Singapore - Sisters' Island

This was a weekend of firsts. I spontaneously agreed to go camping with a group of people I did not know, save one or two. Which required me to change my other weekend plans around. Not difficult, but the old me would've just denied the invitation because of previous set plans. It was also my first visit to the Sisters Island, about a 40 minute boat ride away, off the coast of Singapore.

When we got to the island, we had a meeting so that everyone was on the same page. Actually, I was the only new kid on the block, everyone else had camped out on this island at least once or twice before. So this meeting was mainly for my benefit.

Mostly to discuss our plan of action against the audacious monkeys that live on the island. Nothing we did could put the fear of God in them. They attack in waves, they had strategies, and most of all, they could predict our ever predictable human behavior. Even as we first walked in from the pier to our campsite, the monkeys were sizing us (and our bags) up, plotting and scheming in their monkey minds how to raid and loot our rations. I felt like it was a scene out of Planet of the Apes as I walked past them. The plan was to have at least one person watch the food at all times. Even so, within the first twenty minutes of our arrival, the monkeys sneaked up on us and managed to take off with our precious bag of marshmallows. When that happened, it was all out war. No more sympathies for our very remotely distant relatives.

Second thing to consider - we had to set up our shelters for the night. Some were going to sleep in tents and the rest of us in hammocks. I was pretty useless with knot tying, so I looked on while everyone else got busy setting up the accommodations for the night. I wish I could say this was also a first for me, setting up hammocks, but alas I had to rely on my seasoned camper friends. Because it was such a last minute decision, I had no appropriate camping gear. My friend Tian generously loaned me a hammock. Yes, sleeping under the unpredictable open skies - also a first. Luckily, the skies were clear that night, and there was also a cool sea breeze that kept us in comfort all night.

We also had to collect firewood for the campfire. Fortunately for us, the local authorities have plans to turn this beautiful island into yet another touristy marine park (whatever that means, though it can't be good). So they've been clearing a lot of trees (stupid, why can't they leave anything well alone) and left a decent supply of firewood at our disposal. Very soon, we had a magnificent fire going, that would also last throughout the night.

A couple of the girls decided to show me around the island, and so we took a quick tour of the circumference, which only took less than twenty minutes to complete. It was a really small island. And quiet, which I appreciated. There was no one else, save the monkeys, and a pair of brothers who were also staying the night. They had kayaked from a beach on the mainland to Sisters' Island to fish and snorkel. The brothers became an integral part of our team, fighting the monkeys, guarding all our belongings.

During our free time, when we're not busy with camp "duties" or rendered useless in a food coma, we played with the toys my friends brought. My friends are poi performers, poi being a style of performance which involves the swinging of tethered weights in rhythmical and geometrical patterns. My talented friends swung poi lit on fire, but I was pretty happy using their practice tennis balls and LED staffs. I certainly do not have a death wish. It was difficult trying to coordinate the more complicated moves like the two or three ball weaves, but after a while of practicing, I got the hang of it. The trick is not to think too hard, or break down the technicalities totally, but to move with the flow. There is, I think, a natural body instinct or rhythm. Well, or maybe I am just a natural. Lol. I'm totally getting a set for myself to while away my free time when I get to California.

The food was just another amazing part of the weekend. We had Toby and Sophia's couscous salad, chia seed pudding, some grilled veggies topped with different types of cheese (absolutely divine), Barry's signature bamboo chicken, Greta's hummus and baba ghanoush and home baked chocolate cake. I really couldn't say we were roughing it out. In the morning, we had omelettes and maggi goreng (local instant noodles) for breakfast. And Guy's brewed-from-scratch chai tea!! What?? These guys are camping pros I tell you. I was suitably impressed. No wonder the monkeys hung around as much as they did. They knew these were no ordinary campers.

It was amazing to sleep under the stars. We hung light sticks on trees for fear it would get too dark, but the half moon shone so brightly we could've done without. I watched the moon set as I tried to fall asleep, wondering why justin and I missed out on camping opportunities the whole time we were in North Carolina. He had gone once or twice with his dad and his friends; we talked about taking the dogs with us, but we never did.

I was the first to wake. I wanted to watch the sunrise, do some morning yoga and meditation. Just as I laid my mat on the ground, I heard some cackling, turned around and saw about four or five monkeys invading our food station. We had covered and tied up the food with a ground sheet the night before, but one of the monkeys managed to reach under and had grabbed a tray of eggs. He broke two before I chased him away with a stick. This woke a couple of the guys and so they stayed on guard while I resumed my morning routine.

We did some acroyoga (another first!), swam in the sea, ate and drank some more before packing up our stuff. It was 5:30 in the evening when the boat arrived to pick us up. I had spent the entire weekend with no access to electricity or internet connection and I didn't even miss it. I think I just might survive off the grid in my upcoming Cali trip.

So grateful for this weekend, for friends new and old, for new experiences and for living life.

Los Angeles : Topanga Canyon, Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice

Five years and two dogs later, Sara, my host for the LA trip, still looks amazing as ever. We spent a good part of the morning catching up over breakfast, in a tiny little cafe called Pat's Topanga Grill, sharing adventures, lamenting love lost, celebrating new journeys.

Topanga Canyon is home to quaint little stores, restaurants and cafes. We stopped by a store called the Spiral Staircase because it's sign read: "New Age Shop" and also "Unusual Things". That caught my attention. How can you resist walking into a store full of unusual things?? We didn't get anything, but the shop assistant recommended a few religious sites we could visit. Now, I am not one for visiting Hollywood, nor am I enticed by the city of ritz, glitz and glamour. But Hindu temples and Buddhist shrines, hell yeah! Bring it on! So we wove our way around the mountains and valleys. The view was incredible. In the far distance, you could catch a glimpse of Malibu beach, where the sky and the ocean melted into one. Where does the sea end and the sky begin??

Our visit to the Malibu Hindu Temple was impeded by the fact that it was closed between the hours of 12 and 5. We decided to drive to Santa Monica and Venice instead.

Santa Monica pier was pretty much as expected - a tourist trap with plenty of souvenirs for sale and seagulls to dodge. There was a little old lady named Psychic Jude who had her hands full, reading fortunes one after another, saying things like "you may or may not remember..." Venice was a lot more exciting with different characters to see -- buskers, artists, vendors selling their craft. I was out on a mission to find myself a dreamcatcher. I've wanted one for the longest time, and one soon caught my eye. It had a huge Rose Quartz in the middle, and many tiny quartz pieces around the edges. Rose Quartz is a crystal of unconditional love, and carries energy of compassion, love and peace, tenderness and healing, nourishment and comfort. I think that was what called out to me, although I really didn't need to buy one more thing. Strolling up and down the beach, we finally found a nice little bar to enjoy the setting sun, have a nice cold beer while we listened to the tunes of the busker Mr. Biff.

Oahu: North Shore

Last day in Hawaii. Headed out to the North Shore for breakfast at the famous Kono's Beach Cafe, where you'll get a discount if you are kama'aina, or a local or long term resident of Hawaii. Molly and James are trying to get their Hawaiian licenses for kama'aina perks. Me, I could probably pass off as one, given that my skin has been tanned golden to a crisp in the last six days. Not to mention I'm Asian.

We spent the rest of the morning sitting on the North Shore beach, mouth wide open in awe of the majesty of the waves as they crash into shore. Here on the North Shore are some of the biggest waves I've seen on the island. Perfect for experienced swimmers and seasoned surfers. I was quite happy watching people get tossed around, thankful that that wasn't me.

Today is exactly two months since Justin's passing. It seemed like it happened so so long ago but has it really only been two months? They say time flies when you're having fun, which was how this past week had been. Time is only relative. I remember vividly everything that happened two months ago. From the time of David's call, to my excruciating drive home from Charleston. From waiting to hear from the police to the never ending line at his wake. Time had stretched out to infinity then.

I'm still waiting to hear from the medical examiner. Why does it take so long? Do they always make families wait like this, in the dark abyss of the unknown? In agony? Can somebody explain the process to me to justify this wait? 60 to 90 days is a damn long time to put a grieving family through hell. Is this me in the second stage of grief then? Is this anger? Am I then past denial, and do the stages work in a linear way?

Let's try to turn this entry around again. As I sit here in my seat on the plane, let me perhaps quietly list in my head all the things I'm grateful for.

And guess what, nobody is sitting next to me on this flight either.

Oahu: Manoa Falls

So this morning I found out that the Hawaiian alphabet has only thirteen letters, five vowels and eight consonants. Which explains the number of recurring vowels. In fact, the Hawaiian name for the state fish is twenty one letters long. Are you ready for this? The state fish, the triggerfish is also known as the humuhumunukunukuapuaa. Now say it fast, three times.

And while we're on the topic of state symbols, the Hawaiian state flower is the hibiscus, and the state bird is the nene (Hawaiian goose) pronounced nay-nay. I thought i would get a glimpse of it today as we embarked on a morning hike, but it is not as common as you'd think a state bird oughta be.

Crazy trees in Manoa

We journeyed inland to Manoa to see the waterfalls. Here lies the lush green rain forests of Oahu, where it rains almost every day. I managed to catch sight of two more new birds for my life list -- the Red-billed Leiothrix and the Saffron Finch. Pretty stoked about my lucky birding experience! The falls, however, was a different story. It hadn't rained that morning so the waterfall was unimpressive to say the least. James showed me a picture of the waterfall when he was here another time. Now that was a waterfall. This was a mere trickle.

With mixed feelings about the birds versus the falls, we headed out to the west coast to White Sands Beach Park, where people go to surf. I am done with trying new things for awhile, so I gave surfing a miss. Instead, I spent my time combing the sands for pretty shards of seashells, daydreaming about the jewelry I could create with them. My prized find was a tiny heart-shaped shell of the prettiest shade of maroon, though I wouldn't be surprised if the shells crumbled to pieces before I could do anything with them. I had to cram all my belongings into one carry-on. How did I manage to fit everything in the same suitcase before??

That's it. Tonight is my last night in Hawaii. Tomorrow, I visit North Shore, and then I would have covered all four corners of the island.

Oahu: Ala Moana Beach Park and Chinatown

So how was it 63degF (17 deg C) this morning? I woke up nestled under three blankets. And I walked to the coffee place in long pants and a sweater on. Am I glad I packed a sweater in place of hiking shoes! No, not really. Still amazed at my imbecile life decisions, but grateful for the brief lightbulb moment when the sweater went into the suitcase.

Also received my first valentine from the people that stole my heart - the Zamora kids. Sebastian, Stella, Christian and baby Alexander sent me a card with their names handwritten. I'm so proud to have been able to watch them grow. I love the family,  the kids were always so easy to look after, and so much fun. I still cannot believe they paid me to play with their kids!

Not that I'm expecting any more valentines. Justin and I were the least of gift givers. Special occasions were celebrated with food, and extra special occasions were celebrated with home-cooked food. He will always be the world's best Master Chef in my heart, even though he sucked at remembering important dates. I believe he never got our wedding anniversary date right, ever. But that was what made him him, if you know what I mean.

Another first for this trip - I signed up for a stand up paddle board yoga class. I don't know what's up with the weather this week, but it was super windy on Waikiki. I started out for the Ala Moana Beach Park for the class hoping for calm seas, only to be dismayed by the choppy waters. Well, at least I wasn't going snorkeling today, right? Apparently the instructor had to cancel several classes this week because of the Wind. Luckily she didn't do it today. It was, however, a great challenge to my balance. First of all, we couldn't paddle out to sea, so we stayed in the shallow waters. Secondly we were given anchors(?!) to keep us from drifting away. Lastly, we had to modify every pose because standing up on the board just wasn't happening. Nevertheless, I had a great time. Heck, maybe I should teach SUP yoga too!

I was determined not to be a bother to my hosts, so I insisted on walking home, taking the scenic route on the famous shopping stretch that is Kalakaua Avenue. Have you noticed how fun Hawaiian names are? There are always more vowels than consonants and it's a challenge to say them right! The GPS says them all funny, according to Molly, who apparently is our local expert. :)

Molly took us to Chinatown for dinner and the First Friday event. You know you have arrived in Chinatown when all the road signs start to include Chinese characters. Every first Friday of the month, Honolulu turns into a huge block party for artists, performers, galleries and stores. Or simply put, just another excuse for people to jumpstart their weekend getting really wasted. The Chinese lion dancers were also out in full force tonight, visiting stores, setting off firecrackers, drumming up good fortune for the new year.

We had dinner at J.J Dolan's on Nuuanu Ave (try saying that one!), which has famous kickass pizza. We had ourselves a spinach and garlic pizza that had a creamy quiche like topping but was certainly not too garlicky; although you wouldn't want to talk to any one after. Wash it down with a cold glass of beer, aahhh pure heaven.

Oh and did I mention I caved and bought myself a pair of walking shoes?
Now I'm really ready to take on the world.

Oahu: Waikiki

The week is just flying by. I had a late start to the day and because my gracious hosts both had to work I was pretty much left to my own devices. This has been a trip of firsts, so I decided this morning I was gonna get myself a nice cuppa with almond milk. Yeuuccchh. Never mind the health benefits. Oh and then right before I left the house for coffee, I discovered some neighbor locked me in. The main gate was padlocked, so I parkour-ed over the low wall. Also a first.

I hadn't planned anything for the day so I was going to hit the beach on Waikiki and get some obligatory souvenir shopping out of the way. No but seriously, I enjoyed every minute of the retail therapy; the beach on Waikiki, not so much. This has got to be the week of high winds. Every time I sat down I got sand blasted. There was sand in my hair, in my bag, up my nose. I know, first world problems right? I will stop complaining. On the upside, that makes for some good exfoliation. 

Dinner with Molly was good ol' Chinese/Cantonese comfort food. We relived some Shanghai moments as we munched on our char siu and qie zi bao. Good times. 

On a side note, I read an article about some locals trying to make SPAM from scratch. I know they're trying to be health conscious and all but isn't it a little antithetical to the concept of SPAM? I say live and let loose a little already.

Oahu: Hanauma Bay

Today's weather is more in line with my idea of Hawaii, although Molly pointed out that there is a part of Oahu that rains every morning without fail. Unthinkable! We went to Kaimuki for breakfast at Koko Head Cafe. Molly tried to teach me how to say Kaimuki without sounding like a tourist. Kai-mu-KEE, with emphasis on the second K. I couldn't hear the difference for the longest time.

I had udon for breakfast! Whaddya think about that?! Molly ordered one of their signature dishes Cornflakes French toast - toast fried in cereal, topped with bacon and ice cream. She said when the ice cream melted it tasted just like cereal in milk. I thought that was too much sweetness to break my fast. I prefer savory Japanese noodles with creepy bonito flakes.

 We headed towards Hanauma Bay to snorkel. I was a little apprehensive, given my last failed attempt in the waters of Cancun, Mexico. Justin had taken to the ocean like fish in water, I was like a fish out of water, desperately flopping around. I had had a major panic attack, turned around and headed back to the boat. The waters were too choppy, my mask kept slipping off... Getting me to snorkel this time would not be an easy feat, but I was determined to give it a second try.

 All visitors to Hanauma had to watch a compulsory 9 minute educational video. I thought that was pretty neat. You can't prevent one million visitors a year from stepping on sea life, but you can most certainly try to educate them and hope for the best. The walk down to the beach was spectacular in itself. The coastline was dotted with tourists, the ocean different shades of turquoise, azure blue. You could see the dark patches of reef against the white sandy seabed. It's so beautiful I almost feel confident about snorkeling again.

 We parked ourselves right by the lifeguard tower, for intangible security reasons. Molly and I stepped gingerly into the cold waters before affixing our masks and flippers. I had trouble getting my mask on comfortably much to the Molly's chagrin. She was, however, very patient as she waited for me to fuss over my hair, mask and flippers. I second guessed my ability to swim with flippers and decided against them. Once again, Molly patiently waited as I removed my flippers, trudged back to shore and return to the waters. We finally paddled away when I stopped almost immediately. I was breathing too hard, my lungs hurt, and why were the waters so cloudy?! I tried again, and again. Started and stopped. After my tenth try, I convinced Molly to go ahead without me. I was gasping for breath, I felt embarrassed about my panic attack, I just couldn't do it! It was Cancun all over again.

I watched Molly paddle away from the safety of my beach towel. She returned to tell me about the huge purple fishes, striped fishes, schools of fishes. I decided I would stick to watching documentaries. Twenty minutes later, I got up, put on my snorkel gear and decided to practice close to the shore. I will snorkel or at least die trying, dammit! With every swim, I ventured a little further away from shore. My breathing eased as I got used to breathing through my mouth, but whenever water got into my mask, or when the waves slapped me around too hard, I panicked and reached for the ground with my feet. I gave up, and decided this was all the snorkeling I was doing today.

 Finally Molly had a brainwave, we could try snorkeling on the other end of the bay where the reefs were much closer to the shore. Read: I didn't have to swim too far out! I don't know why we hadn't thought about it earlier, but this was when I got to see the purple fishes, yellow stripes fishes, schools of shiny fishes and even a weird sand-camouflaged creature. I was about to put my feet on the sand when something moved. I freaked out a little but remained calm enough to watch the flat sandy looking creature scuttle away.

 I was triumphant. I conquered my fear and did one more thing I never thought I would have been able to do. Justin would have been so proud of me. We were famished after ALL that snorkeling so we stopped by the 7-11 to try spam musubi, which was basically a giant sushi with a slab of spam on the top. It was probably delicious only because I was hungry, practically inhaled it. For dinner we went to Home Bar and Grill, which was a local sports bar. It was probably the brightest sports bar I've ever been to, and they had the Seahawks flag on the ceiling. Just was glad they didn't put up a sign that said "back to back Super Bowl champions". I saw a picture of a guy on Instagram with that tattooed on his arm. Unfortunate decision, poor man. This place has amazing tuna poke "Negri Toro", Parmesan truffle fries, seared Ahi Tuna and wings. Yes, that was what we had for dinner. I must have gained ten pounds since I landed on Hawaii.

Oahu: Ko Olina Lagoons

It's Super Bowl Sunday. Seahawks vs the Patriots. After Justin's passing, I no longer took any interest in football. Molly and her boyfriend, James took me to the Ko Olina lagoons. The beaches were pristine, the waters clear. There were a total of four lagoons, so visitors were evenly distributed. No crowded beaches.It's interesting to note that all beaches in Hawaii are open to the public. No greedy resort monopoly there. Admirable.

 Seahawks lost the game due to a final bad play call. I wonder what Justin would have to say about that. I saw a thing on FB which was a picture of Russell Wilson getting ready to throw a pass. The caption goes "Hey Russell, want another Super Bowl ring?" "Nah, I'll pass." Touché.

 We saw a turtle near the shore, just frolicking around, although it seemed like it was stranded to me. I saw a heron catch a crab, stretching its neck, and deftly catching the unlucky crustacean between its beak. There were several egrets, although I can never differentiate between the species. Gotta brush up on those birding skills, so I downloaded this birding app for $10. This is now serious business, y'all.