./janella.com

Merry Christmas everybody!

I’m sitting in //Starbucks again as Farrah finishes some Christmas shopping.  Last night my mom left back to California, arriving safely home early this morning.  We head out on Monday, spending Christmas with those remaining behind.  Doug headed out to Japan yesterday.  I didn’t have a chance to talk to him before leaving.

Today Ann treated everyone to //Sam Choy’s Breakfast, Lunch & Crab off the Nimitz.  Farrah had the French Toast Platter while I had the Papa’s Beef Stew Omelet.  Hmmmm….good!!!  Two different people actually told me to try the Beef Stew Omelet, and the recommendations were sound.  I couldn’t finish the omelet portion, but I did finish the stew.

I’ve taken quite a bit of photos, so it will take a bit of time to process and post the photos.  This is what I plan to do when I get home.  Check my //Flickr account for any updates.

The morning found us having Kim Chee Fried Rice with two eggs over easy for breakfast.  We knew today we had two important meetings, so it required a special breakfast.

The first meeting was at Ihiliani with Terri at Ihilani to work out some final details.  This went by without any major concerns.  We then had a lunchtime meeting with (Pastor) Curtis Fong, who will be performing the wedding ceremony.  He was very informative and brought along years of experience to share with us on how we should conduct ourselves before, during and after the ceremony.

I also had a chance to post more photos from yesterday when we went to go get our Marriage License.

There were a couple of photos of us taken by the lady who took our application, but they didn’t turn out.  It seems I didn’t have the Nikon on full automatic, so the photos turned out blurry.  Oh well.

man, it’s october and i’m still talking about our hawaii trip that took place back in august!?!?!?!  well, my memory on specifics is fading (yeah, it comes with age, huh).  this might be the last time i write about the trip.  most of the pictures are posted.  just a few more from the last days we stayed.  anyway, on with the story….

sandy left oahu on saturday afternoon.  for the rest of that day we relaxed.  we picked up jane, then had a late dim sum lunch with ann, who was working.  we might have went to [ala moana], if not that day i’m sure some other days.  but after lunch we did drive to the north shore from shave ice!  some time later that night we went to circut city - i needed to figure out how to download the photos i had since the ipod wasn’t accepting my camera’s connection.  this is where the photo below was taken:

uncle johnny and auntie linda treated all of us to sunday breakfast at [anna millers] .  in the afternoon we headed to russell and majorie’s house, in mililani for an late lunch/early dinner.

russell tried his best to bbq, taking care of most of the food.  when it came to the beef he delegated that task to sim.

the following day, after pali lookout, we went to kauai.  our plane left early in the morning.  funny thing going to kauai, and coming back, was being thoroughly searched.  we did the whole nine yards of getting the metal detector ran over our bodies and having our bags searched. heidi’s back had an extra passenger on the outside, which airport security noticed: a cockroach!  we figured one of our names was a trigger for being searched or our group size.  other way it was a hilarious experience.

with jane’s help, we booked four days and three nights, staying in the [kauai sands hotel].  the kauai sands is a nice little hotel, which if i remember reading correctly, is one of the few family owned hotels left.  our rooms (farrah and i in one, yen, heidi and sandy in the other) where above/below each other.

the first day on the island was a little rough for me.  for breakfast (most of the days we were there) we ate a place called [eggberts], which was close to the hotel.  i think the jet lag plus the food was catching up to me because i was getting tired pretty quickly driving.  we made a drive to the poipu area of kauai, where there are more resorts and the ocean is calmer then most of the island.  afterward we ate a [puka dog] with the coconut relish.  they were out of the star fruit relish.  oh well.

for day two on kauai we had nothing special planned, just more sight seeing.  we stopped by the visitor’s center in the hotel and asked about boating tours to the napli coast. we decided to take that trip on thursday (the next day).  next, we  did the eggbert’s deal again in the morning. on the walk back to the room we ran across a gecko:

everyone, including yen, took turns holding the little visitor.  we got in the car and made our way around the eastern part of the island.  the first place we stopped at was the kilauea lighthouse. see all the white dots in the picture below?  those are birds, eh.

we then went to the guava farm about 1/2 a mile away.  boy, can the girls shop! they almost bought one of everything in the store.  guava this, guava that. ugh.  we then made our way up north to the princeville resort. huge, lovely, expensive place.  the last place we hit before heading back was hanalei, where we were able to go to a couple of shops in the local center.

thursday rolled around and the big activity that day was the boat trip up the napali coast.  i was going to go with the girls, but after hearing it was going to be rough out there i backed out, preferring to spend four hours by myself at the local mall.  the boat trip started around 3pm, and planned to end around sunset.  from what they describe the trip going up the coast was rough, as the captain sped up there to spend as much time sight seeing as possible.  the trek back down the coast was at a more leisurely pace.

the last day on kauai was short, with our plane taking off early afternoon.  we made a quick trip to the poipu area to grab our last puka dog (no star fruit relish still). we got to the airport and were promptly search before going to the gate.

ah, back on oahu.  so we waited outside for jane to pick us up from the airport.  as we waited i continued to scratch my peeling back.  heidi had an idea to use her lint brush, wondering how much skin would come off.  well, the results are below:

the day after hanauma bay, we went did more driving around oahu, specifically toward pali lookout.  we could have gone the day before, but after six hours in the sun it was difficult to muster any energy.

the drive to pali lookout isn’t that long.  in fact, driving to anywhere on the island doesn’t take too long.  pali lookout overlooks the kloolau mountain range.  it sort of reminds me of twin peaks in city with the wind and view.

after pali lookout we drove further on the highway, stopping for lunch at a local thai restaurant.  we then made our way further around the island, stopping along the coast to see manana island (aka rabbit island) and the blow hole also.  picture are located in the pali lookout album.

well, time to write more about the hawaii trip, since i have some time on my hands.  it’s a hot one here today in sunnyvale.  i’m not sure if it’s hotter than it was at hanauma bay, but it’s pretty close.

on my first full day on oahu we went to hanauma bay.  it was a sunday and the bay was fairly crowded.  some things have chanced at the bay.  it’s five dollars to get in (the same, i think).  before being let loose on the bay you are required to watch a film about the habitat and rules about the reef.  the film is about nine minutes long.

the trek down to the bay wasn’t as long as i remember it when farrah and i went back in ‘97.  you can still snorkel in the bay, but you can’t feed the fishes any longer.  we spent sixhours at the bay.  needless to say most of us paid for it with a nice sunburn, especially me.  my whole backside and most of my frontside was sunburned.  the only one to escape this fate was farrah.  [see hanauma bayphotos]

later that same evening, we had a bbq at auntie’s house.  oysters, korean bbq, and plenty more to be eaten that night.

after the bbq we rested for more site seeing around oahu.