Hey There, Sailor

My friend Tanya invited a few of us paddling girls to a ship board party on Wednesday night. Here's the actual wording from the invitation... "The Chilean Naval Attache, Rear Admiral Felipe Carvajal requests the pleasure of your company"

Ooh-la-la!

I honestly didn't know what to expect so was very surprised to see it was a beautiful four mast ship with hundreds of navy men in their white uniforms. We had a great time and laughed plenty. We tried pisco (a grape brandy sort of thing), chatted about the boat and danced til our feet hurt. I managed to work in a few words of Spanish... "el bano" ( I got to check out the downstairs of the boat - like the Queen Mary or something), "publicidad" (when asked what I do), and "esta bien" when trying to get the young Chilean sailor to back off my friend.

The evening was totally from a movie and felt like being back in a European disco or something. Good time.

My First Canoe Race

Finally!

I've been practicing my heart out and coming home sweaty three times a week all for the opportunity to race in a regatta. Well, also for the workout, the fun and the social aspects of it. My months of hard work paid off yesterday when I paddled like a superstar for two minutes and five seconds across the quarter mile course. We got second place but came in only three tenths of a second behind the winning boat. So in my mind, we pretty much won. I have a rinky dink ribbon to take home as my prize. The ribbon and my pride.

This is also an excellent time to express the love I have towards my paddle. It is an absolutely glorious combination of two woods and delights me just to look at it . It joins the list of my all-time favorite possessions in the worthy company of the 1986 Prelude, my iBook, a few excellent pairs of shoes, aforementioned Matt Nathanson CD, and many other things that make me happy.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. I couldn't limit it to just a few. I'm too proud!

Mini-Golf Gone Silly

On Saturday we joined our friend Gordon for a night of good clean fun. We went to Big Kahuna Golf - or something like that. They offer glow-in-the-dark 3-D mini golf in the heart of Waikiki. Super silly! Very fun!

They provide the glow in the dark golf balls, clubs and beads (now we're talking!) and the very flattering 3-D glasses. The pictures don't do it justice but the 3D effect was pretty strong. Gives you a weird depth perception which added a special challenge to the game.

Next time we might have a few drinks beforehand. Which will enhance the depth perception and the fun.

Today is CRAZY

Today is Friday. And following my theory that the %*&# always hits the fan on Fridays, today has been "unique" - to use my old coworker Nida's word.

But, the Hawaiian gods must be shining down on me because last night I received Matt Nathanson's most recent CD. It's all right. It's keeping me sane on this Friday. I've had to restrain myself from singing out loud to it at work. Oh Matt, you bring me up when I am down.

Hawaii Moments

As much as we live here, have jobs to pay the rent and all sorts of normal responsibilities like laundry (yay washing machine) and dishes (boo, no dishwasher), we also have a lot of wonderful "Hawaii" moments. Days like this are awesome and make it feel like we're actually on an extended vacation.

On Sunday we went to Makapu'u Beach to soak up the sun and take in the waves. Bryan, previously declaring he can't handle "too much sun", was definitely right at home. We were even inspired to get Boogie Boards at Costco on the way home. But we'll probably never take them to Makapu'u for fear of getting pounded!

Equally awesome was my first trip on a one-man outrigger canoe last night. Totally awesome! It was like I was one with the Ala Wai! Just kidding... But it was really neat and gave me a refreshed energy for paddling.

I heart SF

Today after lunch I was craving something sweet so headed over to the cookie store (think Mrs. Fields, which I don't think they have here) and handed over $1.39(!) for a plain 'ol chocolate chip cookie. It wasn't fulfilling and I was instantly homesick for SF and its Specialty cookies. Made me realize I miss home. I think the first few months were so busy, so new and so exciting that everything was great. This week marks four months here (great months) and the newness is wearing off. I miss San Francisco.

I miss my hairdresser! My neighbor hairdresser did the best he could but my hair is nothing like it was the past seven years.

I miss Yabbies on Polk Street. There's poke on every corner but none of it has avocado in it!

I miss the gay-friendly vibe. Don't get me started on the homophobia around here.

I miss things that are comfortable. I walked by an Acura like my old roommate's and almost cried. An Acura?! Cute car though.

To be fair, I don't miss the weather. Shockingly, I do not at all miss wearing a coat, a scarf or a hat. And I love accessories. I am perfectly happy to wear the same pair of slippers outside in the consistently perfect weather every day. Go figure. I miss the cookies but not wearing fun shoes.

Love,
Jenni

Kar-A-Oke

Friday after work we went to sample the "best Chinese place in town." It was pretty good. Fell short on a few of my favorites (potstickers, mu-shu pork) but delighted us with a few new dishes (honey walnut shrimp, dried green beans). All in all, enjoyable and VERY filling. We were on our way to catch the bus home when we were intercepted by my co-worker. She convinced us to join the work gang at karaoke. Yikes!

These local kids can sing! I cannot. Bryan held his own for sure with some classic songs. I risked humiliation and did my best to belt it out to something I can't even remember now. Here is the photo to prove it. Wasn't pretty but no one boo'd me, unlike a video game that will rename nameless...

The rest of the weekend was good and relaxing. Almost boring. But nice.

We're Official

We've signed a lease, accepted jobs, bought the car, the slippahs, massive amounts of sunscreen and a few months worth of bus passes. But it wasn't until today that we became official residents of Hawaii. This morning we got our Hawaii driver licenses! And not bad pictures at all. Hooray for us!

Happy Birthday Brian!

On Sunday we helped celebrate my brother Brian's 27th birthday at his BBQ in the park. I got him these excellent backpack beach chairs which he loved. We couldn't just give them to him without testing them out! Here I am giving them a whirl as we wait for the bus. Classy, huh?

I also got a bicycle. It's used, green and has a basket. I'm very excited!

Go Beachboys!

Check out these pics from my paddling team. My team, Waikiki Beachboys, kicks ass and has won both of our category races so far. Don't bother looking for me in the boat. I'm like a bench-warmer or something so I just cheer them on. If you look hard enough you can see me watching them race.

Paddling has been awesome. It's a great workout and is usually very fun. The girls are great and are starting to become my friends.

Takin' it to the hoop!

Bryan hit the public courts this weekend to play some basketball with the guys in the neighborhood. On Sunday I even joined him to make a few shots. In return, he joined me at the public pool this evening for a workout and fun.

Watch out guys, we're going to be total studs when you see us next!

Bad Jenni!

This is my cell phone. It was not designed to operate in two pieces. It started to break about two weeks ago and I totally dragged my feet about getting it replaced (I'm cheap!). Then today I dropped it on the floor. It's officially inoperable and very broken. The good news is I managed to talk Sprint into sending me a NEW FREE phone! I have them wrapped around my little finger... The bad news is that I don't have any of your numbers. Sorry! Please send me an email with your numbers. And please be patient if I don't answer the phone for a few days. New phone should ship out tomorrow.

Aloha,
Jenni