to town i go

Published January 12, 2012

wow. i am thoroughly exhausted. i had incredibly evenful day yesterday and i have it all to thank to Jessica, one of my very best friends and classmates from culinary school.

quick story: jess and i sat across from each other on the first day of school. after catching up like jersey girls do, we immediately started talking about how we want to travel right after we graduate because we are young and because why the fuck not? throughout the year we mentioned it a few times but never thought about it seriously until the last few days of school. i remember going outside on our break (in uniform, oops) and basically crying to each other about how no matter what we MUST take this chance and do something with it. then, we ate a mexican feast. anyway, the point is now i am in hawaii and my girl jess accepted a job in the cayman islands with a restaurant where she doesnt know anyone. i am just so damn proud of her and us. and hey, that could just be my next stop on my tour de life.

i called jess pretty frantic the other day. she has lived out here before and she knows just how much of an adjustment it is to get settled . she calmed me down and told me that i must get over my bus fear or ill never be able to see this place. she told me to head to Ala Moana center which is a giant outdoor mall right on the beach. as soon as we hung up, i reasearched the shit out of my adventure like the psycho i am.

and so i bit fear in the ass, and i did it.

after an almost 2 hour bus ride i made it into town to the most beautiful mall i have ever seen. 4 floors, all outdoors-ish and so many stores both high and low end. my head was spinning. after wandering for a bit, i made it a point to lay out on the beach for a little while.

see, my skin is ‘obnoxiously white’ (thats what my friend im living with calls it). i have a lot to do to catch up to even the most ghostly people here and i want to make sure i do it slowly. before getting outside, i walked through the food court which had a lot of normal things you see on the mainland but with more asian foods. i hit the mochi stand because there is just something about it i love.

mochi is basically sweet sticky rice (like the kind they make sushi with) that gets the shit beat out of it until it forms a smooth gummy blob. it brought me back to NGI where we made it out of brown rice and each took a turn pounding the mess. anyway, these blobs are then eaten by itself or stuffed with yummy things like ice cream. i bought a package that had one stuffed with peanut butter and one with red beans which i prefered more, actually.

i took my mochi and my sunscreen and layed on the beach for an hour. it was kind of cloudy out but i think i made some progress. all i hope is to get to a point where someone doesnt scream ‘yeah whitey’ out the window while im walking. yes, that happenend here. it was hilariously sad.

when i made my way back inside my first venture was to a starbucks. not because i wanted coffee but because i wanted some hot fresh wi-fi. i ended getting a passionberry lemonade though because im not one of those douchebags that uses free internet without buying something.

my reason for sbux is because i wanted to fully detail my bus ride home. it was much easier to get there than it was to get home. there were many more stops and junctions in a town that resembled new york but, more tropical. so you could imagine my panic attack when this popped up on both my iphone and ipad.

i took a deep breath and decided to leave to get some food. i went to this island burger restaurant and sat at the bar for my first drink that made me feel like i was in hawaii. it was a long island iced tea but with strawberry puree.

and because i wanted to keep the theme going, i ordered some grilled fish tacos.

finally my map started working and i meticulously planned the ride home, walked to the station and hopped on the first of two busses. i quickly realized that the NEXT bus was leaving in 3 minutes and i was about oh, 12 minutes away. kudos to me for learning the bus system during rush hour.

i got off at the stop i was originally supposed to be at and walked around frantically following my blue dot on google maps. i must have looked special walking 4 feet in one direction and turning back 37 times. luckily the system was connected and i found that an express bus that headed straight to the giant heap of condos back home. when it was late, i panicked again and this time asked someone if i was in the right place. she said i was and sure enough, my bus pulled up right as we finished speaking.

i got home feeling awesome/exhausted. even my friend was suprised i had the guts to head into town alone so soon. just another step in strength for me.

i did learn that i dont think i want a job in honolulu/waikiki if i live all the way over here. im sure ill be going there a lot for fun, but i couldnt imagine having to do it on a work schedule. its just too much time, delays and aggravation.

today i plan on taking it easy. it looks like rain here so i have to time out my shopping center resume hand out trip accordingly. or not . . . theres always tomorrow. thats hawai’i time bitches <3