Swimming with Sharks

For Jeff's birthday this year, I gave up trying to figure out what high-tech gadget he hadn't bought yet and have him something that he has been wanting to do since we moved here: shark diving. Well, its not really "diving" its more like snorkling in a cage while sharks swim around you, attracted to the cage by chum (dead fish) and the electrical impulses that are transmitted through the alumnium cage. Yah. People actually do this..enough that on the north shore there are TWO companies that do this and only this.

Also, you should know that since moving to Hawaii and reading about numerous Tiger Shark attacks around Oahu this year...the face-to-face encounter I had with a 4ft reef shark in the dark has suddenly taken on a life of its own and made its way into several nightmares. I have never had shark nightmares before moving here. So, its only sensible that I would then jump into the ocean with sharks swimming around us. Ogh, did I mention that Jeff further tormented me by telling me that we had to swim to the cage?!

So this weekend was the weekend that we did the unthinkable. And guess what?! It totally rocked. The sharks that swam around us were stunningly gorgeous animals. Quick and agile, lean and muscular with totally amazing cat eyes. The sharks that were swimming with us were Galapagos and Sand Sharks. They were not aggressive towards us at all, maybe curious, but not scary. After they pulled the cage back to the boat, and we climbed out and safely back into the boat. The next group climbed in. And then.

Da Nah. Da Nah. Da NA NA NA NA NA........The Tiger sharks showed up. Uh. Huh. And from the safety at the boat they were really damn cool. Huge. But cool. The fool on the boat kept teasing her and when she came out of the water (which she did so she could get that huge marlin head sitting there), he would put his hand on her nose (which apparently sends them into some kind of temporary coma) and push her back. Our Tiger shark had to be over 11 feet long and she was huge: 1000 pounds?!! THUS, I am calling this guy a fool.

Doing this was like BEING in a National Geographic special.

Anyway. It was good for me, my phobias and I can not wait to do it again.

We'll be posting video on YouTube once I get it all edited. In the meantime..don't let those 1000 pound predetors get to you. Once you see inside their souls, you'll see, they are just hungry too. Throw 'em a femur and they will totally take your other.

Here's One Keeping Me Out of the Water

"We're gonna need a bigger boat...."
Um. Yah. Caught off the coast of Molokai. Why don't you stop now and see where Molokai is...what the HELL?!!!!?? Its a small, SMALL consolation that this 18' bad boy was caught on film at 3200 feet. Apparently, this little fella is amazing for more than his size, he is also a freak of nature: 6 gills instead of 5. Yah. THAT'S what I noticed too.

The Truth About Hawaii ..and my rambling impression of it

So, its true. There are lots of fabulous things to do here and we aren't anywhere near done. BUT..as joyous as that is...

Here are the dirty little secrets about Hawaii that you won't find in the travel brochure:

TOTALLY true that food is so damn expensive that you will lose weight simply by moving here (how much asparagus from Costco can a girl really eat in a week?!).

TRUE: Its CRAZY here. Its funny crazy, but crazy. This is the 70th largest city in the country (PHX is the 5th), and yet the 4th most expensive place to live (damn international land investors) and its also very insular. By that I mean, its a small damn island and I get the feeling that its a little like living in Green Bay again..eventually, you realize that everyone knows each other...

TRUE: There is no Target here. Nope. Not One. None. Nada. Neg-a-tive.

TRUE: its also a little weird that the first thing everyone asks you (who is from here) is where you went to High School (and the newspaper ALWAYS publishes that info when referring to a co-islander.) The High School thing is their way to weed out the newbies who are much hated for buying previously mentioned overpriced real estate.

TRUE: The funny thing is, people are quite nice (despite hating you). For instance:today I went to the post office. The dreaded postal worker. But MY neighborhood postal worker doesn't hate me - oh, no. He went OUT OF HIS way to suggest that I package my shipment more compactly, saving me $20 and then, letting me "butt" to the front of the line when I was done repackaging. THEN, I asked if they needed appointments for passport photos...he said yes. I asked what days and he said "well, do you have a minute? I could do it now." WOW. THAT would NEVER happen at my post office in Scottsdale. The post office for 85254 in had postal workers who could best be described as HOSTILE. To the point that I used to get chastised when I had to pick up mail there because my angry postal carrier refused to stop stuffing my mailbox with more mail and just left me a card telling me that its too much work to put all the mail I didn't ask for in a larger postal box, and that I need to drive to the post office to pick it up. Essentially, my postal carrier would go on strike.
But I digress...(my bitterness still lingers though)...

TRUE: its also funny that there is one freeway through Honolulu.

TRUE: (according to a new friend) that my husband is the only white man in Hawaii Kai to have married a white woman (as opposed to the old white man - young Japanese pairing so oft seen at our Safeway.) This same friend went on to tell me about teen pregnancy and meth use here, which left me unfazed as I have just arrived from the capital of those two things. Additionally, "island time" is not a myth...but that doesn't faze me either as I have just landed from the "land of manana"

TRUE: Barak Obama (Punahou '79) is from Hawaii and you will never, NEVER, see an article about him here that doesn't tell you that.

TRUE: If you are not from here, people will view you with suspicion, assuming that you will not permanently reside here, leaving me to ponder: "do I tell them I am renting" (so they know that it is not I who is driving up the real estate) or not (as they will view renting as an impermanent situation?)

AND the FINAL TRUTH ABOUT HAWAII:

You get to hang out with the turtles who really make you glad you came:

Hawaii Photo Update

Well, well, well - moving to Hawaii is the blog equivalent of winning an Academy award...suddenly, people are visiting the blog, (rather than being guilted into doing it). For those of you commenting on the fact that I haven't posted anything...you know..my life wasn't TOTALLY boring in AZ. Although, the weekends are totally worth living for here, and so here's an update.

Last weekend, Valentines Day. Jeff made me a beautiful dinner and brought me a lei, instead of flowers (see photo). We learned that this type of lei is the kind you get to wish you well on a journey. Since we are on a journey of sorts, we thought that was kind of cool. Its still beautiful and a very "Aloha" greeting to opening the fridge. I wore it all evening. Well. Not ALL evening.

On Friday evening, we went out with some people from Jeff's work. Roopal, who Jeff has known for years, and was instrumental in his move here, has been incredibly welcoming. We went to a place called "Pearl Ultra Lounge" - I found it kind of funny, because it was very "Scottsdale", sos we felt right at home. It was at the Ala Moana Mall, which is the big mall in downtown/Waikiki. Its the mall that has it if it is to be had here (Nordstrom's opening March 5th). We got lost, and I kept telling Jeff if he would just listen to me, I could find the mall, dammit, and..I did. We had a nice time at Pearl, made some friends, (Roopal sitting next to me in picture); we met another nice couple, the girl is from Moscow (I don't know, but I wondered the same thing) and she "gets a little chilly" here; the irony there is rich indeed. The other thing I learned at Pearl...is that unlike Scottsdale, being a blonde is unusual...almost no one else was blonde (except the Moscowvite turned Hawaiian) All in all, a nice night, until we had to leave because Jeff was wearing "slippers" (flip-flops) which kind'a made me laugh for two reasons:
1) he was all dressed up everywhere else (nice shirt, nice pants)
2) when you wear ANY kind of shoe here its a big step towards dressing up.

On Saturday, we took our hike (the lighthouse one), which we have vowed to be able to run up and down and on Sunday, with the "Pearl gang" we went on a Catamaran ride. THAT was cool, we saw Waikiki from the ocean, saw some dolphins (even jumping out of the air!!) and even the big daddy: humpback whales. Although the whales were about a football field away, but we COULD see the tails. It was amazing. Now, naturally, I no longer had memory on the camera but I did get some great shots anyway:

Jeff - the Catamaran behind him. It holds up to 80 people!!


Weather on the water is GREAT - raining on island

And the GRAND DADDY Photo: Look CLOSELY...DOLPHINS!! It was DAMN hard to get that picture...there are about 8 pictures of just the ocean...


So that was our 2nd weekend here...next weekend, North Shore!! Hoping to see (but not catch) some of those legendary waves!!

Mahalo!!

Year of the Rat

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

Chinese New Year always creeps up on me, but this year, several things converged to make me notice more: Mom is in Singapore for Chinese New Year, we are in the Pacific and in a place with a heavy Asian population, my Singapore client is planning CNY celebrations and unable to speak with me, and I missed the deadline for ordering my ducks (from our factory in China) before CNY and thus will probably have to wait until May to receive them, and finally, the reason its of particular note this year is that it is the year of the Rat, and I am a "Rat". Quit snickering. I mean it - quit snickering, I am in EXCELLENT company: Shakespeare and Mozart were both Rats.

Here are some facts about the year of the Rat and the noble traits of those years and people fortunate enough to be a "Rat" (this always reminds me of the paper placemats that Chinese restaurants used to put out with the Chinese Astrology definitions and dates.):
The year of the Rat is the first of the 12 Chinese Astrological signs, generally one of activity,
and financial abundance, for those who have worked for it or are positioned for the abundance.
Rats are typically hard workers, pioneers and leaders (much like LEO's), they are also very loyal to their "pack" and although considered thrifty, can be quite generous with the selected few. Rats are quite fair in their dealings, expect the same from others and are deeply affronted when they feel their trust has been abused. Rats are keen, can be slightly manipulative, gossips and shameless promoters of their own agendas. They need to learn to relax sometimes and tend to be slightly obsessed with controlling the people and environment around them.

May this year bring you much financial abundance, activity and goodness and may you encounter many "Rats"!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to MY PACK!!