the proposal

It’s been a flurry of activity, excitement, tension, and melodrama the moment I landed back on the mainland.  Largely for two major reasons: I was engaged & I also became a homeowner.  All in the time span of 2 weeks.  It was all too easy to get caught up in the craziness of this turn of expected, yet still overwhelmingly exhausting, events.  Thus, my delay in the desire to properly document my travels and photos.  I figure as long as I post them before I reach the one month mark, it’ll be somewhat fresh in my memory.

When I came back, the next question I received after “SOOO… Are you ENGAGED?”  (Yes) would be “How was Hawai’i?”  I wrestled for the right words to answer such a question.  There’s too much to say about this place that can’t be justified by a gushing “beautiful”, “amazing”, “sooo fun”, or “great!”

I will say:  I completely understand why it is a place people enjoy visiting again and again.

I’ve put together a photo blog 3-part series on Hawai’i.  And be aware that there will absolutely be no mention of running/jogging/working out during this trip because…it didn’t happen.  But that’s a whole separate entry.  Aloha!

Day 1. June 25, 2009 (Thursday).

Honolulu, Oahu

Aerial View of Oahu

My first glimpse of Oahu from Hawaiian Airlines.  Seeing all of the green and blue already made me feel like I was entering paradise.

*After a 6 hour flight and then checking into the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel, J & I were hungry.  Hawaii is known for its sporadic light showers, so we ducked into Hatsuhana Restaurant to avoid the drops and for a quick bento box lunch.

*We head over to the Manoa Falls Trail, in the Upper Manoa Valley.  The drive itself is quite elevated and the trail took us deep into the lush green rainforest.  It was a 1.5 mile hike through a worn path that often was muddy, rocky, and slightly steep.  When I read about the trail in my Lonely Planet guide, it was labeled “relatively easy.”  I thought perhaps Hawaiians must be in better shape than Californians as I sweated my way across rocks, lunged up stones and thick tree roots, and nearly slipped more than twice.

Manoa Falls Trail

For some time, it felt like J and I were the only two people on the hike.  The only sounds we heard were birds chirping, the wind rustling the tree branches, and the distant sound of water rushing.  I felt like I stepped onto the set of Jurassic Park and imagined a velociraptor stealthily following us in the thick bushes.  We pass by a sign that says:  Warning.  Beware of flash flood. “Do you think we’re almost there yet?” I ask J, in a near panic that we won’t make it back by nightfall.

After woefully mourning the muddiness of my white Nikes, I see a streambed of water and hear the increasing sound of an approaching waterfall.  We scramble to the top lookout point and gasp at the sight of the beautiful 150 foot waterfall drop.  J smiles and I’m smiling, too, as we hug each other – a silent appreciation of such a moment.

There’s no one there, but us, to bask in the beauty of the Manoa Waterfall.  J then nervously drops down to one knee, pulls out a red heart shaped box out of his pocket.  “Pauline…”  he says.

I don’t let him finish his sentence because I’m screaming in pure surprise, joy, and semi-confusion.  He repeats my name again.  Three times.  I’m still screaming “Oh my god! Oh my god!  Is this really happening?”

“Will you marry me?”

The 1.5 mile hike back down the Manoa Falls Trail was damned quicker and easier, given my high spirits and a brand new sparkling diamond on my finger.  I’m grinning the whole way down.

“Aren’t you just EXCITED?” I gleefully ask J, as I bound and skip from rock to rock.

“Not at the moment.  I just want to make sure you get down this trail SAFELY,” J says with a slight grimace as he quickly follows me in my frenzied state.

Engaged at Manoa Falls

*We celebrate our engagement at Bali by the Sea for dinner, one of the Hilton’s fancy restaurants.  After enjoying a filling meal, where we chatter nonstop about the Manoa Falls hike, we take a moonlit stroll down the beach.  The entire day was a perfect way to start off an already memorable vacation.

Evening at the Hilton beach side

Engaged

It’s official!

And yes, it happened in Hawai’i. Details to come.

June 25, 2009

Hawai’i

For the record, going to Hawai’i this week does not mean I get to go on hiatus from my marathon training.

J and I packed up our running shoes (crammed, for me) into our carry-on suitcases.  I’m ready for the hikes to Diamond Head and the Manoa Falls Trail.  Week 1, Week 1 (revisited, because I didn’t feel I gave it a worthy attempt), and Week 2 of training have really elevated my running endurance.  I’d hate to have all of that energy come to a crashing halt when I return; most definitely heavier from all of the shaved ice, spam musubi, kalua pork, baked goodies, and poke sloshing around in my stomach.

I know folks think I’m crazy for wanting to run and be active on our “vacation.”  I think I’m a little crazy that I’m looking forward to it!  After all, if you’re going to be running, what better place in the world to do so than on Waikiki Beach during sunrise?  My thoughts exactly.

Aloha!  I will return with fitness, food, and photography stories!

Week 1

My Training Wheels

Week 1 of my “training” for the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon is complete.  Sort of.

It was sometime last month when it dawned on me that I was set to run 13.1 miles in about four months.  More like hit me in a the form of a mini-anxiety attack.  I was not working out consistently ever since my Napa Valley 5k run in March.  When work settled down and the weather grew sunny, I started to picked up running again in May.  It dismayed me to realize that it’s not the same as riding a bike.  If you don’t use it, you lose it.  The collapsing of my lungs and legs by Mile 2 proved it.

So when June rolled around, I was determined to get back in the game.  I had about 15 weeks until October 4th (HM- half marathon day).  I read Runner’s World articles, asked runner friends for advice, and even swallowed my pride to ask J for his guidance.  I was ready to TRAIN.  Sort of.

This past week, I decided to use this marathon training schedule as a guide (shared by a good friend, who btw, is also running this HM with me).  Let’s just say… even Week 1 was a bit too ambitious for my weak and pathetically-out-of-shape self.  Schedule dictates that the weekly total mileage: 13 miles.  My total weekly mileage: a pittance 7.5 miles.  Gah.

J tells me, as he scarfs down Jack in the Box fries and tacos, “Try not to get so discouraged.  Most people think that it should be easy running a certain number just because they did it before.  You have to get used to the fact that you’re going to have to retrain just as hard as before.”

I exhale in agreement and nab a few curly fries.  After eating three, I resist the urge to indulge in more greasy fried foods (whose idea was it anyway to get fast food?  I think J is trying to test me).

Of course, he’s right.  Nothing that’s worth achieving comes easy, especially when it comes to staying physically fit.  I was just hoping it would be less tiring.

Stay tuned for Week 2.

beach

I’m ready for the beach.

Hawai’i in 2 more weeks!!!

Metro

I submitted two photos for this month’s Metro Photography Exhibit in downtown San Jose, where they will display works by local photographers. I figured, why not? For the theme “I Live Here” I chose the following images.

The Beach

My cousin Adam & the shores of Pajaro Dunes

Friendship

two of my favorite booties

Unfortunately, I won’t be in town to attend my own exhibit! If you’ll be in downtown this Friday, I encourage South Bay folks to check out the Friday Night’s Art Walk

I plan on more photogra

No changes yet.  One more day left to decide what to do…

Damnit.

8 p.m.

Sometimes all it takes is a phone call to drastically change your life.

In mine, that call will take place tomorrow at 8:00 p.m.

happy flowers

5 Years and 6 Months Tulips

My first attempt at a self-portrait.

This was a few weeks ago, when J surprised me with flowers on our anniversary.  He signed it ” from your not so secret admirer.”

I love tulips more than roses, to be honest.  I find joy in its simplicity and vibrant color.  A tulip doesn’t need to demand so much attention with a million petals and thorns and leaves.  It’s not so complicated and busy.  It just IS.

If you asked J, he’d say I was more like a rose – pretty but thorny!  Not the most flattering comparision, but I see the truth in it.  I’m really trying to practice living more simply like a Tulip.  I’m starting to see that the more complex and full of choices/decisions, and expectations you clutter your life with, the more difficult it is to be happy.  Whereas, having a simple positive outlook on life and its meaning can work wonders on peace of mind.  Instead of focusing so much on doing the right things to ensure happiness and “perfection” down the road a year or two from now, I try to focus on this moment.  This day.

“Be happy for this moment.  This moment is your life!” – Omar Khayyam

quality control

I have a love/disturbed vibe towards email, text messaging, or social networking as a means of staying connected with friends.

It’s great because it’s so easy to crank out a few lines and zip it on over to someone. The response is also instantaneous. In either exchanging or reading a few paragraphs, a short message, or a facebook status, a person can believe that he/she is caught up with someone’s life. That gnawing guilt over being MIA or out of touch is immediately assuaged by that tiny bit of “connection” no matter how brief the interaction or the size of characters exchanged via the cyberworld.

Not to say I don’t do it. I text, I email, I gchat, I facebook, I Myspace (hardly), and I get LinkedIn. You’d be a pariah not to be somewhat tech-savvy these days. But for the love of humankind, what happened to phone calls and face to face conversations??? Remember the time when you could actually see and hear the person?

This is where I firmly believe that the closest of my friendships, the ones I truly value in keeping, are the ones where the connections are still personal. And I’ve learned to really appreciate the friends who also value quality time and put in that same effort to maintain the relationship. Whether it’s a lengthy phone conversation now and then, catching up over dinner and drinks, planning trips or city outings together, or even working out, my life feels fulfilled. It takes time, definitely. It takes reciprocity – I initiate and they initiate. And it takes effort. But that’s what it takes to build and maintain a relationship.

Yes, technology makes communication easier. But easier doesn’t always mean better.