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Ford Island

July 2, 2021 No Comments

I think this is the last post that I need to do to “catch up”.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the Arizona Memorial . It’s a “floating” memorial located between the main Island of Oahu and Ford Island and on top of the sunken USS Arizona. Ford Island is home to very high ranking Navy officials, as well other fun things like the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum and the Battleship Missouri Museum.

The only way to access Ford Island is if you have base access or travel via official museum bus via the Pearl Harbor Museum center. Brian and I had some time to kill between delivering a meal to his XO’s family who just had a baby and meeting with Ty and Megan in Honolulu, so I asked to explore Ford Island by car.

You can get a pretty neat view of the Arizona Memorial from Ford Island, especially with the mountains of Oahu in the background.

I didn’t realize the Arizona was as big, if not bigger, than the USS Missouri. It’s hard to imagine that huge of a ship sunken in water that close to shore.

To the left where you see cranes is actually the shipyard where Brian’s boat is currently.

We were just perusing, but we’ll definitely go back sometime for all the sites. Tickets are currently booking out a month in advance. I think they accomodate up to 1,000 people on a walk in basis? I don’t remember where I saw that. Also looking forward to visiting the USS Bowfin Museum (obviously). I’ve joined the Aviation Museum as a member and have heard really good things about it. I’m really loving that we can take our time to do things and wait until after tourist season. What I don’t love is it’s great weather almost every day and who wants to go to a museum in great weather? I think that there will be rainy days… so I’m told.

Brian is on duty tonight. I organized the entire master bath and cleaned the bedroom… A friend is coming over tonight to try pizza on the grill.

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General update plus recipe

July 1, 2021 No Comments

I told myself when I started this blog I wouldn’t make every post perfect or have the most exciting, thrilling post and pictures. So here’s a non-thrilling one I felt compelled to write.

Brian is on duty tonight, which means he is sleeping on the submarine. I joke with him that it’s my night to go out on the town and by that I mean go to the gym, beach and commissary… which I do three nights a week anyway. He is on duty 2x week for the foreseeable future. There is a really huge push to get the engineering side of the boat ready to leave shipyard, so they are all working hard on that and Brian has to pull more of the every day weight. When Brian’s orders changed from being a weps to a nav, he (and many of our submarine friends) said he wouldn’t have a lot of work to do because, well, the boat can’t navigate anywhere in the shipyard. Well, that my friends was fake news. Brian is very busy and working long hours. And when he’s not, he’s tired. It’s taking some getting used to but we’re managing. A lot of people say that at least he comes home regularly, and that is very true.

I took a two hour nap today, I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been waking up really early and not doing the best at sleeping early enough, or if I’m still recovering from COVID. After that, I mustered up the energy to go to the gym at the marine corps base and the commissary.

I get asked a bit about prices here. I get to shop on base, so that automatically makes things a bit cheaper. I am not the best person to ask about this, so the next time I get a receipt I’ll post it and you can be the judge. I spent a really long time and a ton of effort in paying off my student loan debt so that I didn’t have to penny pinch and pay attention to grocery prices. I’ve also lived in metro Boston for the last ten years. That being said, if my yogurt was $20 a tub I’d probably take notice. So today I saw this:

And I’m pretty sure that’s a bit above what I’d pay in MA or CT.

I did the thing where I wrote an essay before the recipe that is basically irrelevant to the recipe, but since this isn’t a recipe blog I think it’s fine. I did some meal prepping tonight and made pizza dough and a salad.

I haven’t made this recipe in forever, like since before dating Brian, and for no good reason at all except that maybe I got sick of it and then forgot about it. It’s very versatile and can be used as a dip/side. I learned about it from my friend Kris’s sister. I do not make claim to this recipe, and if you find it on the internet I am happy to cite it… I haven’t been able to. Also, that’s Pat the Spatula and he makes a great housewarming/Mother’s day gift.

Ingredients for the dressing:

1/3 cup veggie oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar (I usually use a lot less, go for your own taste)

Mix in a small sauce pan to start to dissolve the sugar. Bring to boil. Turn off heat and remove from heat.

Ingredients inside (super customizable, I like the balance of sweat and bland/starchy with this set):

Two medium green peppers, chopped
Half a red onion, chopped
White/Yellow canned corn
Garbanzo beans
Black Eyed Peas
Pinto Beans

Combine in a bowl. You should make it a day ahead to let things marinate and allow the dressing to cool. What I love: There’s very minimal prep. It’s got tons of healthy ingredients. It can be a dip or a side by itself. It lasts for ~4 days and tastes better the second day. Can easily double/adjust ingredients, hard to screw up. Most of the ingredients are easily kept in the pantry.

If you make it, please let me know what you think!

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Sunrise 30JUN21

July 1, 2021 No Comments

I brought my new lens with me for my sunrise walk, which zooms in really far, which is great but not for landscapes. I wanted to switch things up and I haven’t really had an opportunity to try it yet. It didn’t come out terrible, but I certainly can’t get the framing that I love.

However, I was able to zoom in to show you the amount of people you can expect at the top of the pillbox hike taking in this view. Apparently I need to work on my focus.

I will attempt the hike soon. I’ve had more trouble breathing the last few days than normal, I’m not sure why… but that’s kinda how it goes with this.

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Sunrise 29JUN21

June 30, 2021 No Comments

When I got to the end of the beach today and observed the shoreline I noticed patches of gray that were distinctly not clouds. They looked like they could be other islands in the distance… weirdly I haven’t ever noticed them before. I mustered up the confidence to chat with one of the regulars I see, and they were kind enough to point out what I was looking at.

Apparently on clear days you can see to other islands! Maybe I’ve always assumed they were clouds.

I distinctly remember visiting Catalina island and my sister-in-law saying “This is going to be you guys soon, living on an island!” and a quick wave of panic flooded through me as I realized the implications of that statement. However, at the time we were on a tiny island that took twenty minutes to drive to the other side. There were more golf carts than cars. Oahu is certainly a lot bigger and more populous. That being said, sometimes, like when I can see ocean for days and distant small islands, I come to the very clear realization that I am on a tiny plot of land in the middle of a giant ocean and get kinda claustrophobic (that’s the best way I can think to describe it, maybe there’s another word? Like I’m stuck in a small area in the middle of nowhere?). But then I ground myself and bring my thoughts to what my tiny little bubble actually is and that it isn’t entirely different from my old tiny bubble. Gym, work, church, grocery store, husband, friends, even the beach. Some moments it feels really far from things, but most of the time it’s not much different than anywhere else I’ve lived. I don’t think the feeling will ever go away; I more assume it’ll become normal and fleeting.

Brian is working late again tonight, so I’m on my own for dinner. Ice cream?

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Driving through Oahu

June 30, 2021 No Comments

Brian and I live on the windward side and base is on the… not windward side (leeward?). It takes Brian anywhere between 35-45 minutes commuting, his longest commute ever… but he’s ok with it for the pay off of living where we do. Here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery he gets to see on his ride to base (when it’s light out… sometimes he leaves too early).

I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but those distinct edges on the mountainside are from the volcanoes geography.

Most of the road names are authentic Hawaiian and it’s fun hearing the GPS attempt to say them.

Here we’re approaching a tunnel which comes out at a nice view of Honolulu area. There are huge drops on either side of the barrier so I close my eyes and pray. Just kidding…

Someday I’ll get better pictures and maybe a video of my drive to the marine corps base and from our house. The drive to the Marine Corps base is so pretty that it makes me emotional sometimes.

One of the first weeks we were here, Brian was driving and let someone out ahead of him. They Shaka’d him:

This gesture but twisting your wrist usually. It’s basically a way of saying thank you in Hawaii. Now, when people don’t shaka him for doing that, he gets offended.

I am trying to get in the habit of doing it, too, but felt it weird when I had CT plates. The highways here move at a “slow” pace and I love it. There aren’t millions of cars zooming on either side of you. I’m not sure I’ll be comfortable driving on the massive highways back home ever again but we’ll see. The dividers in the middle of the road are commonly raised bumps instead of painted and I realize that wouldn’t fly where snow plows are common.

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First Poke!

June 29, 2021 No Comments

We heard a lot about the great Poke in Hawaii and finally tried it out. We went to Foodland, which is pretty famous for having great poke…and we agree the poke was great! It definitely lives up to the hype and it is a bountiful bowl for $8 or so (I couldn’t finish, but Brian finished my bowl). There are a ton of different flavorings, which I didn’t realize, so I’d advise doing your research before you go. Or just wing it like we did, I got spicy Maui style? And I liked it! It’s only fish and rice so you’ll want to get some sort of side. It’s a grocery store, so that works out well, and it also carries beer and alcohol.

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Morning Bird(s)

June 29, 2021 No Comments

Here’s a quick clip of the melody of birds chirping outside my window in the morning. It’s so beautiful! For now anyway. Ask me again in 3 years…

My theory is the birds do a world of good keeping the bugs out of my condo. I’ll eventually do a post of bugs/creatures we’ve encountered and share a picture with the 50 birds that sit on the lawn eating part of the day. If parked in the shade, the birds can do some good damage to the car. It’s sometimes your choice to risk having a dirty car or a car oven…

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Sunrise 28JUN21

June 28, 2021 No Comments

There was quite the crew fishing this morning.

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Double Three

June 28, 2021 No Comments

I think one predicament of Hawaii is that it’s always ice cream weather. I might have to figure out how to solve that one, but for now I’ll just continue to eat Ice Cream.

I convinced Brian to try out Double Three (it didn’t take much). It’s similar to Tayaki in Boston, a fun waffle cone with ice cream and expertly decorated toppings. I read about them somewhere and why they’re called Double Three but I can’t for the life of me find it. On to the important stuff.

The place looks a little bit like a hole in the wall, which I was surprised by since it’s technically a chain. They are in a location where all the stores look like holes in the wall and COVID never helps. We filled out a little slip and checked off our toppings and flavors for ice cream and the waffle cones. We handed it to them, paid, and then got a buzzer and waited outside. We went Sunday at 5:30pm and there were three people ahead of us, I was shocked.

Brian hates that I play tourist so I can only get him to slightly play along for pictures. This is him holding mine. I’m getting a lot better at framing and taking pictures, so I couldn’t pick just one of the next two so here they are.

Brian’s was way more fun and next time I will choose very differently. Ice cream was delicious and the waffle cone was amazing. It was easy to “pull” apart with the spoon. I think ratio of ice cream to cone could be a little bit higher, but the waffle on its own is fantastic and that’s what they sell so I wont deduct them for my personal opinion.

Drooling enough? That was the plan. This is your permission to go eat ice cream. P.s. you never need my permission to go eat ice cream.

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The definitive guide to snorkeling on Oahu

June 28, 2021 No Comments

Ok, just kidding, I’ve only been to two places. Secret Beach on Marine Corps base and Lanikai, the beach right by our apartment. I prefer the one next to our apartment; so far we’ve seen sea turtles every time, we don’t have to drive, and Secret beach was quite barren with fish. Lanikai feels like you’re in the cast of Finding Nemo.

Brian bought a Go Pro previously for his scuba diving in Guam. It’s a really old version, the 4, but it’s still kicking so we brought it out with us today. Right off the bat was a bit “slow”, we tried out a new section where we heard there were turtles, but there were not many fish like we’re used to. However, before long the turtles did show up. We saw one, then a pair. We chased them for a bit back toward where we’ve seen the most fish. You’re supposed to stay 10ft away from them. We did our best once we saw them. There are two videos after the pictures. I’ll save you some time and say you don’t need to watch them and there’s nothing too exciting after the first 20 secs or so.

This video of Brian chasing the turtle might make you dizzy to start but it evens out.

Once we moved back toward Lanikai there were plenty of fish to see. Here’s a small sample. I didn’t realize how far zoomed out the GoPro is, you can’t preview the image on the GoPro so… these are amateur hour. I cropped and zoomed a lot when editing afterward. But will improve!

Finally, you can’t go home without a few selfies.

Shaka is the friendly gesture Hawaiians give each other, and it means “turtle”

The first time we went in Lanikai, I felt INCREDIBLY nauseous afterward. Bizarrely, I haven’t ever really experienced sea sickness. I read up about it, and it can happen if the waves are a bit rocky and you pick your head up a lot (It was my first time, so I was pretty nervous we were in the middle of the ocean a lot when really we were like 20ft from shore… so I kept lifting my head to check for shore and Brian). I have definitely improved, and the second time we went in Lanikai I was fine… the waves were much quieter. Today I felt woozy again, but not as bad, and it was REALLY hot, so I don’t think heat helps. Brian is very helpful in cleaning off the gear and letting me shower and lie down when I get home.

The second time I ever went snorkeling was with Megan at secret beach on the Marine corps base. It’s really really shallow, even out 50 feet or so from the shore. Very calm. The population of fish was very low, but there was a ton of beautiful coral. I think if we went again we would go to the sides. You also should time this correctly to go during high tide. You already should try to find the channels between reefs otherwise you risk hitting them with your knees kicking, and damaging reef is bad. If it’s low tide, It’s almost one way in, one way out. High tide you can sneak over them.

You can see the reefs through the water here, I will try to get a better picture to show what I’m talking about when I say channels, but it’s simply sand flooring between reefs.

Still plenty more places to snorkel and I shall report back with my expert opinions, of course. Also stay tuned for me to convince Brian to get the GoPro 9.