Part 1, Hawaii

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes! I even got a comment from an anonymous! I'd pretty much assumed no one except for J & C & T were reading anything here. As promised here are some pictures of my trip with a little of how it went...

The morning of my flight I woke up early to finish packing and took a taxi to the Highway Bus stop. In the rush of getting everything together I completely forgot to make a reservation for the bus, but figured there'd be a few extra seats available. I was right, there were a few extra seats, but not enough for me. I was slowest getting onto the bus because of my two heavy suitcases, and everyone else got on before me. I was left on the curb all by myself.

The next bus came an hour later which meant that I'd get to the airport an hour before my flight. It seemed like enough time. It would have been enough time, except the bus stopped at the international terminal and my first connection was heading for Osaka from the domestic terminal. I bet it was funny seeing me rush with my two suitcases to the domestic terminal shuttle bus. But it wasn't funny for me. I was sweating like a pig and about to pass out from the heat.

I made it to the counter 20 minutes before the flight took off, and the nice woman rushed to get me processed in time. I made it! I got on the plane and let my muscles relax. Little did I know, in all the rush the nice woman took my return tickets instead of my departure ones, causing another worrisome episode two weeks later.

I'd forgotten how beautiful Hawaii is. The skies are so blue, the mountains so green. The constant breeze keeps it from getting too hot. As soon as I got off the plane I could feel Hawaii relaxing me. Even the drive on the freeway was wonderful.

As soon as I got home my sister wanted to go to the Taste of Honolulu event downtown. Top class restaurants set up stands where you could buy samples of their food, and it gave us a chance to try food from restaurants we'd never be able to afford. The small dishes were presented really well and looked so good you almost didn't mind spending $4 for a few spoonfuls of curry or a couple bites of pizza. Almost. Our 30 bucks didn't last very long.

I spent some time talking with this photographer who specialized in taking photos of Hawaiian beaches and waves. The colors were so vibrant and clear and I bought a small one for $12. When I got back to Japan I couldn't find it in my suitcase. Did I leave it behind? Did it fall out of my suitcase when I had to repack at the airport? Darn weight restrictions.
I love Hawaiian trees. They're so big and branchy and easy to climb. This one was next to the parking lot where we parked downtown near city hall.
The next day we drove out to the countryside somewhere past Haleiwa for a family picnic. I think it's the first family picnic I'd ever been to with my dad's family. They started having reunions a couple years ago because my grandfather was lonely and wanted to see his kids. I hadn't seen any of them since I was little and couldn't remember who was an aunt or uncle or cousin, let alone their names, but that's okay because they didn't remember me, either. The last time I saw my sister's kids, the youngest was a super fat sumo baby.

One thing I noticed was that EVERYONE has tatoos. You rarely see them in Japan because of the bad image associated with them, and it was weird being the only one who didn't have one.

I'd heard that my grandfather remarried a few years ago and his wife is much younger than he is. I was in for a shock when I actually met her, and found that she's even younger than me. Yup, I'm older than my grandmother. She's really nice and always smiling, and if I lived in Hawaii I could imagine us being friends. But there's no way I'd call her "grandma".

The next day my brother arrived and we visited the grave where my mother and grandparents are entombed. We did our usual ritual of giving beer to grandpa, coffee with cream and sugar to grandma, and gin to mom.
And the next day I was off to Las Vegas! More pictures to come...