Sunday, February 18, 2007

Gung hai fat choy!

My friend Kristin and I rang in the year of the boar in Chinatown last night. It was great food, lots of interesting culture, and LOTS of people! Kris and I tried all sorts of food, from weird, doughy, fried sweet-potato filled dumplings to some weird little chewy bland-tasting sesame cake thing (I can't pronounce the names of any of this stuff, much less type it!), li hing mui ginger coated dried cranberries... The best part was definitely the lion dancing. I'd seen lion dances in the media before, but it's different seeing them in person - for one thing, the troupe we saw did the lion dancing on 10-foot pegs, and they were jumping back and forth from peg to peg! I couldn't imagine doing that without having a big costume over me (and not being able to see from the back!).

Gung hai fat choy, everybody!

--jess

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Kaena

I hiked to Kaena Point Sunday - this time I wore my hiking boots and made it all the way. It was very worth it - I got to the end and saw where the water changes directions around the island. The waves were coming from the north, south and west and kind of crashing into each other so the water was calm around the rocks. The picture to the left is of two monk seals I saw lounging around. That wasn't the only wildlife I saw over there - on the way back, I saw some big splashes and stopped hiking. It was a humpback whale! I saw a second one a little farther down. It was a very worthwhile hike, in other words!

The next couple weeks are going to be ridiculously busy. I have my first test in chemistry Thursday, my first test in biology the following Monday, a biology lab test (which I find ludicrous, but what can you do) the next Wednesday, and an abnormal psych test the next day after that. All my classes give tests at the same time; it's no fun for me!

I'm scheduled to take the GRE April 14. Wish me luck!

--jess

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Jeff stuff

So now that I've posted on my parents' visit...

Those people who need to know any big news about Jeff are in the loop - I'm not really comfortable with advertising some things on the Internet. So if you have any questions that I don't answer on the blog, just give me an email!

The big news is that Jeff got his next assignment, and it is in Suitland, which is pretty much in Washington, D.C. I have been hoping for D.C. since we got here, so I am very excited. Apparently Jeff had a bit of competition, so I am very proud of him! I walked into Mililani and back to buy some things to make him a cake. This was pretty difficult; apparently I had momentarily lost my marbles because it is pretty much all hills going both directions for something like a million miles (okay, so I haven't measured, but I do know it's about a mile just to get up the hill from our place, and it has to be at least three times that). I was pretty exhausted, BUT, I don't know many people who can say they've taken a hilly hike with a backpack full of cake mix, icing, and a dozen eggs...and no, I didn't crack any of them. I don't think the cake was anything to write home about, but Jeff was under threat of death (okay, guilt trip) if he said he didn't like it. Bwahahahaha. I am not really sure about what Jeff's job is, only that it is a shore tour, so I will see a lot more of him. I'll be applying to George Washington University. Wish me luck!

--jess

Saturday, February 03, 2007

The Matthews invade Hawaii

I know, I know, not very original in the title department.

My parents just left from a ten-day visit Monday. And I think I can say, without a doubt, that my parents managed to cover just about the entire island in that time, by bus and by plane, by Mini and by Jeep, and even by canoe...okay, so that was just at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

We started with a trip to the Big Island. We stayed at the Volcano House at Volcanoes National Park. It was a rather interesting experience - the four of us were in one room with no television, so we made due with a rowdy game of Scrabble in front of the fire in the lobby. Fire? Yes. It was very cold. You may say this was my thin Hawaii blood, but, no, seriously, it was cold - we were up in the mountains, and it was chilly!

The next day we hiked across the crater. I have to say, this was probably among my top three hikes of all time, but the thing it has over the other two is that you walk across cracked and steaming ground. It gets pretty warm down there!

My parents managed to make it to North Shore, Waikiki, and various other places during the week while Jeff and I continued our normal lives. Then Jeff "deployed" on Friday, so the parents and I took a hike "around" Kaena Point. I say "around" because, well, we looked around, but we didn't quite make it all the way to the end because we were rubbing blisters all over the place. But I am definitely going to do the rest of it one of these days.

Saturday was the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was definitely worth it with visitors; I don't know if I would have done that one on my own or not. We had a day of various island dances and customs, followed by a luau with the purple poi rolls (I like them; Jeff's not a huge fan, but he wasn't there) and a fantastic show.

Sunday we took in the windward side and went to Waimanalo Beach, where Jeff and I got married. We were chased by a rainstorm back to Hanauma Bay - a place I will be visiting again soon with a snorkel and an underwater camera! Mom and I just walked out in the water and saw some interesting stripey fish. We also saw whales and a honu at one of the overlooks. The best surprise of all Sunday night was that Jeff came back for a week! So Monday, the four of us went out to Moose McGillycuddy's (however you spell that) to bid my parents aloha and safe journey back to the mainland.

Again, plenty of pictures are posted on the Photobucket album and not here, so feast your eyes!

--jess
This is a Makaha sunset from the direction no one is looking!