7 Years at the 7 Month Mark

The next order of blogging business is the Richie/Mariann/Johanna/Melissa Visit Extravaganza.  Unfortunately, Johanna has not posted her pictures (hint hint) so, in the meantime, here's some general catch-up.  There's a lot.
One Saturday, we stopped by Spam Jam. 

It's exactly what you think - a giant street festival devoted to Spam (with an awesome name).  The crush of people was insane so we didn't stay too long, but we stayed long enough eat some Spam musubi and check out the t-shirts.



I just noticed the guy in the background.  Enjoy.

We couldn't get too full because we had AKL plans for later.  We took one of Matt's coworkers with us and it was quite the experience for him.  I won't post the pictures (yes, I have some) but suffice it to say, he was beaten to the floor with a wooden spoon at one point.

The next night, Matt and I had AKL over for dinner at our place.  We made some homemade ravioli with a couple of sauces.  A pasta maker is on my wish list, but we were able to make due with a wine bottle as a rolling pin.

Ingenuity at its best!

Won brought a delicious chocolate cake from a Korean bakery and we had a very low-key evening, rounding out the night with a Korean American-Idol-like show and soap opera called If Tomorrow Comes.

Speaking of cooking...did you know what happens to eggs if you forget about them while they are boiling?

They explode EVERYWHERE and make a very loud gunshot-like noise.  The worst part?  This has happened to me twice.  The second time I caught them before they exploded, but had to eat around some burned parts.  Wicked Smaht.

Anywayyyy...For Memorial Day, like most holidays here, the Hawaiians do it big.  They have a huge floating lantern ceremony that draws 40,000+ people to Ala Moana Beach Park and Magic Island.  There are stages, tons of vendors, performances by grammy-winning artists, and an hour and a half-long ceremony.

We scored some amazing spots on the wall on Magic Island, right at the start of the restricted part

handsome :)

Tons of people lining the wall/in the park behind us

The crowds on the beach, people wading in the water to watch the show

Not a bad view at all

So many people!

Also - the lines in the water catch the lanterns so they don't float too far out

Folks in the park were launching different kinds of lanterns that flew...that guy is about 4 feet tall

Boats carrying lit lanterns to people along the beach

Watching the beach light up

Another lantern from the park

At the end of the ceremony, people floated lit lanterns decorated with names, messages, and pictures into the water.   Here's a link with some photos, information, and (I think) a live video http://www.shinnyoen.org/lantern-floating.html.

This past week, Matt and I finally checked out the Blaisdell Farmer's Market.  They have live music, free samples, and fresh produce.

Those are apple bananas - they are smaller than "normal" bananas and have a crisp, tart flavor.

It felt really good to be able to buy peppers, ginger, tomatoes, and zucchini for $6 instead of twice that...

On Thursday, Matt and I went to the Ginger and Garlic Festival.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  A heavenly combination.

It. Was. So. Tasty.  We tried a garlic-y slow-cooked steak sandwich, some garlic-y fish with ginger-y orzo, and some garlic-y pork hash burger with ginger aioli and eggplant fries.  YUM! 

100% healthy.  This actually BURNS calories.

Of course, you can't have a food festival without some themed drinks:

My ginger martini - vodka and ginger syrup (wayyy better than I expected it to be) and Matt's ginger "margarita" - tequila, ginger syrup, and sprite (they ran out of sour mix) also very good

Miss Hawaii made an appearance at the festival, but this pair was much more interesting:

This lady, coordinating with her hot pink poodle, was feeding the dog noodles with her fork and then using the same fork to eat.  Over and over again.  It was gross but we couldn't look away.

This past week, I've had a really annoying cold.  It's one of those colds that lingers with a stupid cough that's really annoying.  Anyway, I've been slightly miserable and what does my fiance do to make me feel better?  Flowers? Amateur.  Tea? I can do that myself.  Ginger ale? Not even applicable.

He gets me...


A whole pie.

Not to mention my most favorite of pies - lemon meringue. 

What a guy!  Sorry ladies, he's taken.  Speaking of that...we celebrated 7 years on June 15.

We walked to Orchids in Waikiki for dinner where we had a slow roasted veal appetizer, some Onaga "Orchids Style", and a Colorado Lamb Rack.  We were going to order a bottle of wine, but closed the menu real quick when we saw the average price was $200/bottle.  Instead we each tried a "signature" drink... 

(Strawberry Basil Martini and Lost Passion Martini)

 ...and followed that up with a mai tai.  It had a stalk of sugarcane in it as a stirrer - really fun

The restaurant also surprised us with a complimentary coconut cake for dessert!

:)

After dinner, we went to Lewer's Lounge for some live jazz and a couple of drinks.  Fun fact: Lewer's Lounge is in the same hotel as Orchids.  We did not know that.  We took the scenic route around the block in very painful shoes.  Oops.. The musicians, Maggie and Rocky were extremely talented.  Maggie played the piano and sang (sounding very much like Diana Krall) and Rocky played the sax, clarinet, and flute.

View from our very comfortable seats

I decided to expand my drink horizons and try a Negroni:

It tasted like poison, but I felt like I was in Mad Men so I may grow to like it...

Matt tried The Majestic:

It tasted like a fizzy margarita...but better.  Two thumbs up!

and he finished the evening with some Makers 46.  Very classy.

Matt and I are having an amazing time here and are doing our best to make the most of our time in paradise.  Despite that, we are also looking forward to being in RI again.  My body doesn't understand this perpetual summer.. Also: job update.  I've been applying to teaching positions in RI so keep your fingers crossed for me!

My student was late for class, claiming that he was in the restroom.  I think he was stalling.

Mikko-tastic Part II and Visit from the Home Base

Matt, Mikko, and I woke up Saturday, cleaned the apartment a little, and went to walk out the door to pick up Mom, Dad, and Paola when....

I got an unexpected call from Mom, asking where we were.  Their flight schedule had changed and someone (cough::Dad::cough) forgot to let me know they were getting in an hour earlier.  After some reshuffling and direction-providing, Mom, Dad, and Paola completed the last leg of their long trip and arrived!  They were greeted with Matt-made Mai Tais:

They were a teensy bit strong

 Paola started taking some photos:

[Note: Most of these pictures have been taken by this lovely photographer]

 After a Mai Tai or two, we walked into Waikiki for dinner.

We made it!

We got into the main part of the city and Mom decided that she could walk no further...so we didn't.  We had dinner at the top of the Illikai hotel.

Riding to the top in the glass elevator

Dad bought us ladies some really beautiful leis.  Dinner was great, but the company was better :)

 [Not pictured: pictures ruined by a variety of people making a variety of drunk faces]

The next day began with another short Paola photo shoot...

...after which we made our way to the beach!

We watched Mikko surf,  got some shave ice, and reeeeelaxed.

Crazy trees with seed pods that look like muppets

After the beach, we walked into town for the Hilton luau.  We stopped to check out some 'mingos:

 some penguins:

and waited for the show to start by this handsome guy:

 Then...it was time to go in

Action Shot!

The set-up

The Ladies! 
(all wearing the necklaces Dad bought us)

The Men
(they passed on the flower necklaces, but are rocking the shell leis)

Enjoying the first of two "free" drinks

Paola and her future husband?

Action shot of Mikko and Matt Hula-ing

(Matt's favorite part of any luau experience)

By the way, Mikko does a lovely rendition of "The Hukilau Song".  You should ask him to sing it to you.

Blowing the conch to start the party

Fire dancers! One of the guys accidentally threw his lit stick into the crowd...whoops..

The next day, we got up bright and early to go to Pearl Harbor before we had to drop Mikko off at the airport.

Mikko and I demonstrating that Rhode Island and Honolulu really aren't THAT far away

The memorial

So thankful for modern dive gear.  I'll never complain again.

All too soon, we had to bring Mikko to the airport :( Mikko, your visit was wonderful, but far too short.  Come baaaack!

From the airport, lunch at Nico's was an easy drive.  It's a great open-air restaurant with incredibly fresh fish. (Fun Fact: I can not say "fresh fish".  It sounds more like fresch feesch)

The ocean is cut out of this picture, it's riiiight to the right

We got some fish and chips and seared ahi.  We also got a lava flow or two...

Not our exact beverage, but you get the idea.

After lunch, we did some shopping.  We got only vegetables and water.  Except that by vegetables I mean Cheetos and by water I mean wine:  

Cristina Wine!

We unloaded the groceries and went up to the pool where we planned a dinner with my Aunt Maryann!  We went to an Italian place near us and dinner was delicious until I got food poisoning.  Yeah, not so fun. 

What WAS fun was that, feeling much much better the next day, we traveled to the North Shore for the day!

First, we stopped at Laniakea Beach.  Turtles feed along the shoreline and rest on the beach around midday.  We didn't see any turtles out of the water (like Mikko did), but we got some great pictures:

Like a catalog..

Dad thought Paola was messing with him for this one.  "What are you doing?! Get away!"

That's a good looking family.

Dad :)

Any Lost fans out there?

We continued our driving tour and stopped by Shark's Cove.  This is one of the places Matt and I dive.  Don't worry, it's named because of how it looks from the air, although there are some places where sharks nap.

The shallow part where people are wading is like the "baby pool" of this spot.  Matt and I normally jump off the ledge to the far left and dive on the far side of the wall.  The ledge is barely covered by water, you can see some water breaking on it past those two pointy rocks.

a little lizard!

We continued our drive and stopped at this beach to watch some surfers and take a few pictures.

After our tour, we settled on the beach at Waimea Bay.  We watched people jumping off rocks and others getting pummeled by the surf.  Then...it was lunchtime.  Lunchtime on the North Shore means Shrimp Trucks.  After eating with Paola I will forever call it "Shreemps".

Paola got garlic shreemps from Giovanni's

Dad and I got the best shreemps at Dat Cajun Guy

...and Mom made a huge little mistake and got coconut shreemps from some other truck.  No, it wasn't that bad.  The shreemps were good, but nothing compared to Gio's or DCG.

Paola's Shreemps!

That night, we went to Side Street Inn and ate ourselves silly.  As usual, the food there was amazing.  This time, we tried some ribs and kahlua pork sliders with pineapple (among other things). YUM!

Matt and Dad on the way to the restaurant.  This was one of our tamer elevator moments.
(See: impromptu elevator dance parties)

The next day we decided to work off some of our newly gained calories by doing the Mikko H Special.  We started with Diamond Head:

View from the top.  Beautiful day!

and began driving towards Hanauma when we realized that we (read: I) forgot the underwater camera.  So we drove back to the apartment, picked it up, made some beverages for the beach:

...and the Hanauma parking lot was closed.  Since snorkeling was out, we went to the beach by the Hale Koa Hotel, where my parents honeymooned.  We spent the day relaxing and throwing small rocks at each other (Multiple Attack!).  Occasionally, we would walk about 20 feet to the Barefoot Bar and enjoy a drink:

lava flow

the famous mai tai

Matt met us after work and joined the relaxing:

I did nothing to deserve this.

Around dinnertime, we made our way along the beachwalk to Duke's.  It's my favorite walk to any restaurant because it's all along the water:

After dinner, we walked through Waikiki and watched this guy scare the crap out of some Asian tourists.  Hilarious!

The next day was Hanauma: Take 2.  The lot was open, the movie was long, and the songs were catchy. (Don't step on me - at Hanauma - under the seaaaaa)  We saw a ton of fish:

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

I've never seen this species before.

Ahhh!!! It's aggressive!!!

Dad also got in the water.  He didn't snorkel, but he walked in up to his knees and saw some pretty big fish.  In his words: "I just did way less work than you and still saw as many fish as I wanted to see".  So true.  We completed the delayed Mikko H Special with a trip to Kona!

The beers.  Not listed were some specials like the Lemongrass Ginger and Bulldog Brown.

Don't worry, folks, she had a Wailua Soda :)

That afternoon, Mom and I decided to spend some time just us.  I made a courtesy call to a wedding dress shop near me to make sure they were open and to see if we could stop in.  The woman was awful!! Here's the conversation:

Me: Hi!  I was wondering if it would be ok to stop in around 3 to try on some gowns.

Lady: No....

Me: My mom is visiting and this is the only day we can come in.  Is there a better time?

Lady: No....

Me: Um. No?

Lady: No....Goodbye.

So that store was out.  Instead, we went to the mall and found that Neiman Marcus has an "unofficial" wedding section.  I tried on a couple for fun:

This was the unanimous favorite:

...just kidding.

That night, we ate some Chicken Parm at home and took it easy.  It was so nice to have a home-cooked dinner with Mom and Dad.  It felt like we were all back in Portsmouth.  Can't you guys just move to Hawaii so I can have paradise and my family all together, all the time?  Is that too much to ask? :)

The next day, we planned to do North Shore Part 2 as Mom, Dad, and Paola's flight wasn't going to leave until 8pm.  It was a good thing Dad checked his email, though, because the flight changed so that they'd have to depart at 3!  Instead, we had breakfast at the Hale Koa and another relaxing Hale Koa beach day.  It was cut far too short, but I think I'd end up saying that about any time I was given for the last day with my parents.  I miss you guys already!!  July can't come soon enough!

Did you hear about the frog who traced his family history to Warsaw? He was a tad Polish...