Tina vs. The Volcano

Greetings, party people!

I'm in Maui and it's a pretty ok place to be.  Friday I hopped on a bus and went to the town of Paia, which is a little hippie town right on the water.  If I lived in Hawaii, I'd want to live in a place like this.  Super chill people, funky little stores, and the ocean in your backyard.  I dig it. 

That house over there is where I'll retire one day. 

Life's a beach

This is what happens when you have a shit ton of hair and you're on a beach that's incredibly windy.

Friday night there was a party at the hostel with free beer, so that was a nice way to end the day.  I met a chick from Pittsburgh that's staying in the hostel so that was cool.  She's tall and loves Shadyside.  I also chatted with a couple Brits who had spent the past year working at a hotel in Hilton Head, a 19 year old Swedish girl who works as an au pair in Portland, and a German guy who's in med school in San Francisco.  So I managed to make some friends and dominate the beer pong table.  All in all, a stellar evening.  Oh also of note, I was asked at least 4 or 5 times if I was Danish.  I've never been asked that before in my life, but as one girl explained to me I have "blonde hair and look sporty."  So I guess I'll have to ask my mom if she knows anyone from Copenhagen :)

Fast forward to Saturday, which turned out to be my most favorite day so far.  Departed the hostel at 8:30 with about 25 other people and made the 2 hour drive to Haleakala National Park.  Its a dormant volcano that rises 10,000 feet in elevation.  Our day consisted of a 12 mile hike around craters, through fields of lava rock and up mountainsides.   The change in landscapes and climate and scenery was truly spectacular.  I took a bunch of pictures, but unfortunately they don't even begin to represent the sheer magnitude of this place.  It's absolutely massive and makes you feel like a tiny speck in relation.  It was a day of wonder and awe and quiet reflection and all the other cliche things you could possibly think of.  Here are a few highlights:

View from the visitor's center.  It was about 40 degrees when we got there.  I had to wear a coat and everything.  How lame!

Nerd Alert #1.  Taken by Vikas, a short little man from Houston.

Barren landscape.  Kind of like walking on the moon (or so I would imagine)

Nerd Alert # 2.  Taken by a super sweet chick from Pittsburgh with a charming personality and smashing good looks.

Again, I don't know if these pictures capture the massiveness, but this is a good try.

Nerd Alert # 3.  Taken by Johan, a shy German guy with limited English skills.

Walking amongst the clouds.  That girl on the left was from Spain.  She was wearing untied shoes and a leather jacket and carried a huge purse the whole time.  I was walking behind her on some of the more strenuous parts of the hike and thought for sure she was going to take a tumble down the side of the mountain.  Luckily she prevailed.  Spainards are bad ass.

Above the cloud line.  We had to zig zag up some seriously narrow paths to make it back to the top.  I had to concentrate on my feet a lot to ensure that I didn't die, but when I reminded myself to look up and check out the scenery I was rewarded quite hansomely with scenes like this one. 

Catching the sunset from 10,000 feet. 

The sun dropping below the clouds.  Pretty incredible sight and one I urge everyone to experience.

So basically, yesterday was off the charts for me.  It was physically exhausting but worth every ounce of energy expended.  The change in climates and landscapes and scenery was absolutely amazing.  And the history of the volcano is one that demands respect and reverance.  I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up. 

Today I'm hoping to hit up a little beach party with the rest of the crew here at the hostel.  Its my last full day in Maui so hoping to make the most of it.  I depart for Kauai tomorrow for more adventure and revelry.   Until we meet again, I leave you with another sunset scene:

For those of you enduring the middle of winter, I salute you!

history, culture and live bullfrogs

On Tuesday I attempted to do things and learn stuff. 

First order of business was catching a local bus out to Pearl Harbor to visit the various memorials commemorating that infamous time in America's history.  Entrance is free and the tour I took consisted of a 30 minute film and then a boat ride out to the USS Arizona Memorial.  The sunken remains of that ship are still visible from the deck of the memorial and much to my astonishment, it's still leaking oil into the water some 70 years later.  "The tears of the Arizona."  Blew my mind.   All in all it was a very worthwhile trip.  I gained knowledge about that fateful day and was left with an overwhelming sense of patrioticism and pride that I will carry with me on the rest of my journey.

One of the three anchors of the USS Arizona.  This thing weighs 10 tons.   That's 20,000 pounds for those of you who aren't into the mental math thing (you know who you are). 

The whole harbor

The USS Arizona memorial.  The remains of the ship sit right underneath that memorial, with the bodies of the crew still entombed.

Tears of the Arizona

Names of all the crew members of the Arizona who died during the attack

After I was done scoping out Pearl Harbor, I hopped on a bus in search of something a little less heavy and decided to make a little pit stop in the Chinatown district of downtown Honolulu.  Turned out to be one of the better decisions I've made in awhile.  As you may or may not know, one of my favorite hobbies is wandering around aimlessly in new places, people watching, and basically being kind of a weirdo.  So I got to do that for hours on end.  Score!  The whole experience was an assault on the senses.  The smell of fresh fish and not so fresh durian (still couldn't bring myself to try it), the sight of colorful produce and other unidentifiable goods (if anyone knows what gao is made of, please let me know), the sound of old ladies haggling with shop owners in languages I'll never know, and the taste of some delicious beef pho from a sketchy looking street stand (if there's anything I've learned from the Travel Channel it's that the best and most authentic cuisine comes from the street vendors with the longest lines.  Thanks, Bourdain).  Some highlights:

My new favorite market

I think these are roasted ducks.  Or some other fowl like creatures.  Who's to say really?  For some reason, this made me think of the scene in A Christmas Story when they go to the Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner.

Absolutely no idea what the hell these are.

"Hey girl, have you seen the deal on pig eyeballs over there?"   Old people are so cute.  

 

Live bullfrog - $6.99/lb.  Tasty.

So Tuesday was a definite success.  I kind of forget what I did on Wednesday but I'm pretty sure it consisted of laying on the beach, reading a Vanity Fair article about Beiber Fever, and eating frozen yogurt for lunch.  Oh and I also had a fantastic webchat with three of my dearest pals back in the Burgh.  We talked, we laughed, we played charades, Weenie mooned me a bunch of times, Kel modeled her new nightgown?muumuu, and Linds explained the details of her upcoming tear duct surgery that will hopefully help her to stop being so sensitive and crying all the time :)  Technology is wild!  Miss you idiots!

Yesterday was a travel day as I departed Oahu and made the quick 30 min flight to Maui.  The views from the plane were amazing so if you ever make this trip, make sure you do it during the day so you can see all the surrounding landscapes.  After I landed in Maui, I waited around for an hour to hop on a bus to my hostel.  I booked this place because it offers sweet free tours, but I think the trade off is that its located in a dead part of the island.  I walked around yesterday and found the main street of town, which isn't much to write home about, but oh well.  Going to take a bus to some little hippie beach town called Paia today.  Tomorrow is an all-day 12 mile hike up an active volcano so I'm super pumped for that.  Sunday I'm going to try to catch a whale watching tour and then hit up a beach bbq hosted by the hostel at a clothing optional beach nearby.  I don't think the world is quite ready for me in that sense yet, but I've been wrong before.... 

Stairway to Sevenburgh

It appears as though my planning skills leave a lot to be desired, as the Black and Gold are scheduled to compete for the Lombardi trophy while I'm thousands of miles away.  Dumb.  Had I known Big Play Willie Gay was finally going to do something worthwhile and propel my beloved Men of Steel to the Super Bowl, I probably would have pushed my departure date back a few weeks.  In fact, I have already been toying with the notion of making an unplanned pit stop back in the Burgh to take in the game amongst a bunch of Iron City swilling yinzers.  But I just so happen to be the most indecisive bastard on the planet so I'll most likely just go back and forth a million times and never really commit to anything.  That being said, I'll most likely be watching the action from a quaint beach bar in Kauai.  There are worse things, I suppose.  I will have my Terrible Towel in hand for the duration, as I did during yesterday's game.  I went to a bar in town called The Shack.  I got there around 9:30am to ensure I got a seat at the bar before the games began.  No worries on that front as I was the second person to show up.  The first was a Navy officer/Packers fan who was still drunk from the night before.  So he, naturally, was my new best friend.  After his Packers won, it was time for the main event.  Right before kickoff, I was joined at the bar by Tim, an Army man and avid Steeler fan.  We talked shop and spent the next 3 hours high-fiving, heckling Jets fans (who had all disappeared by halftime), and basking in championship glory.  Here's a picture of me, Timmy, and Timmy's super excited buddy whose name escapes me right now:

Hahahaha, buddy's face kills me.  He wasn't nearly as miserable in real life. 

The bartender at The Shack was clad in a pretty nice Bradshaw jersey which I thought was cool...until he started cheering for Jets.  Tim was outraged and questioned his loyalty.  Turns out his dad was from Pittsburgh and had gotten him the jersey, but he doesn't care about the Steelers.  Blasphemy, we told him.  He couldn't argue and as penance for his tomfoolery, agreed to give me the jersey if I stuck around til his shift was over at 7.  So you bet your sweet ass I did just that.  Tim and his buddy couldn't hang so they left to go clubbing or something (but not before paying my tab which was incredibly awesome considering Miller Lite drafts were $4 and I had enjoyed more than a few). I was slightly drunk on beer and severely drunk on happiness by the time 7 rolled around so as soon as barkeep handed me the jersey, I put it on and took to the streets.  Lots of random strangers congratulated me.  I high fived all of them.  Then I realized I had no idea where I was....but by some wild stroke of luck, I had wandered into the Rodeo Drive-like section of Waikiki.  Gucci to my left, Prada to my right, and me smack dab in the middle of it all with my homeless person hat and oversized Terry Bradshaw jersey.  It was awesome.

I told the Japanese lady who took this picture that if it ain't steel, it ain't real.  Too bad she didn't speak English. 

So Championship Sunday was a definite success.  I met lots of fun people with Pittsburgh ties including a nice couple from Penn Hills and a crazy idiot from Greensburg who bought me 2 shots and a beer within 5 minutes of meeting me.  So suffice to say, Steeler Nation is alive and kickin over here.  As if you expected anything less.

Ok that's about all I got for now.  Planning on checking out Pearl Harbor tomorrow and perhaps making a stop in Chinatown to scope the scene there.  Or I might just lay on the beach all day.  It's anyone's guess at this point...

Life doesn't suck

My body is still adjusting to the time difference a bit and because of that I've been falling asleep around 10 and getting up at the ass crack of dawn.  Earlier than that actually.  So maybe the butthole of early morn?  Haha, I'm sure phrase will catch on.  Ok so anyways, today I got up at 5 a.m. and decided to hike to the top of Diamond Head.  What's Diamond Head, you ask?  I could tell you, but the world wide web will probably do a much better job if it: http://www.hawaiistateparks.org/parks/oahu/index.cfm?park_id=15 .  So I walked about 2 miles to the actual park, then started the climb up to the top in hopes of catching the sunrise.  Now, before I continue let me share a fact that I've recently learned - 1 out of every 5 residents of Hawaii is of Japanese descent.  And from what I could gather, all of those folks were at Diamond Head this morning.  It was rather remarkable actually.  Some surface level observations: elderly Japanese people appear to be in far better shape than the American demographic.  Dozens of 70+ year olds were out on the trail, happy as could be, not out of breath at all.  Good stuff.  Also, the sheer volume of pictures taken was mind boggling.  Entrance sign...click.  Bathrooms...click.  Handrail...click.  Garbage can...click.  Need to pick your wedgie?  Look over here and smile while you're doing it...click.  Not sure what the photo albums end up looking like but they've certainly got a lot of options to choose from.  Ok, moving on.  I did indeed make it up to the top by the time the sun showed up to say hello.  It was pretty sweet, but there were far too many people around for my tastes.  I prefer those kinds of moments to be a little bit more tranquil and a little less tourist trappy.  But it was a beautiful sight and one I'm glad I made the effort to see.  Here are a few pictures to help you visualize:

In case you forgot where I was, here's a sign.

 

That's a tunnel that you have to walk through to get to the entrace of the trail.  Spooky.

 

Pretty

Haha, what a loser!

View from the top

I hope you can make out what's going on in this picture.  The couple standing next to me had these two stuffed animals, (one of Tweety Bird, theother I'm not sure) in a cage like package.  They would stand in front of various backgrounds, pose the stuffed animals accordingly, flash the peace sign and take a billion pictures.  I think I might start learning Japanese because I would love to know the significance of things like this.

Greener pastures

Solo shots are so hot right now.

Realized I had yet to bust out my patented pose.  This one's for you, Dad!

On my walk back to town, I passed by the campus of a local community college and, as luck would have it, they were hosting a farmer's market.  So I gradually made my way through all the tents of fresh fruit, honey, hibiscus flowers, smoked fish, and other various goodies.  I sampled some pineapple, mango, smoked ahi, and roasted macadamia nuts before deciding upon a breakfast of shrimp and vegetable summer rolls and a mango/ginger/mint iced tea.  Quite possibly the best iced tea I've ever had.  If I could figure out the recipe and add some vodka, it would be my new favorite cocktail.  But I'm not really supposed to drink liquor so there goes that dream...

Farmer's Markets are fun!

Durian fruit.  It's illegal to ship in some countries because it smells like crap.  Apparently it tastes good but I couldn't quite get past the distinct rotting garbage aroma.  Maybe next time.

Rest of the day consisted of snorkeling, lounging and then surfing with Forrest the long boarder.  We tested the waves for a couple hours in which time I remember thinking three things:  1. surfing is fun.  2. I suck at surfing.  3. I'm definitely not wearing enough sunscreen right now.  All three things ended up being true.  Good thing sleeping with a sunburn is so enjoyable!

Not much else to report beyond that.  Oh but I did buy a Longboard Island Lager on my walk back home from the beach and was reminded of a suggestion that my seat partner on the flight from Minnesota to Seattle made.  Her name was Judy.  She, like my old lady beach friend, was also from Wisconsin.  She didn't offer me any cheese but she did give me a pretty solid idea. She said I should keep a running tally of all the beers I try as I travel along. Sure thing, Jud!  Here's the list so far:
-Pike Brewing Company Red Ale at the Sea-Tac airport.  It was ok, a little too much bite for my super sophisticated palate.
-Alaskan Brewing Company Amber on the aforementioned flight.  Quite tasty and served in a glass bottle which seemed to violate some sort of TSA standard, but what do I know.
- Longboard Island Lager - my favorite of the bunch.  And I can get a tall boy from the corner convenience store for under 3 bucks. Score!
- Big Wave Golden Ale - Surf (and two thumb)'s up.

Hang ten.

So that just about wraps things up.  I'll be heading to a bar in town today at 10am to start my Championship Sunday.  Hopefully I'll meet some transplanted yinzers and Hawaiian Steelheads.  Greatly looking forward to it. 

Until next time, party on and Go Steelers!

P.S. I'm at a Starbucks right now and some guy sitting in the patio seating area outside just stood up, whipped out his junk and peed into the bushes in plain sight of all the coffee sipping patrons.  Quite a powerful stream.  When you gotta go, you gotta go.  Ok, the end.

Aloha!

And so it begins...

After an emotionally draining day of travel filled with bittersweet goodbyes, pervasive anxiety and nervous anticipation, I finally reached my first pit stop in Hawaii.  The journey from the comfy confines of my parent's house to the warm breezes of Honolulu took roughly 18 hours.  In that time, I managed to go on a wild emotional rollercoaster filled with laughter, tears and everything in between.  Going from an environment of overwhelming love and support to one filled with a seemingly endless array of unknowns is a shock to the system, but an experience that I'm sure will go along way in the character building department.  I won't bore you with the details, but the moral of the story is that you don't know what you've got til it's gone.  I've always felt blessed to have such a strong network of friends and family, but never more so than yesterday when I finally realized that I won't be able to see the aforementioned for quite some time.  So I don't know whether to thank everyone for being so great...or flick you off for making the initial adjustment so damn difficult!  Ah well, if it were easy then it probably wouldn't be worth it anyways.  So here's a virtual fist pound to all of yinz!

So enough words and thoughts and blah blah blah...let's see some freakin pictures already!


After weeks and weeks of dilly dallying, I finished packing at approximately 12:45am of departure day.  As you can see, I saved the best item for last...

That's my first home away from home, the Polynesian Beach Club in Waikiki Beach.  Current roommates: chicks from Vermont, northern Italy and Korea and a dude from Tampa who was pounding a Bud heavy when I first met him.  I think we'll all get along just fine.

 Panoramic action from Waikiki on morning numero uno.  It was overcast but still a pretty wonderful place to wake up.

 That's just me being a total toolbag.

And there's a crazy bird lady.

Hawaii's native son.

Flat Tina's first appearance!   She looks pretty excited about stuff.

Sunset on Day 1.  One thing you should know is that I love sunrises and sunsets so you might be seeing a lot of pictures like this.  If you don't like it, I suggest you get over it.

Waimea Bay, site of the annual Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational.  Elite surfers are invited to this event to surf ridiculously gigantic waves.  The event only goes off if the waves are over 30 feet.  Unfortunately they didn't reach that level, but still got to see some insane surfing and a good deal of wipeouts.  If these waves had a name, it would most certainly be Gnarls Barkley.  I don't really know what that means, but that's ok too.

Brave souls testing the pipeline.

Just another day at the office....

There's no way you can tell because my camera skills leave a lot to be desired, but that blue clad arm belongs to Mr. Kelly Slater.  No big deal.

This picture is out of order and a stupid one to end on, but that's the door to my room.  Festive, right?

Ok so that was fun.  Before I sign off I'd just like to share a few things that happened today at the surf competition.  The North Shore is over an hour's drive away from the hostel, so in order to make it there in time, me and 13 of my closest friends loaded into a passenger van at 6am.  I sat amidst a Swiss family who had just celebrated the 7 month mark of an around the world journey that will total 13 months.  Mom and Dad and their 7 year old son and 5 year old daughter.  They had spent 4 months RVing in the Western half of the US, 2 months in Central America, and the past month in Hawaii.  From here, they'll venture to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands before returning to Zurich in August.  So that's one of the most bad ass things I've heard in awhile. 

I met some other people today as well, including a 60ish woman from Wisconsin and a 30ish surfer from San Diego.  I was sitting on the beach taking in the action when Wisconsin set up shop beside me.  First she asked me if I was wearing sunscreen.  I assured her that I was.  Then we rapped about the potential for a Steelers vs Packers Super Bowl.  That was followed by a little game of "Let's Make a Deal."  The stakes: authentic Wisconsin cheddar cheese slices and Ritz crackers.  The challenge: rub suntan lotion on the hard to reach places of her back.  So after several nanoseconds of deliberation, the challenge was most definitely accepted!  Whatever weirdness might have existed while I was massaging SPF 30 into a complete stranger's back was immediately forgotten when I took that first delicious bite of cheese.  I guess cheddar really does make everything better!

San Diego surfer's name was Forrest and by the time the time our conversation ended, I had a phone number and an offer to use his longboard whenever I wanted.  I know there's a lewd joke to be made here, but my grandma might read this so I digress.  Being mature is difficult.  Ok so anyways, moral of that story is that "Operation: Learn to Surf" might have just officially begun.  More details to follow...

Well that's all I got for now.  Two days in and I'm feeling quite good about things.  Not really sure what tomorrow holds.  Perhaps a hike up Diamond Head or maybe carving some tasty waves?  Decisions, decisions.

Party on, party people.