Hawaiian fourth of July

Last week we visited Kailua beach, near Lanikai beach (which was ranked #1 beach in the world a few years ago)! I can understand why as it was breathtaking. It felt almost as though it was so beautiful it was a painting or some fiction land because of how gorgeous. There were amazing views of the mountains, soft white sand that stretched for over two miles, and a lagoon that formed right off the ocean that people utilized for swimming and other fun water activities! Kailua beach also had a giant sand mountain that kids would rid down head first on their boogie boards... not quite as fun as sledding but close, haha!

                                                      (^video... view on desktop)

In typical Mark and Jen fashion a few days before the 4th we decided at about 4:55pm that we spontaneously wanted to climb the Makapuu Lighthouse. The hike itself wasn't too bad (but for sure still a workout-50 minutes up and 45 down)...but the only problem we decided to do the hike both very thirsty before we even started only with half a bottle of diet coke and not having eaten for 7 hours. Not to mention that I was wearing slippers (flip flops). Typical us to make something easy a little more complicated. Time and weather was on our side at least because it was very cloudy late in the day which helped keep the sun away, as this trail normally has very little shade. As we were nearing the top starving and very thirsty Mark said that we had to keep going until he reached the top and that he was in 'camel mode' (That had me laughing so hard for 10+ minutes during our hike). Haha, we also joked that we could break open a cactus if we got desperate enough. (Nearing the top of the hike there were dozens of different kinds of cactus plants). Thank goodness we have such a great sense of humor in our marriage.. it makes even the most stressful situations laughable with one another!

I love that this is a thing now. We first saw it on lovers bridge in Paris and now it's everywhere!

Mark touching Molokai!

In winter months this hike is excellent to see humpback whales near the shore breaching...we will definitely be back to see this sight come winter months. There are a few really beautiful spots we plan on bringing a lunch and enjoy our meal with a beautiful view of Koko head and the ocean. As we were hiking up we saw Molokai in the distance very clear and took a few fun photos showcasing it's beauty! Once you arrive at the very top you are able to see a few bunkers from WWII.. interesting but still a strange reminder of Hawaii's history. You hike a little farther and are able to climb about 15 stairs and you have a beautiful view of the lighthouse, Koko Head, and the beautiful view of the coastline that seems like it goes on forever.

Our first 4th of July Hawaiian style was amazing! After I was done working we went to the fireworks at Ala Moana Beach Park (One of the largest in the U.S.)! It was heaven for firework lovers like us! We sat in the sand right next to the ocean watching the largest fireworks we've ever seen right near us. One thing I love about Hawaii (particularly Waikiki/Honolulu) is the weekly Aloha Friday fireworks! Since we moved to Hawaii almost 3 months ago we haven't missed one week of the fireworks that are shot off from the Hilton near our house or this past week on the fourth. It's a weekly celebration of the weekend, which always is something fun to look forward to! Saturday the 5th early in the morning we walked about 15 minutes to the God's Ohana Day parade down Kalakaua Avenue. It's one of the main roads leading down Waikiki with all the resorts, fancy shops, and of course famous Waikiki beach... basically where all the action is all the time! It was an entire parade dedicated to Jesus with music, floats, and marching! It was such a cool way for people to come together for one cause! Mark was seeing how many people would give him the shaka and behold every single person gave one back (most looking beyond excited while doing it) haha.

Mark seeing how many shakas he can get from the parade goers!

                                                        (^video... view on desktop)
This past week the filming of the new Hawaii 5-0 started much of it with filming on Kalakaua Avenue. Every season they do a blessing for the stars and production crews, and this year we woke up at 6:30am and watched it live from our phones. It's pretty exciting it takes place where we spend a lot of our time... just not necessarily when you are on your way to work and it takes an extra 15minutes to get through Waikiki. I guess we can't complain though.

Sunday the 6th we celebrated my (Jennie) 26th birthday. We started the day with church and breakfast then we went to Sea Life Park where we enjoyed dolphins, Sea lions and hand fed Honus. It was our second time there (first time with my mom) and enjoyed it so much we decided to buy a season pass. Plus they have dole whip so that is a major reason to go often ;). We then spent some time at beaches in Kahala, ate a birthday cupcake and enjoyed a ling hing mui margarita which was Ono (tasty) at a little mom and pop place called Jose's. One of my coworkers recommended it and it weirdly enough reminded us of Jose's blue sombrero back home, only the Hawaiian version. We finished the night watching the sunset... doesn't get better than that! It was a great 3-day weekend spend celebrating, relaxing and enjoying life and each other!

My workplace!

Dragonfruit! Imagine the texture of a kiwi,, with almost the taste of a pomegranate! So yummy and healthy!

Our first cherry tomatoes!

 

It's crazy to think we are approaching our one year wedding anniversary and soon our one year anniversary contemplating up and moving to Hawaii. It's funny how life works sometimes. This journey has been such a sacrifice leaving our friends and family which we think about daily. But it's so good for both of us to every day experience something new, see new things, and to have already met some really amazing people who have helped make this journey even better. Every day we are more and more starting to feel like Kama'aina (Hawaii local residents). It has been so amazing seeing views from all over the world on our blog (Lithuania, France, Ireland, UK, Germany, Russia Canada, Italy...)! To think traveling and the pursuit of happiness can bring everyone together no matter your backgrounds, views, etc. is so amazing! You can also find us on facebook... here and here. We are also on twitter where you can follow us! @jenben0610 and @markkoala7. We look forward to talking with you soon!!

Shoots then!
(see ya later)

XOXO,
Jen & Mark

Little to zero baggage...

There is something freeing about leaving 99% of your belongings across the world and living from the contents of two suitcases each (and our fur babies of course)! When we look back in March and April as we were packing away 98% of our belongings away to be stored, it was ridiculously hard to decide what few things we needed to bring with us on this journey. Two months later we are sitting in our tiny studio apartment with hardly any material objects and it feels honestly quite freeing. But we would like to thank our parents for holding on to all of our stuff because we are not ready to part ways for good, haha! We both kind of talked that we wouldn't get a TV or cable for that matter because it seemed to take up to much of our free time as we stared aimlessly into the TV after a long day. There are nights I miss the background noise of having it playing or a few pointless reality shows, but it's hardly been missed from either of us. For the first time in 25 and 27 years we don't have a TV for entertainment, but instead spend every second of our free time outside and reading. Plus having one less bill to be handcuffed to is quite wonderful! We've been watching occasional movies and TV shows on netflix and hulu from our laptop which works just as well! :) By the end of the day we are ready for bed and relaxing after spending a majority of our time outside!

Last week the library of Hawaii held a huge week long book sale with every single kind of books imaginable! We spent $25 and found some really awesome reads.. which must retail for over $150 at least! There is something about having books in the apartment that really make it feel like home finally. As wonderful it feels to not be defined by things, and to instead spend our money traveling and making memories, there is something comforting about going to another place and world when reading a really good book. (Is it weird we get this excited about a good deal on books, lol).

WI representing!

There are times we miss sitting on our comfy, expensive couch surrounded by all kinds of furniture in a condo filled with possessions, but being able to exchange all of that for moments and experiences is so much more rewarding. Plus we are trying to not collect to much stuff in case our journey continues somewhere other than Oahu. Our studio has just the basics; a poker table and chairs in our 'living room' and a double high (very comfy!) air mattress that serves as our couch hang out and bed to sleep in. We also have a few patio chairs on our lanai that we eat most of our dinners. At this point it only makes sense to have the bare minimum.. but we are only a few blocks away from the luxurious resorts of Waikiki beach if we ever crave more standard living!  Our goal when coming to Hawaii was to work less, make more money and spend more time with one another to not only grow our marriage, but grow as individuals as well...and so far that is definitely the case! After spending years in a 9-5 (not that anything is wrong with that at all) I'm so happy to get away from that routine at least for a little bit at this time in our lives and able to in some ways not have a schedule or a ritual to live by.

$25.. what a deal!

One thing that makes us feel like a tourist still is we both get so excited every single time we see a rainbow, let alone a double rainbow. Locals walk by them on the streets, not even looking twice at them, almost taking them for granted. I don't think we will ever get to the point that we don't get excited to see a rainbow in the sky! This past week we were spending the morning at the beach when we noticed something strange... a rainbow literally around the sun. The call it a sun halo, but it looks like any rainbow you could imagine but hugging the sun. Some native people say that this can be a sign from the Creator indicating that it is a time of great change or transition of something on Earth (hopefully positive). It was a beautiful sight.

Ready to watch our weekly Aloha Friday fireworks!

Rainbow selfie!

Our go to sunset spot..Ala Moana park

 

 

 

It's crazy to think how fast time goes, and how much of life people spend unhappy. It's important to find time for yourself and the things that make life living even with a crazy hectic schedule.


Hang loose...

Jen & Mark

560ft atop a volcano!

 This past week we did something that has been on our bucket list since planning our trip to Hawaii, climb Diamond Head! The hike itself wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. We were told to go very early or very late before closing to not only avoid the large amount of tourists but to beat the heat! We left our house just before 8:00am and honestly that was cutting it close with the parking. As we pulled in the parking lot we were lucky to find the very last spot. If you aren't so lucky as we were you will just have to hang out by the entrance of the parking lot and in some sense stalk those leaving (brought us back to our University of Wisconsin- Parkside days when we had late morning classes, haha). We started our journey about quarter after eight with a backpack of frozen water (so nice to have ice cold water by the time we were hiking up the mountain). The first part of the trail was very easy on a paved path not to steep. It was about 10 minutes in that the path became not as flat and required your attention to avoid tripping from the uneven surfaces. The views going up were breathtaking.. we stopped at every single lookout point to take a deep breath and take in the scenery and the moment. It wasn't until we were almost to the top that the hike became a little more difficult. You climbed up a pretty steep set of stairs (we saw very fit people at this point getting tired, haha) that brought you to a 225 ft dark tunnel leading through the center of the mountain. The tunnel was dark and creepy, but only in a really awesome way. Once we found our way through the end of the tunnel we came to a fork in the road.. we had two choice left or right.. we luckily went left! Trust me do not go right unless you want to climb up a very steep staircase and then a tall, narrow spiral staircase (this way you will also encounter a lot more stairs, and not get the amazing view if you choose to take the left way). We did end up going down this way when we were finished at the top and found it very cool going down at least. You have to crouch down to go into the bunker and then go down the staircase. The spiral staircases reminded us of those of the Victory Column that we climbed when we were in Berlin!

The spiral staircase of the Victory Column in Berlin, Germany.

Spiral staircase in the bunker at the top of Diamond Head.

 (^Must be on a desktop to view video, doesn't always work on mobile version of blogger. Sorry for the creepy red eyes in the video too, haha it was so crazy dark in there and our dang iphone video didn't do the best job with not making my eyes look super freaky!)

Once you get to the top of Diamond Head the 360 degree views are incredible. It's almost hard to describe how amazing it feels, in a sense like an out of body experience because of the beauty. We enjoyed the view for about 20 minutes then started our journey back down! The hike down was almost worse trying to brace yourself to not tumble down. We walked as fast as possible and made it down quickly where at the bottom we enjoyed a nice refreshing shave ice! The hike itself didn't take long, but was fun stopping at all the lookout points and not missing a great photo opportunity!

One of our favorite beaches to people watch is Sandy beach. The waves are always crazy and it's so fun watching people surf and body board. It the beach with the most injuries out of any other beach in Hawai'i (we've heard a few people refer to it as break-neck beach). There's a reason we are only spectators at that particular beach, haha. When we were at Sandy a few days ago we were able to see a Monk Seal (or in Hawaiian known as; Ilio-holo-i-ka-uaua) come ashore and bask in the sun. The Hawaiian monk seal is an endangered species (there are only about 1,100 left in the wild) so it was very exciting to see him. We also saw a Hawaiian monk seal when we were on our honeymoon on the Big Island.. Maybe the same little guy followed us to Oahu! 

 

 

A few more random adventures....

We love hanging out downtown Waikiki.. We can find good, live, local music almost every night.

At the Diamond Head Bark Park!

Last week on Wednesday June 11th, we were able to see the draping of the King Kamehameha Statue in front of the Ali'iolani Hale building in downtown Honolulu (also the headquarters on the Hawaii 50 TV show fyi)! The presenting of the leis dates back all the way to 1901! King Kamehameha united the Hawaiian islands in 1810 and became Hawaii's first king. Hundreds of long strands of leis were over his shoulders as well as on the ground surrounding his statue. King Kamehameha day looks to celebrate as well as protect Hawaii's culture (dance, food, chants as well as other important pieces of Hawaiian history).

Sunset 6/17/2014

Malama pono, (take care)

Jen & Mark