Month: March 2014

Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life

Published by

On a short visit to Singapore, I lucked out and was able to partake in the celebration of their annual Diwali Festival (aka Deepavali).  My friend took me out for dinner in Little India.  The food was delicious and I really enjoyed the people watching.  The streets were bustling with people, colors, lights and flowers. At the end of dinner, as we were looking for a taxi to take us home, we noticed that no cars were permitted to pass through the middle of the festival.  So we ended up walking along the street towards where the taxis were waiting.  Along the way, I stopped to smell the ropes of jasmine hanging along the street carts.  It was tantalizing to be surrounded around all this lovely fragrance which included hints of incense floating in the air. Even though it was late at night, all the stores and even a few mom and pop vendors were open for the night.  I thought it was interesting to find a seamster working on the street with many onlookers watching him conduct his task.  I …

Road Trip

Published by

SITS Day 29. Have you ever been on a road trip? Was it a good or bad experience? Anytime we are together, it usually involves food or the beach.  So, several years back when Kainoa, Adrel and I decided to spend our Prince Jonah Kuhio holiday visiting the other side of the island, we were rather excited.  But, we promised ourselves that we would not spend more than $50 on food for the ENTIRE day trip.  Kainoa did a great job of keeping track of our expenditures, and sure enough we came a few dollars under budget!  Yahoo! Highlights included stopping at Earl’s Pa’aulio Store to try their famous sushi bento rolls.   They have invented the best “eat and go” food.  Each bite is savory and very filling, too. Many rolls include a huge chunk of spam. They also have another store in Waimea town that also carries bento boxes, and hot foods. After a short drive from Pa’auilo, we headed to Hawaiian Style Cafe in Waimea.  This was our first experience at this local cafe. …

Jump in the Deep Blue

Published by

“Describe your own form of bliss” – In a box or under the sun, in a soft smile or sweet song, in a bath full of bubbles or a night on the town… I love when the skies over Hilo are blue and clear, especially when the sun is shining through.  To escape the heat, I love driving over to Four-Miles Beach as I think it is the best place to be when you want to leave all your troubles behind, too.  The water is crystal clear.  You can see the fish and turtles swimming.  The most breathtaking aspect about this beach is that when you first break through the crisp water you can feel the cool water rushing over your warm body.  This beach has a fresh spring feeding into one of the coves which makes the water sweet and a bit cooler than other parts of the shoreline. My form of bliss is swimming in the ocean.  Four Miles beach is one of my favorite spots in Hilo as not many people frequent it due …

Weekly Writing Challenge: Writerly Reflections

Published by

Learning to read at a very young age meant never being lonely. As an only child, I both lost and found myself in books. In fact, some of my best friends were characters in my favorite books, like Ramona Quimby, Jo March, and Elizabeth Bennet, whose personalities influenced my own. Getting to know their outgoing characters definitely helped to quell the social awkwardness, that might’ve come  with being an only child. I began writing, as a kid, under my uncle’s and aunt’s encouragement. Being a voracious reader, they recognized my colorful imagination, so my uncle created blank homemade booklets for me and soon, all of the interesting stories that popped up in my head were put to paper. Although they weren’t stories and novels of epic proportions, they served as an outlet for all the creative churn that came with being an introverted only child with an overactive imagination. Writing had become such a part of my daily existence back then that I distinctly remember sitting in an entrance interview to attend a boarding school as a 7th grader and being asked by the interviewer, what …

Pedi-cure Therapy

Published by

SITS Day 24: If you are a parent, how do you make time for yourself? Towards the final days of my pregnancy, one of my friends told me to enjoy each day to the fullest.  Some suggestions were to go chill at the beach or go out on a date with my partner or treat myself to a spa day.  I recall questioning her on these suggestions, as I thought it was ludicrous.  Why would I need to take some free time for myself when there was so much I had to do to prepare for the birth of my baby? I also felt guilty as all of my friends did a lot to help me get ready for the baby’s arrival, too.  I already felt like I was being pampered. Well, fast forward to one-year, and now I totally get what my friend was trying to convey to me.  The days go by with a blur and my entire day is focused on one little being.  I love my baby, but at times I just …

Weekly Writing Challege: Power of Names

Published by

I was happy to discover a resource webpage created by Kamehameha Schools compiling the relevant texts and resources about the practice of naming in Hawaiian culture. The two primary resources are standards in Hawaiian culture that I last read in college as a Hawaiian Studies major, Nānā i Ke Kumu Vol. 1 (Pūkuʻi, 1972) and The Polynesian Family System in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi (Pūkuʻi, 1989). For those of you unfamiliar with naming in the Hawaiian culture, the page offers insight to the importance of names. My parents had intended that the meaning of my name was “calm or open ocean”, which broken up, would be Kai (ocean) and Noa (free of kapu/taboo), but the literal translation of my name means “the name”, Ka (the) and Inoa (name). When I was younger, I didn’t give my name a second thought. It seemed too obvious to be special. It was also a name not many girls had. The older I got, however, the more I began to realize exactly how special it was. One gives life to a name. Children are …

Capricious Traveler

Published by

What’s your travel style? Are you itinerary and schedule driven, needing to have every step mapped out in advance or are you content to arrive without a plan and let happenstance be your guide? I abhor rigidity when it concerns travel planning. The only two “planned” items on my travel itinerary are the arrival and departure dates. However, I do believe a certain level of preparation (i.e. emergency strategy)  is necessary before embarking on globetrotting adventures, sans guidebook, map or translator. There’s a level of excitement one feels when strict, absolute planning is left by the wayside. Spontaneity allows me to drop “tunnel vision”; to break bread with the locals, partake in activities and immerse myself in the culture; expect surprises and build lasting memories. My personal prerequisites for an enjoyable and memorable trip: flexibility, an open mind, discernment and a valid passport (if traveling overseas).   http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/daily-prompt-the-happy-wanderer/

new beginnings…

Published by

       I had been unhappy. Well, maybe not unhappy, per se, but not happy. There IS a difference, you know? I needed to make some changes, the biggest and most difficult change being quitting my job. But I was the main breadwinner and had been for the past decade. With the reluctant and fearful support of my husband, I submitted my notice. I knew I had made the right decision when as soon as I pressed “Send” (I resigned via email), an immense amount of relief rushed over me. I had never felt more sure about a decision as big as this before. Especially since I’ve been a mother of three… three little ones who rely on me, my love, my support, and, least importantly but most necessary, my income. As rash and irresponsible as this decision may seem, it was one I had been contemplating for at least two years. So it was time. The timing may not seem ideal (three kids, two mortgages, student loans, bills, etc.), but it was right. …

Weekly Writing Challenge: Golden Years

Published by

For this week’s writing challenge, we’re asking you to explore what age means to you.  Just last month we celebrated my baby’s 1st b-day, and for the next few months we begin the birthday celebration of my posse, including mine.  When time permits, we love celebrating our birthdays together.  I never thought much about this milestone until this year.  I am not hitting a major birthday year ending in a zero, but I am hoping all of my life experiences will help me guide my little one to be an engaged young lady.  I secretly have aspirations for her, but I know it will be up to her to decide what she wants to do with her life. Knowing that she has so many choices and opportunities awaiting her, I hope I will be able to give her the advice to help her navigate through her life journey. I know that the challenges she will face in her childhood will be very different from mine.  In my opinion, one of the biggest differences is that …

Colorful clutter

Published by

Just like a bowl of bright-colored Jelly Belly candy, I seem to look cheerful on the outside.  But lately, I have been a combustion of different moods probably because I have so much clutter in my head.  It’s times like these that I love grabbing a handful of jelly beans.  You just never know what flavor you will sweetly savor in your mouth.  I hope to soon sort and organize all my thoughts so I won’t feel like a bowl of jelly beans. Check out the other blogs participating in Bastet’s Pixelventures prompt –  MOODS.