Dumb American moment...

I landed in Quayaquil, Ecuador after 2 layovers.

I can't believe it, I landed on my 6th continent!!

Wowsers!!

Sooooooo I had a dumb American moment. Ha ha yes even after all the travel, I had a d'oh moment...

After clearing customs where I was somewhat peeved because he put the ecuadorian passport stamp on top of another stamp?! (really?! Check out the other pages!!))

Anywho... I had no check in luggage so I went straight towards the exit... Well, I realized I had no local money or small bills for that matter...

Luckily, there was a money exchange to my right...

After, prepping my best Spanish sentence in my head, "Necesito cambiar dinero." I entered the room and stated my practiced sentence after a polite "Hola!"

He then asked mien Spanish what kind of money did I have, I politely said, dolares de estados unidos. Puedos cambiar aqui?!

He said no. Lol, why not?!?!

Because our official currency is the us dollar.

Ooohhhhh... Can I change for smaller bills?!

Si...

I walked out quickly with a shame...

Tough, I did redeem myself at the Moviestar counter where I conversed totally in Spanish and managed to purchase a sim card for my unlocked phone.

Lesson learned. Us dollars is the only currency accepted in Ecuador...

Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

Major Accomplishment

Major Accomplishment...

What could it be?!

Graduating College?  Nope

Getting Married?  Nope!

Winning a million dollars?  I wish.

I just arrived to Guatemala earlier this week and yes a major accomplishment.

I received my 50th passport stamp!!  :)

I have so truly lucky, blessed, to have the support of my friends, family, couchsurfing and hospitality club.  

You've made this all possible.

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

Spending Time with BFF...

BFF and me!

You know... There are just some people in the world that no matter how long you've seen each other, no matter if you lost touch, no matter the distance, time difference, they're always there for you and you can always just pick up where you left off...

well, that's called a BFF...  I'm fortunate to have 5.  ha... no guessing! you know who you are!!  :)

ok, no fighting... bwah hah hah.. ok, well I got to spend some much need time with my BFFWWW ha! I just made that up... Best Friends Forever in the Whole Wide World... and we have the same birthday!  Well, sort of, but we do celebrate it as one continuous celebration, I was born June 19 and him the day prior.

ok enough with the mushy stuff... you know why you have a best friend?  They're the only people that can tell you anything and you won't take offense, if a stranger said any of those things, you'd be mad... but your friend says it out of love... or at least I think he does. lol

i can't believe we've known each other for a decade and traveled to different countries (which is overdue by the way since its been since 2005?)  it was great seeing him... not too many people can make me laugh like he does... my only wish is we got to spend more time together... well not too much time, i do have things to do you know... bwah hah hah.

Sprinkles... nom nom nomz.

gosh, i'm just rambling on! ok to the good stuff.. basically I flew from LAX to BWI and stayed there for a couple of hours then checked into a hotel in Washington DC, Westin Georgetown - very nice hotel, cute pool,. great location, affordable.  Don't pay for parking, just time the street parking and bring lots of coins!  (its $28 a night and $40 for valet - you just lost your mind!!)

DC is great, but not for me, it reminds me between a cross of Los Angeles and the East Coast.  Lots of shopping areas (which of course the only thing I bought was food - and not to mention CUPCAKES!!) nom nommm nommmmmm

ok, squirrel. lol Sprinkles cupcakes are soo yummy... yes, I bought 6 of different flavors to try them out!

My fav tied between the coconut and the red velvet (which you can try bake yourself with the mix at William & Sonoma but it isnt the same..

Sorry so short, but I'm in Guatemala and I got things to do! lolz

Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

46464 - Happy Birthday Edition

Wow... yup its my birthday again!

Can't believe another year has passed by.  I am just so thankful to have the opportunities that I have had and the friends and family to make me laugh, cry, and support all that I do.

2011 has been an awesome year so far!  School is going well, traveling and meeting up with friends and family around the world!

Speaking of traveling, I was so shocked to see how much I've traveled... 46464 is the amount of miles I've traveled this year, crazy - I KNOW!

Yes, I sat down and calculated all of my miles... lol and the year isn't over yet!

HNL>SFO>IAD>CDG>>>CDG>FRA>JFK>SFO>HNL

HNL>IAH>FRA>CDG>>>CDG>FRA>NRT>HNL

HNL>LAX

LAX>MCO>>>MCO>LAX

LAX>BWI

Big hugs from me to you.

Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

1st time for everything...

Yup, there is a first time for everything, and this time for me, it's paddle-boarding.    

Cool part is, I was sort of a natural.  

It was a humid day and Sheryll and I decided to try out paddleboarding.

It was fun, Florida waters are perfect for beginners, little waves, water wasn't too deep.

In fact, conditions were so good that Sheryll and I didn't fall off at all.  Well, then again, the people that went after us fell in the water the first 5 minutes.

Watching sting-rays under your board was a pretty cool experience.  Sheryll said she saw a baby shark.

Well, that's one more off my bucket list.  Can't wait to try that again!

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

Disneyworld...

Sheryll, Stitch and I

Spinning cups!

Yippie... Yup, I can't believe it, I'm at the happiest place on Earth!  Well, the biggest happiest place on Earth, earlier this year, I was fortunate to visit Disneyland Paris, and I've been to Disneyland before in Anaheim California.  Now I've gotten the chance to go to Disneyworld!

We were in Orlando for only a couple of days, well 2 and we spent most of one of our days at Disneyworld.  It was soo much fun, it wasn't very crowded and we got to ride most of the rides without much wait.

The food wasn't really the best food, but what can you expect...

This is the first time I've had the opportunity to take pictures with Disney characters, such as Stitch, Fairy Godmother, Donald Duck...

I was surprised at the entrance, its very similar to Disneyland Paris, even the food with the hot dogs, ice cream the castle and the layout of the castle.  Needless to say, it was still an awesome time!

Poli and I...

Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.