Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss JessicaMy parents offered to take my ninang and my ninang's sister and her grandkid out to Sea World last Tuesday and I decided to join them after I unexpectedly got the day off. Another fun day in the sun.
When you were a kid, did your parents ever make you sing or dance for family and friends? My parents did or at least they tried to get me to do it for a little while. Ha
2! Then, they gave up after I would give them this "Yeah, right" look. Nah ah.
I watched my relatives do this to this little girl.
Them: Jessica, you sing the Titanic song for your Auntie.
Jessica: [Stares at her Grandma.]
Them: Come on, ah. You sing one song and we'll go.
Them: Go. You sing.
Me: It's okay. She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to.
Them: Come on, Jessica. Titanic. [with a microphone up her face]
Jessica: [Sings and actually has a nice singing voice]
Me: [Thank God I'm not her anymore]
Them: You dance, too.
Me: [Oh, God!]
As she sang, I thought of the movie, Little Miss Sunshine. She was just like that little girl in the movie only my family isn't dysfunctional (I don't think). Oh, goodness. It made my parents want grandkids.
Gulp!
Coincidently, three cousins are expecting their 3rd kid.
CONGRATULATIONS to:
Roda and Geoff! Hope Grace and Lelani get a little brother to boss around.Frank and Manang Lalaine. Johnny and Luigi want a baby sister. Randy and Michelle. You're already one and one.
Stars with sticks
Michael is definitely a star with a stick. Wink, wink. Ha2!
Every year for the past 3/4 years, Michael Vartan has played in a celebrity hockey game sponsoring the Starlight Children's Foundation.
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be able to get some really good shots of him playing on the ice.
Last year, I caught him on his way into the building and got his autograph, but was too shy to ask for a picture with him.
This year, I missed him. Boo.
His next celebrity game is coming some time this Fall at the Staples Center.
I'll be there.
In the meantime, here are a few other celebrities with sticks I've come across at this event:
Awwww, Pacey.
Joshua Jackson.
Mr. 90210 himself,
Jason Priestly.
The OG "Bailey,"
Scott Wolf.
BONUS PIC:
For Fernand, we can share. =)
the Hawaiian Justin
I've gotten into the habit of buying CDs from the places I visit. I came across a CD called
Justin: Unplugged in the Big Island. I really like it. Actually, I've been listening to it alot. Rachey heard it in my car and used her CIA skills to find his website on myspace. He's name is Justin Kawika Young and he's described as Jack Johnson meets Maxwell. He's playing a few gigs in the LA area this weekend. Unfortunately, I'll be at work the entire weekend. Boo! Anyway, since I can't go, you should and and enjoy a little of the islands for everyone.
Here's his gig schedule:
Aug 18 10:00P Room 5 LOS ANGELES, CA
Aug 19 5:00P Mai-Tai Bar Long Beach, CA
Aug 19 9:00P Hogue Barmichael's Newport Beach, CA
Aug 25 10:00P Room 5 LOS ANGELES, CA
Justin links
www.justinyoungmusic.com
myspace.com/justinyoung
the BIG one
Congratulations,
FARIDA & BRAD!!!
August 5, 2006
The Big Island, Hawaii
First of all, congratulations to Farida, my college roommate and her new husband, Brad! Dude, Farida... you're Married! Thanks for inviting me to share in your special day. Ummmm, week. Also, much mahalo to the Padojino and Peralta families for adopting us and taking us in. I had a really good time. Aloha.
I didn't take many pictures while I was there. I wish I'd taken more. I let professional photographer, Sherwin do all the work. Check out his
blog to see if he has uploaded his pics when you get a chance.
Here are some of mine:
Turtle, a Turle.
This is at the black sand beach on our way to Brad's mom's house in Pahala, about an 1 1/2 hour drive from Kona. Turtles hang out at the beach to rest.
Yummy malasadas, portugese dougnuts (I think). You can have them plain or stuffed with filling.
We were racing down the crater to get good parking at the start of the hike, but we had to pull over and take pictures when we spotted this beautiful full rainbow. I tried to get some height on this jump, but the winds were really blowing me back.
Xavier.
After lunch, we hiked what seemed like a never ending trek an hour and a half (2 1/2 miles) on lava to the end of the earth. Some of us made it and some of us made it without getting seriously hurt.
Apparently, the best time to see the lava is during sunset. It was one of those once in a lifetime things to do and an experience I'll never, ever forget. We then hiked 2 hours back to our cars in the dark. Thank God for our flashlights.
Ohana means family. The wedding ceremony was at St. Michael's in Kailua-Kona with the reception following at the Hilton at Waikoloa.
916 Veneto...revisited. Sherwin, Farida, Rex, Gwen. We missed you, Tony (and Julie and Marley and Mary Jane)!
Hooray for open bars!
It's about a mile or 30 minutes from Keakelua Bay to the Captain Cook monument. On the way there, Timi, Farida's sister and her husband, Mark saw dolphins.
I had to jump in. Right underneath were many, many fish.
One thing that was different on the Big Island than in the Caribbean were the waves. It was kinda funny watching the fish move back and forth, back and forth with the waves.
Underwater antics...
Brad, the only Local Boy with us probably thought we were a bunch of idiot tourists. First we hiked the hours to and from the volcano. Then, we kayaked a mile each way to and from the Captain Cook monument. I think they were his first time doing both.
There was coral for days. About 30 ft. from the platform of the monument where we entered the water, there was the end of the coral and the beginning of the deep sea, like the "drop off" in Finding Nemo where Nemo touched the "butt." Very cool.
Almost the entire Padojino clan kayaked to the spot. Way to go!
We were in the heart of Kona coffee land, so we stopped by Bayview Coffee to get schooled on coffee production. We even got to taste coffee before it was roasted.
My #3 best tasting ahi tuna was at O's Bistro in Kona. #2 was Havana Blue and my #1 is still Gaylord's in Kauai. Yums!
BONUS Pic
We kept passing this by so, after I dropped Sherwin off at the airport on our last day, I drove to Da Kine Bail Bonds to take this pic. Didn't spot Dog or Beth, but I think Dog's brother or someone close to him was at LuLu's the night of the wedding rehearsal.
