College Life

Sorry for the lack of updates, I haven't had as much time as I had expected. I moved in and settled in my new quarters on Sunday and had a full day of classes on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday followed suit. Yesterday, I didn't have class until 1, but with my restlessness, I slept in then had class until 5. Today, I didn't have any classes (thank God), so I caught up on some reading.

On more interesting news, and exciting news for me, the camera on my BlackBerry Storm finally decided to work! Although it takes some crappy photos, it's something. I don't have photoshop on my laptop, so I haven't been able to upload the pictures from my camera, resize them and edit some of it to post onto here. I'll be heading home this weekend to get some laundry done, during this time I'll upload my pictures, do the etcetera, and upload them to my flickr so I can easily grab them from there and post them onto here.

In the meantime, here are some craptastic pictures of what my side of the dorm looks like, at this exact moment:

My shower curtain that I use as a regular curtain for my closet that I got from UO! :D

The view from my window: The "City"

Another view: Diamond Head

I wouldn't normally post pictures of this quality, but since you know it's from a BB camera, you know it's going to be crappy anyways. Let's hope Apple decides to put a camera on the iTouch that is supposedly making it's debut soon so I can ask for it as a birthday present, then get some apps that'll make craptastic photos look professional (yay for run-on sentences).

In the mean time, I'll see everyone soon. I'm heading to the water park for my nephew's birthday tomorrow so I'll most likely have a post about that coming up.

Da Kitchen

For our lunch/dinner, we headed to "Da Kitchen" for a really great meal. It was the first time for all of us, and we all didn't know what to expect. We placed our orders, and waited. My fries came first, which looked delicious, then my burger. The burger was massive, and about three of my fists put together. That huge. The picture does not do it justice.

My brother got a Katsu Moco, which was a mix of eggs, fried rice, a burger patty, chicken katsu, and topped with gravy. Basically, a three course meal. My brother has as appetite, and even he was surprised at the size of the bowl.

The three others ordered a Hawaiian Plate. If you were to attend a Luau here, the Hawaiian Plate was about 2.5 times what you would normally get.

I wish we compared the size of our meals to something 'normal sized' so you'd get the idea of the meal we had. By the end of the meal, we were all under Food Coma. They had a full menu of some great desserts, but we had no room for it whatsoever. I didn't even finish my meal, and ended up taking some of it home.

On our way home we were talking about Shark Week and the awesomeness of it. We mentioned stories of seals getting mauled and stories of people surviving shark attacks and just the bad-assness of a shark in general. As a complete coincidence, we came across a truck with a huge catch in it's truck bed. It's fin and head were sticking out on both ends because it couldn't fit in the bed of the truck.

It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but it's there. Luckily, a friend of ours is the catcher's neighbor, so he was able to get a picture of the catch from his facebook.

The whole day was spent and I came home, took a long and cold shower, and went straight to bed to rest up for a while before watching Jersey Shore. I'm not a fan of the whole GTL lifestyle, I just watch it for laughs, and the drama, and trust me, there were lots of it, haha. And now I'm here, and about to lay on my bed. See you tomorrow.

Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail

This hike came unexpectedly with my mom knocking on the door of my room telling me my brother was leaving to go hiking with his friends and a few of our cousins. I thought to myself, is he serious?! He didn't even care to invite me! With that aside, I quickly packed up a few necessities and we were on our way. I live in the middle of the island and the hike was on the south side of the island. With picking up a few cousins and waiting for a couple of people, we didn't start the hike until around 10:30. The hike was fairly easy, with a few tough spots.

There were shortcuts everywhere. Although not advised, we took a few.

At the halfway point, a green shack is conveniently located for you to rest up for the rest of the hike. It seems like a nice place to camp as well. I didn't quite get a view of the shack, just the view from the table.

Hawaii is known for it's different climates. The area we were in would be considered the desert side of the island, whereas I live in a more year-round rainy area. At the beginning of the hike, the view is filled with a lot of beach trees, but as you venture further up the mountain, you come in contact with a lot of evergreens.

We finally reached the top, and the view was a spectacular 360.

We did the hike mainly for my cousin who came from England (far left), my cousin from the Philippines (red), and my cousin who'll be leaving to Nebraska for college on Monday (white tank).

The trek down was a lot easier than it was up. We came to a steep hill that was pretty challenging to get down from. Me and my cousin took a simple route and slid down. I slid down on my feet whereas my cousin took his butt down.

Afterward, we headed down to Alan Davis beach in Makapu'u near the lighthouse.

A log is conveniently placed for you to jump off of and dive into the clear water.

The location is also home to Hawaii's volcano god, Pele, and her 'chair'.

By the time we finished all of the above it was about 4:00 and we were all very hungry. We headed to "Da Kitchen" for an unbelievable meal that is mentioned in the next post...

This Delicate Balance

Nature always has a knack of showing us things that we don't quite enjoy unless we take some time to really look at it. Living in Hawaii has its benefits, especially for my parents. Year round, my parents are able to tend to their garden and landscaping and are able to produce great things by getting their hands a little dirty. Being home this summer I was able to document some of the plants (mostly flowers) that my parents have put so much hard work into. These posts will come sparingly. In a week, I'll be back in school and not at home, so at one point, I may start sharing pictures of nature elsewhere, rather than my front/back yard. For now, I'll focus on what I have here.

My EQ (emotional quotient) results

Emotional Intelligence, or EI, describes an ability or capacity to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, and of others. Our EQ, or Emotional Quotient, is how one measures Emotional Intelligence.

Your Score: 42

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35 - 44

You have slightly above average EQ - with room to grow! You are likely sensitive to the emotional climate of the people around you - your peers, friends, family and key clients. You are well aware of the effect your behavior has on others. Still, while you may be adept at tuning into others and their needs - you must remember your own! Don't be afraid to honestly communicate these difficult needs and feelings. The world is well stocked with martyrs - it doesn't need any more! Think also about your passion for work (or whatever constitutes your main roles in life - manager of people, doer of tasks, 'meeter' of clients' needs, etc). We spend countless hours in our given roles - sometimes without much joy or satisfaction. In the process we become tranquilized by the trivial. Sedated by the small details of life. Sure, the laundry needs doing, the groceries need getting, the kids need chauffeuring, the deadlines must be knocked off, but we also need to stop and remember what gives us great joy and meaning. If we fail to remind ourselves (on a regular basis), we risk becoming hostile and cynical. We lose our purpose. And this translates to a diminished ability to be effective, at ease and fulfilled. Areas to work on: Ask yourself: - What situations generally create tension and stress for you? How are you handling these situations? - What negative thoughts play over and over in your mind on a regular basis? Are these a true picture of reality? - Are you afraid to share your needs and feelings with others? Is it because you are taking care of everyone else - being a martyr - or acting 'the strong, silent type'? What 3 things give you the greatest meaning in your life? If you work on gaining clarity in these areas, you will move toward maximizing your full potential and finding greater effectiveness, happiness, and fulfillment in your life. As William James said: I have no doubt whatever that most people live, whether physically, intellectually, or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness... much like a man who, out of his whole body organism, should get into the habit of using and moving only his little finger... We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon, of which we do not dream.

Don't know if I necessarily believe in all of this or not, but it did help pass time, haa. Find out what your "EQ" is: http://www.ihhp.com/quiz.php

Prayer for Patience

Just a little prayer I've found after browsing through tumblr (no, I wasn't logged in and no, I did not spend more than 10 minutes on tumblr). The author is unknown, but whoever wrote this surely knows life:

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Flickr 365: Parker Fitzgerald (Part 1)

I feel like I've heard his name elsewhere, like this guy is famous. He's not, but he should be, and his name just happened to remind me of the author F. Scott Fitzgerald. I wonder if they're related, because they're both quite talented, with Mr. Parker Fitzgerald specializing in photography rather than writing.

I found out about this talented photographer from tumblr (where I recently announced a hiatus; it took up too much time). You'll see a lot of these on that blogging platform, typography displayed on photos. In this case, it comes in the form of a 365. If you don't already know, a 365 is a photography challenge where people attempt to take a photo a day, for 365 days (a year). There are many takes on this challenge, most of them with just photos in general, whereas others may go for the 365 self-portrait challenge. I love what this dude is doing, and I've decided to share with you a few of my favorites from his 365 Polaroid Quotes challenge: