Scenes From The Aina

Just because sometimes pictures speaks more volume than words.

Ho’okani

One of the things me and the GF love to do is visit local businesses and stores. It’s our way of giving back to the community by supporting local businesses. Last night we were treated to a wonderful evening of song and merriment at the local coffee shop. It was open mic night and people from all over the central and north side of the island came by to show off their musical talent. We heard music from reggae, to country, to rock and roll, to hip hop, and even hawaiian.

Then there’s this cute girl who played slack key guitar Hawaiian style. My jaw dropped. I am officially in love with Hawaiian slack key. Time to pick up the old guitar again and learn slack key.

Not everything in life is free

I spent 8 hours of lecture on how to properly package hazardous materials for transport in planes, trains, trucks, and boats. You know what the best part of that 8 hour lecture is? Free lunch.

Dou shiyo ka na?

Precipitation has been a constant visitor in our beautiful island for the past three weekends. Not having a dryer means that laundry would have to be postponed for next week. I’m running low in underwear. But the rain creates beautiful rainbows that arch across the gulches and valleys. I know I don’t make sense, but do I have to?

And the dish ran away with the spoon

The cold winter ocean-water is slowly becoming frigid as the sun slowly sets out in the horizon. The cool mountain air blows a soft  gentle breeze causing ripples on the almost placid water of Alamoana beach. Two portly European couple gingerly traverse the jagged shore on the north side of the beach, trying to avoid sharp coral rocks as they make their way to shore. Surfers carefully carry their surfboards out of the  water, careful enough as not to damage them. I hurriedly put my goggles back on and start the half-a-mile swim back to the south side of the beach. The water is clear. You can almost see the fishes and all the other critters navigating it’s way around the mixture of coral rocks and sand preparing for darkness. I start off with long slow strokes but with each stroke and each breath I can see the sun slowly  sinking into the horizon, giving off a bright red and orange glow. I swim faster and faster. The fishes beneath my feet are a little bit harder to see now. So I put more force with each stroke.  My shoulders ache after swimming tirelessly for almost an hour, but I still have alot of ground to cover and the sun is slowly fading away.  I push my self  harder as if I’m being chased by a school of hungry sharks. Then after a few more forceful strokes I turn towards the horizon,  hold my breath, and watch the sun disappear into the horizon. Now, the only evidence of it’s existence is the bright red glow on the horizon. Sometimes a bright red ray would peer in between the clouds, as if pulling the dark curtain of twilight down. I exhale. Then take a very deep breath. I can hear my rapid heartbeat in between the shutter clicks and the flash flickers, as many tourist and sunset enthusiasts capture this marvelous moment on their various cameras. You can almost hear the chorus of “ooooh’s” and “aaaaahhh’s” as each one takes in the beauty of the moment. Lovers hold hands. Ladies would place their heads  gently onto their boyfriend’s shoulder. Some of the lovers kiss. Some of them locked in a sweet embrace. Photographers take one last photo hoping for that best sunset photo ever to hang on their living room wall. And I, I say to myself, “let’s do this again next Saturday,” and take another deep breath.

The corollary between Recession & Doughnuts

How do you know that your state is finally feeling the effects of this global recession?

a) When the Governor starts talking about furloughs for civil servants to save the state some money.
b) When the Board of Education starts cutting back on budget for athletics and afterschool programs for both intermediate and secondary schools.
c) When the number of Japanese tourist drop from previous years numbers (esp. when the primary source of income for said state is from Japanese tourists).
d) When you’re getting stale mint-chocolate wafers from last Christmas as snacks during your monthly staff meeting instead of the regular donuts and coffee.

It’s where the heart is

As we were making a right turn to drop off Stacey at her house we saw a green and blue sign. Although the sign was small and a little bit faded it was beckoning us. Beckoning us to follow where the arrow is leading. She looked at me, then looked at Stacey to make sure that we saw what she saw. Then she asked, “Should we go?”

I hastily replied,”Sure!”

Then we both looked at Stacey and asked, “Do you want to come with us?”

So instead of making the usual left on Stacey’s street we went straight ahead. About two blocks up the street we saw another sign — the arrow pointed right. So, we made the right turn and followed it to the end at a cul-de-sac. And there straight ahead were two more signs, these were bigger than the first two. The sign read: Open House.

The garage door was wide open as if welcoming anybody willing to walk in. We parked our car right in front of the house. As we were getting out of a car a classy middle-aged woman, maybe in her early 50’s, peeked out of the door that lead to the house. She smiled and greeted us, “Welcome, I’m glad you could come to our open house today.”

She motioned for us to come in. We looked at each other, smiled, and slowly made our way inside the house.

“Do you guys have an agent by any chance?” She asked.

“No, not yet.” I replied.

So she gave us a pamphlet with all sorts of information about the house. Then she proceeded to explain the pamphlet a little bit and gave us a brief tour around the house. As the lady was giving us a tour me and the GF were already talking about what were going to do with certain rooms. As soon as the real estate agent heard us talking about it her eyes widen and immediately went down to business. She asked a few basic questions like our income, what industry we work for, if we have outstanding loans, how much money we have for down payment, or if we have had a pre-qualified loan. Well, since we weren’t exactly serious about purchasing a house (not yet at least) we gave a few embellished answers and threw in figures a little bit on the exaggerated side.

She was determined to make a sale then and there. She busted out her handy calculator and crunched in a few figures to give us and herself a little bit of an idea of what our financial picture would look like if we bought the house. Then, she even gave us a few tips on how to qualify for a loan. I smiled and replied “We (me and the GF) need to discuss it first and we’ll let you know.” So we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses as we headed out the door.

As me and the GF were driving home, the GF asked, “Can really afford to buy that house?”

I quickly replied, “No.”

But taking that adventure of walking into that house pretending to be a young couple seeking to purchase their first home was quite an experience. The more I think about it now the more I am excited about the possibilities that me and her can do together. That pure joy of walking into what could possibly be our first home gave me butterflies in the stomach all over again, the same type of butterflies when we first kissed.

50th State in 2008

Although many of you may say that 2008 probably ranks as one of the worst years of your life but for me it is probably the most exciting year in my life. 2008 marks the beginning of my life in the land of aloha. My first full year of living in the islands. It is also the year where my life has more ups than downs. Everyday is an adventure to be taken. Here’s a list of highlights of my first year living in Hawaii:

1. Learned how to surf: I’ve never drank more salt water in my entire life. When you have the endurance and stamina of a sack of potatoes then you have no business being in the water. Surfing is a physically demanding sport that requires you to be able to withstand the beatings of the hard pounding waves. Also having great balance is another requirement which I do not posses. But don’t worry I’m not giving up just yet, not until a shark mistakes for a retarded seal and swallows me whole.
2. Learned how to dance Going To The Hukilau: I’m not even gonna lie. The lady in the video makes it look so simple but for someone with the gracefulness of a dying chicken the sight is quite unpleasant.  For some reason my hips just don’t sway that way.  I’m not sure if there’s a video of me floating around the internetz dancing to this song so don’t even bother searching for it. Trust me, you’re doing yourself a favor. But if such video ever exists it would look something like this. Actually, I take that back. These guys are good.
3. Went kayaking: This is another sport that requires endurance and stamina. One of the many things I learned from this is never paddle further than your arms can carry you, especially when your rental has a three hour time limit. My shoulders almost came loose after paddling so hard trying to bring the kayaks back on time before they start charging us for my spleen and a my left kidney. Ridiculous I tell ya!
4. Went Obon dancing: Well, actually I didn’t dance. I just went for the food and all the other goodies sold during the festival. I don’t think the Shinto gods would be too happy to see me desecrating the holy ritual but the vendors on the other hand are just too happy to sell me their mochi and whatever else they sell.
5. Went to Maui: One of the best ways to beat the island fever is to travel and see the rest of the island. Maui in contrast to O’ahu is little more rural. It is filled with so many suprises at every turn. One of my most favorite event is going up to the crater of Hale Akala and watch the sunrise.  Climbing up the crater of Hale Akala is another test of my endurance. We may take this for granted but at around 10,000 ft. above sea level your muscles turn into jello and your lungs is reduced to the size of a peanut. So imagine hiking a slope of about 20 degrees. A few feet seems like running a full marathon. So I can appreciate that fact that I don’t live in that elevation.
6. Went to Hokkaido: I have two words for this: Crabbed out. I’ve never ate so much crab in my entire life. We ate at least one type of crab meal for the few days that we were there. But hey, that’s a good excuse as to why you seem so crabby. The place is wonderful though. This wasn’t my first time to Japan but Hokkaido is way up there in my Most Favorite Place Visited.

Well, hope the New Year will bring more adventures me and you. Happy New Year!!!

Maui discovery

I can’t believe that it’s been a week since we made that little short trip to Maui and I haven’t even written a thing about it yet! Well, to all those who’ve been asking or wondering the answer is no, that wasn’t our honeymoon. We didn’t get hitched – not yet, at least. It was suppose to be my cousin’s honeymoon and we we’re just suppose to meet up with them for the weekend, but since Uncle Sam called him to duty to serve and protect the country’s assests from internal and external enemies he had no choice but to change his plans. He went to O’ahu a week earlier instead and spent a little bit of his time with us. And since we’ve book everything, from hotel, to car, to ferry, and we’ve already filed for vacation on those days we felt that we should just make the trip on our own and enjoy. And it was one of the best short trips I’ve taken in a very long time. Better than the short Vegas trips we used to take when I still lived in L.A.

The first thing I noticed when we set foot on Maui is that Maui huge. Sugar cane fields, pineapple fields, and corn fields flanked both sides of the highway as we drove along the isthmus from Kahului to Kihei. Unlike O’ahu, where the mountain side is littered with lights from homes, buildings, and bustling traffic, Maui is quite quaint.

Front Street, Lahaina Town

The drive around the northern head of the island was one of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever driven. Lahaina is one of the must see places on the northwestern head. It is the old capital of Hawai’i and the former whaling rest stops in the Pacific. Most of it’s rustic elements are still preserved till this day even the old town justice hall. The highlight of the drive was the drive through Kahakuloa. At first we were a little apprehensive to drive down there since the road narrows down to a single lane road and zigzags around sheer cliffs and gulches. But the mystery of what’s around the bend just prods you to keep on going and unravel that mystery. The drive was actually beautiful yet dangerous. Passing by the small farming village of Kahakuloa just makes you feel like you’ve stepped into a time warp. It gives you a sneak peak of what life was like before the sugarcane fields and the honeymooners.

view of the Sunrise from 10,000 ft.

On the southern head of the island we drove up to the summit of the House of the Sun – Haleakala. We were crazy enough to wake up at 3:00 am after driving the whole day just so we could watch the sunrise. The drive from Kihei to the summit was about two hours long. Half way through the mountain the air starts to get thin and the vegetation begins to change. By the time you reach 7,000 ft. the terrain and vegetation is eerily similar to that of the Mojave desert during spring time – short brushes, rocky landscape, and dry thin cold air. By the time your reach the summit you look across the caldera and you’ll see the bright red rays of the sun as it try to make it’s way through the clouds almost beneath your feet. As the sun slowly reveals itself it is the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen and will make that 3:00 am wake up time all worth it. I suggest you bring someone special to watch the sunrise with you since it’ll probably be one of the most romantic things you’ve ever done in your life.