I had class until 3:20 on this day, so I sent my family out to do Diamond Head crater. I had already done it at the beginning of the semester and didn't necessarily need to do it again. But everyone when they come to Waikiki must do the Diamond Head hike as a rite of passage of sorts. It's not hard and has a pretty good view at the top, so basically it was worth it.
After class/Diamond Head, family picked me up and we got ready for the luau we signed up for that's put on by the hotel. It consists of a fat buffet dinner and live entertainment on the roof, under the stars. Everyone met at the designated location at the designated time, where a man with a conch shell and drum got everyone's attention, and a tiny hula woman got all the men's attention and led us to the entrance of the luau.
My family was the first in line (of course), but when we got to the booth to pick up our tickets, there was an issue (double of course, this seems to happen every time without fail). Dad worked out the kinks just fine but we ended up being one of the last groups to enter the luau. We were greeted by beefy Hawaiian men covered in tats and tiny hula ladies covered in pretty much nothing. They gave us shell leis and we took a group picture and were then seated.
The luau overall was really cool. The food was decent, but I tried everything I wanted to fit onto my plate, and dessert was good, too. We all had 2 drink tickets we could use for anything frome pineapple juice to Mai Tais. Dad had drank a few Michelobs before the luau began and used his 2 drink tickets on Mai Tais. I decided to fuel the fire and give him my second ticket for a third Mai Tai to put him at a borderline drunken stage. It was entertaining, and worth the sacrifice of my drink.
The performers were really good. There were more than there were that perform on the Friday night performance, but I think most of the people were the same. They did more dances and entertaining things. Towards the end all the men came out with knives on fire and did a very thrilling routine with them. I was completely entertained until the end of the show.
They brought this extremely willing man onto stage
Great outfits
Fire performance!
Afterwards, the performers lined up down the hallway where everyone exited. This was for people who wanted to take pictures with the performers. Both Sister and I took pictures with large men, and we made Parents take pictures as well. That was entertaining in itself.
I wasn't kidding when I said they were large men
I love my dad so much
P.S. check out the fab shirt!
Parents with large man!
That was a great night of family and entertainment.
Sorry this post kinda sucks and lacks more enthusiastic content. I just finished writing an 8-page paper and a 17-page set of microbiology lab write-ups. Feel some compassion.
Brother and Dad decided to go on a fishing trip while they were visiting. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Brother loves to fish and Dad likes it too, plus they would get to do all that father-son bonding jazz. Not to mention that jumping on a fishing boat and the possibility of catching a monster is fairly higher here in Hawaii than back home in Illinois.
This little adventure was an 8-hour long excursion, did I mention that?
The boys got up at about 4:30 in the morning and were going to be gone until later that afternoon. While they were gone, I was dropped off at class and gone until noon. Mom and Sister drove around the island for a bit. They had gone up into the residential area up in the mountains, and said it was really neat. They picked me up after class and we went back to the hotel. They grabbed lunch while I worked out in the ever-fabulous gym, and then we all layed out, drinking strawberry daiquiris and pina coladas.
Except I don't like pina coladas, but I was very satisfied with my strawberry daiquiri. I don't like things flavored with coconut. And I live in Hawaii....
Good thing I like pineapple.
The boys finally got back so we all met back up in the hotel room to discuss our days. This is how the fishing report came back:
Dad threw up twice
Brother threw up 7 times (although this may have been an exaggeration)
No fish were caught by them
Another guy on the trip did catch a fish, and they let Dad and Brother take a picture with it out of the kindness of their hearts. Talk about insult to injury
Dad and Brother were on the trip for 10 hours, instead of 8
Good day, right?? They were exhausted and spent the rest of the night in the hotel. Mom, Sister and I went to eat dinner downtown and shop around a bit.
All in all, it was a good chill day relaxing with the family after a hectic day of classes that had originally put me in a bad mood.
You can never go wrong with a strawberry daiquiri, either.
Fun fact: When I was little, I always noticed a box in our garage that had the words "Strawberry daiquiri" something on it. I didn't know how to pronounce the second word, and I thought it was "duh-QUARE-y" for years. Every time I saw that stupid box I pronounced the word like that in my head. It sounded better when you put it with strawberry: strawberry duh-quare-y. It rhymed, and I liked it.
So I know I've posted about Maunawili Falls before, but this time was different because I got to take the entire family along! Right when I got out of class at 12:30 they picked me up and we were off! My reasoning for this particular trip was threefold:
1 - The hike itself is gorgeous. Time consuming and challenging, yes, but I believe the trip pays off. I enjoyed it a lot more the second time than I did the first. Maybe that's because I knew what to expect.
2 - There's a waterfall at the end! Although I will admit that actual waterfall is not the coolest thing in the world. Actually I think the waterfall from Manoa falls is a little better because it starts from a lot higher up. But at Maunawili if you climb up the side of the waterfall, there's this completely beautiful area that I took my sister to see. I would get married there if it weren't so hard to get to (and if it could accommodate a billion guests).
3 - I wanted to jump the cliff again! And I wanted my family to try it too. That turned out to be a bust, though, because Sister doesn't like getting dirty. She just really wasn't having the hike at all. And Parents wouldn't let Brother jump off the 50 foot cliff. Which yes, several people have now told me that it's more like 50-55 feet instead of the original 40 feet I believed the height of the cliff to be. But Brother enjoyed jumping off the 12-footer instead. I jumped twice off the 50-foot cliff. It gets easier and less scary every time. I would do it again if I had time to go back there!
Parents were such troopers and did the entire hike. I was really proud of them. After the hike, we went back to the hotel, Sister got her ass in the shower, and we chilled out for the rest of the night, quality family time.
Yayy for a short post (finally)! Bet you were starting to believe my posts would just continue to get longer and longer, eh?
I can't even begin to explain my infatuation with sea turtles. Although not as bad as my obsession with teeth, turtles are up there in sights I find truly remarkable. So when dad booked the family for a catamaran ride with sea turtle snorkeling built right into the trip, I was all kinds of ready.
The morning started out fantastically as I was able to use the gym at the hotel. Which was at least 7.22x better than the gym at school. The university's workout facility is actually unacceptable. There is a moisture that I can feel in the air and am not comfortable with, and it smells like a hockey rink. Good lord. The gym in the hotel, therefore, was an absolute treat, and I soaked up every minute of my workout. The thrill of being in an odorless gym combined with the fact that I had not been in a gym in ages put me into workout ADD mode and I used every machine and every weight and medicine ball for like 2 minutes before moving onto the next shiny new piece of equipment.
CATAMARAN TIME. It's like a ship. Okay, it is a ship. The hotel has it's own catamaran that charges people a legitimately insane amount of money (but we do it anyway) for an experience that you may or may not get a lot out of. Well, people, I got a lot out of it! The program started by motoring on out to a specific area in the ocean where a certain type of fish congregates. We were told that these fish clean the shells of the turtles by feeding on whatever it is that's on there, so everyone benefits. Symbiosis. How neat.
We anchored the catamaran - or rather, they anchored it; I didn't do jack - and started instructing us on how to use the snorkel and other stuff that I wasn't paying attention to. I didn't care I just wanted to swim with some turtles! The only thing I really knew was that nobody could touch the turtles because they're protected by the government. But we could swim darn near close to them, and that I did.
I didn't know this, but Mom had a fear of snorkeling or having the mask over her face or something, but she used our 5-word mantra (Suck it up and go!) and conquered her fear! I was so proud of her. My little girl, all grown up.
We were finally able to go out and I was the first one off that boat in search of some turtles. I found one almost immediately, and it was crazy how awesome seeing a see turtle for the first time was. I could actually probably go on and on about the magical-ness of these creatures, but I'll spare the time spent reading this blog.
Dad and Brother took a lot of pictures of the turtles, and I hope they got at least one of me in the same shot as a turtle! We saw four different turtles in all, and I got within touching distance of most of them. It's awesome how they'll let you swim right next to them, and they don't even care. They're such chill animals.
After I don't even know how long, a lot of people had retreated back to the boat out of satisfaction or perhaps boredom (I don't understand how that would even be possible, though), and after a while my family was the last ones in the water. Family wanted to go back in with the rest of the crowd, but I could have seriously stayed out there all day and swam with those big guys. But alas, the time had come, and I think the other catamaran-goers were getting antsy. I said my goodbyes and swam in sorrow back to the big boat.
Such alliteration. And probably exaggeration of emotions. But it makes the story better, I believe.
After returning all the equipment, it was lunch time. They had sandwiches and other snacks for us to consume, and they had drinks! Dad had gotten each of us (minus Louis, for obvious reasons) 2 drink tickets each. Annie and I ordered Mai Tais and sat on the boat while we sailed around Diamond Head crater for an hour, soaking up the sun and the beautiful day with my amazing family in fabulous Hawaii.
The catamaran was such a highlight of the trip, something I will never forget. I can't wait to see the pictures when they develop!
The rest of the day/night was pretty chill. Beach time, shopping time, and dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. By the time dinner was over, we were all pretty exhausted from the day slash Family was probably still jet-lagged so we went to bed early that night too, but not without a few episodes of Friends first to make the day about as good as they get!
Enter abrupt ending to the post.
Aloha!
Oh wait.... picture!
Family + Catamaran + mai tai + sunny skies = happy Kat
Friday morning went by soooo slooooowly that I almost couldn't bear it. I went to class like the good little studious girl that I am and then ran around town (or bused around town, rather), bought leis for the family, and started making my way towards the airport.
Sidenote - why do little old men think they can sit down next to me on the bus? There were so many other open seats just crying out to be sat on. I was trying to juggle all my shit I had with me - four boxes of leis and my Wal-mart bag packed with necessities - and set my belongings on the seat next to me. This was an acceptable behavior as there was nobody on this bus and I was sitting in the back. This little old guy must have saw me and thought, "Hey, I'm old, I can do what I want. I'm practically senile with Alzheimer's". And he asked me to move my stuff and he planted his tush right next to mine.
When I'm old, I'm gonna do the same thing. After you reach a certain age there are things you can try to get away with and usually succeed. Nobody can ever yell at an little old lady, and if you could, you are an awful human being. That's the only thing that makes me excited about aging.
Back on subject. I arrived at the airport and wait at baggage claim for their flight. There was a vision in my head how the moment of our reunion, and it was going to be flawless. But then I started playing out not-so-good scenarios (because I tend to do that).
The previous conversations I had with my mother before takeoff consisted of her telling me what time their flight came in and which airline. Never once did it come up that I was going to meet them at the airport. For one thing, I kind of wanted it to be a surprise. For another, I half-expected them to expect me there with all the questions I asked and my general excitement about their arrival. Also, isn't it like some sort of protocol to meet your guests at the airport?
The flight came in and people started showing up at baggage claim. I looked around eagerly to spot anyone I recognized, but there was nothing in the beginning. Enter stage 1 of panic.
I tried calling my mom, dad, and brother. No answer. Their phones were still turned off. Enter stage 2 of panic.
More and more people were piling into the baggage claim area, none whatsoever looking remotely like a family member of mine. Time was running out. So was the amount of seats that plane could hold because damn there were a lot of people there!
At that point my brain began to conjure up all these possibilities and explanations of what was happening. My first thought was that they only brought carry-on's and didn't need to go to baggage claim. I don't know this airport whatsoever. It was truly amazing that I found the right place to be in the first place (after asking upwards of 4 different people where to go).
Then I thought that since they didn't need to go to baggage claim, they went right to the car rental place, went about their business, and left in the shiny minivan they rented, leaving me at the airport without even realizing it.
I sat in defeat. Finally the last few people trickled into baggage claim, leaving me along with me leis and my abandoned excitement. The flight had come in, but it had not brought my family.
INTERMISSION. This post is too damn long. Here's an adorable Youtube video:
After what seemed like Forever, my brother called me back saying they had just landed and were on the runway taxiing (sp?) to the terminal. This caused mass confusion inside my cranium as I was witnessing people from their flight who were already at baggage claim. Come to find out, I had gotten the airline wrong, and had just spent the past half hour moderately hyperventilating because I thought I was orphaned at the airport.
I'm an idiot.
So I went to the correct baggage claim area/place/letter and built up some more anticipation. People from their flight started to come in and then I saw them and it was magical (maybe not actually magical, but go with it). I lei'd my family - awkward phrase - and hugged and reunited and it was great! The only thing that was missing was my sister, Annie.
She was originally supposed to come in the following Wednesday and leave that Saturday, but she ended up making it work where she could come Saturday and stay for a week.
So mother, father, brother and I got luggage, got vehicle, and got hotel. The hotel puts on a show every friday night for the guests. It's a mini luau-type show with hula dancers, ukelele players, and fireworks at the end. So we watched that and it was really pretty cool. That ended about 8pm at which point family was sooooo tired and wanted to go to bed.
I had totally forgotten about the existence of televisions since I've been here since I don't have access to one, so being in a hotel room with a TV was pretty much the best thing ever. That and air conditioning. And nice big comfy beds. It was all so fabulous that the entire time my family was visiting, I never slept at my apartment and only went back there for clothes and my books to go to class. I was pretty much MIA to my roommates and friends, but I only had a week with my family and I needed to make every minute count!
Saturday morning family woke up at seriously 6am. Brother wanted to go down to the beach so we did that and walked around a bit. Then we went to brunch at this cute little place called the Creme Pot, then we got snacks because eating at restaurants the entire time in Waikiki is ridiculously expensive and not an option. Afterwards we went to my room so I could get some more stuff and so my family could meet Kelsey and Janelle, Kelsey still with blue hair from Halloween weekend which was great.
Then we drove to the airport to pick up my favorite sass-ter in the world! It was so exciting to see her after 3 months. Her poor self had to take three flights with almost 3-hour layovers each so she was tired as hell and wanted some food. We ate at Zippy's, this Hawaiian fast-food chain that I had never been to but it was all right. Dad and I ordered Loco Mocos and the rest of the fam had classic burgers and fries. Lamesies. Then we went back to the hotel and passed out, although it was still relatively early.
More posts from the rest of the week with my family to come!
First and foremost, my parents will be here in 19.5 hours! It still seems so surreal to me that they will be here with me in Hawaii so soon. They get on a plane in less than 12 hours and become closer to me by the second. No, by the millisecond. Planes go fast. Vroom.
The last time I saw them was almost three months ago at the airport saying goodbye. I still remember it vividly as if it happened yesterday. I left them as I went into line for security and they didn't leave until I was out of sight. And tomorrow we will be reunited!!!
They're here for an entire week. I sent them a list of places to go and things they should do while they're here, and it's they're decision what they want to do. Hopefully my course load won't be that hefty next week so I can spend maximum time with them. I have an exam next Wednesday that I've been preparing for this week but I'm getting a 96% in that class anyway so I'm not too worried. The following Monday I have an exam but I'm getting an A in that class is well so I'm not feeling threatened to study.
Soon I will be hopping on a bus to the airport to anxiously await the arrival of my family (well, mom, dad, and brother). Sass-ter is catching a flight Saturday so I won't see her until then. Sad face. But it's still really soon! So. Much. Excitement.
This week has also been exciting for two more reasons:
1. Kelsey and I finally registered for the Honolulu Marathon! It just sank in that we're actually doing this after dropping $120 on the darn thing. We started stepping up our training. Last night we ran 7.3-something miles which is the farthest we've gone so far. It's an improvement from last week but we still have a long way to go. I think my family being here might inhibit my training schedule a little more, but there's nothing I can do about that.
Seriously, if I am able to run (and by run I mean jog as slow as a walking pace) then I will be thrilled with myself. I just hope my knee doesn't act up.
2. I made an appointment to get my tattoo today! Tattoolicious (although the name sounds... yeah) is a really great establishment in Honolulu that I've been researching for a few months now. They have artists that have niches for different kinds of tattoos. I made an appointment with a guy Alex who does a lot of traditional Polynesian tattoos and has really neat clean lines. My design isn't that complicated so I probably could have had anyone do my tattoo but I'm glad I made my appointment with Alex. I'm getting a sea turtle with hibiscus flower in the middle - all in black like the traditional Polynesian design. I might get a word or phrase in there too, but I have some time to decide. December 17!
So that's everything exciting that I have going on in my life right now. I'll be sure to post stories and pictures of events from my family visiting!
Aloha!
I've probably never used as many exclamation points in one post as I have right now!
!
Update - I guess I never published this. I know the time has passed but I wanted to publish it anyway. I do what I want.
Waikiki is one of the best places to be on Halloween. Why, you ask? Well it seems like the answer would be reasonably obvious - kickass costumes everywhere in perfect weather.
Sound like a perfect day? Thought so.
Halloween weekend started off fantastically as there was a blacklight highlighter party at one of the 18+ nightclubs. Sadly, Janelle wasn't with us for the weekened due to a field trip to the big island to look at some volcanoes and lava. Ooooohhhhhhh. But Kelsey and I thought of her as we cut up plain white t-shirts to make them look cuter than what they were.
We stayed until the club closed at two, drenched in sweat and tired from dancing, which means the night was a complete success. Then we trekked 3.7 miles back to our dorm because the buses had stopped running and we were too cheap to catch a cab. And these bars just shouldn't be so far away from campus in the first place. What a hassle. It took us about an hour and a half to make it home (for those of you keeping score, the time at this point is 3:30). That was late enough for me. I bid Friday adieu.
Saturday turned into a borderline shit-show when Kelsey and I ran all over kingdom come to find costumes. We had thought about what we wanted to be for a few weeks, but enter some procrastination due to various reasons, leaving us with a few hours to figure out what we wanted to do.
We went to the party store where first of all took the bus forever to come and take us there, so that took an hour in itself. Also, once we got to the party store, it was packed as sardines with people like us doing this Halloween business last minute. More or less of an hour goes by, and eventually Kels and I decided that we didn't $50 costumes that 120.2 people are also going to be wearing and we wanted to do something original.
So we went to the mall and went into almost every store, and some stores multiple times. We couldn't decide what we wanted to do. Our goal was to come up with something creatively cheap, and our ideas shifted to everything from celebrities to tourists to hicks, punks, boys, ballerinas, precious metals, football players, hula dancers, and I'm probably forgetting a few.
Finally, we saw these hats that have animals on them, and we decide they are so incredibly stupid that they would be perfect to utilize for Halloween costumes. Also, we were in the store Claire's which caters to 9-year-old girls wanting strawberry lip gloss and feather boa scarves. Kels got a skunk hat, and I got a snow leopard.
Then we went to find dresses that matched our hats so we could be these ridiculous animals. I found a cute dress that matched PERFECTLY and is acceptable wear for nights out on the town when I'm not trying to look ridiculous. Kelsey, however, had no such luck, and decided she'd rather be Katy Perry instead.
By this time it's about 7 pm and we were missing out on festivities. There was a giant block party in Chinatown we wanted to get to so we hurried up to get everything we needed, go back home and get ready, and finally go out.
By that time it was quarter after 9 and we heard Chinatown was dying down and ended at ten, so we decided to walk down the strip at Waikiki instead. Not everyone was wearing costumes, but some people were so we felt less alone. Tawni was working at Quicksilver at the time so we popped in to give her a visit (and a few laughs) before finally calling it quits and retreating back to the apartment, where we stayed up until 6 am watching movies with our favorite RAs once again.
I believe that's the third time we've done that.
Sunday was pretty uneventful, mostly an in-between day from the festivities so I could catch up on some homework and organize my life.
Monday. Halloween. Went to class and had a fairly normal morning/afternoon. Saw a few people wearing costumes but nothing too crazy. Halloween night is when everyone goes to downtown Waikiki and basically parades off their costumes down the crowded sidewalks. I spent an hour dyeing Kelsey's hair blue to be Katy Perry which turned out fanstastic in my opinion. I was the snow leopard... or whatever I was, and Janelle was a football player.
We finished getting ready and headed for the bus which was not a well-thought-out plan because that's what everyone was doing and the buses were so packed and they weren't even stopping at the stops since they were at capacity. So we called a cab and made it down there.
I had the most interesting hour of my time here in Hawaii walking down the street looking at every possible costume and laughing at the good ones. Some were inappropriate, most were skanky, but all were in good fun. Some people were drunk, some were not wearing costumes at all. Some were even tourists that had decided to line the sidewalks and take pictures of anything and everything they could.
I hope I was in none of those pictures.
The best costumes of the night in my opinion were these two guys (I assume) that had managed to find huge turtle costumes, took their longboards, and paddled down the sidewalks on their stomachs as if they were swimming. Good work, boys.
After walking down the strip we figured we might as well walk home since the weather was nice and we had nothing better to do. Give people driving down the street something to laugh at.
This post is already too long, so I'm gonna end it right meow.
