Goodbye My Friend...

Sometimes, when you have someone there through the roughest patches of your life, you imagine they would be there when life is simpler.

Unfortunately, like most things in life, even relationships are uncertain.

This is an email, I sent to my best friend of a decade on January 27th - still no response.  Wish you the best Edwin.

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I know you're crazy busy, so I thought I'd just share my thoughts with you via email.

I'm just going to share what I am thinking and you can choose what you want to do about it.

I feel like we've been growing apart.  Its really weird, I feel that you have a friend in me, but I don't have a friend in you.  I called 10 times, and if anyone called me that many times friend or not, I'd call to make sure they were alive and that they were ok.

The last 2 years you've had 60 days of leave.  I took the whole year of 2011 off.  You spent 2 days with me and brought your BF - you even asked me if it was ok, how am I suppose to say no!? I don't know, I guess I always catered to your time schedule and needs and never the other way around.  When I was in school in 2010, I had the whole summer off, guess what? you came to visit, while I was in school and you brought your mom - and you said to me - Oh, I wish we could have hang out more... 

The last time we talked I told you I was depressed... You said, oh good, to get your mind off of depression..  I'm not sure if I ever told you I was depressed, but you never asked me why.


You can always confide in me, share your thoughts, I never judge you.  I can't do the same with you.  

You're a smart guy, you're accomplished, but one thing you forgot along the way is how to be a friend.

Yes, I'm moving, Yes, I haven't worked in a year. (and no, don't try to compare it to your moving - with all your expenses paid and your fixed income), I don't know what the future holds and I'm scared, and I can't share that with my best friend.

I guess I've spent almost all of my adult here in Hawaii, you were here in the beginning and the middle of that, the last couple of years - you haven't been there at all.  You're not even in my thoughts really - that's what scares me.  

All of my friends and family knows that I am moving and all of them have made plans with me.  I'm going to Dominican Republic and Haiti as a graduation present to myself.

You might think that me moving is going to change everything between us and put everything back to the way they were - its not.  Not unless you decide you want to be my friend again and make an effort.  Once I go back to work, schedule will become further complicated.  

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say... I guess I'm moving on with my life and writing the next chapters of my life.  You've gone from being a major character to just a cameo.  Don't get me wrong, I'll be there for you when you need me.  

Its even sad the few times when we do talk, you talk to me like we're meeting at a social and we've only met each other once before.  All the phony, How are you?! etc.  

I guess I'm losing one of my best friends, and if you want to be a part of my life, you're going to have to make the effort.


Don't give me theoretical thoughts about being a friend.  Just prove it.  All you have to do is try and it'll fall back into place.

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Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

HI to FL - Friends

Alright, finally a picture!  

Can't believe I've been posting so many blogs without pictures... what's really going on!?  O_o

So... blog meet Poli (left) and Sheryll (right).

Yup, me met in Hawaii eons ago and here we are reunited across the ocean.

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

Childhood Recollections & MORE Adventures

Growing up, one of the things I never got to experience was celebrate a birthday at Chuck E. Cheese - and I still haven't, but the next closest thing is to go for Rowena's 30th birthday!

Yes, I acted like a big kid (yes - probably like I normally do) and ate pizza, drank coffee, played games and of course... rode in the rides

 Who says you're too old to have a great time at Chuck E. Cheese?

Thanks Eric and Aubrey for driving and Rowena for celebrating your b-day there (what an awesome idea!)!

The next day was crunch day (today) with the special help of a special help (no that kind of special) of Michelle Morales.  We whipped through my things, sorted out many things, packaged many things, even had time for lunch and a power nap.

Of course, that was exhausting... what better way to treat yourself to relaxation than a Deluxe manicure and pedicure at Sophisticated Nails.  Yes, she got all the calluses out of my running feet!

Then off to Himalayan food!  How delish... I think it helped that it was B.Y.O.B. and we had lots of bottles of wines!  Needless to say that the food was gone.

As if that wasn't enough... it was time for a late night movie - at the Movie Museum... Not just any movie - a French movie, Monsieur Batignole, movie was great, quick summary, it was about a man (reread title) and Jewish boy during WWII - watch it, it is a touching and endearing story.

All these activities during the weekend!? Banana boating (see previous post), BBQing, eating dim sum, Chuck E. Cheese, Mani/Pedi, Himalayan Kitchen, Movie Museum.  All of these things are great, but one of the things that I am starting to realize are all of the amazing friends I will be far from once I move to Florida. 

 

Mahalo for reading. 

Until next time.

Ecuador - So Much to See... So Little Time...

Originally, I planned my trip for 10 days thinking that that would be enough to see Ecuador, when in actuality I barely sort of skimmed the surface, Ecuador like many countries has a lot to offer, you just have to have an open mind and a propensity to try Spanish!  jajajaja (my new Spanish laugh)

Edu... yes he's petting an iguana...

When people ask me, is it worth it, I never understand how to correctly answer the question... Example, I'm talking about Baños and then someone asks me, is it worth it...  To be honest, sometimes, I'm on the fence, to me having an experience (even bad ones) are part of traveling and what shapes you as a person... but for the purposes of this blog.  Ecuador is worth it.

On this short trip, I managed to make a couple of friends in Guayaquil, party like a rockstar in Porto Lopez and do a lot of adventury-thingys in Baños... (yes, I just took an overnight bus from Baños to Guayaquil and waiting to check into my hostel, so if I'm making up words - you know what I mean...)

Ms. Adriu and moi...

Guayaquil is a pretty cool city, its mostly a business district with access to great boardwalk along the water, lots of cheap foods and hotels you won't find online.  For example, if you walk along Malecon (the boardwalk on the water) food is rather expensive, by expensive I mean cheap by US comparison ranging from $3-$6... where you can just walk inside the city and find many many many restaurants ofering breakfast, lunch or dinner ranging in the $1-$2 range... and they're complete meals with drinks, a salad and even soup to satisfy your hungry tummy...Thanks to Adrienne and Eduardo for showing me around Guayaquil and introducing me to cheap eats!!

In addition to finding cheap foods and cheap hotels (see tweet - Me encanta! Hotel Casa Blanca en Banos, Ecuador por $10 a noche! Un cuarto privado! http://twitpic.com/5lay8d)... It's possible to even find cheaper rooms... I would almost suggest not booking online (unless you're in a time crunch) as 90% of the hotels are not online!

Porto Lopez is a cool place!  Thanks to my Couchsurfing host, Patricio for dragging me along and allowing me to experience the city, an awesome party, great people and good food... did I mention caña?  Everything is just along the beach, this quiet town has a lot to offer... Maybe next time I'll stay a wee bit longer...

Baños was an adventure!!  See my previous posts... In addition to the small quaint city with lots of adventure, I was lucky to make a new friend... yes, we did a couple of activities together, such as rafting (CLICK HERE), canyoning - both a first for me and jumped off a perfectly good bridge... lol... Other than that, just hanging out, a little shopping - you guys know of my bag obsession... as well as lots of food and a half day of treatment! bwah hah hah... Sort of well needed as the overnight bus right from Baños to Guayaquil was somewhat brutal... A quick 5 hour bus ride at night, 7 on my way to Baños which was during the day..., sleep was hard... swerving through the mountains and the temperature change of the cold, mountain breezes of Baños to the warm, humid weather of Guayaquil...

New buddies!

Weird part is, I almost didn't go to Baños... My mind was set on Galapagos or Cuenca... But a $400 ticket and a $100 entry fee knocked Galapagos out of the equation... so spacial thanks to Patricio who told me of Baños... a city I've never heard of!!  Also, best of luck to Hueling in Lima - Macchu Pichu (consider me jealous!)!!




Thanks to all of you for making this trip so awesome!  and yes... I didn't forget about you Fernando, for which I probably would not have had this awesome opportunity...

Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

ima wo ikiru - extreme edition part deux...

Prepping...

Sometimes people don't realize how hard life is for travellers, there are many things to consider on a daily basis... budget, weather, food, bills from home, what to do, etc...

Today was one of those days... after waking up and having breakfast with a newly found friend (see yesterday's blog - we went canyoning together), I went back to the hotel room and watched Friends in Spanish... because the weather wasn´t cooperating... after a couple of hours, around noon, I decided that I was going to just go jump off a perfectly good bridge... why? part boredom and i've been actually wanting to do it... so I had to walk 3 blocks to the bridge and luckily there was no other people wanting to jump off this perfectly good working bridge... so i was next...

Ummm... do what?

yes, the views were spectacular and the weird part is, I wasn't even that nervous... Instructions were given to me in Spanish, to which I nodded yes, which I normally do even if I have no idea what is going on... then, when i stood on the podium looking down to what felt like eternity and the sudden chill of the winds from the mountain taunting me and sending chills down my spine at the same time, I heard the the countdown... 1, 2 (which of course you know what 3 means)

The ride was short, yet exhilarating, jumping to what felt like liberation and release of all my inhibitions, to be suddenly yanked and swung like a pendulum under the enormous bridge.  I almost wished that the freefall lasted longer, to the point where you doubt your safety... but that's just me and my weird personal opinion...

Cheeeee hoooooo!!!

After this stressful adventure, I had lunch with my friend... we stuffed our faces over a 3 course meal and drinks included for $2.50... then I had to decide which massage package to get!! ugggggghhhh.  I originally opted for the whole sha-bang, but ended up with a massage, facial and some iodine foot treatment...

Then, I had to go shopping! I bought a shirt of Baños (which I can´t believe I didn´t pack many shirts)... and also headgear to keep myself warm... once I go treking through Guatemala...   Then of course, dinner, and more packing for my trip...

Don´t drop me!

It has been a short, but uber fun 2.5 (3 according to the hotel) days in Baños (check out my twitter to see pics of the hotel)... (where the keyboard I am using has a dedicated ñ key - ooooohh) now about to take an overnight train with my new friendfrom Baños to Guayaquil...

I you've read this far, don't forget to follow on the right ---> you may need to scroll up a bit...


Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

Torn Apart... + Ecuador Edition!

Torn Apart...

Yes, torn apart... Not between external  forces, but within my own mind (be very scared...)

I've been fortunate to travel to 6 continents, tons of countries, made a few awesome friends along the way, but traveling is starting to have a different meaning for me...

Before my mantra... "if I waited for a friend to travel with me, I'd never go anywhere..."

Now that I'm actually traveling for an extended period of time, I might be having a change of heart...

Porto Lopez, Ecuador

Not saying that I'd travel with just anyone... But if you're probably reading this, you're a significant part of my life... I think I'm at the point of my travel career that I've done a lot of exploring on my own... And maybe I'm ready to travel with a friend to new places, or to just visit friends in general...

I've done a little bit of both on this trip... Visiting friends and family in southern California, Washington D.C., and Florida... whilst (ha! <3 that word!) exploring Guatemala and Ecuador...

Me + couchsurfing hosts...

I'm having a great time here in Ecuador... I'm currently in an awesome place called Porto Lopez, yes a place where not too many tourists venture to, and it if wasn't for my awesome couchsurfing host, I would have never explored this place on my own... An oceanfront restaurant celebrating his friend's birthday.  Great good, great company and great music...

I guess what I'm saying is it's about time that I head back to Australia and visit friends I haven't seen in ages... Yes, Melbourne! :) and perhaps also Portugal, and maybe a new place like Winnipeg, Canada...

Apple pie... Ecuadorian style...

I can't say it enough... I've been fortunate to have been to many places, but I am even more fortunate to have made some really awesome friends along the way...

Yes, I truly miss you and I can't wait to see you soon...

Ha... On that note, I'm still in exploration mode with 7 more weeks of awesome exploring to go!

Desserts and laughter!  :)

Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

My Vacation.... in Pictures...

Vacation
Words cannot express my vacation...

Miss you all.













Coming Home


Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.

Sex, Out & About, Commercials

SEX
Whatever your thinking, its not what you think it is. Being that I'm pretty much celibate, and a big fan of Sex and the City. I went to the movie website and took the Match Your Man quiz. I wasn't sure who it was gonna be, but when I received my answer... Yeah I am quite predictable, and hell if he was gay and he loved me, we'd be married today. I can't wait to see this movie May 30th!


OUT & ABOUT
I had friends visit from out of town (Vancouver, Canada), and wow. We met in Amsterdam March 2003. Its Friday, and yes, I can't wait to get a good night's rest. Monday night, I took them to dessert at Satura's Cafe (very yum), then off to swimming at the beach at Queen's beach where no one was around and the water quite warm. After that we went to Hula's (yes the gay bar), and proceeded to chat up a storm and drink until past 1AM. Tuesday, after a rough day at work, we had dinner at Blu Water Grill, well more like appetizers and the food didn't really seem that appetizing, so instead opted for comfort food and went to The Shack next door, where I feasted on chili-cheese fries and drank beer. Yes, BEER! I don't even drink, let alone beer! I had a pitcher of beer! We were playing darts as well. 3 rounds of darts and yes, no injuries ensued. Wednesday, we went to Germaine's Luau. I love that luau. Its like my 8th time there, and yes my husband was there. Thursday we had lunch at Assagios. Happy Hour, Dinner and our farewell at Dave & Busters. Monica was there as well at Dave & Busters. Its Friday. Good night.

Luau Picture (Who has more bars than Cingular? LOL)


My Husband (In my dreams)


Fire Dancer


Video


Momo (Monica) and Me - Taken at Dave & Busters


COMMERCIALS
I rarely watch commercial nowadays with DVR and such, but sometimes a commercial just catches your eye, and I just can't help, but to laugh. Laugh. LAUGH. Here is my nomination for commercial of the year.


Mahalo for reading.

Until next time.