eeee<3

NORTHSHORE part 2 today!!

and i swear, i'm going to see some honus, guaranteed.

our amazing friend matt (different matt), is taking us.
i'm stoked! today is going to be a good day. ♥

music of my heart.

reggae, is the music of my heart.

last night was incredible. can you say BIRTHDAY BASH?! ho man. ridiculously good. i learned how to skank :) haha. it's the kind of skip dance that people do when dancing to reggae music. imagine a mass of people doing this and just jammin to the beats. fdjaljf LOVED IT! went with nicole, merben, joanna, tracey, levi, jess, and her bf. we got to see freaking rebel souljahz (one of my new favs), katchafire (ALWAYS good!), natural vibrations, ho'okoa, and moree. oh man. got in at like 6, and the concert finished at 10! 4 amazing hours of straight up hawaiian reggae. i'm so stoked for west beach festival in september. i'm going sunday because IRATION, PEPPER, AND REBELUTION are playing!!!!!!! my favorites. and it'll be the day before school starts. what a good way to end the summer. :) but yea last night was awesome.

but backtrackkk.

tuesday. jo's bday dinner! that girl is amazing. such a good heart, and so much fun to hang out with! we went to a place called gyu-kaku, which was like a japanese restaurant but cooked korean bbq style. mmmmmm. it was really a lot of fun. the only downside was that all the tables were separated because there were so many people. but it's all good. our waiter was way chill! he helped us out with a lot. apparently nicole requested him, haha. but it was cool going out for her bday. after we went to karaoke again. :) jo wasn't feeling so hot, but she still sang nonetheless. atta girl. haha. we met up with her bro and matt/nicole's cousin lance. it was a lot of fun!

wednesday. becca's fam arrives! and her mom freaking surprised us! haha. we were expecting her friday, but she showed up with uncle loren and isabel. well planned. :) becca was really excited, which was cool. we ended up going to ala moana beach with them, and having dinner at kincaids! haha. a few repeats there, but no worry beef curry. funny, while we were at kincaids we totally ran into joanna and her family, celebrating her bday. haha. and afterrr i went to d&b's! i was fortunate enough to have a guy in the group that was 25, so my little underageness could get in. haha. i mean, c'mon, i don't drink, so just let me in! haha. i just want to hang out with my friends. but i'm still thankful i had a 25 year old to help me out. soon enough though. my countdown will begin. (; haha JAMIE, GRANT, i know you know what i'm talking about. hahaha. anyways. there were so many people there!! we ran into a lot of the girls' friends. there were games, and a club upstairs. apparently it's the place to be on a wednesday night. haha i even ran into a classmate of mine! randommm.

thursday. pretty chill day. woke up and went to northshore! far out drive, ya. through the country and all! but we finally got there. we ate at shige's, and i had saimin :) nom nom nom. totally local place. haha. then we made our way down to the beaches, stopping in haliewa and then three tables. didn't quite do everything i wanted to, but i had SO much fun nonetheless! it just means i'll have to take another trip back there. :D

and yeah. now we're all caught up. haha. today we're going back to the shell for birthday bash, but we're bbqing outside :) should be fun! the beach is there, and we're gunna play sports, and just hangg. CHHEE HEEE. haha. i can't wait! anyway. time for some h-dub. ta ta for now.

nicky♥♥

slow down please.

19 days already. that's almost 3 weeks. and only 3.5 more to go. can you believe it? i wish time would stand still.

anyway, i need to do a massive update. i believe i left off on wednesday. :) let's see if i can remember it all!

wednesday. school. ALL day. again, very wearisome. haha. 5 hours of straight content is a lot for anyone to handle. but we were rewarded with a splendid family get together later that night! we ended up going to a chinese dinner in kaimuki with literally what seemed like ALL of our hawaii family. i felt terrible for not remembering everyone. haha. can't help it if the family is so large! but it was cool getting to spend time with them, and enjoy good food with good company. :)
i love my big family. i couldn't imagine it any other way. i love having 3 brothers, 2 amazing parents, and tons and tons of cousins. people are my passion, and i just am so thankful for what i have.

thursday. ward! becca and i decided to adventure a bit. we went down to ward centre to shop and have lunch. quite an enjoyable day if i do say so myself. i didn't buy anything but a discounted nail polish, but hey, it's the little things in life that make you happy. :) our original plan was to go to the beach with our friend matt (different matt), but we ended up staying for too long. OOPSIES! haha. but i did end up seeing him at the epic meeting which was awesomeee. my friend jp also decided to join us for the meeting! that made me really happy. the meeting was awesome. i was able to meet lots of people, including the rest of the epic crew, and all the people they've been reaching. we shared our stories with one another, and prayed. it made me miss my epic family! but i'm just really thankful to have a community out here. god is doing some awesome work. keep praying for hawaii please, a movement is just itching to happen.

friday. TGIF mate!! class again. blah much? anyway. at least we went to the gym after! (believe it or not) haha. but now i understand why only a fraction of the UH population has experienced the gym. it's TINY. it's smaller than the size of our small weight room. haha. and it doesn't even have mats for you to sit and stretch on! picture, 4 elipticals, 2 treadmills, and a ton of weight lifting machines. THAT'S IT. less than satisfactory. but we still got a good workout, nonetheless. it was much needed man. eesh i feel like i'm putting on weight. which is counterproductive with me being in my bathing suit everyday. sadd! haha. anyway. it was friday, so we decided to go out :) we went to imana's for sake bombing. although, only 2 people did it! haha. us underagers just watched. it was matt's first time, so that was cool. then peaced out to bubbies. OH MAN. macadamia nut ice cream has got to be the greatest invention ever! bubbies makes all their ice cream homemade. and it's only in hawaii :) jealous? i would be too. haha. especially since i'm a crazy ice cream lover! SO good. ended up just chillin with matt, joanna, nicole, becca, and our new friend leo. good night for sure.

saturday. FUNNEST DAY of the weekend! woke up to go beachhh. yah! jo took us to a.d.'s, which is a place where all the locals go to jump off this log that juts out from the rocks. there's like a pool made by the surrounding rocks with the clearest water you ever did see. so you jump in and just tread water while you talk story. it was a fun experience for sure. i was so chicken to get up there! haha. i ended up having matt walk me out on the log, as i inched my way to the end. hahahaha. jumping was the least of my worries. but hey! i did it. :) and it was fun. later we shifted beaches to sandy's to meet up with leo. crazyyy waves here. people die! there's even a sign that says "when in doubt, don't go out" haha. matt did though. true surfer brah fer sher. anyway it was cooool. met a few new peole that day! nicole and jo's friends tracey and jess came along and we met up with leo there. way fun :)

later that night we went out to kailua! apparently this is where all the haoles lives. hahaha. and it's true. more whites here than i've seen on the other parts of the island. we went to a birthday party. pretty funn. enormous backyard! couldn't believe it. the houses back there were really nice. i can't even comprehend nice houses in hawaii. they must be worth a fortune and a half. anyway, party hopped to another place in kailua--tracey's friend. haha. soo funny, while we were there i guess the people thought i was a local? then they decided to guess my race. again, another enigma. hahaha. they were all convinced i was filipino. good guess, i thought. not quite! then they were sure i was mixed. japanese and something. wrong again! haha. when i said i was pureblood they couldn't believe it either. no one believes im chinese! and full at that. it's okay though. i like ambiguity. :) and it's such a compliment that everyone here mistakes me for a local. maybe i should just move here and become one! haha. definite possibility. anyway, good night for sure. got home wayyy too late though. =/

sunday. church, yes! i decided to try the church epic is going to, out on nuuanu street. really tight knit church. i ended up bringing my friends from the dorm, blake and darius. it was such a blessing to be able to take them, because honestly, i had just busted out my faith with them the night before. i had no idea that other states in the US were so religious! california seems so scattered. sad =/ but yea, the service was really good. and then a potluck after! i love how churches here have food after. hahaha. but yeah, i'm praying that they come back out. i invited them to epic this week, and i think they might come! darius will be going here next year full time (he's on the football team), and it'd be really cool to see him get involved. :) later in the day (after i finished my h-dub), dat took me to a few beaches! so niice. it was nice getting out of ala moana--although ala moana is love, it was time. haha. anyway, i love that you can go in the water and chill at the beach even at 4, 5, 6pm. fhjdsafh LOVE hawaii.

monday. school. once again! i had a presentation. that i'm pretty sure i bombed. but whatevs. i don't get a grade anyway! i'm not so great at public speaking. =/ during our last class we decided to jamboogy and catch the 3:30 bus to the beach! one of the guys in our class was so nice and offered to take us. but we didnt want to make him wait. haha. anyway, we get to the beach and matt calls and asks us to his family dinner! so we get in a 45 min beach sesh. hahaha WEAKSAUCE, i know. but we get back and were going to try and catch the 6:15 bus to aiea. was not going to happen. haha. 10 min to get ready? ehh. thank the lord though! jp calls and tells us he's going too. so he takes us. THANK YOU JP! we get there, and matt's parents are unbelievably nice. they made some onolicious food. it was a really good night for sure. :)

so i think we're all caught up now. haha. since today is tuesday. :) plans for today include beaching it, homework, and then jo's 21st birthday dinner!!! i can't wait. there's going to be like 25 people there. hahahaa. huge for sure. but it makes sense. that girl is much loved. anyway. hope all is well on the homestead. i miss you all!

nicky♥

Class is boring. I want to update! Later for sure. (: soo much has been happening I haven't been able to log on. Anyway, I'm gunna go beach (everyone here cuts out 'to the' and just says go beach!) after class. Can't waiiitttt.

Dopeness monster.

stoked.

early morning breakfast with the scones i've been waaitttingg for, ward centre shopping with becca, beach beach beach with our other new friend named matt, and lastly, the epic meeting.

yahoo.

oh yeah. and homework. BOO!

like the energizer bunny.

i don't know how i'm doing it, but ever since i've been here, i've been sleeping on average 6-7 hours.

now that might sound like a decent amount, but coming from someone who has a natural sleeping clock of about 10 hours a night, this effing sucks! so i think i'm on both cali and hawaii time. =/

anyway. today is no exception. everyday is something new!
saturday day matt took becca and i with one of his friends to a few beaches--makapu'u and hanauma bay! makapu'u was mainly a place for intense body boarding, so it was a little crazy for becca and i to be in the water. so we opted to lay out and tan. (; haha. it was a nice beach though. for the most part local, which was cool too. then we ventured eastward to hanauma bay for snorkeling! i got in for freeeee because i'm a kama'aina poser. :D haha. and boy am i thankful for getting in free, because i didn't even really snorkel! i chickened out. haha. i think it's because i'm a bad swimmer, and it was just too much to think about with the snorkel, swimming, adjusting, breathing, and looking, all at the same time. if you don't think all that is tough, then you crazy! so then, saturday night we went to a friend's 21st bday party out in hawaii kai. first of all. that house is amazing. it's located on the eastside, all the way up on a hill, 2 stories, newly renovated and all. fjklajf i want to live there! we went for our new friend dat, and his frat bro hosted the party. awful nice of him, if you ask me! anyway, we had a good time, and ended up staying until like 3am--oh em gee..

and that night, i got 4 hours of sleep. ha! i decided to go to church with Auntie Bettie and Cathy, so they usually leave around 8:30. eeesh. i was so out of it that morning. haha. extremely slow. i hope no one noticed! what's more, i think i fell asleep a few times during the sermon =/ oops. it was good though, i'm glad i went.

after becca and i went to the beach. (: the usual. haha. ala moana is becoming our default beach not only because we enjoy it there, but even more so because i don't know how to get to the other beaches on bus! haha. SAD. oh well, we're pretty content.

yesterday we had class all day. it is reeeallly taking a toll on me. early morning wake up because we have to make our breakfast at the dining commons (let me ask you--what school plans breakfast for 6:30am-8:30am, and dinner from 4:30pm-6:30pm)? so we usually wake up at like 7:45 for breakfast, then come back and do homework until we have class at 10. laaame.

but last night was rather enjoyable. :) becca matt and i went down to the strip again, and walked around. we decided we wanted dessert. DESSERTS! (haha 10 pts. if you remember this from lilo & stitch; becca and i have been exclaiming this all trip) i ended up buying a bathing suittt. chyea! i really like it. and then we got cheesecake from the cheesecake factory! my faaav. it was a lot of fun.

then we got back, and i decided to go hang out in hawaii kai with dat again. i met a lot of cool people there. reallly chill night. i was surprised at how late i handled being up, because once again i came home at 3am. haha. OH MY. and becca and i had planned to go to the beach today at 10! i was tired. but all worth it braddah!

today we went to the beach for the majority of the day. mmm yes :) laid out again. and i think i laid out a little too long...haha. long story short, i will be very black tomorrow. haha. which could be a good thing? i'll still be light compared to some of the locals here. but oh whelps!

anyway, tonight we're going to see the midnight showing of harry potter 6. i'm quite excited. tried to take a nap earlier, since we won't be back until 3 and we have class at 10 again... blah. haha. i wish i could skip! but ya. i should go. take care all♥

i'm just gunna take a minute and let it ride.

things have been good lately. and i mean really good.

here i am, having the time of my life. not a minute to lose. my cousin and i have hit the ground running, doing activity upon activity everyday! now this is exactly how i like to live my life, busy as can be. it's definitely not a bad thing, but sometimes you just need to stop and smell the roses.

time seems to be passing at rapid speeds. so fast, i catch myself forgetting to think! which is an interesting sensation, as i'm quite the thinker. but the problem i see with this is, that i'm not giving myself the chance to wait. to wait upon the lord. i've been asking Him what He would have me do, but now that i've put that out there, i need to be able to listen. which, as many of you know, can be very hard at times! times like now. perhaps He would set a divine appointment ahead of me, perhaps an amazing conversation I'm supposed to have? who's to know. but what i do hope, is that i seize it. that i would know that now is the time to further God's kingdom.

the Lord is so good. so faithful, loving and true. He's blessed me with everything i've got, and then some! i just pray that i hear him. there's so much to be done out here. my heart yearns for hawaii.

just some food for thought. and some prayers for me. :)

as for today, we are going snorkeling at sandy beach (a local spot)! i'm quite excited. i love fish. i hope i see a humuhumunukunukuapua'a. :D haha! that would be exciting. then later tonight, we're going to a local friend's bday party. the big 2-1! should be fun. im excited to meet more locals. haha. it's funny, because we've been hanging out with our local friends more than our new dorm friends. i kind of like it that way though. i'm getting a completely different perspective.

anyway, last night was chill, just went down to waikiki with some of the girls from our floor. chilled on the beach, and it was allll gravy. quite different from the previous night. ughh. the guys downstairs had a party on their floor and mad drama went down. a dude got a beatdown for no reason! lol all the girls are so turned off by this guy now. the football team lives below us, and one of the guys is just freaking aggressive. and no one's down with that here in hawaii. i think he needs to straighten up. anyway. we're stearing clear from those guys, i don't want any drama coming around here!

i should get ready though. can't waiittt!

OH. and i wanted to blog about one last thing. all the pidgin words i've been learning, ya! here goes nothin:

• honi honi- kiss; guys typically give girls kisses on the cheek as a greeting (why can't guys back home do this too??)
• moi moi- sleep! mmm, yess.
• titta- a huge, butch girl
• moke- an extreme local; kind of ragged and large
• pau- finished
• hanahou- "again", repeat
• howzit?- common greeting guys have between one another
• da kine- no particular meaning, but in reference to the context
• poi- sauce like dip made from taro. hawaiians LOVE it! they eat it with 2 fingers. it looks like purple glue :)
• grind- to eat, in a famished sort of way, "let's go grind"
• ono- delicious (haha apparently uncle loren wanted to name becca this!)
• kai- water, ocean
• akamai- smart
• broke da mout- meaning, reaaallyyy tasty; or like SO GOOD
• choke- a lot of something
• haole- caucasian in a negative connotation
• honu- TURTLE!!! my favorite word.
• kama'aina- local
• kane- man
• wahine- woman
• like beef?-"do you want to fight?"
• okole- butt
• pu pu- appetizer
• talk story- chatting
• hale- house
• palu- throw up, yuck!
• hele- to go
  

okay i think that's all i can think of for now, hope you enjoyed! ♥

So I'm sitting at the beach. Thinking thinking. And I just realized that I don't want college to end. I've been having so much fun these past 3 years, learning so much about myself as well as my faith. Who would want this to end? The work has been moderate and the livings been easy. God has just blessed me in so many ways. Now thinking about my future, I'm not sure what to do. But I'm beginning to think it might be here. Im so happy. I feel so at home, like I belonged here all along? I really want the next 5 weeks to slow down.

not a dull moment.

contrary to newbury park, or possibly even santa barbara, i must say, i haven't even felt the slightest bit bored here in hawaii. it's really quite amazing. not that i get bored easily, but that i'm enjoying myself so much that in both the slow and fast times, i'm very content.

monday. looking back to that night, it was rather fun for the start of the week! especially since i normally don't go out on mondays, period. after having class all day, it was a nice change of pace. monday was the first day we attemped the dining commons. ohh boy. haha! i've heard that we're spoiled over at ucsb, so i was a bit nervous that i wouldn't like the food. we met up with nina bonina♥ and the rest of epic summer project. gosh i love those guys. haha. they were all so friendly, and all so funny. some of the guys tricked me about their age. whyyy does this always happen? haha. i think it goes along with being gullible.

anyways. after dinner, we met up with matt and nicole and went to waikiki! it'd been a long time since i walked the "strip". haha. it was funny because becca and i have only referred to the strip as in vegas, so hearing it called the strip at waikiki was interesting. it was pretty cool, there were sooo many tourists! i felt like a local compared to them. haha. they were amused by almost everything. maybe i am becoming a kama'aina afterall. (; anyway, i was on a mission to find some bathing suits! unfortunately, i was unsuccessful, but becca came away happy with a beach bag she'd been looking for. :) haha.

after the strip, we headed to dave and busters! we had met up with matt's friend who ironically had the same first and last name as him, and since you need to be 21+, the other matt helped get us in! yayyy. haha. i must admit, it was pretty dead there on a monday night, but soon people started to show up in the gaming areas. we ended up winning over 1000 tickets. ho shoots! pretty good, ya?

then we went to zippy's! they're basically a plate lunch place that's open 24/7. i'm lovvvinggg all these 24/7 places on the island. not used to this! anyway, i had a delicious midnight snack, and then it was time for moi moi (sleep).

tuesday. NO SCHOOL! yess. gosh i love that we only have school every other day. so awesome. ♥ anyway, we decided to try our hand at the bus today. SO confusing! haha. there are sooo many lines, sooo many pickup spots, and sooo many times. haha. i must've called the info line like 8 times. no joke. but, we finally figured it out, and got there a-okay. (: ended up shopping at ala moana!!! amazing mall. SO big, we didn't even get around the whole place. haha. butttt, what i did get to, were the surf & bathing suit shops. i bought 2 bathing suits, muahahaha. i haven't bought a bathing suit since freaking high school, so i thought i deserved a suit or two. plus, they were much cheaper than the average bathing suit. ship it, holler! (that was for you, grant) that was pretty much the highlight of that shopping trip for mee. :) then we got back and went to dinner with aunite bettie, cathy, emma, suzie, dudley, and coltrane. kincaids! so good. it was really nice of them to treat us. so thenn, we came back to our dorms and actually ended up hanging out with some hall mates/guys from the floor below (some were actually on the football team!). it was nice to actually meet more people in the dorms. as friendly as the people are, the dorm has not put on any events or activities that facilitate meeting people. so that was pretty cool.

wednesday. second day of school. went by ever so slowly, but that's all right. we met a nice guy from the basketball team on our way out of class! it surprised me (in a good way) that he just walked right up to us and introduced himself and we talked all the way through campus. i still continue to be amazed by all of the nice people here. i wish everywhere could be like this!

last night was crazy fun though. we left kinda late, so i was dead tired by the time we got home at 3AM (!), but mann was it fun. we went to a karaoke bar--that's car-a-oh-keh, not kari-oki. haha! we went with matt, nicole & a bunch of their friends. i'd never been to one, so this was allll new to me. we enter a room, and there's this large table in the center, with padded benches on either side, all facing towards a blaring screen of flashing lights, and korean drama videos. words highlight across as eager participants sing along to their favorite tunes. if that doesn't sound amazing, i don't know what does. haha. we spend a good two hours there, singing along to backstreet boys, brian mcknight, spice girls, all the favs. if you haven't tried this, i recommend going! anyway, after karaoke, we went out to eat. lots of fun. met nicole's friend named dot, and he freaking treated us all. unbelievable!!!!! once again, i am amazed at how nice people are here. that act was truly an example of jesus. i was quite moved actually.

anyway, that was a really long entry. haha. so much has been happening. i feel like it's an adventure everyday! no, but seriously. today we're going to the beach, so i should probably go get ready for that. hope all is well back on the mainland, i miss you all ♥

-nickayy.

back to school, back to school, to prove to dad that i'm not a fool.

disclaimer: for those of you who don't know what i'm referring to in the title of this entry, it's a funny line from billy madison. :) one of my favs.

anyway. that was my intro to my first day of school! man, this campus is large. i thought ucsb was really spread out, but going here, you practically need a car to get around to each building. and our dorms are pretty much the furthest point possible from my classroom. how convenient.

today i had 2 com classes. they'll be mon-wed-fri, so it'll be nice to have tues/thurs free. yahoo. hopefully i'll get in a lot of activities then. so far, i plan to surf, hike, go to northshore to see the sea turtles come out, shop, workout, and soak up all there is to do in hawaii.

first class today was all right. the prof was nice, but talked A LOT. haha. she took up the whole 2.5 hours! i've never taken a class that was more than an hour and a half that wasn't art. i guess that's what i get for taking a semester class in 6 weeks. haaa.

second class was better. the prof was really nice, and i clicked well with her teaching style. the only hinderance was that the class turned out to be something way different than what i expected. originally i thought it was going to be an international communication class, but it's actually about telecommunication. so i'm really hoping this is going to transfer. my advisor is out of the office for the summer, so we'll have to see!

oh! and let's rewind to last night. last night nina came over with robyn and we had a jolly good time. they're both so sweet. we ended up talking with this guy from ucla and even got into a conversation about god. it was so interesting to talk to someone about what the think and believe in regards to the Lord. it was also cool to hear from nina and robyn about summer project and what they've been doing! the Lord is doing some awesome things. please keep them in your prayers. hawaii needs jesus.

after being able to have a great conversation with matt about christianity, it was interesting to see how tolerant and respectful people are of each other's religions here in hawaii. while this is an awesome thing, and the people here have a lot of harmony between them, i think it makes it difficult to get the good news out here. it'd be truly amazing to see a movement started here. and that's what epic summer project is doing. :)

there are actually some summer start freshmen dorming in the same building as us, and i'm hoping to get to talk to them and even possibly share! we'll have to see how that goes.

anyway. i think i need to go & start my list of things to do while i'm here! haha. payyceee.

update 2: learning how to be a kama'aina.

July 5, 2009

Everyday just keeps getting better.

Yesterday was the fourth of july. My cousin Suzie and her husband Dudley hosted a barbeque! We got to meet all the neighbors, and eat island food. Can I just tell you, I had some of the BEST food I’ve ever eaten last night! SO good. The barbeque wasn’t the typical haole mainland food, but instead we got to eat some real Hawaiian flavors. We had poke on wonton chips, with avocado and the Japanese fish cakes that are in udon with furikake. NOM NOM NOM! We also had lychee stuffed with cream cheese and macadamia nuts, huli huli chicken, homemade California rolls, and more. I was in HEAVEN. I’ve been loving the food out here. I love tropical fruits, so I’ve been able to eat a lot of that—and SO fresh! I was stuffed.

After eating and mingling, we lit fireworks! Apparently it’s legal over here, so they have boxes full of the stuff. I’d never lit one off before, so it was quite exciting & scary at the same time. Haha. I had so much fun though!

I think the thing that has impacted me the most thus far is the strong sense of family and community here in Hawaii. All the neighbors are like one big family, and within that the family unit is even closer. Everyone looks out for one another, and genuinely cares for each other. So different from California! In California, it seems to me that people generally look out for themselves and their own family. Nobody greets you randomly on the streets, nobody cares. I’m truly struck by the love these people have for each other here.

Last night was also an amazing experience, because Rebecca and I made our first friends. Suzie and Dudley have some next door neighbors with kids our age! A guy named Matt and a girl named Nicole (or Nicky too!). Nicole is in the same grade as me, and matt is just 17th months older—just like my brother and I. How ironic. Anyway, it was really nice to talk to people our age. Matt even goes to UHM, so it was nice to be able to relate on that level. They were so kind to us—and they had just met us! It was really refreshing to meet such nice people. We all exchanged numbers last night, which leads me to today…

We weren’t sure what we were going to do today, but Matt followed up and gave us a call. Rebecca and I ended up walking down to Puck’s Alley—a neighboring area with food and shops and such. It was pretty cool, and not too far of a walk. We met Matt there and he picked us up to take us to the Ala Moana mall. One of my favorites. :) We had lunch at Genki Sushi, where they had sushi on conveyer belts! It was SO cheap. I think I had 4 plates, and it only totaled out to be $12. I’m hoping to go back there again soon. Matt even said that this place was expensive compared to others. We then proceeded to go to our much desired destination: the beach. Matt was kind enough to bring along some surf boards for us too!

Rebecca wasn’t feeling so well, so I ended up learning how to surf with Matt. Although I didn’t exactly get to catch any waves since they were too small, I did learn a lot about paddling, sitting, and turtling! Haha. It was really nice being out there and just drifting in the waves. We went out REALLY far. The furthest I’d ever been! Paddling was exhausting. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be sore tomorrow. We spent several hours out there—the water was perfect. After our trip to the beach, Matt kindly took us to get some shave ice! Wai’ola shave ice is SO good. We had had some yesterday, but it’s so cheap you could have it everyday.

Tonight I’ll be meeting up with my friend Nina, who is out here on summer project! I’m really excited. We actually live very close to each other :) Just down the way! Should be fun. I think we’re gunna go get some yogurtland..mm, nom nom nom.

Hopefully these entries aren’t too long, but I’ve had a lot of experiences and a lot to say in the past few days! Hope all is well at home on the mainland. I’m pau [don’t’ know if this is correct grammatically, but I learned pau means finished in pidgin!]

update 1: kaimuki!

July 3, 2009

After arriving in Hawaii yesterday a bit earlier than anticipated, we were kindly picked up by the local shuttle service and dropped off at our auntie’s house in kaimuki! Although the weather was surprisingly cloudy, the weather still managed to be as hot as ever. I believe it was about 86 degrees when we got off the plane! After that, Rebecca and I spent a few hours just chatting and listening to all of our Auntie Bettie’s faabbulous stories. Haha. She is so funny. I could talk with her for hours on end. Or rather, listen to her. (; Then, our second cousin Cathy and her daughter Emma came back! We were very excited to meet them. The last time we saw cousin Cathy might’ve been 15 or so years ago, so I didn’t even remember.

We talked for a bit, then decided to go to the local mall for dinner. Ironically, we ended up choosing to eat at California Pizza Kitchen to eat. Haha. And to think we thought we were getting away from home! It was good though. I’m always down for CPK. By the time we got home, becca and I were exhausted. So we went to sleep. By 10:30! We are champs.

Today was even better. I awoke to the gleaming sun at approximately 7:30am. Not bad (for cali time). I thought I would’ve slept longer, but now that I think about it, I spent most of my 2 flights yesterday sleeping, so in actuality I didn’t lose that much sleep at all. We chilled out a bit, ate breakfast, and you wouldn’t believe it, but we fell asleep AGAIN! Haha. So we took a quickie nap before we were off to the Bishop museum!

Cousin Suzie was kind enough to let us use her membership to get in for free. [Upon exiting Rebecca and I noticed that an adult ticket was a whopping $15!] I was quite excited. If you don’t know already, I am absolutely OBSESSED with Hawaiian culture. So naturally, this would be the perfect place to take me. And not only that, but I love museums, and I love art. The museum featured just about everything you’d want to know about the history of the Hawaiian Islands, Polynesia, volcanoes, surfing, and Hawaiian royalty. I was amazed. I could’ve spent all day there!

After that we stopped by cousin Suzie’s house to pick up Auntie Bettie. Which was too funny, because as we walked into the house we noticed her little body stretched out across the couch, fast asleep! Apparently she had taken some Benadryl for her allergies and it made her tired. Haha. Anyway, cousin Suzie’s house was a sight in itself. I actually remember it from 5 years ago simply because of it’s incredible view of the ocean. I’m looking forward to visiting it again for tomorrow 4th of July barbeque!

Following the short visit to cousin Suzie’s, we took her son Coltrane and finally got to go to the beach! I love that at 6:30pm, you can STILL go to the beach. I would never think to do that in California, but here in Hawaii, the beach was still as busy as ever. The water wasn’t quite as warm as I would’ve liked it to be, but hey, who’s complaining? Haha. I hope I’m not spoiled by the time I come home!

So the FUNNIEST event thus far happened tonight. Maybe, just 30 minutes ago! We’re finishing up dinner, and Rebecca spots a fatty cockroach from across the table. She screams. Haha. and I, having never seen a cockroach before screamed as well. But we knew we HAD to kill it. Cathy suggested just forgetting about it, but Rebecca and I insisted we kill it. As usual, I assumed my regular bug killer role. [in my apartment, I’m typically the one that kills the spiders. Especially for jenn. ;)] As we were debating how we would kill it, Aunite Bettie comes in to see what all the fuss was about. She went on to say, “I’d kill it, but I have to get it in a place where I can shoot it!” Now, imagine a cute little elderly woman saying this with such vigor. Rebecca and I were dying. Haha. this was not a time to be laughing! Anyway, I had the fly swatter in hand, ready to go. The only problem was, it was hidden between the dishes. We needed to get it out! So Rebecca and I made a deal that if she moved the dishes, I would kill the beast. Agreed. Rebecca slowly removes the dishes, and just runs for the hills! Then I started after it. WHACK WHACK! My arm was shaking. I nailed it a few times, and it ended up falling in between the counter and the sink. The fight was not over yet. I managed to give it a few choppys in between and out it fell. Cathy, Rebecca, and I simultaneously SCREAMED for our lives!! There it was, out on the floor, still half alive. I decided it was game over. I smashed that little stinker and that was that. By the end of the whole thing, we were all laughing so hard that our abs hurt. I was even crying! It just reminded me of what a thrill it gives you to kill/overcome your fears. Too funny. I hope I don’t see another cockroach roaming around… we can’t handle all that high anxiety!

Anyway, so that’s our first 2 days. Haha. quite eventful you might say! Tomorrow we’re going to get up early and go to the beach before we move into the dorms. yesss, beach. :)
We get in at 1, and then unpack for a while, then off to cousin suzie’s 4th of july bbq! i am already having the time of my life. I’m getting a taste of my lifelong dream of living here, and I truly hope that I will someday be able to. Anyway, bedtime awaits! Aloha.

no ethernet cord, no internet.

haven't had Internet for days! So I'm posting this via text :) I've been slowly writing about our experiences on word though, and will be sure to post with pictures and all once I get the chance! I can say though, that I am having the time of my life. Life here is amazing. I might never come back (;
Anyway, I'll post later! Aloha.

the journey begins.

just arrived in UTAH!
we are officially... further away from hawaii than we started.
instead of having a 5 hour flight, we now have a 6. but this is okay, because it was the more economical choice. :) and i'm alwayss down for saving money. thanks to my zeta bro, darrell, this all was made possible!

the flight was all right, i barely even noticed it because rebecca and i were so freaking exhausted from the lack of sleep we got from the night before that we pretty much slept through the flight. fine by me!

i'm really starting to get excited about hawaii now. i'm dreaming of the beach, literally. haha! i can't wait to get back to my normal tan (instead of remaining in the very sad pale state that i am currently dealing with).

when we get there, we're not sure what we'll be doing, but we're very excited to see our auntie betty. i'll update more as the day goes on. quiet time awaits!

please continue to pray for travel mercies :) mahalo!