Sooo…. I thought I might try something fun! Here’s a little trivia for ya!

Match the person to their question that they frequently ask:

1. Ryan T.                          A. "Am I talking too much?"
2. Sammy K.                         B. "How are you doing?  No, how are you REALLY doing?"
3. Danielle R.                      C. "Sooo.... you gonna finish that?"
4. Me                               D. "How YOU doin??"

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Snorkeled today! Oh, and also tried to bodysurf – Dad said that I looked like a five-year-old playing in the waves. Well, good effort anyways. Got DA BEST meal of the trip today!! Grilled mahi mahi and fried rice… mmmmmm… And I leave for Japan tomorrow! Please pray for safe travels. I’ll be flying into Narita airport, taking a train and staying in Shizuoka. TANOSHII!!! New pix on the flickr, yo. ——->

Jamie

Winds ripped through Oahu today, knocking down trees, power lines, and closing main highways!  We arrived at our new hotel on the north shore today to find the power was out and the receptionist handing out small flashlights!  Our room was completely dark. while the hallway and lobby was lit by generators.  So guess where we hung out?    Thankfully, the power came back on around 8pm – ish.  The scenery was gorgeous on the drive up – check out some new pictures on my flickr!

Jamie

   

8:30am: surf Waikiki – 30-40mph gusts whip up whitecaps and make surfing a constant battle! It was awwwesome – I think I gained 20 man points for going toe-to-toe (wave?) with the elements… and winning.

noon-ish: Meat jun and chicken katsu plate lunch at Ala Moana Beach Park! Yum! The meal was complete with a food coma nap on the beach. Mom and Dad and I went for a nice walk around the park.

4pm: Chinatown excursion to and antique shop… that ended up being closed. Char sui hum baos were our consolation. Yum!

6pm-ish: caught the sunset at Ala Moana.

What a day! Aloha! Check out more pictures on my flickr!! —->

Jamie

AWESOME 6 mile hike along the Waialea Ridge with Momma and Pappa! Hawaii has absolutely gorgeous mountains, with lush green folded ridges. We hiked right up along the ridge to a radio tower at the very top. The hike turned to stairs, 282 stairs to be exact – I counted

Then the stairs turned into a climb, using all fours to scramble up and haul yourself up using a rope. Finally we reached the top, but the view was bittersweet as the clouds quickly and immediately started to roll in. The fog is so incredible, nowhere to be seen one second, then lurking and clawing and completely covering the ridges the next.

We hurried down, sliding on our butts most of the way because it was so steep and slippery Check out some cool pictures of the hike on my Flickr! —>

Aloha!

Jamie

In probably the worst weather we’ve ever had in Hawaii, the wind blew mom, dad and I sideways as we raced in the Sylvia Martz 5k today. Though we finished the race JUST in time – right after the race, the rain came in sideways and poured like a facet off the canopy shelters. Skinny runners with skinny runner legs packed together undercover and sipped guava Aloha drinks and monku-monkued about the crappy race conditions. Here’s the results:

Jamie: 19:03, 13th place overall, 2nd in 20-24 age division
Papa: 28 minutes-ish
Mama: just under 30 minutes

Aloha!

Jamie

Though it doesn’t look like it, this is da BEST loco moco I’ve ever had!!

Coconut mochiko and a lemon bar… mmmmmmmm…

After strolling down Kalakaua (main street in Waikiki) and after mom made me buy a new pair of jeans ($27 pair of Levi jeans!), I rented a 10 ft. longboard and hit the waves! Well… I guess you can call them waves, they’re more like semi-medium mounds of moving water that I call “waves”, and pathetically went surfing!! Whooo! Surfing is one of my favorite activities, even though I don’t get to go very often. Check out the pictures of me and my sis in 2003 on my flickr! Pretty cool, huh? Today kinda sucked though, I biffed sooooo many times, and resigned myself to the small beginner waves where you see the 7 year olds learning how to surf. But seriously dude, it was totally like, narly. Check out the tan that I got, basically ALL today (didn’t get much sun the last two days):

Thanks for reading, and check out more of my photos on flickr to your right —->

Jamie

        

Unfortunately, the surf was down this moning, so I didn’t get to rip the waves, but what my mom, dad, and I did was rip up the local food! Hot malasadas (Hawaiian donuts), manju, baked manju, POG (my fav!), Mahi Mahi plate lunch, apple fritters, dried ika (cuttlefish), and K-Mart slushee. …yessssssssss. Basically, today was just constant eating. Bring a towel when you look at the pictures to wipe off all that drool that will get on your screen. Mom, Dad and I went for a run to work off calories and our guilty conscience, and then saw a gorgeous sunset over Waikiki beach. Agenda for tomorrow: surf (waves willing) and Macy’s (mom’s is making me buy some new pants…). Thanks for reading! I miss everyone!

Jamie

PS: here’s my itinerary for the next few weeks:

Date: Thursday, November 29, 2007         Flight: NW 807
Departs: SEA         Arrives: HNL
Scheduled Departure: 5:20 PM
Scheduled Arrival: 9:19 PM

Date: Saturday, December 8, 2007         Flight: NW 9
Departs: HNL         Arrives: NRT
Scheduled Departure: 10:00 AM
Scheduled Arrival: 1:50 PM

Date: Saturday, December 22, 2007         Flight: NW 8
Departs: NRT         Arrives: SEA
Scheduled Departure: 3:25 PM
Scheduled Arrival: 7:05 AM

I just began my adventure overseas, to Hawaii and Japan! I will be spending 10 days in Hawaii with my parents, then 7 days in Japan by myself, and 7 more days in Japan with my friend Craig Kovatch. In Hawaii, I’m going to pack as much surfing and sunbathing in as I can, and will be racing in a 5K fun run in Waiki with my parents. In Japan, I will be visiting the cities my great-grandparents were from – Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, and Kagoshima, and I will also be visiting the city of Miyazaki, because, well, you know, its cool. Craig and I will be visiting his girlfriend in Tokyo, and some of Craig’s school friends when he studied in Kyoto. By that time, I’ll probably miss my girlfriend and my mom so much that I’ll fly back here to Seattle on December 22nd.

On January 2nd, I’ll start my new full-time job at Boston Scientific as a software engineer. Many thanks to my supervisor, David Mason, for giving me the opportunity to travel before I start work!

If you haven’t seen my team’s website and blog for our 4 week trip to Uganda this last summer, please see wehavehope.org and trip.wehavehope.org.

Thanks for reading, and God bless!

Jamie

The weather looks a bit soggy, but I’m not complaining!