Right Under our Noses

Sometimes awesome things to do or places to visit are "right under our noses."  It's like the saying of "having a vacation in your own backyard."  I am always amazed to find new trails or parks or exciting things to do, that are in close proximity to where we live in the city area.

Cody and I went for a nice long walk to Ehime Maru Memorial.  It is a memorial park for some students who died in an accident just a few years ago.  It is an awesome park, located right on the shoreline, and I think often goes unnoticed.  Not only was going to the park cool, but the journey there was cool as well.  It was fun to go past the marine harbors and see new parts of the city.  (By the way, I love downtown Honolulu!  It reminds me of Manhattan, except bigger, cleaner, nicer, and greener.)

A view of Honolulu city (Cody is an amazing photographer huh?  It didn't look this awesome in person)

 Fun Fisherman's Wharf picture

We took lots of pictures using the flash to create an overexposed lighting look.  I'm a fan.

On another note, I went on my last field trip of the semester for organic farming.   We went to Olomana Gardens.  It was really fascinating- there was lots I learned, I don't know how to make sense of it all.  But basically they are very innovative with aquaponics farming systems and all sorts of sustainability efforts.  Pretty neat stuff.

They had a bunch of animals there too- like goats, horses, ducks, chickens, roosters, and pigs!
Check out that pot-bellied big.  It was a big guy!  I was thinking I have never been so close to a pig before (and then I remembered that back in high school I kissed a pig... twice.  It was for a homecoming charity thing)
 I am grateful to get to go on these field trips and see parts of the island not many people get to see or experience.

Today in tropical fruits class we tried some fruits from the cactus family!  Who knew you could eat, or even purchase, fruits grown on cacti?  Don't forget to take off the pokies! And don't eat the skin!
The bright red fruit is 'dragonfruit' and the yellow one is 'pitaya.'  The pitaya is yummy!!

Fall Football n' Stuff

I would hardly call sweating at a sunny football game in 80 degree weather a “fall” football game, but that is what a college football game feels like in Hawaii.  The Aloha Stadium, where all UH’s football games are played at, is at a very inconvenient location.  It is about a 45 minute-1 hour bus ride away from the campus.  It’s no wonder not many students come out to support- not to mention their current record.

Anyway, Cody did want to go to at least one football game this year, and he wanted it to be the Boise State game.  Last Saturday we made the trek out there to watch the game.  The first 3 minutes of the game were awesome!  BSU scored right away- but right after they kicked off a UH player caught it and ran the whole field for a touchdown.  We, the fans, were all so pumped.   Random people were giving high fives all around- it was a blast!  Too bad it didn’t keep up that way the rest of the time.

Needless to say the warriors got crushed. (49-14)  We had a good time though.  It was a fun atmosphere to be in.  I enjoyed watching the cheerleaders with all their flips and stunts (they’re actually really good! I was impressed) The concessions were kind of fun as well.  Only in Hawaii can you get steak luau plates and garlic fries at a football game.

After a couple of difficult weeks, Cody and I have been showered with many blessings. (There are rainbows after rain after all)

I won a drawing for a contest Cody and I were trying to win.  (Round trip tickets to go! airlines, basically flight to any Hawaiian island) So we are planning a trip now to the Big Island.  I am so excited!

In honor of my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I was finally able to go on my shopping spree, and unfortunately shopping is something that makes me feel better- no matter how vain and materialistic that may sound.

Cody also won a gift card to Barnes N' Noble from a Korean speech contest he participated in.  He bought a board game, Settlers of Catan: portable edition.  He is so excited.  It was so cute to watch him come home, immediately unwrap it and pull out the instructions and all the game pieces.  It's a boy thing I don't understand, but think is mighty cute.

As time is flying by, with Thanksgiving around the corner and moving to Korea before we know it, we are trying to live the spirit of mahalo and aloha.