Chinatown

Saturday we took the bus from Waikiki to Chinatown for some lunch and shopping. I went with Jon and some of his friends that go to school at BYU-Hawaii. They are originally from Thailand so they knew of all the good little places to eat and shop in Chinatown...lucky for me! :) We had dim sum at a place called Good Luck restaurant and it was so good! I had never had dim sum before and I was pleasantly surprised :) It is basically a variety of steamed dumplings with different fillings like shrimp and pork. They look a little scary at first, not gonna lie, but they are quite tasty and inexpensive! We got a whole table full of food for 6 of us for $35! After we went to lunch we wandered around the different shops and markets that have all sorts of fresh produce and ethnic ingredients. We bought some strange fruits, one was delish...the other was the complete opposite! The little red fruit is called Rambutan(?) and it is sweet and juicy. The big spikey fruit is called Durian. It smells so putrid and the taste is likewise...imagine the taste of rotten potato salad. But hey at least I can say I tried it right?! Here is the slideshow of pictures...enjoy :)

I'd Carve That!

So this week was filled with Halloween festivities. On Tuesday night we carved pumpkins with some of the girls I visit teach and had such a good time! We got the kit with patterns and tools so that we could make designs on the pumpkins, fancy style :) I made a vampire cat, Alena made a spider, and Mona made a ghost...so she says ;) Just kidding they all turned out great!

Then on Wednesday night we went to the Haunted Lagoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center over in Laie. They haunted the canoe ride and it was freaky! They had guys that would hide under the water and pop up and splash you as you rode past, they had people that would lean over the bridges or they dropped big hairy spiders down onto you. Seriously the best $8 scare you will ever get. Something that you just can't get on the mainland! :) We have some pictures from it but I haven't had time to scan them in yet sorry. 

On Thursday night I had some friends over to watch The Office and made a spooky dinner of spaghetti and 'eyeballs' with 'lady finger' french bread and dirt cups with worms for dessert. Yum-o! It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself ;) 

I forgot to take a picture at first so this is a half eaten version haha. 

 So little red riding hood, an angel, a witch, Superman, Batman, a New Kids on the Block fan, and a pimp  walk into a bar...

That pretty much describes Friday night:) I went with Mona and some friends from work to Moose Mcgillicutty's to dance and we had a blast! They loved there Jäger bombs but don't worry I just had some chocolate milk ;) Let me just say Mardi Gras is to New Orleans what Halloween is to Waikiki! There were thousands of people wandering the streets in anything and everything you could imagine. I didn't really take any pictures unfortunately but one of my co-workers got this nasty one of me after dancing...I was little red riding 'hood' ;) BUT you can't even see my bling or most of my costume for that matter...sad story! I will check with my other friend to see if she got any better ones.

Here is the rest of the group:

New Kids on the Block groupies: Jayme, Ali, Natalie, and Tricia

Venus and Serena? aka Ann Marie, Loretta, and Thea

Jijo, Mona, and Natalie

And here is some random goodness from around town:

Pants optional...

Moral of the story...best Halloween ever!! I would recommend it to anyone who is not faint of heart or easily scarred for life ;)

Fall Break Fun

So not this past week but the week before was Fall Break for the school district so I ended up getting about 10 days off! :) Derrek flew in on Friday and we had a good time exploring Waikiki that weekend. We went to the aquarium, got Mani-pedi's (he just got a pedicure), and had a picnic by the beach. Saturday night we celebrated my friend Christine's birthday and went out to sushi. I ate an unagi roll (which is eel!) and a spicy yellow fin roll and didn't spit it out haha I was so proud of myself!! Maybe this sushi thing isn't so bad :) Monday we hit up the north shore for some snorkeling at Shark's Cove, cliff jumping at Waimea Point, and acai bowls of course...mmm! Then Tuesday D-rock and I flew to Kauai with Christine and her friend also named Christine from Boston, and Jijo. We all stayed in an awesome 2 bedroom, 3 bathroom condo with full kitchen and 3 lanai's! It also had a sand bottom pool with 2 water slides, waterfall caves, and multiple hot tubs...fabulous! While we were there we hiked the first 2 miles of the Na Pali coastline to the private beach which was spectacular...seriously a beautiful hike! We swam in Queen's bath, visited Waimea Canyon which is also called the grand canyon of the pacific, amazing! We even saw a monk seal sleeping on the beach! Also, they have a BBQ place called Scotty's that is off the hook yummy! Honestly probably the best food I have had in hawaii thus far...almost worth the airfare over just to eat there ;) We flew back to Oahu on Friday and our flight was delayed by almost 2 hours :( That kind of threw a wrench in our plans so we did dinner and a movie that night. We saw Eagle Eye which I thought was good...but I like any thing with Shia LaBeouf :) Saturday we hiked Diamond Head and went to Pearl Harbor which was really neat. I had never been there and it was a really touching experience. I think everyone who has the chance should take the opportunity to see it. Derrek flew back to the mainland Sunday night...I guess all good things must come to an end. It was so fun to be a tourist again and explore more of the islands that I haven't seen. I thoroughly enjoyed the vacation and it was really hard to go back to work! But I think my bank account will be glad I went back :) Here are the pictures from Kauai, I will put up slide shows from the rest of the week as soon as I get the pics. 

Kauai Condo

Na Pali Coastline Hike

 Queen's Bath

Waimea Canyon and Poipu Beach

I can't wait for all the visitors that are coming in November and December, I am seriously anxious!! :) My 3 month mark is tomorrow can you believe it?!?! Time is zooming! Love you guys and honestly miss you sooo sooo much!

Surprise, surprise!!

Well I flew home to Utah last weekend to surprise everyone and I had a whirlwind of a trip! It was awesome :) I left Honolulu at 9:40 pm Wednesday, had a 30 minute lay over in San Francisco, and got into SLC at 9:05 am Thursday. My mom picked me up from the airport and we made the rounds to surprise everyone. We went to my dad's work, Costco to see Auntie and  Shawn, Overstock to see Renae, then over to my grandparents. After that we got ready and headed downtown to the temple for the main reason I was in town...Emily's wedding! She didn't think I was going to be able to make it (and neither did I until about 2 weeks ago) and I think her reaction was the best of anyone haha. She started screaming and crying then I started crying...totally worth no sleep on an overnight flight for that moment!! She was so beautiful and has never seemed so genuinely happy. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Jake Bates...AHH that is so weird to say!! But I love it :) 

Between the time change and lack of sleep I didn't waking up on Friday until 1 pm...but hey that is only 9am Hawaii time! I went to the mall with my mom and Kim to hit up some stores they don't have in Hawaii and I got a new phone...Woo hoo! Anyone who saw my old one knows it needed a makeover and I was pretty proud of myself for going 2 years without getting a new one! 

On saturday I went out to Miller Motor Sports Park for the last big race of the season and it was great...I am not use to such wide open spaces and big roads anymore so it was a nice change haha.  While we were there we rode the kool bus which was freaking amazing!! Best $5 I have ever spent :)

Saturday night we had a BBQ for Tucker's birthday at Renae's house. Mo and I both brought our Wii's so we played Rockband and Mario Kart...very entertaining. We also had an intense round on Texas Hold 'Em going on. I was cleaning up, but decided to let the birthday boy have the win ;) His birthday was on September 19th which just happens to be national "Talk Like a Pirate Day" so needless to say we just had to have a pirate pinata! It made the rounds for photo ops...Thanks Mikey! And what kind of friend would I be if I didn't bring him back a surfing monkey carved out of wood ;)

Well the trip was WAY too short, but it sure was packed full of good times! It was so geat to see everyone again..I can't believe it has already been 2 months since I moved! Well I love you all and hope you come see me soon! 

Snap, crackle, and pop!

Today I came home from work and was kind of stressing because I had to teach the lesson for FHE tonight and I hadn't even started...so surprising I know! ;) Anyway I grabbed my computer to start looking up stuff for the lesson, but the computer had no battery power left and shut right off. It was still connected to the charger but it wouldn't light up. I wiggled the cord around and got it to light up so I tried to keep in that position but then I looked down and it was melting through the plastic on the cord and smoking!! Umm...game over! So by this time it is like 5pm and FHE starts at 7:30...panic time! I jumped in the car and drove to the mall, bought a new cord ($82 later) and made it back to my place by 5:45! If you have ever been to Waikiki you know that was a miracle! Well the lesson went well (if I do say so myself JK!!!), and my baby is fire safe, for now :)

Oh and here are some picture from snuba way back when...I forgot to put them on my last posts.

Marilyn and I all geared up!

Turtle, turtle...

Just another day in paradise

Ok I'm finally caught up to this past week.

I started Institute on Wednesday. I am taking a Hawaiian culture class where we are learning about traditions, history, etc. and also a little bit of the language. The teacher is really funny so we have a good time! I am also taking...wait, get ready...preparing for eternal marriage! Gag I know, but it is the only class on Wednesday and that is the only night I can go. Luckily it is almost all singles and only like 1 couple so I think I might be able to handle it...MAYBE!  

I ditched hula lessons on Thursday because I was soo tired and didn't feel like dealing with traffic so Christine and I went to the mall instead :) Hula lessons are moving pretty slow so i'm sure I can catch on pretty quickly the next time I go. I still need to take pictures of that so stay tuned.

Friday night a few of us went to the Aloha Week Festival here in Waikiki. They closed down the main road and had tons or booths set-up with food and shopping. They also had stages set up all along the road with hula performances, bands, singing, etc. It was fun to appreciate all of the culture of the islands. Sorry none of my pictures turned out cause it was so dark :(


During the festival we happened to meander into the Ferrari store and found this beauty. You too can own this car for only 2.3 million dollars! And if that wasn't a sweet enough deal for only a million more they will throw in the engine too! I couldn't even afford the key to a Ferrari ($216...ridiculous) haha 

Saturday was a football marathon...isn't that what I moved away from?? We watched BYU vs. UCLA's patheticness and the USC vs. Ohio State's overratedness (sorry Justin)! They were pretty awesome games so I guess it was ok. Later that night I went out to dinner with my peeps from work and chilled. Another week gone and I can't even believe it!! 

2 weeks ago...

Ok we are getting closer to current events haha. 

So they have these gun clubs where you can pay to shoot all sorts of different guns...seems like a rip off to me since we used to go in the mountains for free but whatevs. Apparently in Japan you can't have guns or something, don't hold me to that fact it is just something I heard. Anyway, Jijo and I were wandering around Waikiki one night and since he had never shot a gun he decided he wanted to...so we did!  Well I just watched because I had gotten my dose of shooting in before I left Utah, but I still got to hold an awesome gun (and wear some dead sexy ear muffs) :)

On Saturday I got to go to the University of Hawaii (UH) football game against Weber State. It was great and we, meaning UH since I would never claim anything from Ogden (no offense), won! We got rained on a bit but luckily our seats were under some cover so we didn't really get wet. The rain did however make some awesome rainbows over the stadium! 

It was a double rainbow but the second one doesn't show up in the photo :(

The view from our seats...not too shabby!

All and all I would say it was a pretty good week with a double nice end!! ;)