beach day (local kine)

oink oink

so yesterday i decided to hit the Garden Snack Club. I haven't had a restaurant meal in a while, and I wanted green papaya salad. But I was so hungry that I also ordered the sticky rice with mango, even though it only comes as a "Family Size" order -- you know, the *big* square takeout container. Well. That was less than 24 hours ago and it's almost all gone. Good thing papaya salad has, like, zero calories.

i'm a little piggy.

but i went up to Hakalau this week so I earned it, I think. We got to our field cabin on Tuesday, and learned from the nene intern, Ryan, that there was a total lunar eclipse that night. And there I was, halfway up the biggest mountain in the world, to watch! I have some pictures but, as always, they fail to convey the Awesomeness Of The Event.

Friday night I got to go to my boss's wife's dodgeball tournament. It was so much fun! A little scrawny team of barefoot math geeks went up against a team of buff, solid hawaiian guys -- and while Team Math did not win in the end, they played an amazing game. it was the dodgeball equivalent of the napolean dynamite dance.

so now i'm off to the beach. it's a little hazy today but if i see any good photo ops i'll takem. i'm coming up on my 1st anniversary, and i thought i was going to need to move to save money, but my landlord has graciously reduced my rent so that i'll stay. that makes me happy, cause i hate moving, and i do love this little apartment. i've started a garden now that i know i'll be around for a while, and who knows, i may even get some furniture!

happy sunday, everybody!

beach day: kikaua

welp, the guidebook wasn't kidding about this beach not being crowded -- happy president's day to me!

it was a beautiful day in hilo town, but i just had to take a little road trip. you just don't get this kind of beach on the hilo side of the island. it was utterly lovely, the pictures don't do it justice. it is heavily manicured, for sure. but that's exactly what i wanted today. you have to get a parking pass b/c this beach fronts the Four Seasons resort, but all beaches in Hawai'i are public property, so anybody can crash the rich ppl's party. i think i'll crash the mauna lani resort people's next time.

i kind of wanted to go to Mauna Kea and touch the snow on the "way" home, but towards the mountain it got really cloudy, plus that's a trip in itself, so maybe this weekend i'll finally hit it. there is SO MUCH snow up there since that last rainstorm. i'm going up to hakalau this week, but that's only halfway up. maybe stargazing this weekend. we'll see. i might have beach fever now, today really hit the spot. i am once again "lucky live hawai'i".

i also got to eat a vietnamese noodle bowl, something i haven't done since nawlins, and got a vietnamese po-boy to take home with me. spicy lemongrass tofu. damn tasty.

here's a pretty little waterfall i found along the way. above it was this magnificent vista:

i make monkey noises when i catch glimpses of the snowy mountain. all that snow just activates the Snow Day response, or something, it just makes me happy. Glimpses of a particular shade of turquoise ocean also elicit monkey noises, as well as other random sights.

and here's some cryptic graffiti:

someone should write a short story about that.

Coming home through waimea it got really cloudy and creepy, and then i saw this huge thing. in the mist and grey it really looked like it could have been from the film-within-a-film in The Ring. spooky fo sho.

that's it for me kids, i'm pooped. hope everyone had a lovely president's day. i would like to note that i will (probably) be happier Next president's day. There were a bunch of Obama supporters in one town I went through having a rally. Our caucus is tomorrow. We call it a caucus instead of a primary for some reason. the cuteoverload lady posted about a telephone message she got from stevie wonder telling her he just called to say he loves her, and to vote for obama. she titled that post "holy target audience, batman" or similar. stevie wonder has not called me. hmph.

this just in: boy will be moving back to New Orleans! Not only that, but belle is flying up to oregon to meet him and be his travel companion on the way back. i cannot WAIT to see the posts that ensue. i get a hangover just thinking about it. cheers daahlings.

hawai'i says: when life gives you water, make waterfalls

well, i thought i'd go check out what all this water was doing to the lovely waterfalls in the Greater Hilo Metropolitan Area, and lo and behold, they were lovely. I've been to Rainbow Falls when it was a mere trickle, and this link has some interesting pix of it at the peak of our deluge. Today, though, it was Just Right.

I also had to pay a visit to the Boiling Pots and Pe'e Pe'e Falls (that's "peh-eh-peh-eh", now quit snickering. come visit and take pix of the street sign -- they omit the 'okina so it just reads Peepee Falls) and whatever the falls above Pe'e Pe'e are. Don't laugh, it's hard to keep up with the names here! Don't even get me started on beach names.

After the waterfalls I decided to check out Kaumana Cave, which I'd never visited before. I'm glad I did.
after all that, it was time to go shopping. i got my tax refund and, while i gots lots of bills to pay, i had to treat myself just a tiny bit -- I went bikini shopping. Look! it's a fleur-de-lis bikini! yes, i am still totally gay for nola and all things nola-esque, got stickers on my car, suitcase, &c. Anyway it was a red-letter day for bikinis -- I managed to get 2 and 1/2 of 'em, more than doubling my current repertoire! I didn't want to model them for you, tho, because doodle's not the only one that's not at bikini weight, ahem. luckily now that it has stopped raining, the fieldwork is jumpin' again, which means I'll drop a few pounds. i hope.

oh, and the muzak revolution is official -- i heard elvis costello at the Ross Dress For Less!

i'm going kona side tomorrow, dammit. i love the east side of this island, but i need me some Conde-Nast-Award-Winning-Beach-Action for my holiday. some powdery white sand. a mango smoothie. i may stop by mauna kea on the way home to play in the snow. i hope it's clear so i have lots of good pictures for you! I've decided that i need to work my way systematically through the beaches. what a chore. i need help. hint hint.

speaking of smoothies, i guess it might be a little early for some of you to be craving cool frosty snacks, but i stumbled upon a kickass smoothie combination today. i didn't have much so it was whatever i could scrounge up, and talk about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts! here goes:

handful of frozen banana slices (apple bananas were tasty but cavendish would be too)

handful of frozen seedless red grapes

1 container haupia (coconut) yogurt

splash of tamarind nectar (look in the mexican aisle, jumex makes it for 79 cents)

juice from a smallish knob of ginger

blend that sucka and enjoy!

happy president's day, and happy birthday to Mandy!

oh now you have *got* to be kidding me

i'm glad i don't speak german. seeing it is bad enough without having to hear the justification for its creation. James Bond, my ass.

kalakaua park chinese new year celebration

hooray for chinese new year!

happy v.d., y'all