Dukes, Coconut Hunting and Crabbing
Trip Start
Apr 22, 2005
1
10
49
Trip End
??? ??, 2006
Honolulu,
Hawaii,
United States
Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Wednesday I had practice at Ala Moana beach and I ended up going there early w/ Julie. Unfortunately Julie happened to be having a bit of an emotional crisis with regards to the fact that she's 30 and has people that are disapproving of her 'bumming' around and not living the life everyone expects: a 9-5 job (ewww, J-O-B..isn't that a curse word?), should be settling down, getting married, buying a house, having kids etc etc..I tried to reassure her that that kind of life is not necessarily right for everyone and there are a lot of people who are envious of the kind of life we are living. Perhaps one day that will be her life, but for right now she should embrace the experiences she's having and have fun..after that conversation she has decided that she is most likely going to be travelling to Australia with us..yipee!! Phuong and Cat came a bit later to chill on the beach with us and as usual Phuong had umbrella issues and a nice man came to help her dig a deep enough hole for her umbrella.
Thursday June 30th Julie drove Phuong Cat and I to North Shore. We bummed around on the beach at Waimea (and ogled the lifeguard as he drove by on the ATV). James met up with us at the beach as he is now an official bum having quit his job (he claims Julie and I are bad influences and we 'MADE' him quit his job). The water on the North Shore is far different from the water here in Waikiki..North Shore was so CLEAR and such a beautiful blend of colours it was hard to say where the blue melted into the aqua which melted into the turquoise into the green..just gorgeous. We went to eat at a different shrimp truck from the one we ate at the last time we were there..not nearly as good as the first place though. Afterwards we met up with Rodd at Matsumoto for some shave ice.
Early that same evening I had finally had it with my nose. It had been bothering me for the last two days and the stud was getting more and more embedded into my nostril it looked like it had disappeared. I went back to Sheri and she cleaned it and took it out (oh my goodness did that ever hurt, more then doing it in the first place)..then she made the post longer (my nostril had swelled more then expected which is why it had started to get embedded) and voila, all is now well on the nose front. On Thursday night we went to Magoo's, a college bar (oh my goodness, are we ever going to meet adults?!)..we parked in the Bubbi's parking lot and bought an ice cream for $2.92 so that we could say we had been patrons at the store..we then went across the street to the bar to meet up w/ La'au, Junior and AJ..it was an uneventful night until we went to go get the car...surprise surprise, it had been towed..we frantically called La'au/Junior/AJ to come get us and they drove us to the impound lot which is in Kalihi, a totally ghetto area..no matter how much we begged and pleaded with the tow truck driver (Bubbi's closed at 1am, we got towed at 120am) they would not budge and release the car, even when we offered to grease them w/ some cash..I understand they were just doing their job, but unfortunately that night cost us $146.92 (that's $144 for the tow and the $2.92 for the stupid ice cream!!).
Friday July 1st..Happy Canada Day! We celebrated by going to Mai Tai for a quick drink and then we went to O-Lounge with Derwin, Rodd and Joel. I only drank water but it was nice to see Phuong and Cat get trashed..it's rare that I am sober to see these things and I am still laughing at Cat and Rodd's disco-danceoff..
Saturday July 2nd Phuong and Catherine went surfing w/ Casey while Julie TRICKED me and made me spend all day drinking with her at Duke's. While looking for seats we got called over by two guys (Nino and Michael who were here visiting from Florida/Alabama)..they kindly bought us our drinks and we chat with them for about an hour until Phuong and Cat joined us. After Nino and Michael left, we invited Joe to join us as he was wandering the bar alone and looking for a table to eat at, so being the nice girls we are we had him join us..he had one of his friends (Joel) join us..both are doctors and Joe is studying to be a psychiatrist..he was pretty astute in his assessment of us, which I am surprised to say was extremely accurate! After they left Casey joined us (this was over the course of about 6 hours! The servers must've thought that we were some crazy chicks that kept re-filling our table with new dudes as soon as the old ones left..). And a special note..there is a SUPER CUTE guy that works there..made for nice eye candy! Us girls went to Fung Shei for an hour and then cruised on home.
On Sunday we went to Pearl Ridge for 4th of July shopping sales but there were NO SALES! Sadly, we still spent money buying things we don't need. To recover from the previous night's drinking it was Lazy Night and we stayed in and watched the Prince and Me..cheesy
Monday July 4th I had morning practice b/c of 4th of July. We had our swim timed and I did the 800 metres in 16 mins 47 sec (I cut 1 min 10 sec from the last time I had it timed the week before..Hopefully I can stay within those times come race day!). I went home and snoozed for a few hours and then went back to that evil place (aka Duke's) and watched a bit of the outrigger canoe races (think Dragonboat races but in the ocean using the waves to carry you in while you paddle). I met up with Cat, Julie and Kristi (Julie's roommate) and we drank and drank and then went to Sansei for happy hour (but for food, not drinks!) and then back to Dukes where Phuong joined us..we got SO TRASHED in celebration of July 4th and met lots of people (not that I can remember any of them)..I'm not sure how we managed to make it home but get home we did and Catherine barfed.
The next day all of us had gut rot (Yes I know all of you wanted/needed to know that, but it is the price we pay for drinking too much). Since the day was a right-off because we all felt like sh*t (pun completely intended) we made it a cleaning day and cleaned this damn place from top to bottom. Yay, that is just how I love to spend my days, especially since yours truly is the one that cleans the bathroom!! I somehow managed to break the keyboard of this computer as I was typing this blog and we were devestated that we were computer-less for a few days. That evening we went to Mai Tai and met up w/ Aina and Faime for a quick drink (how quickly we forget how horrible alcohol makes you feel) and Faime got us an STP (aka Super Toxic Punani..sp??) which is quite a good drink..
Since the previous day was spent indoors doing domestic stuff (eww!) today we went to Waikiki beach to relax..Later that afternoon/evening I biked the Tinman course and we did Heartbreak Hill a few times (they recently added it to the race).
Thursday Phuong went surfing w/ Casey, Catherine was cranky and stayed home, and I went for a swim and coconut hunting w/ julie. The next 5 paragraphs is our adventure as written by Julie..You might be wondering why we went coconut hunting but I can't tell you, otherwise I'd have to kill you, but please know that it involved danger, trespassing and stealing..oh my goodness, I feel like I could have a role on Alias..
As many know, yesterday was the day Tracy and I had to go coconut hunting. It was a long time coming and the day had finally arrived. It was an extreme adventure.
Those who live in Hawaii understand the dangers involved and extreme stakes at hand, but for you mainlanders and Canadians we took some pictures so you could see just how much we risked our lives to accomplish this all important task.
First, we had to gather our cumbersome supplies (mesh bag) and put on our safety uniforms (bikinis and watershoes). In order to make sure we were prepared to load coconuts, we had Tracy act like a coconut and get in the sack. Many of you think that Tracy goes to triathlon training on Monday and Wednesday evenings, but the truth is she has been attending a "How to Look & Act Like a Coconut" course at the community college to prepare for this adventure.
Then, we had to scout out the obstacles (cute boys that could distract us) and sneak into the dangerous ocean (right out my backyard) down to the scary jungle (two houses down is an empty lot) sneak on the property and load the nuts, all while dodging angry monkeys (yes they were invisible, but we know they were there). After dragging our gatherings miles and miles home (again, two houses) back through the treacherous waters (two feet deep), we strained and struggled to pull our coconuts up the enormous stairs (five to six of them) and scattered them in the grass to dry (dumped bag on ground). I would never have thought to do this, so thank goodness for the skills Tracy acquired during her training.
Although we survived wild beasts, treacherous waters, dark jungles and extreme fatigue during our coconut hunting adventure, we were extremely successful. So much so that we think we are going to quit our professional J-O-B-S (a coconut hunting master knows to never say that word out loud) to specialize in coconut hunting. Oh, wait a second, we don't have professional J-O-B-S. Whew! Guess it is off to happy hour.).
That night we went to Ocean's for pupu's (it was my turn to cook, so out to dinner we went) and had a bunch of leftovers that we decided to bring home. We stopped off at Mai Tai and saw the girl that Casey claims he's going to marry (after meeting her just once! I'm rolling my eyes at these crazy romantic notions, but I would love it if I was proven wrong and he did actually end up with this girl, perhaps I'd be less cynical!) and Oceans..Kudos to Forest because he came to the rescue and has lent us a new keyboard to replace the one I somehow broke..we now officialy love him because life without a computer is a horrible one!
This morning (July 8) Catherine found a cockroach in the takeout bag in the fridge..it was still alive and on its back weakly moving its legs..apparently being in the fridge all night kills roaches but from now on we are not leaving food in the car for prolonged amounts of time! We went to Aina and La'au's place for an afternoon of crafts..yes, you read that correctly..we learned how to make rope bracelets (actually we made anklets) out of rope and shells..they're actually pretty cool looking and it was nice to 'make' something rather then buy it..(little confession, I couldn't complete mine as I'm not overly artsy-fartsy so Cat had to finish the last bit of it off..she is now seriously considering making these things to sell to the tourists!)
Sat Jul 9 I worked at a team building event. Boca Hawaii (where I work) has a sister company called Adventure Race Hawaii which deals with extreme sports. They are often asked by corporations to host team-building, cohesion events. I was asked to work one of the exercises (think a Survivor-like activity..a plank placed in a see-saw fashion and 10 people have to get on the board and balance together, all of them climbing on from the middle). Unfortunately it was pissing rain and what was supposed to be 60-100 employees from Jamba Juice turned out to be 25, but that was okay because I had fun, got $100 for 2 hours of my time and got a Jamba Juice mug and coupons for free movie, Starbucks and pizza..not bad for a day of 'hard work'. Afterwards I had Phuong and Catherine join me in a 'strenghting' class (ok, for those of you that know them, stop laughing!)..and then we stayed at my work for their grand-opening of the upper level. Later that night we went to W for Kelly and Nicole's bday and after the club closed we went to the owner of W's house (actually, they're twins)..holy beach-front mansion! THAT is the kind of life I need to live!
Sunday Phuong and I went surfing (Catherine is sooooooooooooo lazy!!)..we got hookups from a worker on the beach who let us borrow a couple of boards. First thing that happened was a wave came at me and a surfer's board came flying and hit me in the head..I had a headache the rest of the time..the best moment was when both Phuong and I got up on the same wave and it carried us out pretty far..exhilirating..these waves were 4-5 foot faces (Hawaiian way of measuring it is from the back so 2-3 feet). I had a fearful moment when I couldn't get out of Phuong's way and she came directly at me and..POW! She hit me..OUCH! That was enough for me and I paddled in shortly afterwards while I left her puttering around in the ocean for another 30 mins (which in hindsight is a bad idea because she can't swim..)
Monday we spent lazing around and didn't have plans to do anything until La'au called us to go crabbing..what is crabbing you ask? Well we packed up two cars with fish, nets, kayaks, drinks, torches/flashlights, towels and at 11pm set out to go to Kahana (windward, rainy side of the island). We were told to dress 'warmly'..now when you tell a Canadian to dress warmly, we think parkas, gloves and toques..I don't have any of that stuff here, so I ended up wearing jogging pants, tshirt and a lightweight running jacket that I haven't worn since I got here, April 23rd! I must say though, it was actually kind of cold..anyhow, the guys (La'au, Aina and AJ) cut up the fish, tied it to the nets and kayaked into a pond in the pitch-black with only a flashlight to guide the way(the pond is part salt water from the ocean and part fresh from the mountains) to drop the nets. Looking to catch Samoan crabs (if you know anything about Samoans, you know they are HUGE!)..by the time we left at 4am 1 baby crab had been caught and let go and the other crab was brought home. They left the traps to check on the next morning..It was a fun time (although we didn't get home til 5am!) and it felt like we were camping.
Tuesday was a write off because we were so tired from our crabbing expedition that we didn't wake up until 2pm!!!! Lazy lazy day..we were going to stay in all night as well but we got inspired at the last minute and ended up going to Da Dawg House..Phuong was asked if she wanted a job, but alas she's missing the all-important VISA! The bartender consoled her/us by getting us a drink..we only meant to stay for 1 drink because it didn't look that busy, but somehow we ended up staying until 230am and drinking a LITTLE bit more then 1 drink..we always end up having a good time when we don't think we're going to.
Today is Wednesday July 13th and my family arrived today! It was my nephew Rylan's VERY FIRST AIRPLANE RIDE and he had a great time..of course their trip didnt start out so well when they got to the airport (they being: Dad, bro's: Michael, Danny & Geremy, nephew Rylan and Danny's girlfriend Pauline) and discovered that Danny had brought the wrong passport and had his expired one instead (good one genius!). Thankfully Jason (other bro) came to the rescue and brought him his proper passport..but the troubles didn't end there..apparently someone didn't issue a ticket for Danny (what bad luck my brother has!) and he didn't have a seat (even though he had an itinerary and confirmation) and daddy-dearest had to pay $1304 at the airport to get him on the flight (they were asking for $2600 but he somehow got it reduced)..thankfully they landed here in good spirits and I greeted them with plumeria leis..I'm surprised Rylan didn't say: EEEWWW! Flowers are for GIRLS! HE'S SO CUTE!!! Everyone is pretty much the same (gee, how much are they going to change in 2.5 months except that Geremy dyed his hair and is taller then me (my baby brother is growing like a weed!!). La familia went for a quick dinner and I had to ditch them early to go to my 2nd last practice (race on Sunday!) I'm pretty sure they're all out cold by now (it is 11:11pm Hawaii/5:11am Toronto time)
things to remember: land & brah attack, toss me a salad loinve, two peas in a pod, is that tracy? surprise s.o.c, give it away for free..why?, Hello this is the City Morgue, Da Dawg House, getting in sh*t from Vini for asking if I could drink on Thurs or Fri..Phuong pulling my hair, why for free?? likahdikahday, scrubs, military attack, screwy-msn, Catherine is an alcoholic, the Little Mermaid
Link to Coconut Hunting from Julie's camera:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANXLlkxaNGzEkA
Link to most recent pics (June 30-ish to July 11)..just copy and paste into your browser!
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/view?i=EeAMWrNs4aM3D3A&open=1&x=1&sm=1&sl=0
