north shore | Meaningless Words from a Princess

My family including my uncle, aunt and their two children came to visit me in Hawaii this week and I actually ended up having a lot of fun with them.

And here’s a picture of me in my cowboy boots at the beach. That’s right, AT THE BEACH. I don’t plan on wearing any slippers or sandals while I’m here so get used to it. I’ve actually had a pretty easy time climbing rocks with these shoes, believe it or not.

We ended up going to Kickin Kajun for dinner and since I love that place, I was a happy camper. Mark and I always get the same thing and it’s always SO GOOD. Yum!

For those of you who don’t know it’s kind of like Boiling Shrimp or Boiling Crab in LA. They bring you your seafood order in a huge plastic bag and you just kind of go at it and make a mess.

This wasn’t our pile of food but my uncle’s. We usually only get the King Crab since we’re not really big Shrimp or Crayfish eaters. But boy was our Crab delicious! MmmmMmmm…

For dessert we went to Menchies but instead of getting Frozen Yogurt I just wanted a waffle cone. Literally.

But we all know I’m a sucker for waffle cones. I can’t help that it tastes SO GOOD! Yum!

And after dinner and dessert we made our way to the beach and had some fun just playing in the sand and chasing little crabs around on the beach.

Aren’t these little buggers just the cutest? I kind of want to make a habitat for them so I can keep them in our place but Mark wasn’t too thrilled with the idea. All he said was, “You’ll forget about it soon”. Hahaha. Oh well. It’s a little hard to make a habitat to keep crabs because most need both sand and water and some actually need both fresh and salt water to survive because apparently fresh water has more protein in the water for the crabs. And it gets a little more difficult because these suckers like to climb and if I don’t want a bunch of crabs all up in my business I need to make sure the lid is AIR tight. But I’m sure these guys would be much happier in their natural home on the beach.

I think I’ll settle for a hamster instead. I just have to wait till Mark’s gone because he doesn’t really want me to have one. But I don’t think I can resist! I haven’t ever gone this long without having a pet! It’s driving me up a wall!!! I just need to make sure I find someone who can take care of my little hamster friend when I go away for the Holidays. I don’t think most airlines allow them on flights so…I’ll ask around when the time comes.

The next day we tried to go to Hanauma Bay but there was no parking and it was too crowded so we decided to go to the North Shore. We went to Haleiwa so we could get some World Famous Matsumoto’s Shaved Ice. Yum! My favorite! And Mark was able to join us on his lunch break too!

So many flavors to choose from! I ended up getting Strawberry + Guava with Condensed Milk and Azuki Beans. It was just what I needed to help me cool down.

(We actually ended up going back yesterday after we checked out some North Shore beaches for some offsite PT for Mark’s company). But yesterday I got Orange + Creamsicle with Condensed milk and it tasted just like an orange cream soda! Yummy!

We also ended up going to get some lunch because my family was still hungry. (Go figure). But Mark had to go back to work. Oh did I mention that my family had (moments before) gone to the Dole Plantation and gotten two pineapple ice creams with pineapple. And they were still hungry? My god! Pineapple ice cream, snacks in the car, shaved ice and then BBQ & Garlic Shrimp!

I ended up getting a bacon wrapped organic Portugese Sausage hotdog without the bun. Boy was it a tasty treat! My family missed out BIG TIME!

This dude was the best! If you’re ever on the North Shore go to THIS guy! Some of the best and freshest meat you will ever taste! VJs, remember that!

Then we went to Shark’s Cove for some good old snorkeling. Next time I want to take a waterproof camera with me so I can take some pictures to share with everyone.

Boy were the fishes neat. We also got to see a sea turtle which was pretty spectacular. I did get a little claustrophobic at times so I didn’t go out for too long.

Then it was Korean BBQ time with the family! We took them to Sikdorak because we love that place! Sorry I didn’t take any pictures though. I was too hungry to think properly. I could eat at that place every day if I had the opportunity to. Raw meat……

And then we took my cousin to Dave and Busters for a bit and we had quite a bit of fun. All in all I had a pretty good day with my family. More pictures and updates coming soon!

My birthday has been AMAZING!

It kind of actually started yesterday! Mark got me all new tires yesterday for my baby which was such an amazing and thoughtful gift!

Now I can be safer on the road! Hahaha. I’ve worn out my tired some because of all that racing but now they’re all nice and new again! Muhahaha!

Also got some Ohagi rice balls yesterday at Ala Moana! YUM! It’s so hard for me to find these so whenever I do I get so happy and nostalgic for Japan…

Scrumdiddlyumpcious! Mmm Mm!

I also got to watch the end of the Suns game as well as the beginning of the Lakers game yesterday while we were waiting for them to change my tires.

I don’t know what I would do without Yelp!

And after all that tire changing goodness we went to Korean BBQ and Karaoke because of Mark’s promotion! Yay!

I actually had a lot of fun, there were some fun characters last night. It was like I was in an episode of the pale version of Jersey Shore but with military people. They can just call it North Shore, a bunch of pale white guys getting piss drunk and singing Madonna songs. PRICELESS!

And guess what I woke up to this morning?

This:

Mark woke up at 6 in the morning to drive to this 5 star donut place to get me fresh donuts for my birthday.

They were so fresh that they just melted in my mouth.

Yeah, be jealous.

And if that wasn’t awesome enough, after all the sugary sticky goodness we went for a drive all around the island. It was the perfect day outside so it was gorgeous!

Right after I took this picture this country bumpkin family walked out onto the beach. Boy was it weird. The Dad looked like Darrell from Storage Wars, they had 3 little boys with Mohawks, 1 older son who looked kind of like a taller chubbier Bobby from King of the Hill, Mom had half red half blond hair braided and they brought their uncle Jimmy with them and guess what he was wearing?

A famer hat, a hawaiian shirt and overalls. STRAIGHT UP OVERALLS! DOWN TO THE GROUND OVERALLS!

I wanted to take a picture but: a) it had just started sprinkling/raining and b) I didn’t really want to be beat up.

God…it was so weird though.

Then we went to get some Mexican which was delicious.

I had fresh clams cooked in Garlic butter with a side of Spanish rice. It was actually really good. Yum Yum!

And after that for dessert we had the best shaved ice this side of the west coast!

We went to Matsumoto’s shaved ice. Mark got Cherry, Grape and Orange and I got Watermelon and Strawberry with condensed milk. This shit is good! Who thought you could make shaved ice into something so mind blowingly delicious!

I’ll take whoever comes to visit! That has to be an incentive right? Lolz.

And then it was back to the road for some more adventures!