Syns, Twins and Fins

It’s been eight years since we last visited Honolulu, and this year Michael’s girlfriend, Riley, joined us for the trip. The kids love the hustle and bustle of Waikiki, so we stayed there again, just around the corner from Marugame Udon. Of course, our first stop after arriving was lunch at Marugame. Amazingly, there was no line—a rare occurrence—and we all enjoyed the meal we’d been missing for the past eight years. It was the perfect way to kick off a vacation centered around great food, shopping, and fishing.

The tides were perfect for the three days we fished. Unfortunately, the moon phase wasn’t, and adding wind—especially the heavy winds on the final day—made for some very challenging conditions. We fished about two hours each morning, timing our outings with the incoming tide. Every morning each of us spotted between one and eight fish that were within casting range. Matthew had a few follows, Michael spent some time chasing a school of about eight fish, and I had several good opportunities, but the fish were incredibly spooky. At one point, I simply raised my rod to cast, and that alone sent the bonefish racing off the flat.

The fish are easy to spot from a distance—large green submarines gliding across the flats. On the last morning, with winds gusting over 20 mph, I had a good shot. I cast well ahead of a small group of fish, leading them by about 20 feet so I wouldn’t spook them. As they approached, I made two strips and came tight. The fish rushed to the fly, engulfed it and just as I strip-set and slightly raised my rod, the leader snapped. What a completely defeated feeling. I had just reminded the boys to check all of their knots before we left the car. My leader broke at the tippet knot. I know I checked the fly knot, but I must not have pulled hard enough when testing the tippet knot. Fifteen-pound test shouldn’t have broken that easily. Landing that fish would have been the perfect ending to an already fantastic vacation. It has been days since that occured and I’m still playing that back in my mind. What could have been…

After the fishing excursions, we mixed in plenty of shopping at Ala Moana Center and around Waikiki. We also visited Green World Coffee Farm to sample and buy some local coffee. Since Riley had never been, we made a stop at the Dole Plantation. That place is a serious merchandise center—they sell just about every pineapple-themed item imaginable. We also made a couple of beach stops so the girls could relax and soak up some Hawaiian sunshine.

Our food tour was outstanding. It offered the greatest variety—and the most food—of any food tour we’ve ever taken. We sampled chicken adobo, bigeye tuna chutoro sashimi, ahi limu poke, octopus poke, Kauai wild-caught deep-water prawns, spicy ahi poke, fried banana, deep-fried local fish, steamed parrotfish, pandan mochi cake, durian, lychee, passion fruit, papaya, soursop, lilikoi, and longan. Quite an amazing variety. And believe it or not, we were also supposed to have roast duck, crispy pork belly, and BBQ char siu pork, but that vendor happened to be closed. We were absolutely stuffed even without those three additional dishes.

The shave ice experience in Hawaii still has no rivals. Waiola Shave Ice remains every bit as good as we remembered. We also tried Ululani’s for the first time, and it was right up there with Waiola. My new favorite, however, was the Milky Shave Ice from ALOH Health Bar & Café (similar to Korean Bingsu). OMG—that was incredible. Imagine shaved frozen milk topped with fresh fruit. My favorite was the mango, with perfectly ripe fruit piled over the creamy shaved ice. I devoured that dessert six times during our stay. Melanie discovered their acai bowls and had one every morning. She thought they were the best thing since sliced bread.

Dinner each night was another highlight. On our first evening, we split up. The boys and Riley wanted poke, while Melanie, Emma, and I went to Duke’s for burgers and Korean-style spare ribs. The second night we tried local Hawaiian food at Heavenly Waikiki. It was a decent meal, but probably not one we’d repeat. On the third night, we had dinner at Botanico, a Japanese-owned restaurant with outstanding food. Our fourth dinner was at Katsumidori Sushi Tokyo in the Prince Waikiki Hotel. Wow—what incredible sushi. The restaurant is Japanese-owned and operated, and the atmosphere immediately reminded us of the sushi restaurants we visited in Japan. Truly five-star quality. For our final night, we decided on steaks at Aloha Steakhouse. It was delicious, with cuts you don’t often see on most menus, including rib cap, Wagyu picanha, and a Wagyu tomahawk. We would have loved to split the tomahawk, but everyone had their eye on a different cut. I really wanted the Wagyu picanha, but at 14 ounces, it would have been difficult to deal with leftovers since we were flying home the next day.

This was a much-needed vacation for me. Work has been especially stressful lately, and there doesn’t seem to be an immediate solution on the horizon. Matthew will soon be leaving for dental school in Chicago, Michael has just completed his second year of dental school and begins seeing patients in the clinic next week, Emma heads off to LSU next month, and Melanie has been putting in extra days at the office to help out. We all needed this opportunity to step away, recharge, decompress, and enjoy some quality time together. It was exactly what our family needed.

This is Emma’s last semester in Paris, so Matthew and I wanted to visit her one more time before she comes home in mid-June. Since we’ve been to Paris before, we thought it would be fun to add another nearby country to the trip. Originally, we planned on Portugal, but since Emma had already been there, we switched our destination to Prague.

Getting to Prague turned out to be a bit complicated. We booked through United, but the final leg—from Frankfurt to Prague—was with Lufthansa. Unfortunately, Lufthansa went on strike the day of our flight. United said they would reroute us but never did, so we had to book a same day flight from Frankfurt to Prague ourselves. It’s only about a 60-minute flight, but because of the timing and it being one-way, the tickets cost $485 each! We arrived about three hours later than planned, but at least we avoided an overnight stay in Frankfurt. Melanie had already been in Paris with Emma for a week, so the two of them flew to Prague together.

Prague is a beautiful city rich in history. On our first day, we went on a food tour. One thing we noticed—the Czech diet doesn’t include many green vegetables. Most dishes are variations of brown and white. The food was decent—nothing I’d go out of my way to have again, but I’m glad we tried it.

On day two, we did an electric scooter city tour, which was a lot of fun. We learned quite a bit about the city and its history. For example, Prague was once the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and it’s home to the oldest working astronomical clock, built in 1410.

Day three started early with a 5:20 a.m. flight back to Paris. The flight was smooth, and we still had a full day to enjoy the city. We spent three days shopping, sightseeing, and had a wine tasting plus enjoying some fantastic meals. We had escargot and foie gras every day—sometimes twice a day! As you can see in the photos, the food presentation in Paris is far more visually appealing than in Prague.

Of course, the highlight of the trip was spending time with Emma. She’s truly living her best life, traveling around Europe almost every month. Since moving there in late August, she’s visited Rome (three times), Florence, Venice, Interlaken (plus two other Swiss cities), Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, London, Bath, Bruges, Santorini, Athens, Madrid, Valencia, and Seville.

It was a short trip—too short for the distance traveled—but work has been busy, and I couldn’t take more time off. Matthew and I flew home from Paris, while Melanie headed to Nice to meet a friend for a week. She’ll return to Paris for a few more days before heading home.

It was great seeing Emma so happy and in her element. She travels well and loves Paris. It will be bittersweet for her to leave in June, but thankfully her French boyfriend, Hugo, lives nearby and is there for her.

This was my third trip to Paris. It’s unlikely I’d return anytime soon—there are too many other places to explore—but since Paris is Melanie’s “happy place,” I suspect I’ll be back sooner than I think.

It feels like 2025 passed in the blink of an eye. The years seem to move faster and faster, but the holiday season always brings perspective—and having the chance to slow down and spend time with the kids is something I’m truly grateful for.

In early September, my mother passed away at age 90, just three weeks shy of her 91st birthday. This was our first Thanksgiving and Christmas without her, and it’s time to start creating some new traditions for the Syn family. For as long as I can remember, Christmas dinner has always meant crab, but I think it’s time to switch things up—Prime Rib may be the new tradition going forward.

In late December, the boys turned 24. We spent the morning golfing, and later they invited a few close friends for appetizers at home then dinner at our local steakhouse. It was a wonderful day and brought back memories of sleeping on that small, uncomfortable couch in the hospital 24 years ago when they were born.

Michael is now midway through his second year of dental school, and on December 15th, Matthew received the incredible news that he was accepted to Midwestern Dental School in Chicago for the 2029 class. He’s worked extremely hard to get here, and it’s wonderful to see his dedication pay off. He may still have other options, but there’s a good chance Chicago will be home for him by mid-August.

What a fall season we have been having. The local lakes are fishing very well. I fished Luk Lake solo in late November and it was a good as Luk lake has ever been. The fished planted this season are large and feisty. The Fly Shop in Redding must have planted a different strain or the cold weather has the trout healthy and spunky. I landed 20 with in the first hour of fishing. The fish were still podded up and it was like fishing out of a barrel. It was actually too easy so I quit fishing early.

Next up was Oroville lake with Kenny. Cold and foggy morning but the fish cooperated. We landed 44 but lost a bunch at the boat. The Oroville Float and Fly master Ryan Williams did about the same that day. We were surprised and happy to contend with his numbers. The size average of the spotted bass in the lake was really good. No dinks.

Michael was visiting for Thanksgiving so we made a quick trip to the River for a chance at some big stripers. Matthew had a couple fish boil at his glidebait but that was it. We quit early to grab a nice hot breakfast at Nash’s.

Next up, back to Luk Lake with Matthew. The fish are more spread out and thus the fishing was much tougher. We landed 16 in a couple hours and left early so Matthew could get to class. Hard fighting thick fish.

Braving the cold, Matthew and I took another trip to Oroville. This time the conditions were still fantastic but the fish did not cooperate. We only landed 12 in 3 hours of fishing which, for Oroville lake, is really slow. We saw lots of follows on the Livescope but the fish did not seem to be eating.

Office Pajama Christmas Dinner party in my managers shop. Fun night in a cool shop.

Some of the meals Matthew has been preparing for us lately.

This is the time of year I send a Christmas gift to Howard and Janee, and he always sent something back. When he was diving a lot, he’d send me Florida Keys lobsters—such an incredible treat, and something I always looked forward to. I usually sent him salmon—fresh-frozen, home smoked, or home canned—because he loved it, and salmon was nearly impossible to find in the Keys.

I especially remember the Christmas during Covid. The travel industry had completely collapsed, and his business suffered tremendously. He went months—maybe even years—with barely any income. After he received my gift, he called to apologize that he couldn’t afford to send anything in return. It crushed me to hear the worry in his voice. I told him, as honestly as I could, that he never had to send me a thing. The gift was never the point.

This year, it is a strange feeling not to package something up to ship out to the Keys.

Howard is one of the last of my childhood mentors.  One of the last threads connecting me to those early years. Not many left. Jerry Wang, Glenn Chen and my cousin Meng.

I shared a tribute to Howard on Dan Blanton’s board, but I want it here too (below). This blog feels more personal—more like a place to keep the memories and the people who helped shape my life.

Miss you, Howard.

There was a short window of decent weather at Wildhorse Res., so Benson, Meng, and I made a last-minute decision to make the eight-hour drive to the lake. Meng was coming from San Jose, so his drive was a bit longer. Turns out that without traffic or road construction, we can make it in about 7.5 hours. Benson and I drove from Chico to Elko after work on Tuesday and pulled into the Shilo at 9:30 p.m.—6.5 hours door to door. After a solid night’s sleep, we headed to the lake at 7:00 a.m. and were fishing by 8:00.

A light breeze greeted us, and I immediately had a good feeling about the morning. On my first cast, I hooked a fish but lost it quickly. On the very next cast, I landed a fat, healthy 4.5-pounder—the exact kind of trout we drove all that way for.

Fishing stayed consistent throughout the morning. We met up with Meng later; he’d been fishing another area and had done well too.

This trip, Benson and I stayed in the State Park cabins. They’re simple structures, but very clean and comfortable, with good heat, a mini-fridge, microwave, dining table, couch, three beds, and a bathroom. Meng brought his Revel Sprinter and camped in that.

We started fishing at 7:00 a.m. Thursday. The morning was decent, but the afternoon was absolutely lights-out—cast after cast of grabs and hookups that lasted for hours, right up until dark.

Friday morning was good as well. We were on the water at 6:00 a.m. and stayed until late morning before heading home around 11:00.

I’ve said before that the Wildhorse trout are the highest-quality trout I’ve ever seen. A typical 20-inch trout elsewhere might weigh around two pounds; at Wildhorse, that same length is easily four plus pounds.

We kept a few fish again, and for the first time we saw their stomachs packed full of snails. Spring fish don’t have snails in them, and even in past fall trips—though never this late—I’d never seen this many. Might need to rethink the fly box for future trips.

Fishing with Benson and my cousin Meng was a real gift—plenty of laughs, good company, and the kind of moments you don’t take for granted anymore. We aren’t spring chickens, and it’s a reminder to make trips like this happen while we still can.

And as always, every trip to Wildhorse includes dinners at Amy’s Bar and Grill. They make a great burger and outstanding tater tots, and with their dining-room Wi-Fi, it’s the perfect place to catch up on life back home.

We can’t wait to get back in the spring, aiming for that window right after ice-out in April or early May. In the meantime, I’ll be turning my attention to local trout, the Oroville bass bite, and—fingers crossed—a run-in with a trophy striper on the river.

For the past couple months, the valley steelhead in our local rivers have been locked in on the egg bite. My days start at O-dark-thirty and run until I feel like calling it. The fish have mostly been running 17 to 22 inches, though not all the big ones are making it to hand. They’re stacked up behind spawning salmon, gorging on stray eggs. As Lefty Kreh famously said, “Salmon eggs to steelhead are like rolling a wine bottle into a jail cell.”

In my 35 years living here—and the many years before that when I’d drive up from the South Bay—I’ve never seen this many steelhead in the system. A strong salmon return on the Feather River has been a huge boost. If you didn’t know you were in California, you might mistake the Feather for a river in Alaska….sans bears!

The catch numbers per outing have been almost too high to post, but they’ve reminded me of what the fishing might have been many decades ago.

With a 10-foot 4-weight Sage One and 3X tippet, most fish can be tamed quickly. The larger ones will almost hit the backing on their first run but settle down soon after. An indicator with a two-egg setup has been the winning combination.

I took Matthew out for a quick one-hour session, and he hooked five and landed two. They were the smallest of the bunch, but it was his first time experiencing valley steelhead, and he was fired up afterward. We went back the next day, and he did even better—hooking eight and landing five.

The following week, Michael came home on break, and the three of us made the early-morning trek to the steelhead grounds. It was a huge success for them. I stayed on the bank, playing gilly and photographer. In an hour, they hooked 19 and landed 5. All the big ones got away.

With fishing this good, it was impossible to stop, so the next morning we got up even earlier and hiked back to the sacred spot. We had to wait 25 minutes for enough light to fish. This time I put the boys on stronger tippet and told them they could set harder and fight more aggressively. It paid off—Matthew landed two PBs, and Michael got his biggest as well.

It was so much fun fishing with the boys again. Those days feel few and far between. We wrapped up at 9:00 and headed to Nash’s in Chico for a great breakfast—a perfect end to a couple of memorable mornings with my two favorite fishing buddies.

On a solo morning, I hit the steelhead spot until 9:00 a.m., then headed for the Yuba. My good friend Kenny told me the dry-fly bite had been strong in the mornings. By the time I arrived at 10:00, the fish were already rising. For the next two hours, they ate small mayflies on top. With a 9ft 4-weight and a 20-foot leader with 5X tippet, I had 26 eats, hooked 14, and landed 8. The Yuba’s wild trout are absolute athletes. I was home by 2 p.m., finishing off an incredible day of steelhead and trout fishing.

Emma is studying in Paris this school year, so I figured there was no better time to visit her in her element. Melanie had already been in Paris for two weeks, and we all met up in Rome to kick off the trip. Emma’s French boyfriend, Hugo, joined us there as well.

Rome was absolutely incredible. Around every corner were ruins dating back 2,000 years—it felt like walking through a living museum. The food was memorable, especially the pasta. One of the most awe-inspiring moments was visiting St. Peter’s Basilica. I’ve never seen a church of that scale and beauty before—it truly took my breath away.

After four packed days of sightseeing (and lots of walking), we flew to Paris for the second leg of the trip. I hadn’t been there in nine years, so it was wonderful to see the city again. I love French food, so of course, I made sure to have escargot and foie gras every day.

Spending eight days with Emma was incredibly heartwarming. She’s grown into such a beautiful, mature young woman—truly the kind of daughter parents dream of. Getting to know Hugo better was also a joy; he’s kind, warm, and a great match for her.

Of course, no trip is perfect. My phone was stolen on the Metro, and United Airlines canceled my return flight at the last minute. I had planned to come home with three days to spare before returning to work—to shake off the jet lag—but that didn’t happen. I eventually made it back early Saturday morning, which gave me only a day and a half to recover. Definitely not enough time. Monday and Tuesday at work were rough, but I pushed through.

The hardest part of the trip? Saying goodbye to Emma. But as hard as it was to leave, we came back feeling even more proud and grateful. We are truly blessed.