Days 3&4 - Chilling it Island Style

Thursday the 22nd began with yummy food, as usual!

Strawberries with cream and sugar, cornbread, eggs, SPAM (:D), and Hawaiian Sun!

Then off to Baby Makapu'u with cousin Josh. I said he had to take a picture with me, since on facebook I often saw he did with my other cousin, Leilani! But, he said that was only because she threatened to kill him. And apparently, he didn't believe that I had it in me to kill him. :P But, I got this anyways (in which we both look like the sun is killing our eyes, but oh wells xD)! ^^



And, here's a bunch of random pictures taken during our beach adventure:











We didn't stay too long, because we had forgotten goggles, and the waves were quite crazy. :P So, I decided to take us to get shave ice instead! We went to Kokonuts, our long-time most oft-frequented shave ice place. Hawaiian Shave Ice just cannot be beat on the mainland (yup, I still can call it that if I want! ^^), and this is a MUST as many times as possible while here.

Also, you're eating a rainbow. How often do you get to do that? x)

Lunch was Okonomiyaki made with some of last night's tempura. Was it amazing? Yes, as you can see for yourself:

The rest of the day was spent watching some Korean shows with my Grandma, and then I went out to a restaurant called Shokudo with my cousin, Nalani!

And, closed the night with honey toast: the inside of the bread was cubed and toasted slightly,  then drizzled with honey... It tasted just as good as it looked. :D

As you can see, the food was amazing. We were stuffed silly, and I am still so very happy after our catch-up time. :))))

As for Friday, the 23rd… Nothing super exciting happened for most of the day - and thus, no pictures. :P BUT, it was awesome, nonetheless. Lunch with my grandparents, teaching my grandpa some tricks on his computer, shopping with my grandma, and just talking. It was lovely. :) I love those two with a passion, and I know I would never be the same without their loving and ever-giving example. The whole reason I'm here before my trip is to see them, and so today was perfect, just because of that. ♥

But… it wasn't over. Time for some island-hopping next. :D

Days 1&2: Every trip begins somehow!

While there's been seemingly a million steps to get to this point (ranging back literally years), my trip physically began yesterday. But, I'll preface that, just slightly. Basically, because I can't talk about beginnings without talking about how hard it is to leave. :(

As anyone who really knows me is aware, I LOVE my family. I love them more than anything on this planet, and I don't even think it's possible to convey just how torn up I am about not seeing them for the so many months. Yes, I've been to Japan before, but I think I was only gone from my family for a bit over a month. This will be a new experience, being away for so long… I will miss them tremendously. ♥

I am just in LOVE with this picture, by the way. I am so happy I was able to convince them all to take one when we had our family day at the zoo just a couple weeks ago. ♥ (So, the question is - do we all look alike, or no? You might be surprised, but we get extreme opposites to this question quite often~ xD)

It was hard this past week, during the insanity of finals and preparing for my trip, to say goodbye to both them and friends. The entire winter quarter has seemed to be a bunch of "welcome back!"s (after Amazon) and then "goodbye!"s… So between that, and saying farewell to people at church and my Jr. High kids and fellow leaders… The week was rough, and was what really made it all start to feel real.
Anyhow, much of Monday and Tuesday were spent packing, almost all the way up to the time I left for the airport. (It's insane - I've never had to pack for MONTHS before!!) I think it was good, actually, since it barely gave us a chance to be sad. :P

Tearful goodbyes (;_;), finally catching up on texts and such at the airport (when I said all of Mon and Tues were packing, I meant it. xD), delayed flights, a long flight (with a free Mai Tai, which I decided I might as well have a sip of, just so I can say I've had one, haha!), and finally I was in Hawaii! At like 2am WA-time, but I never go to bed before then anyways, so it's all good… ^-^''

I didn't even end up sleeping till 2am Hawaii-time, which means it was like 5am for me. :P I don't quite know what's wrong with me, but I fear I shall never be on a normal sleep schedule, even when changing time zones…

Wednesday the 21st, was a pretty chill day. Slept in (all by myself in the room where usually my entire family is… T-T), then woke up and ate saimin with my cousin Josh, cooked by my wonderful grandma:

This kid claims he's "camera shy" and thus this was actually the best one I got. xD

As I took my camera out, my grandma said "Oh no, I would have made it prettier!" Pshhh, if this is "not pretty," I don't know what is. :D

Dealt with a scholarship issue that could further increase my already quite extensive travel plans (cross your fingers for this scholarship though, pretty please!!), then spent some time with my other grandma (on my mom's side) who lives only walking-distance away. Then, back home to eat a ridiculously-yummy tempura dinner:

Soooooooo Ono. ^-^

Yeps, most relaxed beginning to my massive trip. It almost seems anti-climactic. But then… Really, coming to Hawaii is more like coming home for me, so I am perfectly fine with that. ^^

OMG, Ashley's starting a blog!

So… I totally meant to start this yesterday. That is, until all the insanity ensued with my last-minute packing (not intentionally last-minute, of course… I just started later than I intended, and it lasted a lot longer than I had thought… Basically story of my life :P). ANYWAYS, I didn't really ever get a moment to just sit down and do anything all day (well, besides the plane ride… That was a lot of sitting…) with my computer. So, I'm starting this my trip blog a day after it started, but OH WELL! This will probably happen a lot - being caught up with what's going on, but that's probably a good thing/the point of this whole trip anyways, right? Remaining in the moment, and soaking up every second of the experiences I'll be having? I think so, or at least I'll use that as my excuse whenever I'm late with posts or whatever. xD

"Late?" you might be asking. Well, I guess I didn't explain myself as to what this really is, and just jumped right in. But, that too is probably going to be a recurrence with this blog. Because, basically this is intended to be a recording of my thoughts, emotions, memories, and experiences that I'll be going through in the next 6 months! And maybe it'll last longer than that, I don't know. I've always wanted to keep a blog, but never took the time to make one (plus, who would read it? xD), so my facebook has kind of become mine instead. As MANY people can attest to, by making fun of my loooooong posts, hahaha. ^^' Well! This can hopefully solve those problems.

First: Since I'm actually doing something exciting, I have people who have already asked me to start this!
Second: I'm procrastinating studying Japanese right now, since I'm terrified by how bad it's become, so I'm actually taking the time to create this! (which has taken just about half an hour, as I knew it would, but has been such a hurdle for me to get myself to do before ^^')
Third: Maybe I'll solve the problem with my facebook statuses always having a "See More" at the bottom. Maybe. Ok, probably not. ;P

Anyway! The plan is, to keep this up once a day, or as close to that as I possibly can. With a note or pictures of my day (or both), random observations about the country I'm in, or just thoughts going through my head. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up (the pressure from knowing people will be aware of my failure to finish if that happens might be a motivating factor!), and carry through all the way to the end, alllllll the way in September, which seems so far away right now. Even if my long messages end up boring everyone who look at it and they quit reading, I'm going to do this for myself: so that I will never, ever forget my feelings about this whole trip. Because, I'm planning on this to be a life-changing half year, and I know looking back and being able to see those changes happen will be priceless when all is said and done. :)

So… yes. This is what you're getting into, if you plan on following this blog. Hopefully my posts won't all be so long, but I'm sorry in advance, since that is quite likely. :P Also, I plan on being as candid and crazy as I am in real life (or at least facebook), so the writing surely shan't be a sophisticated read. As, I'm sure you determined back in the first paragraph. :P But, I hope that it helps my lovely family and friends back at home and all over the world be able to follow my travels (if they wish, which alone amazes me that you would care so much!), and remain a part of the most exciting part of my life that is just about to begin! :)

...Just kidding, it began already. Dramatic ending failed. Oh well - my next post will cover the start of it all. x)