Training Dives

Wanted to post some photos some from of the training dives that I have been doing for work!

Jason, Cristi and I conducting a belt transect survey- those are large Porites lobata colonies.

Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle- we saw two that day- one playing in our bubbles and one sleeping under a ledge!

Crown of Thorns sea star

Beautiful nudibranchs (related to snails and slugs)

Movies on the Beach

Saturday night, I met up with some friends to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3 on the beach in Waikiki. We had a little picnic- bread, cheese, strawberries, veggies and dip, beer and Paula made us musibi (nori, rice, futakaki, and spam)!

There is an amazing love of spam in Hawaii- apparently the best place to get musibi is 7-11 (I'll take their word for it). It was fun to lay on the sand, eat some snacks and watch a movie!

Diving, Garlic and shopping

I've been doing some training dives for work lately- I have to learn the new methodology, practice my coral ID skills and then try out my new gear! I've never worn a wetsuit thicker than 3mm before, so I feel like a little fat baby seal out there in the water with my 7mm suit on! I've had to add an additional 10 pounds to my weight belt just to make me sink! The method will take some getting used to and I am getting more comfortable knowing the names for the corals! On my last dive, we saw two big sea turtles- one was sleeping under a ledge and the other was having a little spa day in our bubbles! I really love this part of my job! We had a camera on the dive, so I will post some photos soon!
I went out the the girls last night for dinner- after drinks at my place, we walked down to Ninniku-Ya Garlic Restaurant. The food was fabulous, but I suggest going with your significant other or roommates so that they don't have to smell you when you get home!
Did a little shopping today and now I'm going to meet up with some friends to watch movies on the beach- they set up a big screen right in Waikiki and show movies! Tonight we are seeing the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean!
Hope all is well!

Bon Dance

The Obon Festival is a Buddhist Japanese custom to honor the departed spirits of their ancestors and customarily includes a dance known as the Bon-Odori. Since there is a large Japanese population in Honolulu, there have been many Bon Festivals over the past month at various Buddhist temples. I went with Paula and Annette to one of the Bon Dances last night- it was a very interesting and fun event- there is an elevated stage in the middle with musicians and teiko drums and then everyone is invited to dance around the stage doing the various Bon dances. Many of the Japanese wore kimonos and carried fans. The stage was lit with lanterns and they had food and games!

Now, I know I have been ridiculed for always talking about what I eat (I think it runs in the family), but it is one of my favorite parts of trying new things! For example, the Japanese version of carnival food was waffle dogs (hot dogs wrapped in a waffle), maki sushi rolls and japanese donuts called andagi? They also had shave ice and lots of different types of mochi.

The Rainbows Are Back!

There was quite some time where we didn't see a rainbow.....now they are back! There have been some really beautiful rainbows lately!

Is it August Already?

I can't believe that it's August 11th and that I haven't even posted anything this month! There has been a lot of work going on- I leave for the NWHI cruise in exactly one month! So much needs to be done before leaving and it seems like a lot has gotten left for the last minute as far as work goes.......I don't really know of anyone that can't say that about their job though!

So, for the highlights of what's been going on:

I went to see a local production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Manoa Valley Theatre with Annette and Jeff. My landlord, Alison, was in the show- she played Eddie in the first act and did a phenomenal job! It was so much fun- to add to audience participation, they even sold little prop bags!

Kenny came to visit- my second visitor to Hawaii! We did some fun stuff- even some things that I haven't gotten to do yet!

We went for a hike to the Maunawili Falls- it's a great little hike in Kailua that takes you along a creek back into the forest and ends at a waterfall. The pool at the bottom is deep enough to jump off the rocks into (we didn't jump, but watch a few people enjoy it!).

We stopped along the road to enjoy the view....

Kenny climbed out pretty far onto the rocks where he got a great sense of how powerful the ocean can be!

We went to a luau at Paradise Cove:

We tried snorkeling at Hanauma Bay....

And we climbed Diamond Head......

Lots of fun!