Long Overdue Post on Fall Break

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while. My sister hogs the computer way too much. For evidence, you go to her websites and see that they are updated more frequently than mine. And...I've been busy. I planned to write about my fall break, but that was more than a week ago now. I don't quite feel like blogging too much about it now. Still! I have pictures! So let that be the excuse for this overdue post. =)

Sunday (Oct 1)
I went out with Jenny and Zane for lunch and a little bit of shopping. And just because I want to show off my lunch:



Tokyo Shoyu Ramen @ Mikazuki inside Shirokiya



Monday
I planned for this day weeks before fall break started. My friends and I were all stressed from school and work so I figured we could all use a little cheering up. Although we see each other every day at school, it's not the same as getting together just to have fun. And I mentioned before how a friend neglected all her friends because of her boyfriend...well, this was a girls-only-fabulous-fun-day. This means he CANNOT come along. He actually called while we were putting cucumbers on our faces, but my other friend snatched her phone away. xD We baked matcha roll cake with azuki beans and gave ourselves the "beauty treatment" (my ideas).



Matcha roll cake w/ azuki beans & apple cider


It tasted like a dream come true...


Just b/c I like this shot and you can't really see our faces...(I'm in the middle.)


Tuesday & Wednesday
Work @ the library.

Thursday
I went bowling to celebrate a friend's birthday. I hit a strike, but suffered from a mysterious losing streak afterward. I was doing fine in the beginning, but after lunch, I got zero after zero. o_o; Hm. Bad luck sushi?

Friday
This was the longest day. I set my alarm to wake me up at 6:10 AM, but I forgot to put in a CD so I woke up 20 minutes late. On Friday, I was supposed to go hiking at Diamond Head with Erica and the Vietnamese Club. I'm not in the club, but I'm going anyway just because Erica invited me and I've never been to Diamond Head. *smiles* Erica estimated to be finished with the hike at 12, everyone was telling me how we had to climb a 100-step staircase, and Ha complained that her legs were killing her. All of this made me think it would be a long and difficult process to get to the top.

The hike was actually slightly disappointing for me because it was so short. It was an easy hike - not challenging at all. The trick is to watch your feet. The path is rocky so you can easily trip, fall, and break your back. And the infamous stairs! Not difficult at all! A hundred steps are nothing! ;D (I know my sister will have something to say about this...tsk,tsk.)

The view at the top was spectacular. There were many Japanese tourists and I heard someone exclaim, "Sugoi!" Sugoi, indeed! :D I made a gallery of this trip and you can view it here. (If you go to the Photography page, you would notice that there are two more galleries - 6 & 7. I'm going to put that up later because there are too many photos to deal with right now.) The first shot in the gallery was taken before our hike. Erica spotted a stray cat so I snapped a picture of it. Erica was second to take out her camera, but one picture was enough to scare the cat away. XD Sorry, Erica! You can have my picture (just ask)! I also have a picture of stairs in one of the shots...people told me that was the 100 steps staircase, but they were mistaken! Those were NOT the staircase...there were actually three sets of staircases. Thankfully, I did take a picture on the real staircase:



Erica (in pink) and me on the 100-steps staircase.


We finished the hike three hours before 12 so our "lunch" became our "breakfast." XP

I say this is a long day because I also went out later that night with an old friend from elementary school. <3 I've never attended a "First Friday" before. "First Friday" is an event that happens on the first Friday of every month. Galleries in Chinatown/Downtown are open for public viewing. There is much entertainment such as live music. Many shops and restaurants are also open. =3 We went to the The Arts at Marks Garage and I really liked this piece:



I don't remember the title, but it costs $1800.

It is an interesting piece, but I would rather use my money for the Japan trip, hehe. ^^ I also took pictures of paintings but those didn't come out well due to the glare of the lighting. My favorite place was the Ramsay museum. Ramsay is an AMAZING artist and I'm officially a fan now. I'm sad that I can't find any of her works online so I can't show you guys. =( What sets her apart from all the other artists is her extraordinary attention to detail. When I first entered the museum, I noticed that there was a magnifiying glass hanging next to each peace of her artwork. I found the sight to be quite comical...but you can only truly come to appreciate her fine lines when you view them up close. It's astonishing.

Here are some other pieces that I liked:



All of the members of the Chinese zodiac!


A close up of me!


Cute teacup set.


I really liked that teacup set...I thought it was irresistably cute...simply adorable. This was at the grand opening of a new furniture shop called [area]. I'm sure it was unaffordable so I didn't bother looking for the price.



Pretty vase.


I fell in love at first sight with this gorgeous vase at the shop "into" (yes, it's called into), but pictures don't do justice. -_-

It's getting really late now so that's all for now. Good night!

Sixteen Years Old

This Thursday was my sweet sixteenth. I don't understand why turning sixteen is supposed to be special because mine was not special at all. I don't feel any different, and only a handful of people remembered my birthday. Everyone else (including my entire family) forgot. At times, I even forgot my own birthday because it was such an ordinary day. I know it is my fault for not telling them, but it would be weird to say, "It's my birthday." I truly don't mind, though. I was only hurt that one of my "close" friends did not even say hi to me on that day, much less wish me a happy birthday. I hate boyfriends because they get in the way.

Today was a nice and relaxing Saturday. My older sister treated me to a late birthday lunch at Dreamers Home Style Cafe, which is becoming one of my favorite restaurants. I love the decor and the nice ambience it carries. They offer many common dishes, but their food always has this unique taste that I can't quite pinpoint. Anyway, I'm not a food blogger so I can't describe it. All you need to know is that it was good and I ate like a pig. =)

I realize I haven't blogged since school started. I'm busy, already! Harhar.

--
My new classes:

Period 1: Physics EA*
The teacher is Ms. Rasay. We were already familiar with each other's faces because we've seen each other during the Engineering Expos. All we needed to learn were the names. I don't know if it's some sort of curse at this school, but all of the science teachers I've had so far have bad English! During my freshman year in Biology BSCS, my teacher was Ms. Hu. She had a horrible Chinese accent. During my sophomore year in Chemistry EA, my teacher was Ms. Trinh. She had a horrible Vietnamese accent. And this year? She's Filipino. With a horrible Filipino accent. Class didn't start off too well for me...I think she pinched me on the first day of school because I didn't know the radius of a hydrogen atom. ;o;

Period 2: Graphics Communication
Hmmm, not much to say about this class except that the work is easy and that the teacher reminded me of Mr. Oshiro, my wood workshop teacher back in Middle School.

Period 3: Travel Industry Management
I really regret taking this elective. ;_; I'm stuck with a bunch of loud and immature sophomores and I don't have a single friend here. A boring class.

Period 4: Pre Calculus EA*
I'm already expecting to have a hard time in this class. ><;;; I think I failed the first quiz. *sigh*

Period 5: AP English
I haven't had a decent, proper English class in four long years. Seriously. I was itching to finally learn something! Although this class is difficult, I don't hate it. =) I actually enjoy it because I like the teacher and my classmates (many of them are from my World History Honors class last year). I'm just so eager to improve my vocabulary, reading and writing skills!

Period 6: US History
It is just my luck to be stuck with the strange teacher that talks about sugar and peeling corn. I think we're doing the Civil War.

*EA = Engineering Academy
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I also added a new gallery in the Photography section. They're pictures of Waikiki again, only this time there are more beach shots. My personal favorite shot is the first one. =)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007!!!

I cannot believe it is New Year already! Although Hawaii is the slowest, time still flew by quickly for me! XD I watched Nodame Canatabile around 7:30pm, then thought about my New Year resolutions. I think they are basically the same every year, which is to improve myself and be a better person. I also want to get a job and have my first working experience. As corny as it sounds, I want to be stronger, healthier, and happier! It would be awesome if I could live like Nodame and the rest of the S Orchestra gang. XD Hopefully this year will be more enjoyable than the last.

It also seems to have become some sort of tradition between my siblings and I to play Scrabble every Omisoka (New Year's Eve night). I guess it is because we need to do something to pass the time while we wait for the hand to strike twelve. I played with my brother and won with a total of 364 points. He had 238 points. Tee-hee.

When the fireworks started, our whole family (excluding my dad) rushed out to the balcony. I was there, holding my sometimes-broken camera, snapping away. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Although it stopped working in the middle of the show, I managed to capture a few good pictures. You can view the photos in the new gallery I put up.
I also finished making Musical Chair's new layout on New Year's Eve. Can anyone guess what it features? Nodame Cantabile of course. *falls over*

Hmm...soba. *_*