoyed to be back in the West when we moved to California in 1991. Since then I’ve explored most of the Sierra resorts, settling in on Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows as favorites.

My three sons and I enjoy skiing together, but it’s not often our schedules coincide. Joining the ski club was a great way to find other adults that love to ski and stay active. The ski trips to Aspen and Vail were awesome and I hope to do many more.

Unfrozen water is my other love; I’ve been a part of a masters swim team for over 25 years. In 1999, I emerged from the pool to swimming in various bodies of water from the SF Bay to Lake Tahoe to the Aegean Sea.

Outside of skiing and swimming, I keep busy with various volunteer jobs, travel, family and friends, my pets, and my long distance boyfriend Mark. I originally had a career in Human Resources, but have also worked in housing economics, accounting, writing and swim coaching. Now I’m retired from those jobs, and my main task is to enjoy life!

Hi, I’m Tina Woo and recently rejoined Nisei Ski Club this past year to participate in the club’s week- long 60th anniversary trip to Vail, Colorado. Following this trip, Sandy Kiyomura contacted me to see if I would be willing to volunteer assisting in the membership role. I joined the club in 2004 and 2005, probably as a result of attending a dance at the Buddhist Temple and recall the earlier days of ski waxing workshops, making tempura for the Obon festival, dances and bus trips.

One of my goals for the club will be to maintain our current membership base and recruiting new members. The Bay Area has so much to offer in terms of cultural events and festivals, musical performances, museums, biking and hiking trails, attending a Giant’s game, camping, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, dragon boat paddling, visiting one of Hoyt’s restaurant reviews, to name a few. If you would like to suggest a possible event for the club, please let me know. Send email to membership@niseiskiclub.org.

Hi, my name is Rick Dumlao. I joined the Nisei Ski Club in 2012. I was introduced to the club by Armand, our honorable club president. I started skiing at the late age of 25 then I took up snowboarding about 10 years ago. I would consider myself somewhere between an intermediate and an advanced rider. Attending the club’s week long ski trips for the last five years is always one of my highlights of the year for me. Previously I had been with another ski club called Crash and Burn until it was discontinued. I find the Nisei Ski Club much better suited to my liking with membership I can relate to. As I mentioned, Armand brought me into the club but we also had other things in common at the time. We used to work for the same company and we also share the skies flying hang gliders in the summer as well as enjoying the snow in the winter. I’m looking forward to contributing to the Nisei Ski Club as a new member of the board in any way I can.

We choose hope over fear. We see the future not as something out of our control, but as something we can shape for the better through concerted and collective effort.

Barack Obama

Hoyt Nelson

In the next few issues, I will talk about restaurants – mostly in the South Bay area. I’ve been “collecting” restaurants and sending short reviews to friends for over 50 years. My wife and I always have our antennae open for new, interesting places and when confronted with choices between an old favorite and a new place that looks interesting, we usually go to the new place. We usually like ethnic places and rarely pay more than $20 for a meal. It’s a moving target to find good places since new places are always popping up, old ones close and places frequently change. We usually get tips from friends and usually check out reviews from YELP and prefer places with at least 25 reviews.

Because we live in the South Bay, most places are within reach of our area, although we have a section of special places out of range of this area. You may not like all the same places as we do because of differences in your tastes, the particular dish, whether it’s lunch or dinner, the day of the week, etc. When in doubt, I suggest you learn more before choosing by reading YELP reviews. (The ratings are YELP’s ($ and *). Also, feel free to contact me for more details (and to tell us about your favorite places). Even we, sometimes find disappointments in places at which we have had good meals in the past.

Because my listing usually changes every month, I get sick of re-issuing issues all the time. So now, I am in the process of transferring my review to Google Drive. If you save the link to it, you will always be up to date. My drive location will also include notes on my travels, Bay Area hikes, my personal recipes, and a few of my favorite puzzles. I’m having a few problems since Google does things a little differently than Microsoft. By the next issue of our newsletter, I should have things straightened out. In the future, I hope to add more details on each restaurant, but until then, you will just have to ask me for more details. If there is enough interest in a particular restaurant, we might even organize a trip to it.

Here is this month’s restaurant:

Crepes Bistro

Enough with the preliminaries. One of our latest finds is Crepes Bistro (4.5 *. $$, Gluten-Free, Vegan, 57 Washington St., San Jose, where Washington changes to Bascom, 408-260-6885). It’s just off the Bascom exit from 880 going S. The crepes ($13 – $15.75) are more than large enough for 2 people so I suggest splitting a savory crepe for dinner and splitting a sweet crepe for desert. The crepes are true buckwheat, about 14X 16 and unusually thick at about ¼. Soups, salads, bagels, breakfast items, acai, deserts and drinks are also available. The place is fairly small and nicely decorated with tasteful photos. We enjoyed our first meal there and I look forward to the next.

Armand Gutierrez, President

It’s June and the start of the 2018-2019 NSC season. Our recent election resulted in three new members joining the board: Judy Bracken, Tina Woo, and Rick Dumlao. Thanks to all of you that took the time to vote, and you can see the full election results in Hoyt’s article.

Upcoming Events

NSC Annual Membership Meeting and Luau Picnic, June 10th
The NSC Annual Picnic on June 10th at Las Palmas park in Sunnyvale (same place as last year) is coming up soon. See the flyer in the newsletter and the Evite invitations have already been sent out. If you didn’t get an Evite in your email then please notify Karen Soo (tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org).

Mt. View Obon Festival is on July 21st and 22nd. This is an annual volunteer event that NSC participates in and is always fun. After all, there’s a variety of food, carnival-style games, cultural events, lots of people, and the famous Beer Booth. If you’re interested in volunteering contact the Mountain View Buddhist Temple at mvbt.575@gmail.com or phone (650) 964-9426.

Big Sky Ski Week 2019
Plans are moving smoothly for the Big Sky ski week trip for 2019, and the date is 19-26 January. There will be more details in the July newsletter.

For 2018-19 Big Sky will be on the Ikon Pass, and is also good for Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows. Here is what you need to know about the Ikon and Epic Passes for the Big Sky trip:

• Purchase the Ikon Pass (Big Sky, Squaw/Alpine) from Sports America and receive a discount on the Big Sky trip. Go to this link to purchase: Ikon Pass for Nisei Ski Club through Sports America
• Purchase the Epic Pass (Northstar, Heavenly, Kirkwood) and receive a discount on the Big Sky trip. The Epic Pass cannot be used at Big Sky, but if you go on the Big Sky trip you will receive a trip discount. Go to this link to purchase: Epic Pass for Nisei Ski Club through Sports America

Hoyt Nelson, Vice-President

The results are in and we have a new board of directors for NSC. They will be installed on June 1 for the coming fiscal year starting June 1. There are many of the same members and a few new members. The members of the board are:

We will soon be brainstorming for new events for the coming year and preparing for ways to add to our membership. If any member would like to be part of these activities, contact any board member or send email to president@niseiskiclub.org. We look forward to working with all of you this year.

Judy Hom

NSC bocce ball players

A dozen NSC’ers attended the NSC bocce ball event on May 12th at Lake Almaden. NSC came early and was able to secure 3 of the 4 courts. It was a beautiful day for a bocce ball outing. Within two hours, we were able to play two games.

As Hoyt mentioned in his post Bocce Ball at Lake Almaden, you can learn bocce ball quickly. No prior experience or special skills are needed. It is a fun game and anybody can play. I have played bocce ball a few times. I loved the experience so much that I bought a set of regulation bocce balls. It is amazing to me how competitive this simple game can be.

Game 1 – Judy and Winston versus Morgan and Greg

In game #1, Winston and I played against Morgan and Greg. Morgan and Greg are experienced bocce ball players. We scored a four pointer and were comfortably ahead. In a reversal of fortunes, Morgan and Greg scored a four pointer! The score was tied at 14-14. We didn’t have our rules with us and decided that we needed to win by two just like in volleyball. It was a scrappy battle but Morgan and Greg won.

Greg, Winston, and Morgan

Tied up! 14-14

Games 2 – Judy and Winston versus Jackie and Celeste

Jackie and Celeste were bocce ball newbies but it was still an engaging game. As Hoyt said, all you need is on the job training and there’s no telling what will happen during the game. In this game, Winston helped the opposing team by knocking one of Jackie and Celeste’s balls into the pallino. Take a look at these amazing pictures. You can’t get closer to the pallino than this!

Eventually Winston and I won this game. However, I sincerely believe that Celeste threw the game because it was nearly noon and she wanted to eat.

Ball is knocked next to the pallino

Celeste is the lucky recipient of Winston’s mistake

Lunch at Back A Yard in San Jose

Hoyt loves to eat. You can’t go wrong following Hoyt. This time was no exception. We went to Back A Yard in San Jose for Jamaican food. We were not disappointed. The lunch was delicious and a perfect way to end a pleasant afternoon of bocce ball. Check out the pictures of the tasty food at this link:  Back A Yard – San Jose .

Thanks to Hoyt Nelson for putting this event together.

May is Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. AAPI Heritage Month honors the rich history and accomplishments of AAPIs throughout the history of the United States. AAPI Heritage Month was created by Congress in 1997. The first 10 days in May are designated as AAPI Heritage Month and May 7-10 (inclusive) is designated as AAPI Heritage Week. According to Wikipedia,

The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869

Many organizations like PBS and AARP have celebrated AAPI Heritage month with articles. Check out this AARP article that lists influential Asian American movies and documentaries and this PBS article that lists PBS episodes that celebrates AAPI month. How many have you seen from this list?

Feature Films

• Joy Luck Club (1993)
• Enter the Dragon (1973)
• The Crimson Kimono (1959)
• Flower Drum Song (1961)
• Mississippi Masala (1992)
• Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
• Chan is Missing (1982)
• Mulan (1998)
• Picture Bride (1995)
• All Saints (2017)

Documentaries

• Linsanity (2013)
• The Search for General Tso (2014)
• Tyrus (2015)
• Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2017)
• Hollywood Chinese (2007)

PBS Episodes

• The Chinese Exclusion Act
• Resistance at Tule Lake
• Being Bruno Banani