Checking Out Puna's Seascape

Late in the afternoon today we decided to go check out the geothermal pool and tidepools right down the street from our house. On the drive down we spotted this stand and decided food was in order. Both Chris and I decided on the Reindeer Dog. The owner of the stand said that he got his reindeer from a friend of his in Alaska. I already knew I'd be ok with reindeer since I had some for the first time in Norway. My final verdict on the reindeer dog: I liked it better than a regular all-beef one! Yum :)

REINDEER DOG ON A WHOLE WHEAT BUN

We continued our journey, now feasting on reindeer dog. I wanted to take the road less traveled so we veered down Pahoa-Pohoiki Rd. Eventually the road narrowed into a single-lane roadway (Yet still better maintained than roads on Oahu - something Chris and I have been talking about - we have yet to fine a poorly maintained road on the Big Island). It was a beautiful drive lined with mango and hala (Screw pine) trees that are protected by county ordinance (Drive slowly so not to hit the trees signs warn us.). I had just finished reading an article on the Hawaiian art of ulana, the art of plaiting using the hala, so I had a special appreciation for the drive.

After about 20 more minutes of driving - we overshot Ahalanui Park...Chris blames my poor navigation skills (whatever) - we pulled into the parking lot for Kapoho tide pools. The official name is "Wai Opae Tide Pools Marine Reserve." Chris decided to snorkel, while I wanted to roam around and take pictures.

WAI OPAE TIDE POOLS
SPLASHDOWN...OR CHRIS' LESS THAN GRACEFUL ENTRY

CRYSTAL CLEAR WATERS

ONE MORE TIDE POOL PICTURE

Chris said there's fish and some amazing blue coral. I need to get myself a mask and snorkel so that I can join him! The water was a little chilly for Chris and we didn't have the benefit of the sun (it was 4:30pm) so we packed it in and headed for Ahalanui Park, my original intended destination. Less than 5 minutes later we were pulling into Ahalanui Park which was quite nice with covered picnic areas and nicely manicured grass.

We walked down a nice paved sidewalk that opened up into a natural pool. When the original builders constructed it the pool was cold, but the 1955 and 1963 eruptions turned it into a warm geothermal pool. It is fed by ocean water and the spring. We sank in and it was heaven. The water was so clear, you could see right to the bottom (about 4.5/5 ft deep in most parts)! The bottom layer of the pond remains colder than the top and you have to swim around until you find the right mix, but we soaked for an hour before we headed home. Chris is already ready to return tomorrow!

ME FLOATING IN AHALANUI POOL

CHRIS GIVES IT TWO THUMBS UP
AHALANUI GEOTHERMAL POOL

Finally it was time to head home. So we rode off into the sunset (See picture at left)...can you believe this road is a highway??? Yup, that's Route 137 :)

Can't wait to return and can't wait to bring other people to experience it for themselves!

Man + Machete

MAN + MACHETE

This blog is "Kris AND Chris Take on the Big Island" so I try to include as much of Chris in here as I can.

Today I woke up and he was all excited to go "reclaim the jungle." He has all these big plans to improve the house and the property (Although to his credit, he did manage to get our rent knocked down another $50 because he volunteered to do the landscaping. For those keeping track - me - that's $200/month we reduced from the initial rent price!) He has been talking about clearing some of the trees for awhile, but today he was serious. He went, got a machete, did a little show and tell with me about the machete, and marched right out the back door to get started.

Ok, those of you who know Chris (especially the Sto in Hawaii) will understand why I'm not so thrilled about Chris with a machete in hand. This is the guy who busted up his foot just trying to get to our friend's party (Martins), this is the guy who comes home with all kinds of injuries from just camping, this is the guy who tore a hole out of his ankle trying to get our luggage in Peru...you get the picture.

I went outside to "document" (Chris is all about the blog - reminding me to document with pictures) although really to check to make sure he was going to be ok. I've never really heard of a machete, except when I read in the Advertiser about some guy attacking another person with one, so I wasn't really sure about the power of a machete. Chris was in love with his and wanted to show me.




WOW! Despite the awesome power of the machete and the awesome potential for injury with Chris, I decided to let him do his man thing. Here are some other pictures of the yard since I know I haven't taken pictures of the house yet.

HOUSE FROM THE STREET, CHRIS IN THE BACK ON THE RIGHT

LOOK! WE HAVE AVOCADOS!

SOME BANANAS THAT CHRIS MURDERED

CHRIS' NEXT PROJECT: THE FLOWER GROTTO IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE

WATER CATCHMENT

OUR TV FROM OAHU

TV OUR LANDLORD RANDOMLY GAVE US...IT'S HUGE!

In Search of New Hobbies

Although I have lots of time here on the Big Island, I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do with that time. On the Big Island there were lots of classes: lei crocheting, one-stroke painting, cake decorating, pole dancing :) I found a few classes here, but they seem to be really expensive and require a drive. There's pottery, Hawaiian quilt making, jujistu (offered by BJ Penn's gym!), etc. For now I think I'm going to settle into a routine before I jump into anything new.

I decided that learning to cook would be in order. First of all, that show "How to Boil Water" is pretty much my level. I can make macaroni and cheese from a box. Second, in the beginning of the relationship Chris did a lot of cooking (Ok ALL the cooking), but when we moved to Waianae he hated the kitchen so he stopped. I want to learn to cook because I'm tired of living on spaghetti, ramen and mac and cheese! Last, living here on the Big Island should give me plenty of time to actually cook (although according to Bittman preparing meals take the same amount of time as preparing ready made food)

I bought this book "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman and I've been reading it like a novel in bed! So I decided to tackle stir fry for dinner last night. I figure, stir fry...it's easy and plus I'm Chinese, it should come naturally!

I started getting the materials ready, measuring them out so I could just toss them in the wok when needed. Then I came to the onion. I don't know how to cut veggies...at all. Inevitably whenever I don't know how to cut something I'll ask Chris, he'll tell me how and I'll whine until he comes and does it for me. (It always works.) I flip to the handle vegetable section in the book and follow the handy diagrams. Cut off the ends - no problem. Cut one layer down to peel easily - ok minor problem, but I got the skin off easy enough. Make several slices parallel to board to make the pretty dices you see them do on TV - WHAM! KNIFE IN THUMB!

So I've obviously never cooked really and so have never cut myself. I'd like to say that I manned up and just grabbed a rag and kept on cooking like I see on the Food Network all the time, but no....I totally lost my head. Crying hysterically, hopping up and down my kitchen, squeezing as much blood as I could out of my thumb and staring like and idiot at all the red red blood that was gushing out of my thumb. Chris came to the rescue, bandaged me up and I promptly flipped out crying.

24 hour later I can say that I'm fine, I can cop to totally wussy-ing out (Chris' exact bewildered words to me: "I'm not laughing at you. I'm just laughing because I've never seen you be such a wussy about anything before!"). The knife cut approximately 1/4 inch into my thumb, but it was a dull knife that came with the house...dull knives lead to cuts, just like the book said!

Chris finished cutting up my onion while I freaked out on the couch. I told Chris I was done with cooking, but about an hour later I was back in the kitchen, determined not to chicken out. I followed the rest of the directions and ta-da!

CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI STIR-FRY

I didn't love it, but it was edible. Definitely going to tweak it. Next task: NEW KNIFE BLOCK...and maybe one of those slap-chop things that Sham-Wow dude sells.

Culinary goals include: making my own pasta, baking fresh bread, and of course lots more baking. If you got any great recipes, feel free to share!!!

---------------------------------------------

Further extending my long posts, just wanted to solicit any book recommendations. Read any great books this summer?

I just finished:
- "Kitchen Confidential" (Great read, if anyone has read his other books and has thoughts let me know if they're as good);
- "In the Company of the Courtesan" (It was ok, had a pretty good ending but you had to slog through a lot of book to get there);
- "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (Amazing, I loved it...thought it was beautifully written and was a touching tragic story);
- "Hunger Games" (Couldn't put it down, totally right up my alley, a young adult book but so so so good). Just wanted to share in case anyone out there is looking for a good book!

Letting it all hang out

Puna is basically considered the home for wayward folks - outlaws, hippies, people who christen themselves "Ohmygod," etc and Pahoa is it's capital.

Chris is completely at home with the laidback, hippie vibe of Pahoa with it's love of all things unshowered, tie-dyed, and dreads. However, I am most certainly not a hippie. My best friend, Kevin, says that I am a "conservative liberal" and I think that's a pretty accurate label.

One very common sight are the women who walk around bra-less regardless of size. I guess the conservative part of me just doesn't understand why these women don't wear a bra! Today just kind of put me over the edge though. First, this morning our landlord's sister-in-law was wandering around bra-less and it was pretty difficult to to do small talk when I was clearly caught in her headlights! (Ha ha, poor joke)

Then I was shopping in Foodland and there was a woman wandering around, braless! Normally I'd just shrug this off with an internal squeal of "Grooooossss!" However, I later checked out behind this woman and I noticed that she had French manicured tips, a humongous engagement ring (because we know that I've got my mind on those ;p), and highlights. Now this I don't get. If you are an otherwise completely put-together woman, why do you forget your bra? I tried to come up with reasons and came up with only one: Perhaps she just came from swimming and took off her wet top. But why would you practically parade your nipples around the store?

Got any better theories for why women let it all hang out?

The War on Mosquitoes

Living in the rainforest can be wonderful - lush, green landscape out of every window, colorful flowers growing everywhere, the sound of the rain on the roof. However, one major downfall would be the MOSQUITOES.

I feel like I'm being eaten alive here. For a bit, Chris was magically left alone by the bugs, but not I (Although now Chris is getting a few bites here and there)! I was literally hunted by the pests. They'd actually follow me around the house.

I've waged a major defensive war with the bugs. All day long I try to wear long sleeves, long pants and socks. I burn anti-bug candles (Yankee Candle version, not your average citronella candle) that spell pleasant. I park myself on the couch with the ceiling fan on (since apparently they have a tough time flying through wind). Chris sometimes sprays a circle of bug spray around the couch...its like our safe haven. Kinda. We still get bitten :(

You may ask why I don't just wear bug spray. I hate the idea of using bug spray in the house for two reasons.
REASON 1: Bug spray has chemicals in it and I do not like the idea of inhaling lots of chemicals all day long, every day
REASON 2: I shouldn't have to wear bug spray INSIDE my own house

I've been really miserable since I have at least a dozen bites on any given appendage. I've been using antihistamines, but they make me really sleepy so I'm useless after I take them. At this point trying to put a cortizone cream essentially means almost covering my whole body with the stuff.

Today Chris undertook the task of putting new screens on all the windows. The tenants prior to us left plenty of larger-than-quarter sized holes in the windows. A common fix was to apply clear tape over the holes.

CHRIS AT WORK...YOU CAN SEE A HOLE IN THE WINDOW

Chris was pretty pleased with himself for being so handy. Let's hope it works! But, I'm not about to pull a Bush and declare mission accomplished. Cross your fingers! But if you have any helpful, non chemical ways to combat mosquitoes, they'd be welcome!!!!

OhMyGod

Today Chris and I tried Boogie Woogie Pizza in Pahoa. We ordered a large pepperoni and a calzone. While we waited for it to cook we went strolling around the neighborhood to see what was around. Our first stop was to The Pahoa Museum. I'm not sure why Pahoa has a museum, but we wandered in and were immediately followed in by the owner. He proceeded to chat with us for a very long 15 minutes. Neither one of us could understand him very well because he mumbled, rambled and according to Chris was definitely high off of more than one substance. He looked like a grizzled old pirate - he had a bright yellow aloha shirt, shaved head, a face that looked like he had lived quite a bit and a giant hoop earring in his left ear!

He told us all about how he gets all the ladies because he's a musician. He had a band coming in that evening and they were "crap" but it was because they hated that he sang with them and when you are either very smart, very talented or very beautiful, people will get jealous and he was all three!

He also told us the very long and convoluted story about his upbringing - he was Jewish and had a rich father who was unhappy, but he had done everything wrong and he was happy. He loved European women and lots of random bits about his kids. We learned his life story over one of his "million dollar idea" which was very poorly made fruit sorbet. (Thank goodness we didn't have to pay for it!)

The reason I'm writing about this guy is because I think this is the type of character Chris said I'd meet in Pahoa. Case in point: when Chris asked him his name this is what we got in response: "I call myself 'OhMyGod' - it's not my real name, but I changed my name in January. The greatest teacher of them all once asked his student, 'What is your name?' and the student replied 'I have no name.' Brilliant. So call me OhMyGod."

WHAT?!?!

Needless to say, I was more than happy when a family of hapless tourists wandered in and we could make our escape.

We wandered around town and found a used bookstore that has an extremely healthy selection of sci-fi novels, so Chris is definitely happy! There's a really terrible video rental place - thank goodness for Netflix! And then stopped at the Pahoa Cash and Carry. (Which really confused me because I tried to tell Chris I had no cash and neither did he. He just laughed at me...but really you'd THINK that a place called "Pahoa Cash and Carry" would only take cash right? Or am I the only one that takes it so literal?)

On our way back to pick up the food we ran into...a harpist on the sidewalk. I wish it hadn't decided to suddenly start pouring so I could have gotten a picture. Really random running into a huge harp being strummed by some dude outside the Mexican bar.

Guess that's Pahoa for you :)

A Delicious Day

Today we did the one main thing I wanted to do before we started school...we went to visit the Hawaiian Vanilla Company which is about 45 minutes north of Hilo.

HAWAIIAN VANILLA COMPANY IN PAAUILO

We took in their Hawaiian Vanilla Experience Luncheon. It started with a yummy vanilla lemonade or tea (I had the lemonade, Chris had the tea). Although I honestly didn't really notice the vanilla, the sweet, cool lemonade was still amazing.

I got the signature meal:


Orange-vanilla marinated breast and carmelized onions atop herb focaccia bread, with our vanilla-mango chutney aioli, way southwest roasted red potatoes, farm fresh organic greens with our best selling vanilla-balsamic vinaigrette, crumbled feta and vanilla-honey-peppered pecans. (Taken from the website)








Chris got vanilla-barbecued grass-fed beef ribs with a potato salad as well as the same organic greens with the vanilla-balsamic vinaigrette.










I think I lucked out and got the better meal. Although Chris' ribs tasted spectacular and I really liked the potato salad. (I wish I could do a blind test on food so I could tell if I like things more because someone tells me they are "locally grown," "organic," or "grass-fed," or because they really do taste better. But I'll tell you that I certainly thought the meat for Chris' ribs were just fresher tasting somehow.) We both loved the salad with the dressing. My sandwich was so moist and flavorful and the chutney-aioli was just a great accompaniment. All together it just was the perfect bite of flavor. Yum!

For dessert we had vanilla ice cream (of course!) with a topping of our choice: Vanilla-fudge, vanilla-toffee, or vanilla-lilikoi curd. I got the fudge which was really good, especially considering that I don't like fudge normally. And Chris being the lilikoi lover that he is obviously choice the curd and was rhapsodizing about it (and ended up buying a jar of that too!).

We learned about how to make vanilla extract. Apparently all it takes is a vanilla bean and a bit of alcohol! Then you just let it sit and flavor the alcohol for a bit (At least 2-3 months, but better after a few years).

Artificial vanilla - did you know that vanilla is one of the only flavors that scientists have been unable to reproduce chemically? It has so many different compounds they just can't figure it out. And some of the stories they told us about the artificial stuff makes me nervous (Liver cancer?!).

Then we got a tour of where they grow the vanilla and learned all about how to grow it! Vanilla grows on a vine and is an orchid - which I totally did not know.

VANILLA VINE (Hard to see but this one has pods)

The reason why vanilla is so expensive is because they are like American turkeys...evolved to the point where they can't exist without some human help in the reproductive process. The family that grows the vanilla has to hand pollinate at least 500 orchids which have a flowering window of only 3-4 hours! From seed to cured vanilla it takes at least 5 years!

SPEAKING OF TURKEYS - ONE SHOWED UP ON TOUR! :)

At the end of the tour we bought a few of the culinary items in the gift shop like the salad dressing and the lilikoi curd. All in all the tour was a really great way to spend a few hours. The food was awesome and I really enjoyed learning about growing vanilla. I can't wait until we get some visitors so I can eat there again :)

What do you feed a tiger?

Welcome to the Panewa Zoo...conveniently located about 20 minutes from my house. Even better - it's FREE! (What a perfect field trip for kids...right Hoffmans, Martins, Staffaronis, Weidas, Buelows, MacDonalds and other friends with keiki???)

Maintained by the Parks and Recreations (I think), we were not expecting much, especially after it was panned by my trusty "Hawaii, the Big Island Revealed" guidebook. But it was free so what was there to lose?

We were excited to see some Nigerian dwarf goats (We really really want one! A neighbor up the street has two!!). There was one that was rocking an awesome beard. Unfortunately, the pictures are on Chris' camera and we have yet to discover where we packed the cord for Chris' camera. However, common farm animals...not such an exciting start to a zoo (there's a donkey too).

We finally ran into a large enclosure with monkeys (including a very heavily pregnant one!). Did you know that monkeys can use their tail just like hands and feet? Check it out!

REACH FOR IT....(WITH TAIL)

BRING TO MOUTH

There are other great animals like "Penny Ant-e" the giant anteater, a kinkajou, lemurs, exotic birds, frogs and lizards. But the star of the show is soon-to-be 12 year old white Bengal tiger, Namaste. Originally from Hawaii's ninth island, Las Vegas and owned by a magician (big surprise there!) until he came to Hawaii.

So the question is...what do you feed a tiger? Watch the following clip to find out!
(WARNING, if you are a vegetarian, you might not want to watch this - I can tell you they aren't feeding Namaste a salad.)



Chris and I were pleasantly surprised by the zoo and I will surely visit again. As we were leaving the zoo, we had another run-in with an animal. In Peru we encountered monkeys who were determined to steal Chris' hat!

MONKEY THIEF IN PUERTO MALDONALDO

In Hawai'i I almost lost my camera to a cockatoo! (Good thing Chris caught it!)

COCKATOO THIEF REACHING FOR MY CAMERA IN PANEWA

Meet Mr. Coqui

Tonight, Chris was taking out the trash and he said there was a frog at the door! I was so excited to meet the little bugger face-to-face. Frogs are generally cute. I was expecting something like this:

OK, I'M KIDDING...

CUTE FROG

Mr. Coqui is definitely little. But he's not green, nor very cute:

THE COQUI

Oh well...it's not that cute and it makes really annoying chirping noises, but that's why it's a pest in Hawaii! For those of you who are not familiar with the coqui or it's unique sounds, I've thought about making an audio of the chirping. Nahhh...you're just going to have to come visit us to experience it for yourselves!!!

On a more educational note: when I was in Puerto Rico, I was excited to learn that they are the national mascot of the San Juan. Having now experienced them, I'm wondering why!

For more interesting information about the coqui frog, you can read about them at this link:
http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/pq/coqui

Nature's Bounty

This morning I peeked out my front window to find some random truck parked in front of my house. Being the true East Coaster that I am, I pushed that "Aloha spirit" aside and convinced myself that some psycho was casing our house for a potential robbery (seriously, I had this thought). Than I saw Chris come wandering around the side of this strange truck with a large stick in hand and he's jabbing at the trees.

Truck belonged to "Jesus Freak" aka neighborly Michelle (Jesus Freak is a large window decal) and stick was one of those fruit-picking contraptions. In keeping with the characters Chris had told me I'd meet in Puna, Michelle is a former social worker with CPS who spent some time teaching and now is trying to start a motorcycle club and enjoys roaming the neighborhood looking for fruit. Neat!

Chris was very excited about the prospect of fruit and went poking around our new yard. Here's what we found!

CHRIS WITH OUR FIRST FRUIT FROM THE YARD

(Chris would like you to know that this is him with his "testicle" and that avocado comes from the word "testicle" - clearly I will limit his contributions to the blog ;p)

Hawaiian Road Trip!

Chris and I decided to take our first ROAD TRIP in Hawaii. We got up relatively early and were on the road by 8am, driving in my car since Chris' truck is still drying out from the "Pele" incident earlier in the week.

I've done the circumnavigation trip around the Big Island once before, but went via Kau to Kona. This time we took Hilo-->Waimea-->Kona.

Leaving Hilo was WET. For the first hour on the Hamakua drive was some form a rain from a misting to a torrential downpour. From what we could see, the land is lush, green and there are some spectacular mansions. When we finally hit Waimea, I was a little surprised that it was such a lovely town. It actually seems like a more developed area than Hilo. What I mean is - I saw big-box stores I recognized. Store-wise, it was almost like being back in Kapolei! Waimea is so pretty. There's big spaces that have cattle, sheep, goat or horses. It seemed quiet and picturesque. Chris and I both agreed we could live in Waimea.

NORTH WAIMEA

Leaving Waimea, we hit Parker Ranch, where they were staging a rodeo! We didn't stop, but within minutes we both realized that the landscape had completely changed. Leaving Hilo it was wet rainforest; Waimea was green farmland; now, on the northern end of Waimea everything looked dead and like it had been dead for awhile. It was looking like a big wildfire waiting to happen. One neat thing we did see was the telescopes ontop of Mauna Kea. I wished I had stopped to take a photo.

Right around now we were hitting the two hour mark. Chris has always talked about how his limit is around two hours. Well right around two hours and three minutes, Chris was asleep!

I drove for about forty minutes later and over time the landscape seemed to increase in elevation and some green, life color was returning to the land. At long last we pulled into Kailua-Kona. The first leg of our first Hawaiian road trip pau :)

KAILUA-KONA

First Dinner = Massive Fail...Pele testing us?

Spent the day running errands. Stocking up a furnished house is surprisingly expensive. There's so many little incidentals you forget like - salt, saran wrap, clothes hangers, etc. Spent the morning in Hilo at the Farmer's market. I think the farmer's markets are going to be one of my favorite reasons for living in Hilo. There's three withing a 30 minute radius. I'm hoping that I'm not making it up, but the salad I made from the organic (hydroponic) Manoa lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers was SO much better than normal.

Then went to Ross and Walmart to get some basics. By the time I got home I realized I had to return them because the glassware was broken when we opened it. After taking a little nap I returned to Walmart to make my returns. I returned to find that Chris had started our first homemade dinner. The steak was rubbed with lavender and lightly seared to be cooked when I got home. Salad was tossed, broccoli was roasted and mashed potatoes on the stove. I was admiring when suddenly...the power went out.

Luckily we had JUST unpacked our flashlights. We scrambled to find one and as our tradition has been - lights go out, we light candles and play Scrabble. However, this being our new home the only candles we had were the Yankee Candle citronella ones. We found 2 decorative tea lights, lit those. I had bought a scented candle for the kitchen (My favorite kitchen/household scent = Apple Spice) so we lit that one as well. We settled in to play Scrabble and the power flickered back to life.

Hooray! We could have the steak that smelled SO good. We had some foil in the drawers and we were a little hesitant to use it. It had a weird film on it that almost made it look like photo paper to me. We got the steaks on the foil...and suddenly Chris was yelling "Oh my god, the stove is on fire!" I dashed around and sure enough, the cookie sheet I had just bought appeared to be on fire. Chris rushed around looking for something to douse the flames (Note to self: must buy fire extinguisher...live in all wood house!). Instructing me to watch the fire...I, of course, rushed for my camera. Chris found some baking soda just as the flames extinguished itself. No steak for us :(

JUST A SMALL FIRE IN THE OVEN...

So I guess we're going to have to redo our first homemade dinner. Meanwhile, I just got my butt kicked in Scrabble (so bad I forfeited) and we ate dinner of salad, mashed potatoes, broccoli and Smirnoff's blueberry lemonade with strawberries from the farmer's market - a random meal, but wouldn't have had it any other way!

Chris is convinced Pele is testing us...he says we've had 3 of the 4 elements: earth (the rock I hit), water (the rain the soaked his car - personally I think that's just dumb human error!), fire (the stove fire). We're just missing wind. He says that we can expect pestilence, famine, etc next. Great.

Worst Rental Car Ever

I've already written about our rental car being extremely problematic. First, I hit that rock. (See the scratch mainly under the rear passenger door...that's the one!)

Then I couldn't turn it on without performing tricks (Make sure the emergency break was on, press on the breaks, turn the wheel side to side). Totally did not help that Chris never had any problems with the car.


All these problems were pretty ironic because I had mentioned to Chris in the Honolulu airport that having all these nice new rental cars were going to make me not want to take my own crappy car back. Well, with this car I have never been so ready to get rid of a car in my life!

We had picked up Chris' car on Thursday, but we still needed the rental because someone (not me) left the driver's side door opened all night and being that we live in a RAINforest, of course it poured!

So on Friday, we headed down to pick up my car. Sweet relief! Just one more trip to fill up the rental's tank and I was home free! So OF COURSE, I'm sitting in the long line at the gas station in front of Hilo's airport. Out of no where, the guy in front of me decides to back up right into my rental car!!! I did not even have time to react. The guy does not even get out of the car to see if he's done anything to my car. I was so furious (more at the car than him) that I skimmed it and didn't see any damage so left it at that.

Finally arrived at the rental drop off, where it was pouring and gratefully handed over the keys to the WORST RENTAL CAR EVER.

Day 1 - Nothing else to do but blog

Woke up to the sun at 5:30am...despite being exhausted from all the craziness of the first week, I wanted get up and see what the place looked like in sunlight. What I see out of every window is clearly rainforest. It's lush, verdant, green, and definitely different than the ocean vista I used to see out of our Maili apartment.

The house is an interesting mix of really neat wood pieces and random old fixtures that I hate. I'll have to take and add pictures later whenever the box that has my cord arrives.

Spent the morning unpacking all my luggage. The closets are kind of weird. They are limited in hanging space and storage space in general. Clearly whoever has lived here in the past has not had a wardrobe like I do. Chris and I decided to each take a closet.

After unpacking I realized that I was COLD. I took a hot shower (but not too long because I'm paranoid about running out of water!) and promptly dressed in long pants, a shirt and sweater. Eventually I had to add socks and a blanket! This is a very strange turn after my regular home-casual of a bikini top, shorts and maybe a tank top.

I started wading through my finances since I've neglected them in the moving. Trying to figure out what we made (ok, I'll admit it - I knew...I did keep a current Excel spreadsheet - I was counting the money), trying to figure out how much I spent, and trying to figure out what Chris owed me.

My one goal of the day was to try to set up a PO box. Yes, this is how boondocks our new home is...we have water catchment, no garbage pickup, and no mail delivery. We had heard from our landlord that although Pahoa is closer, Keaau is nicer. Pahoa's post office looked closed so we headed to Keaau where we learned there's a waiting list and it might be months until we get a mailing address.

We headed to Hilo to check out the scene. Wednesday is the big farmer's market so after rambling about for a bit we stopped at the market and bought a bunch of fruit - strawberries and mango were the only things we got that we recognized. We got this red prickly looking fruit that looks like a large, oblong rambutan and a little yellow fruit we've both never had before. Chris said the rambutan-like fruit was like chewing on an eyeball. I'll have to report later when I try for myself!

Our next stop was Ben Franklin, my favorite crafting store! Unfortunately they do not offer classes like the Pearl City one, so I was bummed. I was excited that I do have a place to get yarn for leis and cake decorating supplies. In the Wilton aisle I saw a Hello Kitty pan! When I get enough money to feel comfortable spending, I'm totally going to make a Hello Kitty cake just because!

We ate at Ken's Pancake House. I've eaten there before and so we had a nice lunch. Both of us were fading really fast though and we quickly finished lunch and moved on to some final errands at Walmart before heading back home. (I must say that I HATE shopping at Walmart and avoid it at all costs. However, at this point, it's the only place in Hilo that I see where I can get the stuff I need all in one place. I read somewhere that Target is being built - hallelujah!!!)

Our last errand was going to Borders. It's been awhile since I've actually bought a real book. Unfortunately, my Kindle power charger died on me and until I get a replacement - need to get a book. At Borders we met a Hilo version of Steve the library aide. Those who have worked at Ilima will understand what I'm talking about. Poor Chris got accosted in the sci-fi area and was spoken to at length about sci-fi conventions and books he didn't want to read. I was accosted trying to find Emily's recommendation of "My Horizontal Life" (it was weird...when I told him I didn't need help he stood there and stared at me until Chris rescued me). I got "Moloka'i" by Alan Brennert. I hope it's good.

We came home and Chris has spent the day reading on the porch and I slept. We had plans to go to Thai Thai in Volcano for dinner when we landed, but it was so late and we were so tired we didn't go. Then tonight, it turns out they aren't open on Wednesday! Majorly bummed. It's interesting that there's an amazing plethora of Thai restaurants in Hilo. Hiloans really like their Thai!

I watched an amazing "So You Think You Can Dance" with Alex Wong - he's my fave!!! I'm very very very annoyed that we don't get Bravo at this house and can't watch "Top Chef." I hope my landlord finds the password soon to our satellite cable and I can add it.

My final note was I had a rather spectacular meltdown today. Our rental car has been giving us crazy trouble. Not only do I have this scratch on the side, but just turning it on is a challenge. We've figured out that you have to have the emergency brake on, pull the wheel to the side, stick the key in with some force and will the car to turn on. We have no food in the house and I wanted to go grocery shopping. First, I open the car and there's these two little cockroaches playing tag on the steering wheel - EW. Then I see a spider crawling on my seat. If you don't like bugs, living in the rainforest is not the best idea. We have our usual trouble of not being able to turn on the car and after about 2 minutes and Chris saying "I guess we aren't meant to go anywhere." I flipped out and screamed "I hate it here!!!!" Bursting into tears, I went into the house, kicked my shoes all over the place, threw the keys and generally had a temper tantrum. I suppose I shouldn't tell you this, but well - it is what it is. I've only had a meltdown like this once before and it was in Peru. I ended up loving Peru...so let's hope Hilo gets better!

Pahoa = Paradise?

SUNSET ON OUR STAY ON OAHU :(

Ok, I'll be totally honest...Pahoa and the Big Island has yet to grow on me. We arrived at our new home after days of frantic cleaning, packing, and mailing boxes. If I believed in messages from the universe than I would think the universe is telling me: "Get thee away from the Big Island!!!"

First, the whole moving process has been nuts. It's no secret that I'm a pack rat and having to sort through my stuff and decide what to keep and what to send was traumatic. Second, I supposed I ought to be thankful that Chris is ridiculously anal about cleaning but it just made the moving even more stressful. I felt like I had to attack every nook and cranny with a Q-Tip.

On a side note, lessons learned:
1) Kris and Chris should never be allowed to have carpet, we destroy them
2) Kris and Chris should also never be allowed to own a white or even slightly white couches
3) Those French doors with all the little wooden slates, are a HUGE PAIN IN THE BUTT TO CLEAN

Back to task: Add on not hearing from our former landlord after a letter, email, multiple phone calls to multiple numbers; hemorrhaging money on moving supplies; pushing back our flight by a day; waiting over 3 hours to drop off our cars to ship; having it pour in Waianae (where it never rains) while you are trying to pack the tiny rental car with 7 checked luggage/4 carryons/2 random bags of random stuff that we forgot to pack; leaving 30 minutes behind schedule to return the rental car...and you get the general idea.

We arrived in Hilo June 29, 2010 at 7:30pm and the comedy of errors continued when one of those luggage carts (Which are $4?!?!?!) loaded with half of our 7 checked bags and 4 carry-ons kept spilling all its contents multiple times on the short walk to the rental car terminal. Thankfully we were successful in getting the car, loading it up and we began the drive to our yet-unseen-rental-house.

Chris was very excited that he could hear the coqui frogs as soon as we stepped off the plane. I was excited that I could not.

Lemme tell you, we live in the middle of no where. We are off the main road, off the main road, off the main road, off the main road, off of Volcano Belt Road (kinda the Big main road). So driving in the dark to our new place was a little unnerving as we got further and further away from the (relative) bright lights of Hilo. Finally, after 40 minutes of iPhone-guided driving we pulled into our unpaved, circular driveway...where I promptly hit a rock. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I drove into a rock. Left a nice 2 in thick/12 in long scratch on the side of the rental car. Fantastic.

We stepped out of the car and immediately I was assaulted by the high-pitched chirping of the coqui frogs. Darnnit I can hear them. It seems like there's a million of them and they are all discordantly co-qui-ing their little hearts out. I think by the end of living in Big Island I will be driven half mad by the frogs. Chris is already losing it...he keeps talking about meditating to the sound of the frogs, hearing voices in the frogs...oh dear.

The house is nice. It's strange having a house after living in Maili Cove. I keep losing Chris! There's elements of the house I like and elements I don't like, but perhaps I need to give it time. So at this point the judgment is still definitely out on whether or not Pahoa = Paradise.