Oahu I mishyu

I absolutely LOVE Hawaii. Hawaii is one of the most incredible, most breathtakingly beautiful places I've ever been to, bar none.

I wish I could live there. I'm already planning to go back as I write this. It's amazing. It's the kind of place other islands promise but really only dream they could be. And as if its sheer natural beauty wasn't enough, there's also everything else! The people are genuinely friendly, the wildlife is surprising and accessible, and there are just so many things to do! Travel to a cove on the South and you get incredible diving and snorkelling. Up north you get world-class surfing. Out east you get kiteboarders and windsurfers. And that long-wished-for deserted strip of lovely beach is always just a short drive away.

But one of the best things I like about it is that it's a cultural melting pot in the TRUEST sense of the word, yes, even more than New York. Hawaiians think nothing of dating outside their race - it's almost a given. Nowhere else have I seen such a preponderance of mestizos -- from half-black-half-japanese toddlers to half-polynesian-half-filipino kids to half-white-half-everything-else teens. Nowhere else have I seen a regional cuisine so accepting that it lists sushi, fried chicken, spam, kim bap, and adobo all on the same fast food menu. Nowhere else have I seen a people so warm and so open to the rest of the world. Race and ethnicity just aren't issues here like they are everywhere else. It really is amazing.

Hawaii is modern, clean, developed, comfortable, and yet, at the same time, it still dances to the beat of an ancient island drum. It feels a little like the past and the future have finally found a place where they can be the lovers they've always wanted to be - spawning hundreds of beautiful golden-haired, brown-skinned, almond-eyed surfing angels in the process.

Hawaii is like a little drop of heaven on this world. Right now, I don't think anything else compares.

***

BTW, according to MyHeritage, these are the people I look like. Funny how that works.

Back in Vegas

Back in Vegas and blech.

I'm pretty sure I won't be living here for more than two years - less if I can help it. There's no beach, and not a lot for me to do. To get anywhere, I'd need a car, and I don't have a car. We're still living with people who might be quite nice, but just aren't like me enough for me to be truly comfortable with. Small talk makes up the greater part of the conversation (the rest would be talk about bills and other similar things). And everyoe who knows me knows that I hate small talk. I feel like I always have to put a mask on and be nice and smile. For a certified introvert like me, that's torture. And it's wearing me down. I'm starting to snap - and the only person I can snap at here is poor John. I can't even take my aggressions out properly. I haven't really written anything since I got here. I feel like I don't have an outlet for anythig. I'm not sure how long I can keep this up.

I didn't even like going out with other people in New York. John knows how hard it is for him to convince me to go anywhere with his friends -- even though his friends are pretty nice and fun. And now I have to live with other people - who are not my friends- on a daily basis.

I can live in a hostel, in a tent, even in a beat up car. I don't need much, but I do need my space. I need my privacy. I need a place where I can let myself unravel without worries.

I feel like a fish out of water, trying to hold in that last breath to stay alive. I feel like I may just be losing a little of my mind. There's nothing to keep me here. Only more things to drive me up the wall.

Nothing went right with this move. Everything had a hitch. I'm so glad I was able to go to Hawaii or else I might not have had the stamina to stay here and see this damn thing through. I can't live like this.

The primary thing that's keeping me sane right now is the knowledge that I'll be in Manila in about a month - finally, sanctuary. A respite from all this folding up and holding in.

Pahabol

This is the only picture I have of me surfing. I'm the dot on the far far far right. The dot to my immediate left is Dave.



And this is me looking like a local:


It's always a pleasant surprise for me when I'm mistaken for a local - and this has happened more times than you think, and in more countries than you think. I like to think that I have the ability to blend in and weave my way through different cultures... but that could just be wishful thinking.

Mahalo, Hawaii! I'll be back!

last Days in HAWAII

Hawaii is beautiful. I'll be back, I promise. I want to live there, actually. Ahhh... gimme two years, folks...

Waimea, Haleiwa, and a Luau


En route to the world famous North Shore.


The beautiful Waimea Falls


Hiking through the Waimea "jungle"...


Engaged in a stare down with a peacock


Waiting for the Luau to begin at the Polynesian Cultural Center


At the Luau, all lei'd up!


This shot is a perfect representation of my feelings after the feast... right on!

And finally, SURFING! (Plus snorkelling and a little food)

I STOOD UP ON THE THIRD TRY! Surfing rocks! Every single one of the Mahoe Brothers from the Alysha Surf School is great, but Dave IS THE MAN! With him cheering me on, standing up on the board just seemed to be an inevitability. If you ever find yourself in Oahu, wishing you could learn how to surf, don't give it another thought. Just pick up the phone and dial 808 489-3610. The Mahoe Brothers will hook you up. Great skills, great guys, great enthusiasm, and the best damn rates on the island... you won't be disapointed. (And don't forget to tell them I sent you!)


Incredibly focused as I listened to all that Dave had to say


Me, the board, and the man himself


After surfing: hungry but content


Hawaii's Last hurrah - snorkelling at the majestic Hanauma Bay

Hawaii Day 3

The day in pictures. We climbed 1.5 miles to the peak of Diamond Head Crater, got a gazillion pictures, hung out at the East (windward) and North shores, and got some fish and chips for lunch. Fun day. Hawaii is so pretty.



The summit of Diamond Head -- quite a climb!


One of the east shore beaches.


Oh the views of Hawaii!


Couldn't pass up the photo op!


Yeah, baby!

Day 2

Day 2 in Hawaii:

Waikiki Beach, baby. Today, it was Waikiki's turn to be explored. We walked around a bit, drove around a bit, ate some made-in-Hawaii ice cream, saw the suburbs (I wouldn't mind living in those kinds of suburbs at all!), and took a quick dip in the hotel's sixth floor pool.

In pictures:


views


More views


Hula dancer by the beach


Me by the beach


More me by the beach

Aloha from Hawaii

Day One

Our hotel is right by Ala Wai Canal and we have a gorgeous view of the mountains from our balcony. Step oustide our hotel and you're right smack in the middle of bustling Waikiki, with shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs galore. Walk two blocks and you're on the water... Waikiki Beach.

Waikiki Beach is a bit crowded though -- and very touristy (and INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE). It has its purposes, but it just wasn't what we were looking for at the time, so we decided to go on a little roadtrip.

We rented a car and just drove off. We explored the North Shore (Waikiki's laidback, easygoing, and very cool surfing cousin), chanced upon a swarm of sea turtles, ate some delicious shaved ice, stopped at numerous random (and semi-deserted) beaches, cruised through the mountains, watched kite boarders, got our car stuck in the sand, drove through the West Shore, and then just chilled back at the hotel.

I also accidentally flashed a very excited (and very cute) little boy at one point, somewhere in the surfing beaches of Haleiwa.

All in all, the day was a very nice adventure.



the view from out hotel room


Scaling the rocks for a photo opp


By the boat dock in Haleiwa


Watching the kite boarders do their thing


All excited while I tell John about the swarm of turtles in the water


A turtle on it merry way. We took dozens of shots but those things are SO FAST.

Catharsis

I'm sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. I've been busy. After the cross country roadtrip, we had to deal with a few things for the condo, drive down to LA (and I drove from LA to Vegas -- all 283 miles of the way!), clean up, talk about the current arrangement we have, and finally, plan for a last-minute trip to Hawaii.

Yep, we're going to Hawaii for 6 days and 5 nights. Another place to cross of my list. Yeah, baby.

***

Home

I take the concept of "home" very seriously. It's sanctuary. It's a haven. It's the long-held breath that you can finally exhale after a day of betraying little pieces of yourself.

I can live anywhere in the world BUT I will not live in a place that doesn't feel like home.

I think of myself as a nomad. I like the idea of wandering - of each "home" being temporal. I don't think evanescence takes away a home's basic substance, at least not to me. I can feel at home in a hut by the river or in a cave on a mountain BUT I must feel at home. To me, REALLY exploring the world also means finding little pockets of home in each corner of your journey. It means discovering another little part of you as you travel along.

The condo here in Vegas has not yet felt like home for me. I feel like a cornered animal here sometimes, and the prevalent thought that's running through my head is "run". Run fast, run free. Run away.

And the tough part is that circumstances here are out of my hands. It seems they're in everybody's hands except mine, actually. I hate that. I hate having such a little voice here - and that what voice I do have must be coursed through someone else.

I can't live like that. I won't. I didn't leave my homeland, my family, my friends, and my whole world just to live in a place that only sees me as a mere attachment to someone else.

I've always seen travelling as a way to expand my horizons. I don't feel that here. Instead, I feel as if I'm being folded up into ever smaller pieces. I feel as if parts of me are becoming invisible - and they're the parts I've always thought were best.

I cannot live in a place that doesn't allow me to release the voices in my head. I cannot live in a place that won't let me let loose the demons living within. I need the universe of mes to unravel. I need a HOME.

I will not live in a place where I don't feel free.

***

The island girl in me is rebelling. My body was not bred for the desert. I wake up with a dry throat every morning. The insides of my nose are so parched that I can barely breathe. And my head is always hurting.

A metamorphosis is under way. My skin is getting darker under the scorching desert sun. My hair is drying out, and the dryness has ironed out my curls. When I sleep, I dream of a beach with massive sand dunes that tip into boiling seawater the color of asphalt. There is no life, no vibrance, no night. Only a merciless sun burning atop an endless parade of dusty golds and drab browns as far as the eye can see.

***

And finally, pictures.


Me standing somewhere in Arizona (I think).


Me and my newest friend from Africa.


Me and my cute half-breed cousin, Jake


And me, contemplating our curtains.

Uh-oh

Yesterday we went through Iowa and spent the night in York, Nebraska - a little town in the middle of acres and acres and acres and acres of corn fields.

Today we drove through Nebraska and now we're at the edge of Colorado.

We're at a Day's Inn LITERALLY in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. There's nothing here, not even corn fields. All around us are ominous dark clouds, as if we're in the middle of a salad bowl made out of a storm. It's pretty and very scary at the same time. The picture-perfect setting for a horrow movie - dinky town with weird townsfolk, and no sign of civilization for miles and miles.

Tomorrow we enter New Mexico and make our way to Albuquerque.

We plan to make it to Las Vegas by Sunday night.

Happy dreams and safe travels.