2026 New Year Hawaii trip

I haven't been to Hawaii since the sixth grade.  Math Teacher hasn't gone to Hawaii since six years old.  So it was time to make our own adult memories at Hawaii.  The islands were stunning.  I am an ocean person; Math Teacher is a mountain person.  Hawaii combines both.  We could stare at the ocean as well as the mountains for hours.

First up, Shaka!

Shaka

View of the Waikiki Beach.

Waikiki Beach

Kualoa Ranch was a ton of fun!  There were a lot of tourists, but it was well-organized so it didn't feel crowded (except the gift shop).  We joined the Movie Sites & Ranch tour.  We were surprised to learn not only big action, adventure movies were filmed at Kuala Ranch, but also rom-coms. In addition to movie sites, many tourists were here for outdoor activities. So there were lots of options for people to choose from.

Welcome to Jurassic World

Kong:  Skull Island

Waikiki Aquarium:  Highly recommend!  It was only $12 per adult.  It was very small, but very few tourists visited this part of Waikiki.  We got to see a blind monk seal.  He was so smart and cool!  I didn't know when a monk seal lost his sight, he gained super hearing ability.  Simply amazing!

Waikiki Aquarium

Waikiki at Night:  breezy and peaceful.

Waikiki at night

It rained for three days when we were there.  So we had to find indoor activities to do.  We went to Ala Moana Center.  It was a huge shopping center, but it was farther away from Waikiki therefore fewer tourists and more locals.  It was "outdoor" but with overhang to protect from the rain.

Yayoi Kusama's famous pumpkin

ALOHA!

Bishop Museum:  beautiful museum to learn about Hawaiian history and culture.  And great air-condition in the Hawaiian heat and humidity. BUT!  We're getting old.  The lighting in the museum is dim and yellowish.  For $38.95 per adult, we would prefer to be able to read the signs and information.

Bishop Museum outside

Bishop Museum inside

Volcano National Park:  Not recommend to visit when it was the day after three-days of raining. We assumed it would be all right, but the mist plus the wind in the face was uncomfortable. Everything was still wet and muddy. We were unlucky. The light bulbs at the lava tube burned out. Math Teacher described walking through the lava tube as "walking in a completely dark room with water pouring on us." I didn't see anything because I was too concerned about tripping over the wet ground. This was my whole point of the trip. I wanted to see volcano and lava! Instead I got the chills and almost got sick. We did see a rainbow inside the volcano crater. That was cool. We saw rainbows almost everyday in Hawaii.

USS Arizona Memorial:  We were unlucky at the Volcano National Park then we got lucky with USS Arizona Memorial.  I was checking every hour with tickets.  Even when tickets were available, the website crashed so I couldn't reserve.  Then finally, we got them!  Highly recommend the last tour of the day at 3:30pm.  No more rushing because no more next boat. We got to see the Memorial slowly. It was a solemn experience.  It was saddening and I felt like crying.

On the way to Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

USS Arizona Memorial

Last day in Hawaii.  Aloha!

Eating My Way Through Hawaii, USA

Marugame Udon:  I've had Marugame Udon in Japan before, and I really missed it.  Before going to Hawaii, I found out there is a Marugame Udon in Waikiki!  I told Math Teacher that we would be eating there every meal, everyday.  He said I was crazy.  Yes, and we went THREE times!  By the third time, however, we finally realized the portion size in USA was bigger than in Japan.  So we over-stuffed ourselves.

Tan Tan Udon, sweet potato tempura

Kitsune Udon, zucchini and egg tempura

Creamy Broth Udon, crab and zucchini tempura

Udon Motto

Tane Vegan Izakaya:  OMG good.  If we were to return to Hawaii, we would definitely go back to this restaurant.  We were not sure if it was the skills of the chefs, or the quality produce the restaurant procured, but mango tasted more mango-y, eggplant more eggplant-y, and blueberries more blueberries-y.  I've never had such good cream cheese in a Philadelphia Roll.  So flavorful, so creative.  So we ended up going there TWICE!  We basically ordered almost every food items off the happy hour menu.

Front Entrance

Cocktail and Mocktail

Roast Brussel Sprouts

Philadelphia Roll

Agedashi Tofu

Gyoza

Happy Hour Nigiri Sampler

Hand roll

Ube Cheesecake

Cocktail and Mocktail

Hand rolls

Happy hour nigiri sampler

Smoked Beets

Eringii

Ube Cheesecake

Island Vintage Coffee and Island Shaved Ice:  the coffee was meh.  We tried shaved ice because that was something every tourist did in Hawaii. Very refreshing on a hot Hawaii day, and I was surprised there were hidden deliciousness inside the ice.  (I had thought it'd be all ice).

Island Latte

Mango Shaved Ice

Teishoku:  after Bishop Museum, we walked about ten minutes to this local shopping plaza.  No tourists at all, and that was why Teishoku was delicious.  Simple, mom and pop food.

Broiled Butterfish Misoyaki

Vegetable Tempura

The Sunrise Shack: the coffee was bad. We ended up throwing it away. The smoothie bowl was delicious. Healthy, too. A great way to start a morning.

Christmas 2025 Ultimate FREE Giveaway

From 08 December 2025 to 01 January 2026, all of my books are FREE on Smashwords!  DOWNLOAD THEM TODAY!

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Book 1, I Take Thee, is ALWAYS FREE at your favorite digital store!!!

The Wedding Vow series

Heartless

Redemption

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2025!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Walnut Creek, CA

Brentwood, CA

Carmel Valley, CA

Hilton Garden Inn, HI

Royal Hawaiian Center, HI

The Royal Hawaiian, HI

Waikiki Aquarium, HI

Love Actually (2003)

Originally published on 09 December 2024:  I watch this every Christmas. I don't know how many times I have watched it, but this year, the video colors started to fade. Not sure if it'll survive next year 😢

My favorite parts:

• Billy Mack singing at the beginning – him cursing was hilarious.
• Juliet finding out Mark's crush on her in his loft – the split second when his heart broke, my heart broke.
• Jamie jumping into the lake with Aurelia – the camera scanning down to reveal the tattoo on her back and Jamie swallowing hard was too sexy!
• Harry buying a gold necklace at the department store – I was aghast at the efforts that British put into gift wrapping. 😂
• The Prime Minister dancing in 40 Downing Street – priceless!
• Sam running through the airport – too adorable!
• Airline staff being distracted by Billy Mack singing stark naked on TV to allow Sam to slip by – great writing because it was promised earlier in the plot and completely paid off!
• Aurelia walking down the stairs at the restaurant to meet Jamie – every princess needs to walk down a spiral staircase!

Every time I watch it, I cry at different parts. I used to cry at Juliet finding out Mark's crush. This year, however, I got misty eyes when Joanna kissed Sam on the cheek. Wonder which part I'll cry at next year.

Math Teacher could not stomach the mushy lovey-dovey story. Honest Trailer did a hysterical video on this movie. It pointed out all the other parts that the actors had played before or after this movie.

That was how I could get Math Teacher to watch bits and pieces of it. For example,

• Hans Gruber vs. Mr. Bean!
• Ra's al Ghul (Batman Begins) crying over his dead wife.
• Davy Jones (Pirates of Caribbean: At World's End) singing naked!
• The Kingsman (2014 & 2017) being cheated on and being clumsy.
• Dr. Watson (Sherlock BBC) naked and doing sex! (Math Teacher disliked this one so much! 🤣)
• Xerxes from 300 (2006 & 2014) was the most shocking!  He should be an underwear model!

See you next Christmas!

Updated on 24 December 2025:  this year I got misty eyes when Karen found out that Harry emotionally cheated on her 😢

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

I finally watched this famous Christmas movie.  Some funny physical comedy, some funny dialogues.  It bothered me that it wasn’t really a “vacation.”  They stayed home the entire movie.

⭐⭐⭐

Love Hurts (2025)

This movie gave horrible life lessons.  Person A could mess up Person B's life in the name of love, even though person B was happy with his new life.

Also, the only people that died were the two innocent bystanders, that happened to be at the wrong spots at the wrong time.  They were also trying to help the supposedly "good" guys but then got killed.  Everyone else, the good guys or the bad guys, barely got any scratches.

I still believe Ke Huy Quan is the perfect next Indiana Jones.  Mr. Quan was in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) as a little boy back then.  The storyline could be him all grown up, taken the mantle of an adventurous archaeologist.  He had the experience because he followed Indiana Jones around; he was inspired to continue the saga.  Harrison Ford could come in to be the wise old man dishing out advice, for about five to ten minutes.  The story makes complete sense.  Harrison Ford maintains his legacy.  Mr. Quan makes so much money.

Additionally, Mr. Quan already proved he could be a dashing and action star.  He could fight; he could run; he could be charming.

Hollywood, call me!

Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Lasagna

Surprisingly, this was not bad.  I could taste a little bit of butternut squash flavor in the bechamel sauce.  I really liked the pumpkin seeds on top.

On the other hand, this was two servings?!  This was smaller than my face!  Product of Italy.  Was this really for two Italians?  Or am I just fat?

Front

Back

Frozen

Microwaved

The Sixth Day (2000)

This was a philosophy packaged in an action, sci-fi movie.  Is it ok to clone humans?  Is it ok for the original and the clone to coexist? What happens when the clones die?  I was surprised that this movie got me thinking the deep questions while enjoying Arnold kicking ass.

This movie also predicted a lot of things:

• Refrigerator telling us we’re out of milk.
• We touch one button to reorder milk.
• Self driving cars
• Remote control helicopter (think drones)
• Zoom call
• Virtual lawyer and psychologist
• Effing annoying phone trees

If I watched the movie in 2000, I probably didn’t feel as much.  Now I have had 25 years(!) to experience these things, they are actually very scary.

I’m pretty sure someone somewhere is cloning humans.

Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Risotto

I swear; it tasted better than it looked.  Chunks of butternut squash.  The rice was microwaved nicely considering it was frozen food.

Front

Back

Frozen

Microwaved