AlOhA from hAwAii

Aloha! I've spent the last 10 days with my family in Maui and Oahu. It was a really relaxing week of catch up with my favorite people in the world. 7 months of emails and phone calls can be taxing, so enjoying some drinks on the beach paved the way for a special reunion.
Here are some random favorite family pics. Above, Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Oahu. This was my last day in Hawaii and a somber one. Pearl Harbor was very moving---we toured the US Bowfin (a combat submarine) and the US Missouri (a battleship used during WWII) and went out to the US Arizona to see the memorial site of 1200 men who lost their lives during the attack and haven't surfaced since. Many Japanese travel to Hawaii and it was not a surprise to see them at Pearl Harbor. I wonder what they are feeling and thinking...guess I will find out when I travel to Hiroshima in the coming months.
OK on a much lighter note...my favorite part of the trip was snorkeling. I was a bit nervous @ first...I was a rookie oceanic snorkeler. We took a cruise boat out to Molokini island, pictured below, to try it out. Molokini is a beautiful quiet island with peaceful coves for beginners like me to enjoy, without fearing for my life (sharks, whales, and other species that find humans a tasty treat!) I dove in and the world just stopped, my brain shut off and for the first time since I came to Japan....I quit thinking. I lost myself in the small crevasses of the coral and the sea. It was the most relaxing thing I have done in my life.

Maybe someday I will get my scuba cert...
The entire week proved to be one big party...lots of drinks, laughs, delicious food and sun. Yknow the saying "out of sight, out of mind" holds true. I think of my family often, but have found more than enough ways to occupy myself over here. But there is also something to be said for "distance makes the heart grow fonder" - as seeing them again made me remember how special they are and how lucky I am to have these folks to come home to. We have taken many family vacations together, but this one was extra special.

We hit up a luau in Maui...the dinner and show was delicious and entertaining. The fire throwing man handled the flames like it was puddy. The beautiful women and their grass skirts danced the nite away..and the men and their 'barely there' sarongs gave me a much needed dose of eye candy. Alas.

Ignorant me assumed that because Hawaii is in the USA everyone would speak English and eat lots of pizza and Oreos. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Hawaii has its own culture and language. Actually, Hawaiian language sounded a bit like Japanese----a syllabic language with many similar confusing sounds. There were so many Japanese tourists in Oahu, I almost felt like I hadn't left Japan at all. And the streets were covered with ethnic foods and finding PIZZA almost proved impossible! Having my family visit Japan would have been a blast, but Hawaii proved a small dose of Japanese culture, with the comforts of home (like normal toilets).

These are shots from our condo in Maui. We stayed on Kaanapali Beach, supposedly the biggest and best beach in Maui. We were about 50 feet from the water and enjoyed whale watching from our balcony. This is humpback whale mating season and Kaanapali Beach has THE BIGGEST population of whales in Hawaii. All around me, I saw the whales and the huge geyers of water shooting from their blowholes. Some of the whales jumped out of the water, breaching--as its called? They were beautiful and so big--45 TONS!

Thank you Mom, Dad and Mike for another memorable vacation! Too many memories that can not be summarized on here (the Road to Hell, er...Hana incident, the possible murder/suicide at the hotel, your Avian scare in Honolulu). What a trip! Seeing you guys made me miss you even more! I love you and look forward to another reunion...not Hawaii-probably just the cabin...later this summer. Thanks again for planning (and semi-financing) this one - it really was incredible! Love you! anne.