Pikake & Pearls: Helen & Randy’s Website

Hello all… We have lots to catch you up on!  And we realized this just when Jan 1st (2010) rolled by, and now we’re in March.  This past year has been interesting and has plenty of ups and downs, but this post will mostly be about how we celebrated on first year anniversary.

As most of you know, we haven’t had the time or chance to go on our honeymoon.  It’s kind of sad, but seriously, we have been too busy!  So when our wedding date started coming around to our minds, I think we had several ideas floating around in our heads that would qualify as a mini-moon.  We made our final decision around the time we left to spend Christmas and New Year’s in Hawaii with family and friends.  I wanted to visit any other island and Randy missed his childhood fun days at a hotel water resort called Waikoloa Hilton in Kona on the Big Island.  I guess what convinced me to go along with Randy’s wish was his overly dramatic descriptions of the water slides (he used words like “HUGE” and “FUN”), but when we actually saw them when we got there, they were …hehe…. um… far from what he said, but they were “CUTE” slides!  Our getaway was only three days and two nights, but we made sure to make it worthwhile.  While driving around, I was amazed to see the vast stretches of lava rock that is heavily punctuated with white rocks in various designs and words made by tourists.  We also tried to find Captain Cook’s Monument by using our iPhones, but it turned out we needed to hike for miles and snorkle to the destination (thanks alot, Google Maps!)  Anyways, check out some pictures below!

On our way to Kona….

Pictures of our eatings and sightseeing…

Overall, downtown Kona was too touristy for me, which reminded me of a low-scale Waikiki.  Even Randy was surprised at the number of tourists wandering around.  For those interested in visiting Kona, stay away from the Scandinavian shave ice!

Greetings from Hawaii!  It’s been a week since I left Boston to join Randy and his family, and so far, everything has been so smooth and relaxing.  Highlights of the past week include the big birthday bash hosted by Aunty T and Uncle Mike where we had THREE grills cooking at the same time, meeting up with Elyse and Kevin at Koko Marina, eating at all of our “old” favorite places, and moving to Aina Haina to housesit for our relatives.

The birthday / Father’s Day gathering was really sweet.  We got Randy’s dad a Reyn Spooner newly designed aloha shirt and some goodies from Sam’s Club like superfood and a thermo tote bag.  Most of the Wongs were there and it was fun to see the younger generation, meaning us and our cousins, take over grilling and serving food.  It was a blast and everyone loved to eat.  I think the big hits were Randy’s Sicilian mint pesto marinade with steak tips and potatoes, our super-lasagna, Jamie & Keith’s bacon-wrapped scallops, and bi-colored corn!  Oh my, I’m getting hungry again just thinking about everything cooked and devoured.   Oh yeah, and for my birthday, Randy and his friends Satomi and Shinya played a jazzy birthday song to celebrate and I got to enjoy my black-bottom cupcakes that we made the night before.  What a great time!  Thank you Wongs!!

The day after we had to pack and get ready to “move” to our next destination for the next few weeks: Aina Haina.  I’m excited because we’ll have a place all to ourselves and we’ll have duties to tend to such as feeding the dog and cat (Poki and Shyann), picking up poo, taking out the trash, wash dishes, etc… things that I’m used to doing.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I feel antsy when I don’t do those things on a consistent basis, except for the poo picking part of course.  So far things are good and comfortable, except for the suffocating heat and lack of internet, but we’ll make it I’m sure.  We’ve been hanging out at coffee shops and malls to snatch some free wi-fi, which I don’t mind at all :)

Places where we’ve eaten: Goma-ichi Ramen, Curryhouse at Manoa, Bubbies at Koko Marina, Shirokiya, Dave’s ice cream, Zippy’s, Poi Bowl, Coffee or Tea, Yogurt Land, Waiola Shave Ice, Jewels or Juice

Places where we want to eat: Tsukaneya, Shochan, Okonomiyaki Chibo, other ramen places…. (give us some suggestions!)

I’ll end this post with good news that just arrived today: The Waitiki 7 albums are here!!