I love crowds!

I feel so blessed to actually be living my dream. Yes, its a struggle (heck, I won't have a job as of Weds and I have no idea what I will do in regards to rent for month of July  - but it will work out, it always does). :) 

Today was an exceptional day in paradise. I got to experience the annual lantern lighting event at Ala Moana Beach Park.  I never so soooo many people all at once, standing next to each other. yeah, I've been to packed stadiums at Stanford and 49er games and concerts, but this, no comparison. I was in awe.  Here are photos from today.

So... I just turned in my 2 weeks notice...

No, I'm not leaving the island, but I am quitting my job.

You know, I'm not a quitter, but lately I've been on this 'kick' - control your life, do things that make you happy. 

I have not been happy at work and thus, I've decided to make the change.  Conventionally, one would think of me as "es loco in la cavesa" - crazy in the head as I am quitting without a plan b.  Yes, understandably, that is a big concern - what AM I going to do in June when I'm back hunting for jobs and have bills to pay?

I don't know, but I have faith that something will come up, I just know that doing what I am currently is making me very unhappy and diminishing my spirit. There's got to be something better than this. I mean for real, if you're going to the airport to drop off a friend and you see the luggage porters carrying heavy luggage in the heat for a living and you think THAT is a better job that you'd rather do than what you're doing, then its time to move.  I even thought of responding to an ad for a pop-a-lock company. They were looking for someone who can jump cars, change tires and unlock doors. They said they'd train, I figure, why not? Yes, its hard work, but anything will be better than suffocating where I am right now.

Battleship Missouri and the World Fireknife Competition

People said to me as I left for Hawaii, "You'll get Island Fever", "You'll get bored", "There's not much entertainment/nightlife on the island", etc etc.  However, that is not the case, there are always things happening - its whether or not you choose to find it (and then do it) to be the case. :)  With that said, I have been a very busy bee. :)

Recently a friend of mine invited me out to a Yelp Elite event aboard the Battleship Missouri.  Of course I was very excited as I haven't been to Pearl Harbor yet (tsk tsk, I know). On this particular Wednesday night event, we were escorted from the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center to inside Pearl  Harbor and directly to the Battleship Missouri.  We received a private tour of the ship and a party on the other end of the deck (the landing area?).  It was a nice event, well organized, and they had several "Battleship" games (with the aliens of course in line with the new movie just released) for us to play with. Certainly a fun evening.



It is a massive/impressive beast



<><>

<>

<><>

My first time playing the game and it was quite fun. :) My amiga pictured here is telling me my ships are going down! :)



I also attended the World Fireknife Competition at the Polynesian Culturan Center recently.  Friends were all busy so I went solo. If I always wait for others to do something, I'll never see anything. Hence my motto which is a hybrid of two: "Why wait for tomorrow what you can do today and why wait for others if you can do yourself".  Don't get me wrong, company is great - its awesome. Everything is more enjoyable when done with friends/loved ones. I'm just saying put it out there, if connections aren't made then don't put it off simply due to that - still go, enjoy and live life. Its totally worth it. :)

The Fireknife Competition was held during the intermission of the Ha, Breath of Life nightshow (really good show, if you come to Oahu, I highly recommend adding this to your itinerary).  If you come in the next year, let m know, I have an annual pass which allows me to extend a 20% discount to visitors. :)

Update via photos from around the island :)

For this entry I thought it would be best if I uploaded recent pics from around the island and things I've been doing to catch you all up. :)

This pic was taken while driving up from Kailua (Windward or East side of the island) to Turtle Bay (perhaps the northern most tip). Its an hour and 15 min drive from my apartment in town. I don't mind the time, the drive is absolutely gorgeous.

On Admin Day (4/25) Michelle (an associate at KPGM) gave me a gorgeous Orchid lei as a gift. It was so exciting - all this is so new to me. In this pic I'm wearing the orchid lei with tuba roses lei and a ginger lei - all so fragrant and beautiful! :)

I'm a dork.  Little things make me happy, like seeing my car cross the 1000 mile mark. :) I've been driving around the Island quite a bit! :)

Bread/Icecream dessert at Shokuda Japanese Restaurant.  I never thought the combo would be good, but my friend Priya and I went out to dinner here and we saved room specifically to share this dessert as its been commented on quite a bit on yelp. Sure enough, worth every single calorie - this dessert was divine. :)

Colored popcorn? Yikes, I don't even like popcorn. However, my coworker gave this to me as a gift on my birthday so I couldn't refuse - I'm glad I didn't. This kettle corn is true to its name, Jus Right. :)

So, the 27th of April was my birthday. Unfortunately I had a toothache so I had to make an emergency dentist appt. Turns out I fractured a tooth by eating ice. Lesson learned! Wait to eat ice after its been in water for a while! :)  Anyhow.. I was TRULY spoiled in the bay area. It being Silicon Valley, all the dentists are soooo technologically advanced. I walked into this "highly recommended" dental office and immediately became weary. I saw this book on the lobby table.. its from 1980!!! Oye.. needless to say the whole appointment went bad. :(

When I moved here I brought along a whole suite cases of my spices, pots/pans and most importantly my "kootna" Its a wooden bowl with a hand held 'stick' I suppose which I use to grind my fresh garlic/ginger/chilis. Anyhow.. just made a quick lunch for my friend Kelly and I.  Here we have Chicken/Potato curry with summer salad and fresh home made roti. Yum! :)

I started working on this baby blanket for my dear friend Dusty soon after moving here. I just finished it and sent it off this week. I hope her lil baby boy finds comfort in it.  Its made with a whole lotta love. :)

I know I shouldn't do this (take pics while driving) but the view was absolutely gorgeous. I just had to take a picture, otherwise I don't know how I could share this with you. Words won't do it justice. 

Even when you can't see the water, the mountains are so lush and magnificent. *sigh* I love it here.

I love Amazon.com. Just bought myself a spice grinder. I want to make Aam ki Acchar (Fijian style mango pickle)!  I'll post pics when I'm done. :)

I love working so close to home. Its only 1 mile away.  I came home and made myself a quick lunch. Lentil soup from the night before, rice that I made that morning before work and a salmon salad I made in a few min right before taking this pic. Yum!

Another spectacular thing about Hawaii is that we see rainbows all the time. They never get old. 

 

On my birthday, the 27th, I decided to go on a fireworks cruise. Every Friday there's a fireworks show off the Hilton Waikiki Lagoon. We were very excited. Unfortunately, at 745, the fireworks never started. Our cruise was from 6-8.  The captain waited and waited, finally he found out from Hilton that they were delaying *tonight's fireworks because they were having a concert. We were bummed. No fireworks, we headed back into port and then off to dinner. This birthday was a bit less exciting than years past. No worries, I'm still going hanggliding at the end of the month! :)

Yep, I can see myself here for the long term. :)

Why all the drama???

There must be something in the air, I mean how else do you explain getting a broken bone in waist deep water, being the only one to get pulled over and get a speeding ticket when going with the flow of traffic, trouble finding a decent roommate - its been 2 months since Nina moved.  I've had psycholady #1, #2 and a crazy man who came in, walked in to the room (barely) he only peeked in the room and said he wanted it.  He said "I like you, we'll get along, I want to move in day after tomorrow" (WEIRDO ALERT!)

Oye.  Thankfully I found someone who is normal (or thus far seems to be). He's meeting the landlord tomorrow and likely moving in sometime in the next few days. Next challenge will be finding a permanent parking spot in the area. Everyone is looking for one so its going to be difficult, but it doesn't hurt to try.

Work has been ok. I've been keeping the mentality that it is work, I should be happy to have a job. But still, I can't help but feel trapped. I didn't move to Hawaii to be sitting behind a desk all day. I really want to find a job where I'm out and about on this beautiful island and interacting with people.

In other news, its my birthday today. Yay! Past few years I've been celebrating my bday with adventures. I've gone Skydiving twice now, hanggliding and a helicopter ride over Santa Cruz.

This year the plan was to go to the Big Island of Hawaii to see the volcanos. Though, since I hurt my leg I can't travel much.  Instead, I plan to go on a motorized Hang gliding flight. Should be good fun. My friend Kelly just went this past weekend and the pics are AWESOME. I can't wait to experience it myself! :)

Trip to Maui! :)

This past weekend I was off to Maui to visit my dear friend and old roomie, Nina.  Wow, what a trip. :)

Pictures are worth a thousand words so here you go. :)

believe it or not, this is one massive tree starting from the center of the courtyard and extends out to the outer edges and re-roots itself by dropping roots and growing another "trunk" to support the extended branches. I saw it with my own eyes and I couldn't believe it. :) 

On the ferry to visit Lana'i!

Me, Nina and her daughter Andria

Caves in Lana'i

Manele  Beach

Crystal clear waters. 

Nina and I were looking for a "calmer" beach to try going snorkeling. We hiked past Manele Bay and found this private place - but still too rough. Andria suggested we see what's beyond that cliff. Yikes, a hike!?

Does that look like a gargoyle to you? It did to me!

Almost to the top - gorgeous isn't it?

Reflecting on how far we'd come. Wowza.

Yeah.. I'm soooo not a hiker. I'm the only fool, in the world perhaps, who goes on a hike with a purse on one side and a tote on the other. I need to get a backpack. :)

Its Sunday and we're off to do some whale watching

Sadly, this was the best view we got all day. :(

Its not all bad though. It was a lovely day and the water was absolutely gorgeous. I just love being out on the water. :)

Turtles!