Spending so much time in the heat of the tropics, I decided I needed to get away….to a different beach!! It was a family reunion of sorts – Rob’s family came in from Nagoya, Japan, I flew in from Bangkok, and the rest escaped winter in Canada. Oh and Obama flew in from the mainland to be with us too…how lucky! We spent Christmas together for the first time in way too many years, and it was great!
We were staying on the island of Oahu, on the world famous Waikiki beach. The weather was gorgeous (a nice escape from Bangkok hell), and it was SO nice to see some of my family. One day we drove around the island stopping up at the North Shore and Sunset Beach to swim. We had a roadside “plate lunch” of grilled shrimp…yummy. Kai and Rein had a lot of fun playing in the waves, and Rob and I were happy that we were not taking our surfing lessons in the winter swells. Chris and I did a lot of shopping, reluctantly dragging Rich along at times. It was so nice to finally fit into clothes again! Asia and I do not agree on sizes. Rob and I took a 2 hour surfing lesson – he was awesome, the Pacific kicked my ass!! It was really fun though, and I will definitely try it again soon. I just need to gain a little upper body strength before I brave it again.
The whole family took a day trip to Hanauma Bay, a bay set in a volcano crater with tons of coral reef and tropical fish. We snorkeled and played on the beach, very fun. I had a blast with Lo and Tea, playing, swimming and eating Cold Stone Creamery – the best ice cream ever! My mom enjoyed having me make a mess in our condo…and Gord had someone to pick on again. All was well.
Being in America, I decided to do as the Americans – EAT! It had been forever since I had steak and real pizza and caesar salad….yummy. We celebrated birthdays and went out for Vietnamese food…better than the food I ate when I was in Vietnam. During our meal was an island wide blackout that lasted 13 hours! (Luckily, Obama got generators so he wasn’t in the dark). My last day there I had a cheeseburger from Cheeseburgers in Paradise. ..a great end to my vacation. (Love how my blog is about food??!!)
Christmas was nice: a home cooked turkey, Hiroka’s Japanese appetizers and Thai dessert. A blend of cultures for a blended family. Perfection.
