10/30/06 - 7:00 pm - Internet Cafe in Aiea

So that was last saturday night. The combination of lack of car, lack of internet, and lack of home had really gotten to me. I knew my last night in my temporary house would be tuesday, and I still hadn't found a place. I had visited a really nice girl with a place in Makakilo the night before, but it would have taken 2 or 3 buses to get between home and work. My most promising option at that point was a place in Mililani, one town north of my restaurant, that I was going to visit on sunday. I had to leave the internet cafe at 9 or something early like that so I wouldn't miss my last bus back home. At that point I was pretty much just waiting for people to find my on craigslist or roommates.com and call my cell phone.

The next morning I had training at my job, then the guy with the place in Mililani picked me up to take me to look at his place. It was nice house all the way at the end of the street, with nothing but field and distant Jurassic-Park-style mountains past the back of the property. Problem was it was under construction, and there was no kitchen yet and a couple of walls missing. The guy and his dad even offered to loan me their truck to take to work every night so commuting wouldn't be a problem. I basically said yes, let me call you when I get off work and we can bring over all my stuff and I'll move in. He dropped me back off at the restaurant, at which time I checked my messages and had one from a girl that had just found the account on Roommates.com I had set up the night before. She lived right in Waipio, about a 15 minute walk, so I agreed to walk over and check out the place. She was really cool and welcoming, and I liked the place, so after talking to her for 20 minutes or so I looked around and said, yeah so I think I want to live here. She said "ok" and I went to work and called her when I got off. We drove to my temporary place at about 10 pm and I packed up all my stuff just-broke-up-with-my-girlfriend style. I gave the lady her key back and said thanks, then me and my new roomie drove home. I was so happy to just have a spot to live... it's hard to explain unless you've experienced not having a home. For the first couple days I felt like I was all I had on the whole island. Even though my luggage was at someone's house I felt like I was my own island, wandering around on a bigger one. Now as I'm writing this I know I'm tied to the world... I have a connection with a physical place on the ground. This is starting to not make sense, even to me, but I'm just trying to capture that appreciation I felt. Feeling appreciation for the simple things is one those reasons I mentioned for why I did this. My last entry from my move:

10/23/06 - 12:15 am - The Villages at Waipio

I am so happy right now. I feel like I've come to the end of a long journey... which is literally true, I guess, but still. I found a place to live, and more importantly, a place that feels like home. I was becoming increasingly worried about my upcoming lack of housing... a.k.a, I was scared I'd be homeless on Wednesday. I've been spending some really frantic hours at the internet cafe, in a desperate swarm of posts, searches, emails, and phone calls. The lack of car was making my search almost impossible. Anyway I'll tell you my enthralling stories of internet usage later. I am just really, really happy that everything turned out ok, and that I'm writing this from my bedroom, in my house, in Hawaii.

Dear Diary part III

10/21/06 - 11:00 pm - My room on Kilika Pl.

The stars were out for the first time on my walk back up the hill to my place. I stopped to look at them for about four seconds before saying fuck it. I'll look at them later. My mind is just too tired to do anything right now... I have so much to write about but I just can't right now. I have put myself under some fairly ridiculous constraints for house-searching: Must have a normal roommate (not the uncaring revolving-door-temporary-subletting-as-a-business-venture people that I've been talking to and currently live with), must be available immediately, and must be accessible from the only bus that runs by my store. At midnight when I'll get off work. And I only have four days (tomorrow being the last one). This, combined with learning a new area, learning the bus system, learning a practically whole new culture, and training at my new job - all with no car - have made for a very taxing first 74 hours. Later I'll explain why I decided to do this to myself but MY BRAIN DOESN'T WORK RIGHT NOW.

What I did today: Blah blah blah I don't care goodnight.

Wish you were here...

Taken from the top of Kilika Place, where I stayed for the first few days:

Early morning on the patio, overlooking Pearl Harbor:

Same spot, zoomed in on the harbor:

Kalakaua Ave in Waikiki. Almost there...

Why I decided to live in Hawaii (if you weren't sure):

Another view of Waikiki Beach, this time facing southeast towards Diamond Head:

Here's a link to a map centered on Waikiki

Dear Diary part II

10/19/06 - 2:25 pm - Bus stop in Pearlridge

I'm here... and it's definitely an adventure. I'm trying to strike a balance of time between experiencing things and writing about them, so I'm going to try to sneak in writing whenever I have a free minute. I'm waiting for a bus to Waipio to meet with Julie, the owner of the Outback there. I was supposed to be there at 2, but I spent the last 70 minutes waiting for buses. The bus system here is actually really extensive; it's just that the house I'm staying at is up at the top of a giant hill and not really near a bus line. Life here so far is not that far off from what I imagined... I wasn't expecting paradise of course, and that's not what I got. But now that I'm here, I'm able to form a more accurate picture of the island in general.
Things that I was expecting:

• Cultural diversity
• Awesome landscape
• Green everywhere and beautiful exotic plants (For all you "fact" buffs out there, yes I know they can't be exotic if they grow here naturally... shut up)
• Friendliness and the "aloha spirit"

Things that surprised me in some way:

• The huge percentage of Japanese population
• The amount of rain
• The humidity: It is wayyy humid here. By the time I hike up the hill to my house I am covered in sweat and I STINK. People tell me it's always like this... that is one aspect that I really should have done some research on. Either I get used to it soon, or I'm moving again... I hear Alaska is nice! At any rate I'll definitely be requiring A/C wherever I decide to move.

[I'm on the bus now but there must have been an accident because we are at a standstill. Will I ever get to see my new store? Grrr]

Back to my story...

I woke up at 6:30 this morning and as I looked around I remembered that outside my bedroom window was Hawaii. I have to say it was a good feeling (even if I had forgotten to pack my sock/underwear drawer). I walked out on to my patio as the sun was coming up over the ridge and checked out our view of Pearl Harbor. I'm going to try and take pictures of everything, even if it makes me look like a compete tourist. But right now this traffic jam is pissing me off so I'm going to stop for now. Remember kids, if you're feeling jealous in any way, think of me sitting on a bus in a traffic jam, staring out the window looking at the rain. Aloha for now...

10/20/06 - 11:30 am - Bus to Hawaii Kai
Last night was the end of day 1. Things I did:

• Moved into temporary house
• Got job at Outback
• Got bus pass

Places I went:

• Outback
• Downtown Honolulu
• Ala Moana Shopping Center
• The Shack in Mililani

Things to do tomorrow:

• Develop pictures
• Buy monitor
• Look for housing
• Buy shoes and stuff
• Blog some more

6:55 pm - Daiichi restaurant in Aiea

I'm hungry as hell. This is going to be a very well-deserved meal. I spent the last 2 hours at an internet cafe looking for housing, and I'll probably go back after dinner. This is completely crazy... I'll be homeless in 4 days and all I have are my internet-researching skills to pull me through. On the plus side, I went to the beach in Waikiki this morning and finally got to get my feet wet in the Pacific Ocean. After that I took -- never mind my meal is here I'M STARVING goodbye.

Dear Diary

10/16/06 - 4:00 pm Hawaii time - Somewhere over the pacific ocean

I got the back seat. The one across from the bathroom that doesn't recline... That's the only thing I can complain about, though... On both flights I ended up with a window seat on the right side behind the wing (my favorite spot), each time with the seat next to me empty. This time it was empty because Aisle Seat Guy's wife decided not to take this flight, and instead of telling the gate person they could let one more person on (they had announced they were oversold for this flight) he decided to keep quiet and try to get an empty seat next to him. I honestly dont't think it has even occurred to him that someone had to miss their flight and is sitting in a hotel room right now because of it. People can be so bad at life.

Anyway, I'm enjoying Hour Three of sunset over the ocean. The timing of the flight means we're now following the sun westward around the globe; I'll be chasing dusk to Honolulu and it looks like we'll make it there at the same time.

I've already experienced a few personal firsts: first time seeing California, first time seeing L.A. (it passed under us on our right side, and I took a picture of a tiny white structure on a hill that could only have been the Hollywood sign), and my first encounter with the Pacific Ocean. The way the mountains over New Mexico reflected the light from the setting sun, they looked like gold... I got the sudden urge to check the date on my watch as I looked down over them, thinking about my spontaneous decision to move to Hawaii on the randomly chosen date of October 18th and wondering how I would feel when it actually happened. "18", said my watch. I looked out the window again and my biggest emotion was, Wow, I can't believe I actually convinced myself to go through with it.

But that was an hour or two ago, and the haze of Los Angeles has given way to a flat layer of cottony clouds floating far below over the dull blue of the Pacific. The sunset is beginning to fade but I'll enjoy it as long as I can, as I continue on my slow-motion journey across the sea.

5:50 pm

The sun has finally set... but it's not even 6 yet in Hawaii. Does that make sense? Hawaii doesn't do daylight savings time, so does it just get dark really early? I guess I'll find out tomorrow evening.

The plane will land at 8:30, and when I get there I'll need to figure out the taxi situation. I won't be sleeping in a box (or on the beach) tonight; I've picked out a place from the people who responded about temporary housing on Craigslist. I have arranged to stay with a lady in Pearl City for 7 days at $30 a night (Google map). The place is furnished, near a bus line, but no wireless internet and I haven't even seen a picture of it. I chose it over my other options (Honolulu, Waikiki, Hawaii Kai) because those places are just too far away from work by bus. I'm going to look into renting a car for a few days, though, so I'll have the freedom to explore the island, look at houses, and buy anything I'll need. Either way I'll be showing up at this lady's house tonight with $210 cash and hope it checks out alright... if for some reason it doesn't, I'll say "thanks but I can't" and start calling backup plans. I just wish I had some daylight to work with... the nighttime compunds my lack of familiarity with my surroundings. I'm starting to get that feeling, a lot like when I traveled through Bolivia by myself. Kind of a feeling of "All I can rely on to survive now is my money, my wits, and luck." I'm going to pack my money belt now.

8:25 pm

"And on behalf of ATA Airlines, welcome to Honolulu. And if you're fortunate enough to have Honolulu as home, welcome home." I'm not sure which one of those should be directed at me, so I'll just accept them both.

11:10 pm

I'm really friggin hungry... I haven't eaten since like 3 or 4. And it's humid as fuckin' hell here! But I'm here and I made it and all my stuff made it. I'm going to bed.

Game on

Earthquake can't keep visitors from Hawaii

So here I come anyway. Take that, Hawaii.

Outback Steakhouse: No Rules. Just Really Expensive.

So I pulled up Outback's menu for Cincinnati and Honolulu:

	Cincinnati -	Honolulu
Bloomin' Onion:	$5.99	$7.99
20 oz. Porterhouse:	$23.69	$29.99
Atlantic Salmon:	$14.99	$24.99
Add a salad:	$2.29	$3.99
Side of Mashed Potatoes:	$1.99	$3.79
Cinnamon Apple dessert:	$4.99	$7.29

I'm guessing they don't catch salmon in Hawaii?

This is the best webpage I've made all day!

So here's my first post. It will be pretty boring on here till I actually move, but here's the plan:
Tuesday afternoon (oct. 18): Greyhound to Columbus, stay with my friend Emily
Wednesday 2:05 pm: Plane departs for Phoenix, AZ
Wednesday 8:35 pm (local time): I arrive in Honolulu
Hawaii time is Eastern time minus 6 hours.

Here's a handy map of the "neighborhoods" of Oahu... Outback Waipio is right at that number 10. Its link is over there on the right hand side.



hey, I told you this would be boring until I left... PEACE OUT