Rant: Quitters

What's the deal with all the peeps who used to be committed bloggers and are now sitting on their hands instead of using them to type? what gives? are you SO BUSY with your face/space that you don't wanna update your blogs anymore? or is it no longer cool cuz y'all are twittering away and throwing poo at each other and buying drinks and "unfriending" people? return to your blogs people! get back to your narrative roots! use your voice to say something, anything! Declare your independence from the passive-agressive-cheesymoto-bullshit of social networking sites!

Another one bites the dust

well, technically, Julie and Akira have been married for a year, it's just to make it official. here's the waikiki ride over crew:


Ben and cookie:



Masayo and the groom:


guests start drinking early:


Chieri and Issac:


the line up begins:


here comes the bride:




high five!


they make a very nice couple:


Masayo and Alisa:


pupus:






it also happened to be Julie's mom's birthday as well so we did a little birthday song and cake for her too:



mom and aunty:


Janel and her brand new baby girl:


great fun!


and a night cap to finish the evening:


congats!

(pretty much just one) Beautiful Day in Oahu

i really only had one full day to see and do what i wanted to around Oahu island so i started the day with a big ass coffee and a confusing ride on the city bus.

SIDEBAR: all the names in hawaiian sound the same to me. everything sounded like kaualonamaunaleiokaisnuma. this made the bus ride very confusing. i decided to just wait til i saw signs.

first stop, Hanauma bay, where i was greeted by wild chickens:



it was beautiful there:



i snorkeled myself silly all morning. i have a wicked fucking sun burn to rival the one i got in HK to prove it.


Next stop, hiking up Diamond head:



very steep and very hot, specially at mid-day:



but the view from the top was worth it!



dinner with my friend Maki, preggers with her first kid, and her husband mark. they too me to a cool local joint called kaka'ako kitchen in Ward, where i got some super tasty mahi mahi.


i spent two breakfasts in a row at Wailana coffee house and cocktail lounge, which was two doors down from my hotel. breakfast is good! this was my first breakfast, the Hawaiian Breakfast which is corned beef has, runny eggs, and fried bananas with toast. i was not a fan of everything touching, but hey, sometimes, you just gotta go with it.


day two:



i love coffee shops. i with we had more this this one in tokyo . . .

Da Big Island Brah!

a VERY early morning flight to the big island. i hopped into my little rental, a nissan Versa, and made my way down to Kona for a morning brew where i met the sea captain and his mer-wench:


breakfast at the Kope Lani. awesome coffee!


and a stroll through the early, not yet open, downtown area of Kona:





local fruits at the local farmer's market:


at the end of South Point Road, the southern most point of the big island. only a few other people made the 15 odd mile drive down. it was beautiful here. later, i learned that people are NOT supposed to drive down this road . . . oops.


great place to be a cow:


black sand beach:






volcano national park. Kilauea Crater, still smoking away:


steam vents. it was super hot near there. my lens kept fogging up!



nice stinky sulfur banks:


to see the lava flow, i had to drive down HWY 130 to Kaimu/Hakuma point and hike about half a mile:


the lava flow can only really be seen at night. twilight offered great visibility and enough light to take decent pictures:



back at volcano national park, Thurston Lava Tube:


the rain forest just outside:



from the drive down chain of craters road:




Pu'u Loa petroglyphs:


Holei Sea Arch at the end of the road:



took a hike out past where the cars can't go to see why the road was blocked:


this is the newest lava land, been flowing here since 1983:


back on the road up to Hilo:


what a ghetto ass dump:


jungley scenic route:


beautiful unspoilt waters:


Akaka Falls:



i always get a kick out of shit like this:


i found the drastic change of scenery to be the most impressive thing here. Rainforest turns into pastures turns into barren land turns into fields turns into beach turns into mountain turns into woodland turns into desert. its pretty amazing.




So awesome. can't wait to go back.

happy halloween!

my first halloween home in like 9 years! it's our family's favorite holiday and my sister hosts a big ass pumpkin carving party every year. in addition to my gorey red velvet cemetery cake, this year R decided that we would have meatball sammiches. after shopping and cooking and preparing the entire nite before, we were prepped for the big day. guests started arriving early in the afternoon:



mall cop joe rocked his outfit:


chicken burn:


food time:


carving time:









let's light 'em up!



the porch during the day:


and at nite:




a costume parade of trick or treaters: