Hawaii: Part I
I suspect that my lack of blogging had been due to my busier schedule at work, although that may not be entirely accurate. That needs to change because frankly, writing is therapeutic. Since I am technically on vacation as of right now (flying somewhere over the middle of the Pacific Ocean -- I mean, how cool is that!) and have some free time, I will take this opportunity to document this trip that I am taking with Yves, Jason, Will, Tiff (and later, Diana and Janet) to Hawaii. Here goes nothing.
Day 1
There was not much excitement here, as I was mainly concerned about finishing packing and getting home on time to meet the other donuts. I had ignorantly scheduled a 2:30 meeting to talk about transferring some work over to the research group, knowing full well that I would probably need to take off around 3, and as expected, it went over and I was scrambling to try to wrap up the week, to send out emails, and to have a plan for when I come back next Tuesday. I guess stress is what makes vacations worth it. You appreciate the fact that at the moment when you can get into your car and drive off, that is it! You can drop the meaningless routines that you go through everyday -- the alarms in the mornings, the mindless commutes, the lunch hours that aren't really an hour. You drop the monotony. Ahh. Here's to a week of absolute bliss, of rest and relaxation, of getting my hands on one of those fruity umbrella drinks, of the sun and the beach, of doing something that I have wanted to do for a very long time. And of course, I am glad that I get to share this with some pretty good friends.
Day 2
As this day was deemed chill day, we got off to a pretty late start, at least by California standards. The morning began with a breakfast stop at McDonald's where I found out that they served Spam, Egg, and Cheese McGriddles. Being that I am a pretty big fan of Spam, and I mean honestly, where else can you get served Spam other than in Hawaii, I opted for that menu item. Later, we drove for what seemed like forever to Waikiki where all the cool kids (like us tourists) go. The beach experience was wonderful -- it was everything that I expected it to be with the white sand, the hot sun from above, and warm water, etc. I even took the time to learn to float, which I have pictures of! I also have soon to be deleted pictures of the guys burying me in the ground and giving me sand boobs. Hehe. After some walking and discovering some 20 ABC Stores within a one-mile radius (imagine Starbucks in Seattle, but worse), we decided to get some Japanese ramen before heading back to the house and picking then Diana up from HNL. After that little side trip to the airport, the six of us decided to have another meal at some diner place called Zippy's, which apparently is very famous for their chili. Since this third meal of the day is a foreign concept to me, and my eating/sleeping schedule was already kind of screwy, I opted for just the fruit bowl and an iced tea instead, you know to stay healthy. Yum.
Day 3
What do you get when you mix education and adventure? Pearl Harbor and North Shore Day! Again, after eating another breakfast-type food at an all-you-can-eat pancake place, we headed east to get a little bit of history and culture. Now many of you who know me know that I am a pretty big history buff, especially when it comes to twentieth century stuff like WWII, so I had a blast looking at all the displays at this national park. At one point, I was so captured by some of their stories that Yves had to peel me away from reading just so we would not be late for our USS Arizona Memorial tour. The girls and I even got a chance to hop on down into a real-life submarine and I was just like oh my gosh, I would never survive as a sailor, living under those conditions. After the best lunch ever (at Panda Express), we piled into our pimpin' minivan and headed north, which is famous for its 50-foot waves and hot surfer dudes. While we did not get to see any 50-foot waves, there were a plentiful amount of 20-foot waves that swept ashore (well, they died down first), which were still strong enough to (like a good boyfriend) sweep you off your feet and (like a bad one) give you bruises, as Diana can attest to first hand after only ten minutes. This was also when I found out that sand is my new enemy. Before coming to Hawaii, I did not know that I could get sand in some places where I thought it was impossible to get to due clothing restrictions. How wrong I was! Oh I meant my swimming trunk's pockets, by the way. What were you thinking? ;-)
Day 1
There was not much excitement here, as I was mainly concerned about finishing packing and getting home on time to meet the other donuts. I had ignorantly scheduled a 2:30 meeting to talk about transferring some work over to the research group, knowing full well that I would probably need to take off around 3, and as expected, it went over and I was scrambling to try to wrap up the week, to send out emails, and to have a plan for when I come back next Tuesday. I guess stress is what makes vacations worth it. You appreciate the fact that at the moment when you can get into your car and drive off, that is it! You can drop the meaningless routines that you go through everyday -- the alarms in the mornings, the mindless commutes, the lunch hours that aren't really an hour. You drop the monotony. Ahh. Here's to a week of absolute bliss, of rest and relaxation, of getting my hands on one of those fruity umbrella drinks, of the sun and the beach, of doing something that I have wanted to do for a very long time. And of course, I am glad that I get to share this with some pretty good friends.
Day 2
As this day was deemed chill day, we got off to a pretty late start, at least by California standards. The morning began with a breakfast stop at McDonald's where I found out that they served Spam, Egg, and Cheese McGriddles. Being that I am a pretty big fan of Spam, and I mean honestly, where else can you get served Spam other than in Hawaii, I opted for that menu item. Later, we drove for what seemed like forever to Waikiki where all the cool kids (like us tourists) go. The beach experience was wonderful -- it was everything that I expected it to be with the white sand, the hot sun from above, and warm water, etc. I even took the time to learn to float, which I have pictures of! I also have soon to be deleted pictures of the guys burying me in the ground and giving me sand boobs. Hehe. After some walking and discovering some 20 ABC Stores within a one-mile radius (imagine Starbucks in Seattle, but worse), we decided to get some Japanese ramen before heading back to the house and picking then Diana up from HNL. After that little side trip to the airport, the six of us decided to have another meal at some diner place called Zippy's, which apparently is very famous for their chili. Since this third meal of the day is a foreign concept to me, and my eating/sleeping schedule was already kind of screwy, I opted for just the fruit bowl and an iced tea instead, you know to stay healthy. Yum.
Day 3
What do you get when you mix education and adventure? Pearl Harbor and North Shore Day! Again, after eating another breakfast-type food at an all-you-can-eat pancake place, we headed east to get a little bit of history and culture. Now many of you who know me know that I am a pretty big history buff, especially when it comes to twentieth century stuff like WWII, so I had a blast looking at all the displays at this national park. At one point, I was so captured by some of their stories that Yves had to peel me away from reading just so we would not be late for our USS Arizona Memorial tour. The girls and I even got a chance to hop on down into a real-life submarine and I was just like oh my gosh, I would never survive as a sailor, living under those conditions. After the best lunch ever (at Panda Express), we piled into our pimpin' minivan and headed north, which is famous for its 50-foot waves and hot surfer dudes. While we did not get to see any 50-foot waves, there were a plentiful amount of 20-foot waves that swept ashore (well, they died down first), which were still strong enough to (like a good boyfriend) sweep you off your feet and (like a bad one) give you bruises, as Diana can attest to first hand after only ten minutes. This was also when I found out that sand is my new enemy. Before coming to Hawaii, I did not know that I could get sand in some places where I thought it was impossible to get to due clothing restrictions. How wrong I was! Oh I meant my swimming trunk's pockets, by the way. What were you thinking? ;-)
Labels: vacation
