Well tomorrow is officially my 3 month anniversary in HI. I am finally settled and very happy. It took some shuffling around, adjusting but I have been in my great apartment for 2 months and decided on 2 jobs that are working out very well. I could not have lucked out more with roommates, especially considering all the places I looked at before deciding on this one. 
They are awesome! I don't have too many photos of the place but here's our living room. Milo, our kitten 
has decided she is no longer an outdoor cat and has morphed into a little ball of fur that lays around all day, gets fed way too much and sleeps 90% of her life. It's a rough one. The neighbor cat, Meesha, is awesome (white and grey)! She has 2 crossed eyes but is fierce hunter and is very skilled. She keeps the gross cockroaches away...they are a lovely part of life here. 
They are awesome! I don't have too many photos of the place but here's our living room. Milo, our kitten 
has decided she is no longer an outdoor cat and has morphed into a little ball of fur that lays around all day, gets fed way too much and sleeps 90% of her life. It's a rough one. The neighbor cat, Meesha, is awesome (white and grey)! She has 2 crossed eyes but is fierce hunter and is very skilled. She keeps the gross cockroaches away...they are a lovely part of life here. 
I took the job with the Kahala Hotel & Resort in their restaurant Plumeria Beach House. At first I was unsure about it but now that I have found my groove there and made friends it has become enjoyable enough to be there as much as I am! It is a "full time job" but here F/T is anything over 20 hours a week so it is working out as I wanted. Some weeks are a bit crazier then others based on a few things and also my second job which is waitressing at a bar in Waikiki. It is a fun job for the most part, the people are very cool and it is very laid back. They have a few other bar/restaurants in the area where my employee discount allows my friends and I to enjoy food and drinks at a nice little discount ;-)
Since I last wrote, I have had some visitors and have been very busy. 
My parents and Aunt came out, rented a house in Hawaii Kai which is a bit east of where I am at and stayed for 2 weeks. I also had a couple other visitors for a few days here and there that have made my time here even better with some familiar faces around. It is a great excuse to do some of the tourist stuff too which I have to admit it quite fun.
My parents and Aunt came out, rented a house in Hawaii Kai which is a bit east of where I am at and stayed for 2 weeks. I also had a couple other visitors for a few days here and there that have made my time here even better with some familiar faces around. It is a great excuse to do some of the tourist stuff too which I have to admit it quite fun. 
It is still warm here everyday although we did have a great rainstorm the other night with some incrediblly thunderous thunder and lightening! It actually was a treat however Milo would beg to differ! She was hiding in the corner all night. The only draw back with the rainy season is the bugs want to be inside too. I have had my fair share of some pretty nasty bites...spiders are the one that really get me pretty bad. Although we have no snakes, we have our fair share of BIG bugs. The holidays are a BIG deal on the islands. Halloween is nuts in Waikiki! Unfortunatly I was a bit under the weather so had to sit it out but the roomies made up for my absence by hitting the streets. The main street
s in Waikiki (mainly Kalakaua) basically shut down for the massive foot traffic and the streets turn into one big bar. Christmas is just around the corner. The roomies put up a Christmas tree and the presents are starting to pile up although most of them are going to be sent off to their family back in Michigan. We have a few for each other to open sometime soon. All the houses here are lit up with thousands of blinking bulbs. People really do get into the spirit here!
s in Waikiki (mainly Kalakaua) basically shut down for the massive foot traffic and the streets turn into one big bar. Christmas is just around the corner. The roomies put up a Christmas tree and the presents are starting to pile up although most of them are going to be sent off to their family back in Michigan. We have a few for each other to open sometime soon. All the houses here are lit up with thousands of blinking bulbs. People really do get into the spirit here! Been attemting to surf more and continuously get beat up by the ocean but that's part of the fun. I never seem to get out of the water with at least half my body bruised and scratched. The swell has pretty much died down on the south shore where I live so I don't get out as much but as some of you may know we are having one of the biggest swells on the North Shore in 20 years! I obviously am not surfing these waves but they are pretty incredible to witness. I check the waves daily as some of the big wave competions are in their holding pattern while some are happening right now! The biggest wave compition is the Eddie Aikau and is held at Waimea Bay only when the waves are at 40 feet which they reached today so it took place for the first time in 5 years so the North Shore and the whole island is packed with wave worshiping visitors and locals. It is pretty amazing to see natures power however I didn't make it up for the Eddie today.
Yesterday, I went on a great hike with my friend Ryan and the dog Nami which you all have heard of many times. Nami and I spend a LOT of time together. 
Nami and I have sleepovers and go on lots of walks because her dad works so much! (Check out http://www.hawaiianfire.com/ if you want lessons!) Anyway, we hiked up a trail above Makap'u which is on the east side of the island just past Koko Head Crater and went off trail down a VERY steep hillside for about 200 ft to reach some incredible tidepools below. The hike down was extremley challenging as it was very steep and basically rock climbing down a hill. It was worth it. That swell has basically wrapped around the entire island and has filled up many of the beaches but 
this particular set of tidepools was still there however they were getting wacked with waves once in a while. There is a blowhole that is called the dragon's roar (or something like that) and it literally would ROAR with power when a waves would come under it. It shot water out of there with a power that would
knock you over if you were near it. We went in some of the smaller tidepools for a quick swim at low tide and then decided that it was a little too dangerous to be in there anymore so quickly retreated back as I didn't feel like being sucked into the ocean along jagged rocks that day. The hike up was just as challening as the way down but using some different muscles. Needless to say, my legs were jello this morning.
Nami and I have sleepovers and go on lots of walks because her dad works so much! (Check out http://www.hawaiianfire.com/ if you want lessons!) Anyway, we hiked up a trail above Makap'u which is on the east side of the island just past Koko Head Crater and went off trail down a VERY steep hillside for about 200 ft to reach some incredible tidepools below. The hike down was extremley challenging as it was very steep and basically rock climbing down a hill. It was worth it. That swell has basically wrapped around the entire island and has filled up many of the beaches but 
this particular set of tidepools was still there however they were getting wacked with waves once in a while. There is a blowhole that is called the dragon's roar (or something like that) and it literally would ROAR with power when a waves would come under it. It shot water out of there with a power that would
knock you over if you were near it. We went in some of the smaller tidepools for a quick swim at low tide and then decided that it was a little too dangerous to be in there anymore so quickly retreated back as I didn't feel like being sucked into the ocean along jagged rocks that day. The hike up was just as challening as the way down but using some different muscles. Needless to say, my legs were jello this morning.
I have settled into life here for the most part very well. Got my Hawaii drivers license for which one does need to take the written portion of the state's test. I passed on my first try however my score carries no bragging rights. Life has become pretty comfortable here for me. I am meeting new people however a lot of them are from San Diego...go figure. It's become consistent and predictable but in a positive way. I am happy with where I am living, comfortable with my jobs and make enough to enjoy life here which doesn't cost that much if you take advantage of what HI has to offer for free. I have a friend who runs a parasail company so I do get to take advantage of that on Friday for the first time and go for free. I am terribly afraid of heights but who can say no to a view like that for free!
I do hope more of you can come visit soon. Anything I can do to get you here in the way of hotel hook ups, free couch to crash on etc... let me know. I would love to show you HI! Happy Holidays to you all.
A hui hou!
(until we meet again)
Jackie, it is so ridiculously cold here and your beach photos are making me rather jealous! I am glad you are loving HI and I want to come visit. Not sure when I can get away, but I will as soon as I can. xo
ReplyDeleteAhhhh Jackie! I am so proud of you. And envious you get to get into the water almost everyday. You will be so good by the time I get out to visit you, I will never be able to catch up. The only action my board sees is the garage door going up and down everyday! Been busy here. Traveled to Cuba, got promoted and freezing my butt off! Miss you!
ReplyDeleteDebra