Lost in Waikiki. Literally.

Aloha!


I went to Waikiki this morning, after picking up breakfast from 7-Eleven (kids: don't try this at home). Breakfast consisted of a sandwich and a Twinkie. I didn't really spend so much time at the beach, which at the moment is still very much packed with tourists, because I'll be living nearby during the semester anyway - there'll be plenty of time to go.

T.K. at Waikiki Beach. I could have gotten a little more creative,
perhaps a photo in front of the water itself, but meh.

And speaking of my semester accommodation, I thought I'd go looking for it since I was in the area. The address of the building is 2280 Kuhio Avenue. I started walking up Kuhio, then realised the street numbers were increasing from 2500 so I turned around and walked the other way. Fail. I got to the end of the road and started walking back towards where I came from. Eventually I found the building I was looking for, but it took forever and I needed to go potty so I didn't hang around much except to take these photos.

Hawaii has a bus system known simply as TheBus. Students flash their ID card to get a free ride, but because I don't get my ID card until Monday, I had to feed the machine with $2.50. The annoying thing is that the machines don't give change, so before catching my bus home I had to do a bit of shopping.


I bought a shell from the market, thinking that when I receive my change I could request some coins. Fail. The people before me who made a purchase from the same stall took the lady's last coins. So I went to Jamba Juice to get nice cold drink to survive the hot sun and some freaking quarters.

"Can I get a mango smoothie?"
"Do you want mango, or mango a-go-go?"
"...Mango a-go-go."

I eventually got back to the hostel and had a refreshingly cold shower. I don't know if the shower I used has a hot water tap, and I spent a minute trying to figure it out, but I guess it doesn't matter since it's hot enough outside anyway. For the past hour or so I've been in the lounge area, discussing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with some transferring grad students. Most of the people at this hostel are students, and many of them grad students. Apparently to them I look older than I actually am:

"So are you doing your PhD or Masters?"

*BLANK STARE*

I just heard someone's phone go off, which reminds me that I wanted to find a solution to my long-distance telecommunications problem at some stage. Back to 7-Eleven I go.


Mahalo!

45 things to do in a 44-hour day

Part 1 - Sydney chapter

1. Wake up early (= 9.30am)

2. Eat leftover KFC spicy chicken

3. Finish packing (didn't happen until 3pm)

4. Call Optus

5. Go to the bank

6. Update Facebook status

7. Photocopy all travel documents

8. Repeat #7

9. Eat chicken casserole

10. Feed dog an English muffin and rub his belly
11. Purchase birthday present(s) in advance for brothers

12. Wrap up aforementioned present(s)

13. Hide present(s) in place(s) aforementioned brothers would hopefully never look

14. Repeat #6

15. Say goodbye to bedroom, pets and house

16. Travel by car to grandma's place

17. Wish grandma a happy birthday :)

18. Eat chicken salad sandwich

19. Purchase new Matthew Reilly books for flight and, secondarily, as a "part of my culture to share"

20. Proceed to check-in counter F at Sydney International Airport

21. Promise self not to cry while passing through gate

22. Chase after the sun in a Boeing 767 Jet


Part II - Honolulu chapter


23. Travel backwards through time
24. Regain consciousness with airplane breakfast on tray table (not chicken)
25. Clear customs confusedly
26. Look for person holding sign with my name on it
27. Receive welcome package including snacks, toiletries, University of Hawaii campus map and a pillow
28. Get dropped off at hostel and check in with nice lady who hasn't had her break and therefore cannot calculate
29. Freshen up for yet another Friday the 13th
30. Phone home, and then get disconnected due to lack of quarters
31. Report to International Student Services office in Queen Lili`uokalani Center
32. Meet Mr. MIX
33 Take a shot of Tuberculosis
34. Have first local lunch - Subway grilled chicken 6-inch sub
35. Consider whether or not I'm supposed to tip
36. Return to hostel and take advantage of free Wi-Fi
37. Repeat #6
38. Sort out stuff that needs to be sorted out
39. Stroll past a black cat. Look it in the eyes and walk away
40. Consider what's for dinner
41. Consider going to Waikiki
42. Phone home again
43. Have first dinner - chicken-flavoured ramen... Followed by chocolate for dessert
44. Wash dishes alongside German girl while chatting about how snobby Sydney Uni is
45. Publish this post

You only need seven shirts. Max 10...

...said the lady who packed twenty pairs of socks into a Space Bag for me, knowing full well that I'm travelling to a place where 90% of the time I'll be wearing my Havaianas. As my suitcase slowly fills up with clothes, my wardrobe gradually empties. It has come to my attention that I don't wear a lot of the clothes that I own, which isn't many to begin with. Most of them are, as mother would kindly say, "from when I was bigger". But over the past few years - and especially after my trip to the Philippines last year - the number of shirts in my closet has increased significantly, and I can't decide which 7-10 to bring with me to Hawai'i.

Perhaps one for every colour of the rainbow?

In other news, TWO DAYS... (and 20 hours, but still!) I'm a bit worried because I don't yet have a place to stay when I arrive in Honolulu. If it comes down to it, I may just have to camp on the beach for a bit. The thing that worries me about that is the number of, you know, b-o-d-y-s buried in the sand. Most horrifying is the idea of Nikki and Paulo emerging from out of nowhere as if they've been there all along, begging me for diamonds, acting terribly... If there's anything I've learned from Lost, it's that a gun can sometimes be your best friend.

*shoots Nikki and Paulo dead*

Mahalo!

P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney

I totally had a Dory moment today. I was in a rush to get to the post office this morning to send mail to Hawaii. The most crucial piece of information that I forgot to take with me was the address of the place it is being sent to. I had previously sent mail to the same address just last week, so rather than going back home to find the address, only to trek back to the shops and mail it, I picked long and hard at my brain to try and remember what it was. Here's what I came up with:

Hawaii Student Housing
1159 Bethel Street
Honolulu, HI 98610
USA

And I was right! For the most part... Everything except the zip code was correct. Now, if the answers from a Google search on "mail wrong zip code" are correct, mail is sorted first into zip codes, and then distributed from there. Hopefully the postal workers in the riverside town of Carson in Washington rectify the error before one of the five registered sex offenders in the area get their hands on my mail!

Mahalo!