Be careful what you wish for...

All through life, NN has been an overachiever.  She's adored by her peers and admired by her teachers.  A straight A's student.  A hardworker. Respectful. Leadership.  All things you want in a growing girl.  We've always worried that her success will to get to her head.  So we've kinda... sorta... in a round about way... wanted her to experience some bumps and trips along the way.  Maybe not like... an epic fail.  But get use to life being life.

Last year's audition was rough.  Junior High basketball and volleyball were ground breaking if not earth shattering.  But those were new frontiers.  Today... she officially got her first C in math.  It's just a quiz.  It's just the first quiz.  She'll bounce back.  But ohhhhh.... when she saw her grade... her entire world crumbled. "I hate myself!" "I'm so stupid!" 

Not what I was hoping for when I wished that she might run up against a bit of failure. Aye. 

Shaddap Already!!!!

Went to our first TKA high school football game.  And in the stands was an obnoxious dad who's obviously been there for a many years, since he knows a bunch of people.  He'll be screaming, "GO O!!!" or "Let's go Offense!!!" when the Knights are on offense.  No one does that!! You scream "D-Fence!!" or "Go D!!!" But not the other way around. It's so.... dumb!! 

Then when the other team's on offense... if it's a handoff, he'll yell "RUN!! RUN!! RUN!!"  I initially got confused... "Why's he cheering on the other team's RB to run... run... run...."  Then on pass plays, be it a screen or slant or post... "PASS!! PASS!! PASS!!"As if the crowd doesn't know? Is he trying to alert the players on the field (who can't hear him).  Or did he know I was going to show up today... and he is just trying to annoy me.   

I wanted to walk over there to tell him, "Love your passion.. but shaddap already!!!" 

Birthday Blessings

Aside from the usual birthday blessings I would get in person or via text... while exiting church... a sister walks up and says, "Happy Birthday!" I said... "How'd you know?" She said... "You mentioned it 2 years ago." Wow....

Then while I was picking up dinner for carry out... I started whistling an SOP song.  The clerk immediately said... "I love that Christian song!"  I got my food.. paid... and he said, "Thank you and God bless you."

A Tale of Two Cultures

On Wednesday night's New Parent orientation... I bumped into a bunch of Cantonese speaking parents.  And we unanimously decided to create a Whatsapp group to combat /circumvent / supplement the WeChat group. Truth be told... I'm a Whatsapp fan.  Maybe cuz most of my friends are Hongkongers and won't even install WeChat for philosophical and political reasons.  But after creating this Whatsapp group... I can totally see the limitations.  Better yet... I can see the ever-growing features of WeChat.

After the Whatsapp group was created... I did something I never did in the WeChat group.  I started throwing stuff out there.  Only to be met by.... crickets.  Silence.  No one says a word.  Conversely... over in WeChat... parents are talking about lunch lines... how to use a locker... which combination lock to buy... how to enroll in Google Classroom.... PE clothes.... on and on.... a lot of humdrum, mundane stuff that's actually quite amusing.  

More amazingly... the mom's in this WeChat group will just randomly form a picnic or a lunch Meet-Up... and do something called 接龍。 And it'll catch on... more people will sign up.  Before you know it... there's a dozen people going to lunch together. Or picnic-ing together.  Or hiking together.  Completely, random strangers.  It's amazing.

Cantos? Hongkongers? Good luck. Oh... and the "American" parents.  They're using Shutterfly as a social platform.  Geez.......... how early 2000's. 

"Times" have changed

I'm a simple man.  And all I want... is a simple watch.  Tell time and date.  That's it.

After the salt waters of the Pacific victimized my beloved watch... I set out to look for another one.  Where does one go get a digital watch these days? We went to Target.  Then DD Discounts.  Then CVS.  Then Rite Aid.  All fruitless!!! Long gone are the days when these... uh... drug stores? convenience stores? sell everything you can possibly need stores... can buy something as simple as a $10 watch.  

Ended up shopping on Amazon...which had 50,000 options that made my head hurt.  My... how times have changed. 

Big Island - Day 8

Last day... time to head home.  We first found breakfast at Kona.  It was a beautiful locale.  Facing the sea.  Perfect place for brunch.  Then we got gas and headed to the airport. I love dropping people off then drop off the rental and head to baggage check.  Everyone had COVID so we had zero interaction.

(updated 7/4/2024...)

Last day… saw a mom with double carriage stroller and a luggage… I offered to help. She declined. Then saw her trying to get to pre board… I tried to help… she declined again. Ended up sitting next to her on the plane and we built some good karma.  Made it easy on the kids.   

(updated 7/4/2024...)

And with that... we boarded the plane.  Headed back to San Jose.  Got a ride home from Ken - with our masks on.  And had McDonald's for dinner.

End of trip. 

Big Island - Day 7

Only 6 of us left not testing positive... but that's because Grace and Nicky survived the bug right before the trip. The day started with going to the infamouse hole in the way Poke Shack. We ended up going snorkeling by King Kamehaema... and it was the best experience ever. Still remember the utter failure of Cancun snorkeling. This time... it was a pure 180. We then had dinner at Kona Brewery followed by another bout of Scandinavian ice. Hawaii...was awesome.

Big Island - Day 6

Started the morning by heading to Waimea to pick up some COVID test kits for Wallace.  We found a McDonalds and had he infamous Spam and Sausage breakfast.  Then it started pouring and we did a bunch of shopping at a local grocery store.  That became our lunch cuz we bought a bunch of sushi and salad there. 

Later that evening... we headed over to play a family back nine. This was NN and Joyce's first time on a golf course. We rented two carts and after about 4-5 holes... I gave SW the keys and he had his first driving experience.  Joyce saw what I did and she gave NN the keys.  We struggled...but ended up with one ball.  We lost about 15-16. One of the best experience of my life.

More and more people started testing positive so we ended up having Cup O' noodles and Pizza bagel for dinner. 

Big Island - Day 5

The morning started with a bang...then one domino fell after another.  One after the next... a family member of ours started testing positive for COVID.  We were so scared...cuz SW hung out with them when we went coffee tasting.  Oh me... oh my...  are we gonna be THAT family?

We decided to not head to a local church (much to my dismay) and we attended SJCAC church online. 

For lunch, we headed back to Queens Market and we knew exactly what to order and how to eat this time. 

The afternoon was spent at the pool.

At night... we headed to town and went shopping at Target and Costco. 

Ended the evening at TK noodle (no, not THAT TK Noodle). 

Big Island - Day 4

6 months after my Hawaii vacation... I guess I should jot down some of the highlights of the remainder of this trip, before I truly forget it.

Day 4 - I woke up before anyone else and found an insurance company was having a company event at the resort and they were hosting breakfast.  90% of the people there were Asian.  So I snuck in and grabbed myself some free breakfast buffet.  Heh. I blended right in.

That morning... we,  family unit as a whole, headed to the White Sand beach of Hapuna. It was majestic. We swam. We snorkeled.  We had the full Hawaii experience.

In the afternoon... Joyce, NN and Grace and I went Kona Coffee tasting.  Nothing to write home about, but I bought some beans regardless.  Cuz, afterall, I was in Kona.

That night... we had our family Luau.  Dang was it expensive.  But it was the one night we dined together... all of us. One forgetless memory... we were lined up to go in, but we skipped the family picture (of course, something we'd have to buy for $50). The camera men called us out of our line...saying they'll hold our place for us.  So we went back and took a family picture.  And surprise surprise, they did not hold the space for us.  It took an old Chinese woman (MIL) to slip all 15 of us back into line, thereby pissing off the entire luau line.  I can't believe we did that, but we did. 

Big Island - Day 3

Finally pushed through the jetlag... and I woke up at a startling 5:00AM (8:00AM PDT) today.  I can still smell the leftover pizza from the night before and *burp* I can still taste it.  Heh...

We decided yesterday that today was going to be a hotel day, where we simply enjoy the expensive resort we've paid for.  Y'know... we're in the same hotel.  There really isn't that many places to go. You can't get lost.  But alas... we decided to head to the pool together.  And so we wait.  Not 1... not 2... not 3... not 4... but 5 episodes of Guy Fieri on Food Network later... we still haven't moved.  OMG.... let's goooooo.....  But still... I had to keep my mouth shut.  It's not my family.  

Finally... we decide to ditch the fam and went to grab some seats, which is important.  You grab strategic seats and you can sit there forever by just leaving a towel there.  And once we get there... "Oh... I want shade." or... "Oh... I want to sit by the slides." Or.... "Oh... I want to be near the bar."  Never is there consensus.  Why did we bother???  

But pool time was awesome.  We did get there early enough where the water slide had a relatively short line.  Found, not one, but two awesome hot tubs for some relaxing.  And the boys... the boys really showed off their swimming skills and swam their hearts out.  Here's the kicker... by the time we were done... (lunch time?), the other family shows up.  And as we're about to yield our seats to them... the dad says, "We actually wanna go to the lagoon instead."  And to think... we waited for you.  #SMH

Turns out they slept in after a long day and a crappy 7-eleven wet sandwich dinner.  So they had a nice brunch at the hotel.  Good for them.  But that meant, they weren't hungry.  We were!! Off we went... 

Here's the kicker (one of many more), we didn't bother waiting.  We showered. We left for a local mall. Honestly... I think Joyce was tired of my icy stares. There wasn't a lot of selections at this mall... other than this Bistro inside a theater.  The food looked... decent.  It had everything.  Pizza. Ribs. Fish and chips. Poke.  Prices were marked up.  Let's just do it.  

The greeter was kind of odd.  I told her we had a party of 4... and a party of 5 coming.  But she couldn't seat us in a big table together.  Forget it... we'll sit and eat.  When she led us to the patio... the place was almost empty!!! Plenty of tables to make one big table. Again... forget it.  We ordered.  When we were about done... the party of 5 six shows up.  Grace makes a beeline towards us... surprised that we were seated in a cozy table for 4.  Without missing a beat... she hops on over to an empty table and grabs a chair.  The waitress and the greeter give each other stares.  I don't think they expected Grace to do that.  I don't think Grace expected to see us four sitting together without saving a big table. I don't think... I cared.

Done with lunch... we stroll around the mall and find the Queen's Marketplace.  An ABC store that had groceries, fruits and veggies, alcohol, souvenirs, and a hot and cold deli.  The prices were reasonable.  Why didn't we eat here??  The kids started hunting around for souveniers.  Joyce chased after them.  And I slipped away to the wine section. Ahhhh.... my happy place. There was even a wine tasting room (it was closed.)  We shopped around for about 20-30 minutes... and was ready to leave when.... you guessed it... the party of 5 shows up.  

Don't matter how fast you go... eventually... it all catches up.  The party of 5 appeared and I saw in their eyes... the look I had when I first arrived.  I naively thought we'd head back to the hotel.  Oh no... we ended up shopping with them for another 30 minutes. All the while... I was just standing there.  With 6 cans of beer and a bottle of Volcano Red wine in my backpack - staring off into the ether. Recounting every moment of my life where I could've made a left turn instead of right. 

Half a forever later... everyone's ready to go. By ready... they also grabbed a bunch of microwavable, ready to eat, bento boxes for dinner.  Along with... wait for it... a rotisserie chicken.  They stole my thing! I thought I was the $4.99 chicken getter/eater.  And right when I counted by chickens before they hatched... someone comes back with a cup of noodles.  They suggested... we can have breakfast tomorrow.  Before I can blink... SW is already gone... searching for his cup of noodles.  Fine. Fine. We can't have smooshed 85 deg buns every day.  5 minutes later, he's back.  Ready to go!! Before I can blink again... the other two grandkids storm off and get theirs.  They couldn't go together. I swear... the next thing they were gonna do is take turns going to the bathroom. 

We got back to our rooms... chillaxed a little and off to the lagoon. I think by now... everyone's adjusted to each other's habits, schedules, and vacation-etiquette.  Cuz no one waited... we simply said, "Let's meet at the lagoon and we'll see you when we get there." The lagoon is a fascinating place.  It's a natural salt water lagoon with a man made waterfall and sea life. But it's dug out so the water only the hotel guests can access it and is relatively private with next to no waves or current from the actual ocean.  The perfect place to get use to snorkeling in a safe environment. 

Everyone got out their snorkel gear and went into the knee deep water.  Ohhhh... what a mess... "I can't breathe!!"  "It hurts my chest!!"  Well... I'm guilty of it too. "Water keeps getting in!!"  The snorkeling mask I used were the ones we for our first Hawaii trip.  A decade of baking in the garage... the plastic and suction wasn't as fresh.  It was so frustrating.  Grace's kids gave up within minutes.  Geez.... all that money spent.  This was just the appetizer.  We were planning on a real snorkeling trip too.  Grace was like, "I don't care... I'm coming with you guys." HA!!!  

Then as we were about done for the day... some guy says, "There are turtles by the water fall."  It was about 100 yards away, maybe 2-3 lengths of a pool.  I'm not sure why we did it... but I let SW put the fins on with his regular goggles... and off he went.  NN and Joyce got their snorkeling gear and followed us.  I put on my aged mask and pipe... and off we went.  

I'm a decent swimmer - in a swimming pool where my feet touches the ground.  But out in the open... with salty water... and I'm not sure if I can stand up... And that's what happened.  About 50 yards from shore... water started seeping in my mask.  I got nervous.  I tried to tread water to empty the mask, but I couldn't really get my neck above water.  I had a huge panic attack!!!  Was I gonna drown???

I relied on instincts.  Did the good ol froggy style with my head above water and pushed.  I looked back to shore.  I looked at the waterfall.  Which way do I go????  Do I ditch SW and save my own life??? Where was SW???? Was he safe???? There was nothing I could do to help him.  And how much deeper were the waters by the turtles?? For some reason... I decided to plow forward.  I thought... If I can make it to the turtles... there were a couple of stand up paddle boards.  I can always grab a hold of something and ask for help... put I needed to finish that trek.  But no matter how hard I swam... how hard I kicked.... I felt like I was going no where.  Stupid breast stroke.  Slow as heck... with the only saving grace being I can breathe (overrated!!)

Kick.  Brush.  Kick.  Brush.  Forcibly... inch by inch... I got closer.  And closer.  Eventually... I saw the tips of Joyce and NN's snorkels.  They made it.  And they had their masks off!!! They found a rock to stand on!!!!  Found my wife.  Found my daughter.  And SW???? He was a fish.... not a thing to worry about.  When we found our rock... our salvation...  we were able to admire the turtles up close.  Magnificent. 

The swim back to shore was a little better.  I didn't aim for the original spot I launched. I went for a closer area.  But once again... I swam slowly and assuredly. Horrible.  Absolutely horrible.  Once again... lost sight of SW.  Had he needed anything... had he had a panic attack... had anything happened... I would've been unable to help him.  That helpless feeling is nauseating.  Finally got back to shore.  SW was fine.  He didn't think anything of it.  Joyce and I gave each other looks.  That was bad parenting.  We need to do better.  And when I sat down and collected my thoughts... I realized I completely forgot I had a breathing pipe.  Duh!! Completely forgot I can backfloat and rest a little. Duh!!  Completely forgot I can do freestyle - my natural style.  Duh Duh Duh!!!!

Time to wrap up the night.  We never did meet up with the other family... the one who started the day late.  They went off on their own to Tommy Bahamas. And we microwaved the food we bought at the deli and had dinner at the hotel coffee shop.  Heh... gotta hand it ourselves.  We can find a way to save money.  Everyone was absolutely... exhausted. If not... dead. *gulp!