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The Hilo Kid is fighting in 4 hours. I don’t think I’ll get to see the fight. But I’m excited about it anyway. Sarah and Steve said that Therapy Sports Bar in Hawaii Kai is showing the fight for free. But K is working on some stuff and I’m doing Chinese New Year cleaning one week late.
K’s friends are having a baby shower and the gifts we ordered online from Nomi in LA arrived early this morning. I was really looking forward to seeing all the cute stuff but they wrapped all of it. It’s pretty festive. I wish I could see what’s inside though.
I was going to try class with Martin at Aloha Yoga Kula this morning but I woke up at 9:30 and decided to play Monopoly on my iPhone instead. I think my body could benefit from the rest. I’ll either go this afternoon or back to Koa tomorrow.
This is a letter:
…that confirms my participation in a conference in which I’ll present my writing as part of a Filipino Diaspora panel. I can’t get myself to even read it. It’s not until April but I haven’t been moved to write anything new at all. It makes me anxious. At some point I have to be serious; stop being afraid of video ghost; settle myself and start writing. Or at least start thinking about it.
When I was in highschool I used to call very good days ‘love’ days in my journal. As in, ‘Today was a love day’. Today was not that for me but in the same spirit I would call today a Sun Day. K’s job isn’t a normal 9-5 job. Sometimes he has to leave very early in the morning. Sometimes not until mid-afternoon. In a way it’s nice because everyday can be different somehow. But the suburban in me longs for routines and schedules you can count on. This morning felt like a day that could be someone’s routine. K was driving into town and the timing worked out that he could drop me off at yoga class. We were even able to do some early morning grocery shopping before heading downtown. It was a very lite FM kind of morning.
I loved it.
After two weeks of dedicated attendance ( 11 of 14 days) Sarah and I came to the the end of our new student discount at Open Space Yoga. The sadness is that we’ve been able to go to an unlimited amount of classes for only $30. We saved over $100. We’ll definitely go back for classes with Murti and to try the Yin Yoga class which we didn’t get to do. But next week we’re moving on to a new place. More than likely Manoa Yoga Center.
Sarah and I were going to try lunch at Mix afterwards because neither of us had been. It was really crowded and I suggested we go back to Nuuanu and eat at Indigo. We’d passed it on the way and Sarah said it was a buffet style lunch that was rather good. And it smelled good! So we splurged and had a little bit of a fancier lunch.
Yum!
It was a very decadent day.
Sometimes talking to Sarah is like a Master Class on Hawaii for me. She drove me back home to Kailua and on the way she was telling me about Mu’u mu’u Heaven–a little shop in Kailua that carries dresses and apparel made out of vintage mu’u mu’u's. The store is tucked in behind Foodland. Its’ so awesome that I’ve passed the turn countless times and never knew it was there.
So many lovely things– dresses, skirts, tops, jewelry, bags… When Obama was last here he donated his Toot’s mu’u mu’us to the store and the designer made a bow tie and cummerbund for him out of the material. I pulled a post-Holly Hobbie/ Laura Ingalls type skirt off the rack and told Sarah that I loved it so much that I could feel it in my stomach but that I would never wear it. Rather I’d sleep with it every night like a teddy bear forever.
Shortly after Sarah dropped me off I got a call on my cell from an unfamiliar Long Island telephone number. I tentatively answered assuming that it was a wrong number. Turned out to be a friend of someone that K and I both know back in NY. We got a message that this woman was going to be in town and didn’t know anyone aside from the friend she was staying with and that friend was going to be working much of the time she was here. I very off-handedly sent a message saying she could call me and I’d meet her if I could.
I answered and she said she was at the beach (which is right across the street) did I have time to come out. My instinct was to say I couldn’t because I was tired and had alot of writing I wanted to do. But I told her to come over and after I had some time to change we could go to the beach and swim.
It was unexpectedly a very relaxing and pleasant afternoon. Sunah was very nice. We ended up spending a long time bobbing in the water and talking about all types of things. I’m really glad that I behaved counter intuitively and met up with her. Maybe there’s hope for my Aloha spirit afterall!
These are the cookies she left behind:
I popped my kneecap out in yoga class yesterday. BLLAAAAST. I went back today with Sarah and we took a crushing ashtanga class. I wore a brace and it turned out fine. I don’t want to stop or take a break. If I have the desire to go to class then I’m going to go and just work through it. But I HATE that all too familiar sound and feeling of my knee popping and then collapsing. It’s so disconcerting–even days after it happens.
I drove ALOT today. First, I drove all the way to Chinatown (with K in the passenger seat) to meet Sarah for yoga. I also drove around Kailua for our errands in the afternoon. It felt good except for slamming on the brakes at a yellow light and then driving on the wrong side of the road in Chinatown. While on the winding Pali Highway I just kept reminding myself of what Annie told me:
- if she can do it I definitely can
- drive 35 miles an hour, or as slow as I like (who cares, let them pass!)
There was a little yellow VW bug on the road basically riding on it’s brakes. I stayed behind it pretty much the whole way into town. I smiled and told K that I liked her style and I was perfectly content to follow her. As we passed the car closer to town, K glanced at the driver and I said ‘what’s that lady look like?’ He burst out laughing and said she’s an old lady. I’m perfectly happy to be in the driver category of slower-than-an-old-lady. I think a few more times with K and I can probably drive into town alone. Parking is a totally different story.
We were supposed to take class with Murti today but we had a great substitute. Here’s a brief review of our yoga teachers so far:
- Murti- awesome
- Jai Ma- awesome fantastic
- Brigitte- very good; wonderful intention
I think we’ve sampled everyone at Open Space except for 2 or 3 teachers. The three above are people I would go back to again and again. Brigitte also teaches at a place just two miles from our home called Aloha Yoga Kula. I’m looking forward to trying their teachers after our new student discount expires at Open Space.
Here is the cutest padded envelope I’ve ever seen from Kailua’s Post Office:
So little and yet so much happens here in Hawaii. Last night we went to a ‘Januaries’ birthday party thrown by K’s coworkers/friends at La Mariana Sailing Club. Touchingly they included me on the birthday cake. I met Annie there who has been living in Kailua for 2 years with her husband who works with Ken. She was breathtakingly warm and full of kindness. It was really really nice. She stopped us as we were leaving the party and we ended up talking for an hour standing at the exit. It was a small relief to hear her stories of settling in Hawaii and leaving a life and career behind. Two thoughts that I shared with her that I don’t feel anybody else can really understand : how is it when there’s really not anything that you have to do that the day goes by so quickly anyway; and how do you answer the question ‘what do you DO all day?’ when it’s a combination of so much and so little. I like Annie. If nothing else she made me briefly feel like we weren’t alone.
Interestingly K mentioned to Annie that I’m doing yoga and the first three words out of her mouth were ‘ my friend Murti’. –which was pretty shocking because of all the teachers I’ve tried so far in Hawaii (6), Murti is the only one who has made a big impact. From what I gathered he used to do classes here in Kailua. Annie said she would find out if he still did.
I’ve learned and keep being reminded that in Hawaii everyone is someone’s cousin so don’t talk stink. Being from New York, my second language is stink. But not usually for malicious reasons. It’s just a habit of saying something’s weird if its weird or saying someone’s annoying if they’re annoying. That generally doesn’t happen here. People here either live by an Aloha spirit; generally don’t have malicious things to say about one another; OR they know better than to say something openly critical or judgmental about someone else. This is opposite my personality but I’m pretty sure I haven’t really said anything bad about anyone since I’ve gotten here. Except for Alvin at Servco. I yelled my brains out at him when our battery died the day after we bought the car. I do feel bad about that.
Lunar New Year festivities started on Friday. It was pretty neat–lots and lots of lions, very organized and not terribly crowded. Ken said that the feeling could be called iit nao in Cantonese or festive crowded-ness. Wing Tek had a special dinner and lion dance at his office. We weren’t able to go. But it was really nice to see them briefly and wish them Gung Hay Fat Choy!
There was a phenomenon that we encountered that I don’t think really would have happened in NY Chinatown:
That is white people dressed in Chinese costume. This person is not the only one we saw and certainly not the most intricate. You can’t see in the picture but he has a fake queue hanging from his hat. These people seemed oblivious to the fact that it might be weird…much less offensive. K said it would be like white people walking around with an Afro for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I would’ve taken a picture of the weirdest example but I was too engrossed in shooting them dirty looks–which had no effect on them whatsoever. Ah, me.
We picked up take out from a restaurant on Nuuanu called Little Village. It was so crowded. People waiting for at least an hour to be seated. It seemed like a very nice place and most of the food we got was very good. Much better than Mini Garden just a few feet away. My favorite was the Taro Duck which I’m eating as leftovers two days later.
A centipede ran over my foot the other day and didn’t bite me. I’ve been told that it’s so painful if you do get bit that you have to stay in bed for three days! We scooped it up in a bowl and let it go in the dirt.
Every week here I miss New York in a different way. This past week spending so much time with Sarah was great– spending time with her transcends geography or circumstance. I would like Sarah for a friend whatever city I met her in. But in a way it makes me feel the loneliness a little more.
My friends Calvin and Deanne are coming in a few days. It’ll be nice to see them.
Yesterday for K’s birthday we did the Hau’ula Loop Trail. It was a great hike. It ranks first on my list so far. The second being Maunawili Falls. It took us about 2 hours and the great thing about it was the diversity of vegetation, the level of difficulty (just right), and the beautiful views at the top.
In parts the trees had soft light green pine needles, the ground covered with them so it looked like sand…like we were walking on the beach. And other times it felt like we were in the Rocky Mountains the trees straight as a pin and all the way up into the clouds. There was also trees that had long wide pine branches that dipped down like a tutu. I said they were ballerina trees. It was a beautiful hike.
Afterward we drove along the very picturesque coast and stopped at the Shrimp Shack not far from the trailhead and discovered something unbelievable delicious (I mean other than the shrimp)
Awesome.
I made a big surf and turf dinner for the birthday meal and made K go on a hunt for his final present which was custom-made by larryO at Entermodal. He was so great to work with. And the final product felt like a lot of love had gone into it.
Happy Birthday and I love you K. Here’s a little more WCW for you:
This Is Just To Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast.
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.
William Carlos Williams
Yoga is great. Sarah is awesome. Tomorrow is K’s birthday and I’m cooking surf and turf. That’s Sarah above on our way to Well Bento for take out dinner and she’s carrying the cutest Bliss Lau bag. Who, I didn’t realize, is from Hawaii.
Happy Inauguration Day:
Hawaiian locals use the shaka for various meanings, like “all right”, “cool”, “smooth”, etc. It is also used to convey what locals in Hawai’i call the “Aloha Spirit,” a gesture of friendship and understanding between the various ethnic cultures that reside within Hawai’i. It can also be used to signal a “hello”, “goodbye”, ” ’till next time”, “take care”, “Alright!” The sign is often followed by waving as a greeting or acknowledgment. It can be used when driving as a signal of thanks to other drivers (for example, someone who stopped to let another driver onto the road from a driveway) – Wikipedia
This is my last post before Obama becomes President. After the election my rabid enthusiasm dwindled but in the last few hours I’ve begun to feel emotional about tomorrow. It’s an exciting time: New Year, MLK day, the Inauguration, K’s birthday, and then Monday is the start of Lunar New Year–like a categorical clean slate.
Sarah and I have gone to yoga at Open Space everyday since Saturday. I’m amazed at how easily I’ve been able to relax back into it. The great thing about Open Space is that the teachers are very present, skilled, and you feel that they really want to help you. It seems like a good mix of skill levels among the students. The fact that I can’t say for sure is really a testament to how well they run their classes. I’m not focused on other people. I’m comfortable enough to concentrate on my own practice and not feel the self-consciousness or competitiveness you find in lesser schools. I miss class with Dharma but this place is very special and I’ll absorb many benefits while I’m here.
I didn’t really understand why the school says it’s in the Historic Arts District of Chinatown but the picture above is Nu’uanu Gallery at Marks Garage one of the storefronts I passed on the way to class. It was small but had really interesting contemporary work. Speaking of which I wish I was in NY to visit this: Can. Did.
When Sarah was driving me home the other day she kept asking me where to turn and I just kept yapping away forgetting to tell her how to get to my condo. I told her it’s because I have this idea that she knows everything about Hawaii. It seemed natural that she would know how to get me home even though she’d never been there. Things that Sarah has shared with me that I find interesting:
- Made in Hawaii Expo
- Catfishing at Nuanu Reservoir
- Diamondhead Farmer’s Market
- Mitch’s Sushi
and lucky Mochi for New Year to put on your dashboard.
Finally here’s a video I really liked today. Happy Obama Day everyone. I pledge to be more gentle and find ways to help others in whatever way and whenever I can.
more about “MySpace Celebrity and Katalyst presen…“, posted with vodpod
Sarah and I took a yoga basics class at Open Space Yoga today. It was GREAT. The class was with a teacher named Murti who Brenda recommended. He had really good energy and I learned a few new things. He lead the class with a mixture of humor, spirituality, and knowledge. It was a pleasure. I felt relaxed and energized after class. We signed up for the new student discount of unlimited classes for two weeks for $30. We’re going to try to go everyday this week.
In the afternoon K and I went to Kaimuki to a little shop called Lily Lotus that specializes in yoga clothing and accessories. I got a great mat bag and some new stuff to wear.
We took Coro into Midas for the works: tire rotation, engine flush, brake realignment. They did a pretty good job. They were really fast and they called us a couple of times to give us updates. In my opinion it seemed to cost alot. But they did things like terra-mist for the ‘cabin’–which sprays a mist into the car through the vent system that kills bacteria and odor.
We walked to Boots and Kimos for breakfast while we waited. We noticed on the way that a new crepe place opened a couple of doors down. I want to go there for breakfast next time. This is what the line outside of Boots and Kimos looks like before 9AM on a weekday:
We had Macadamia Nut Pancakes and a Portuguese sausage omelette. After wards we walked to Macy’s so that I could find some workout clothes for yoga. There was nothing there (as usual). It was drizzling on and off when we came out so we sat under the overhang and waited. K answered emails on my phone and I took pictures of people in the parking lot.
Coro is our first car. When we got him I didn’t really think too much of him. I thought he was a car like any other car. But now, I find myself thinking that he’s a pretty good looking car. Particularly since we put the snazzy Hawaii stickers on him. BTW I call Coro ‘him’ and K refers to him as ‘her’.
