Days 11-12: Last Days~

THIS POST IS FULL OF PICTURES! Just fyi, for why this is so long. :)

Friday the 30th was my day with my Aunty Joanie. ♥ Which began with picking up poi donuts for people she works with (she works at the Starwood hotels down in Waikiki^^), and then heading down to the Moana Surfrider to have breakfast at their buffet with Kelli.

Gorgeous view, much? :D

Coconut waffles~

Portuguese sausage omelet

Japanese-y breakfast items

Just yumness!

Kelli-chan~ ;)

We shopped at Forever 21 (a very large one!), then Kelli left. Aunty and I got pedicures at Smiley Nails (hehe):

Then, we went to Café Laufer, which was very prettily-decorated!

And, we got coffee (mine, a thai mocha) a banana oreo cookie chocolate pie. Oh. My. Goodness.

Funny thing, the girl working there - she is my slightly-distant cousin! We were actually born only a day apart, in the same hospital. :) We hadn't seen her in years, so that was a nice surprise! ^^

We had eaten So. Much. Food. So, my aunty and I decided to hike up to the Makapu'u lighthouse. :)

The wind was soooooo strong! :P

I don't understand this lock-thing… Maybe it's a new trend?….

Huge star-shaped cactus flowers!

A verse comes to mind: "The heaven's declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hands." Psalm 19:1. How amazing it is to see His creation so beautifully displayed… :)

After our hike, we went to eat Thai food! (More eating, unghhhh)

And then at night, I got to join Aunty at a bible study she sometimes attends.

A loooooong, very full (in many ways ^___^) day! :D

The next day, March 31st, I had lunch with my aunty and a couple of her interns. We went to Chinatown and had dim sum!

Aren't they adorable?! ^0^ It was so nice to meet you, Eri and Doreen! :D

Once at home, I took my mom's mom to get yogurtland. She had never had that before, so it was awesome. xD Also, the Hawaii yogurtland has ACTUAL red velvet cake pieces - how cool is that?! :O

And then, it was my last dinner in Hawaii. We had poke, balle noodles, agedashi tofu, and katsu.

With, poi donuts for dessert!

And to end on a random note, I got a package from home that had a couple things my mom thought I should take with me. And, presents from my lovely siblings….

Anna made me a furry puff-ball friend, which was adorable. Micah… thanks. Sorry. Gollum is staying in Hawaii, as who knows what my friends would think if they visited my dorm in Japan and saw him. :P

"Stand in the Rain"

This was written on Wednesday, the 11th, but I have been unable to post it until now. If you have been following me on Facebook (so, most of you ^^) I have been having lots of computer troubles. So, sorry for the delay in uploads, but I WILL eventually get there... :)

Anyways, on wednesday, I was just really frustrated. I was pretty much just tired, frustrated, and sad. I couldn't use my computer, so couldn't even use the internet on campus. I was upset because I found out my dad spent a lot of money on a new one, and to ship it to me. And, it was just pouring rain outside, and I was in my dorm room all by myself. There was no way to talk to my parents or friends, and there wasn't anyone I really knew in my dorm, yet. So, I just was really frustrated at the whole situation, and why this had to happen right when I arrived to start this amazing time.

Since I can't ever just sit there and not do anything (haha, that just doesn't compute with my system ^^), I decided to write kanji and make the time useful. And, I did something which I almost never do, which is to start listen to music on shuffle on my ipod (I'm a rather orderly-person, if you know me well, and this even applies to music xD).

Anyways, after a couple songs, a Superchic[k] one came on - "Stand in the Rain". It caught my ear, and I kind of just listened, in shock.

"She doesn't know why but she knows that when she's all alone, 

feels like it's all coming down

The shadows are long and she fears if she cries that first tear, 

the tears will not stop raining down

So stand in the rain, stand your ground

Stand up when it's all crashing down

You stand through the pain, you won't drown.

And one day what's lost can be found,

You stand in the rain."

Wow. All I could think was, "Hah, God, You are just the coolest." And really, I don't know what else can be said. I can't really explain what it made me feel, or why it resonated with me, but it was exactly what I needed to hear. He definitely knows whenever we need something, and since then, I've had a completely different attitude. Since then, I've definitely been wanting my computer to come fast, for sure! But I have been able to still have the time of my life, live in every single happy moment, and not be sad. Because, I know it'll all work out. And I have someone who knows exactly what I'm going through, always. ♥

Days 7-10: My Random Island Life

Suuuper behind on posts, and since I don't want to mass-post all at once, I'm going to try have a brief overview of the rest my days in Hawaii! Or try to. If that is even possible for me. :P We'll see!

Monday, March 26th: Breakfast was nummy, once again:

I know you've seen something similar already. Honestly, the only reason I'm showing the pic? The plates look like a mickey mouse. XD

ANYWAYS! Then was shopping time with Grandma and my cousin Josh. Since my grandpa can't drive so much anymore, I did this a lot with my grandma this trip. I loved spending time with her. ♥

Josh and his $300 "Beats." ^^

Back home, and my oyakodon and spicy ahi roll lunch~

Dinner was with the Miyahira-side of the family (my grandmother's sister's side) and included cake noodle, corned beef, and salmon~

Later that night I taught Joshua how to play Monopoly Deal. :D

Fun times~ x)

The next day, the 27th, I drove into town to have lunch with my other grandpa (my mom's dad). We had lunch at one of his favorite restaurant's (Murphy's) and he had bought me a beautiful pikake and rose lei, and enjoyed showing me off to the people he knew. :x Isn't he a nice fellow? ^^

And isn't this an amazing-looking seared ahi salad and apple crisp??

Awww~ ^^ But hahaha, we don't look like we're related, do we? :P

That afternoon was spent with my grandparents, then I drove back to town to meet up with my childhood friend, Rachel. This is another of those amazing relationships where we used to spend hours upon hours together when I lived here, concocting the most elaborate games and stories and "recipes" (mostly of the plant-variety), and never have enough time. And now, even if we go as long as 2 years without seeing each other, it's like no time has passed at all. And, hours more can be spent doing what we always used to do - talk. :) (Only now… the things we talk about are much more… well,  "real" rather than fantasy - hah! ^^)

Me and my friend. <3

We ate with her mom, my Aunty Ronnie (with whom I can also talk for hours ^^), at Zippy's! And I had to have my favorite Won Ton Min:

Wednesday, the 28th: I woke up extra early to meet Danielle, a friend I actually introduced to Hawaii during one of my family vacations and who now lives here. We met at a quaint little restaurant called Sweet E.

It was a nice talk over yummy breakfast (which was, for me, sweet bread french toast stuffed with blueberries and cream cheese)

Yuuuuuum~

For lunch, I brought my grandma (on my mom's side) some subway sandwiches so we could chat over lunch. Of course, I had to take some pictures to show you her back patio:

After this, I went back home. And, I got some time to talk to my Grandpa, which I had asked him previously to do. I had bought a book which had a bunch of questions  to start from (like "what were the happiest moments of your life?" "what words of advice do you want to leave your descendants with?" etc.), and then it spun off into a bunch of wonderful stories. I was able to record it, and so I'll forever have his voice narrating all of this. It was amazing, and I was just so happy. This was the whole reason I came to Hawaii -  to spend time with my grandparents - and I'm so very glad I've been able to do so much of that while I've been here.

Afterwards, my Aunty Martha (my grandmother's sister) came and picked me up, and we went to Nordstrom to eat with her granddaughter (and thus my second cousin), Kelli.

Totally never knew Nordstrom had a little café-type restaurant like this. Wow. xD

Kelli and I had a pretty amazing salad with fresh and dried apples, chicken, cheese, etc. It was YUM. ^^

And then, my Aunty of course wanted to make sure I was prepared for my trip, so wanted to buy me shoes. I didn't want her to buy me anything, but she ended up buying me shoes, AND a raincoat. >< So sweet. I couldn't have a more amazing family. I also got to hear a lot of family history from her on the way home, which was awesome. I am more and more in awe at my Matsumoto family history, the more and more I hear about it!! :) ♥

The next day, Thursday the 29th, I got a "sweet" breakfast indeed:

CINNAMON SUGAR SWEET BREAD!!! (this is for you, Megan ;D)

(posted because it's a smiley face, bahahaha!)

Then, it was a shopping day with my grandma. :) We went to Ala Moana shopping center, and got to stroll around looking at various things. The store Shirokiya is like being back in Japan!! It made me more excited for my trip, hehehe. :) After this, we went to Don Quijote,  which, while random, was nothing like Japan's version. x) They had some very yummy and cheap bento though:

Oh! I have another thing to show you. This, is the most phenomenal piece of Hawaii ever- jk, but, it really is AMAZING. My whole family is in love with Samurai Ice Cream, and this is it:

It's like an ice cake. Of amazingness. And Costco sells them. (BUT WHY NOT IN WASHINGTON?!) Once we bought these, I ate them like every day for my dessert. They are just that good. Come to Hawaii and find out. xD

That night was a dinner with my mom's side of the family.

ISN'T MY COUSIN SO CUTE?! ♥ He kept shaking the water from his hands, so all my pictures of him have blurry hands. xD

I love my Hawaii. :)