{magic island}

(Definition by Kikipedia)
"Magic Island"...a place neither magical nor an actual island.

The last stop in the Miki (Mike and Kiki) summer adventure. One last night. One last photoshoot.






P.S. I miss you both already :(
P.P.S. I can't wait to see you both again very (hopefully!) soon!!! :)

{Kualoa Ranch}

FACT: I am an extreme sports MACHINE. Wait...what was that noise? Oh, it was just ♥MH - ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing). Yeah, okay maybe that was a slight fib. I'm not really an extreme sports kinda gal. If anything, I'm more of an extreme shopper, lol :) But ATV-ing, is in another category. I rock ATVs like its nobody's business.

So being the good hostess that I am, I wanted to share my ATV love with Kiki and Mike. We drove across the island and headed towards the "country." About an hour later, we ended up at Kualoa Ranch.

Many of you are familiar with this ranch - and don't even know it. These 4,000 acres of lush greenery have been featured in numerous movies and television shows. Which shows you ask? Try Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Godzilla, and LOST (my fave!). And these are just to name a few. On a scale of 1 - 10, this day ranked a million bazillion on the fun scale.

The weather started off kind of ugly. I won't lie. We were a little worried.


Then the angels sang, and the clouds parted. The weather took a 180 towards awesome.


We stopped a few times to take pics.




Bunker from the movie 'Pearl Harbor.'


Godzilla's footprint.

{germaine's luau}

Aloha! (Hello!) Okay, confession time. Although I've lived most of my life in Hawaii, I had never attended an actual luau. As a kama'aina (local resident), we consider luaus to be more "touristy" than anything else. But since I was playing tourist with Kiki/Mike/Fam, I got to attend my first "official" luau.

So what exactly is a luau? Well, a luau is translated to mean "Hawaiian Feast." And feast we did. It was a total feast for our eyes, as well as for our 'opu (tummies). Germaine's Luau definitely set the bar on any luau-ing I may do in the future. 'Elua (two) thumbs up!

E komo mai! (Welcome!)








Taking the pig out of the imu.


Hawaiian food = Mmmmmmmhhhmmmmm! (too good for words)


Pau. (Finished)

{fallen princesses}

Growing up, I wanted to be a princess (a job title that still ranks number one in my book). I used to parade my tiara, and watch Disney movies with eyes as wide as saucers. Being rescued by Prince Charming? Riding off into the golden sunset of happily ever after? Count me in! I mean, what girl wouldn't want that, right?

But sometimes life doesn't always give us a happy ending. Photographer Dina Goldstein puts a unique and morbid twist on the Disney Princesses we grew up with. She asks the question "what if they didn't live happily ever after"?
Brilliant, yet heartbreaking.

{50th State Fair}

Saturday night, the beginning of one of the busiest weekends that I've had in a long time. With MH still M.I.A., busy = good. Lil' J, Miki (Mike & Kiki), and I moseyed on over to the state fair for amusement park rides and good eats.

To tell you the truth, I think I'm turning into an old fogey (yikes!). So sad, but true. The rides were scarier than I remembered, and I even got whiplash from the bumper cars. Despite that we had a very good time! We ate huli huli chicken, won some carnival prizes, and even saw (my other bff) Mari & her hunnybuns. The best part of the night (in my opinion) was the now infamous lightsaber battle between "Luke Skywalker" (J) & "Darth Vader" (Mike). Crazy boys! How did it end? Well, good triumphed over evil of course!! What a way to cap off another fun night! :)

♥

Keroppi...the BEST carnival prize EVER!

Run's House...I mean, Fun house.

May the force be with you!!!

{halekulani hotel}

Just when I needed quick a pick-me-up, one of my bestest-friends-since-birth comes into town...and right in the nick of time. MH has been gone since Monday, and will be staying gone until who knows when. As I type this, he is staying in one of the southern states aiding his mother who is ill. For the past few days, I have been very lonely (*cue violin music) and in a state of poop. But my cousin Kiki came to rescue me (and also spend a lovely vacation in PARADISE!) with her main squeeze Mike & his fam bam. Seriously, she's like the asian Mighty Mouse. She swooped in from the risers - shouting "here I come to save the daaaayyyy!!" Her timing is impeccable.

On this fine evening (their second on the island so far), we met at one of the classiest, swankiest hotels on the island - the Halekulani. Amongst the swaying palms and lovely hula hands, we dined al fresco at the hotel's "House Without a Key." For several hours, I got to spend some (much needed!) quality time with my beautiful cousin. I ended my night happy. I love you guys, this was exactly what I needed. :)

The restaurant: House Without A Key.

The grub: Surf & Turf Burger (Sirloin/Lobster/Brie Cheese/Yum-o).

The entertainment: Sunset Serenaders.

The lovebirds: Mike + Kiki.

The end.

{leavin' on a jet plane}

...so kiss me and smile for me,
tell me that you'll wait for me,
hold me like you'll never let me go.
'Cause I'm leavin on a jet plane,
don't know when I'll be back again...
(lyrics by John Denver)

Part of my heart is missing.
MH is gone :(

{willows}

A couple times a month, MH and I like to treat ourselves to a night out on the town. What was the cause for our random celebration? Well, it was Tuesday of course! We got over the icky disease known as Monday-itis, and successfully moved one day closer to the weekend! Yeeehawwww!!

My intense craving for oh-so-succulent prime rib, led us to Willows Restaurant in Moili'ili (downtown Honolulu). According to their (website) Willows is Hawaii's Original Garden Restaurant. It sits upon one acre of lush tropical gardens, native Hawaiian flowers, and cascading waterfalls. It's also known for their yum-o-licious food, awesome buffet, and (in my opinion) killer prime rib!(*sigh) Hana hou, MH? :)

Table for two, please.

{blackbird fly}

A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR) is a type of popular camera that has two lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is used for taking pictures at waist-level. The blackbird fly (camera shown) is a retro camera from Japan. It uses standard 35mm ("old school") film with a wide angle 33mm lens with focal adjustment. Other features include two exposure settings (F7/F11), two shutter speeds, and a hot shoe. While its considered more of a "toy camera" (its made entirely out of plastic), its a fun way to experiment with film. The Blackbird fly comes in 5 different colors (black, blue, red, orange, & white), and is a superly cute camera to add to any budding photographer's "arsenal." See more (here)


Photo Credit: Patrick Ng
(shot with lomo redscale film)

{sea life park}

This past Monday, MH and I took Lil' J (my wee wittle munchkin) to Sea Life Park. It was a really, really, (really to the zillionth power) superly H-O-T day!!! Aside from the hotness, the $9 hamburgers (luckily for us, the cashier gave us her kama'aina (local Hawaii resident) discount), and the so-so next-to-average shaved ice - it was a pretty funtastic day :)

Cool shot MH took of the Hawaiian Reef Aquarium.

This little guy was especially happy to see us :)


"Turtle-turtle" (*said in the voice of Dana Carvey)

"C'mon Snowflake, let's go!!"
(Where's that line from? 5 points to the first one who gets it...)
Moi-moi (sleep) time. Our cue to leave :)