Rainy Weekend on Oahu

Hey Everybody,

So this past weekend it rained all over the island. We decided to go down to Waikiki on Saturday and walk around. We walked down on the beach and that was the first time I had been to Waikiki Beach since the last time I was here. I had my picture taken in front of the Duke statue. When we were walking out to an observation dock we saw an Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (Hawaii's state fish). We then went to Walmart were my friend, Tami, and I got snorkeling gear so we can go snorkeling this weekend. On Sunday we were hoping to go to Waimanalo Beach again but it was raining like crazy. We decided to get on the bus and head towards North Shore in hopes of finding a sunny beach. We ending up going to Matsumoto's Shave Ice and walking around the market place in Haleiwa. I had a strawberry, green apple, and banana flavored shave ice. We actually went the entire way around the island. It's pretty boring after Haleiwa because there's not much to look at. Here's some pictures of my rainy weekend on Oahu.

We ate at Puka Dog(Hawaiian Style Hot Dogs) for lunch as soon as we got to Waikiki.

This is the waterfall and sign at the front of the International Market Place.

This is me in front of the Duke statue at Waikiki Beach.

Here's the shoreline off Waikiki.

This is the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a that we saw at Waikiki. It's right in the middle of the picture and it's black, white, and yellow.

This is a collection of little shops in Waikiki.

This is a picture of the market in Haleiwa.

That's all for this blog. I'll write as soon as I get my pictures from snorkeling from this week. Sending you warm wishes and aloha kisses. Jessica :)

Waimanalo Beach

My friends and I decided to go to a new beach that none of us had been to before. We went to Waimanalo Beach which was about 45 mintues away from campus on the Bus. It was beautiful there and there were not a lot of people which was also nice. Luckily they had not spotted any jellyfish so we could go have a good time in the water. After hanging out in the water we got out and layed out in the sun. Then we decided to walk down the beach where we got to see a Portugese Man-of-War jellyfish that was dead on the beach. The windward side of the island is notorious for jellyfish because the wind and the current bring the jellies closer to the shore. The Portugese Man-of-Wars are not deadly but the Box Jellyfish can be. The Box jellies only come close to shore 8-10 days after the full moon. There were also lots of little crabs all over the beach. We sat on our towels and watched them come out of their holes removing sand. There were funny to watch. We then caught the Bus back to campus and had dinner out on the lanai so we wouldn't freeze in the Dining Commons. It was so nice to go to the beach and relax after having midterms this week and last week. Below are pictures from my day at Waimanalo Beach.

This is me as soon as we got to the beach.

I really do love it here.
There is a crab in the middle of this picture. He kind of blends into the sand but he's there. Below is the picture of the crab that Alex caught. It's at the bottom of the clump of sand where her hands meet.

Here's a picture of the jellyfish we saw on the beach. They're pretty small.

The last picture is of the shoreline. It's so beautiful. It's alright to be jealous of me because sometimes I can't believe I live here. Sending you warm wishes and aloha kisses. Jessica:)

Laniakea Beach: Take 2

Hey Everybody,

So I had a long day today. I went with my friends, Alex, Tami, and Lauren to Laniakea Beach again. This time hoping to see a turtle out of the water and we not only saw one but we saw four out of the water.

Since we were going to get there a little bit earlier than when the turtles normally come out of the water we decided to go past the beach and go into Haleiwa to Matsumoto's for some good shave ice. This time I got a small Hawaiian (coconut, banana, and pineapple) shave ice with condensed milk on top. It was pretty good but I don't think I would get it with condensed milk again because it covers up the taste of the syrup. After waiting for what seemed like forever we finally got back on the Bus to go back to the beach.

When we arrived there was one turtle chillin' out on the rocks eating some algae. We hung out by him for quite some time before deciding that we were hot and needed to take a swim. Once we put our stuff done by the other part of the beach and were about to get in the water two more sea turtles were coming out of the water so I had to get some pictures. Then Tami and I swam for a while to cool off and during that time a third turtle came out of the water which I got pictures of after we were done swimming. Here's some pictures of the turtles.

This was the first turtle we saw on the beach that day. It was just sitting on the rocks eating the green algae and letting the waves wash over him.
This is me infront of the first turtle we saw.
These two turtles began to come out of the water as we were about to get in the water. So we delayed our swim to get some pictures. It was so cool to see them come out of the water.While Tami and I swam a third turtle came out of the water. Below is a whiteboard that the volunteers put the names of the different turtles up on the beach.After enjoying the turtles we made our way back along the North Shore to stop for dinner at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. It's a place that the locals rave about. We got 3 plates of shrimp and rice to share between the 4 of us. Here's some pics from dinner. The first picture is of the truck that they serve from. People that eat there can sign the truck but we didn't have a marker with us. Next time we eat there we won't be forgetting that. The next picture is of one of the plates we got. It was delicious. The last picture is of Tami, Lauren, and Alex at the table after finishing our dinner.

Laniakea Beach was definitely more of a success this time around. I'll be going back to that beach. Sending you warm wishes and aloha kisses. Jessica :) (Here's a pic of the sunset we watched at Giovanni's)

My Room in Kukui Hall

The last pictures I put up were before any of my other roommates had moved in I decided to take some new pictures after I decorated for Halloween. Below is a picture of our bathroom. We had to get a new shower curtain because the one that we had originally was really gross. I put some of my cardboard cut-outs on the door of the bathroom.

Since we don't have normal windows in our rooms I had to figure out somewhere else to put up my window clings. I put them on the mirrors in the bathroom, the big mirror behind the door, and on the fridge. I got a new air freshner to put in the bathroom because when it gets humid the bathroom starts to smell bad and it's even worse if the door is left shut which my roommate likes to do. So now the bathroom smells really good.
This is the big mirror that is behind the door that we don't use so I put some window clings on it.
This is our closet area. My side is the one with more stuff. I took the leis from my party and made garland to hang up around my room. I have it over my closet and on my bed.
This is the picture of the desk area and our three windows. Again my side is the one with more stuff on it.
This picture shows the three beds in my room. Since we don't have a third roommate right now I just put the claening supplies on the third desk.

I moved the little TV onto the nightstand that we have instead of having it on the big desk. The two fans were also left here by Stacy but I don't use them because my little fan blows more air than both of the big fans do. This is underneath the lofted bed.

This is my bed with my cards on the wall and beanies on the headboard.

I went to Walmart last night with Tami and Lauren and we looked at the Halloween decorations. I found the door decoration there and I just had to get it because it's so cute. The cats and witches on the frame of the door I got the first year I went to Lakeland. The white pieces of paper say "Jessica and Julie's Room" that I traced and colored to put on the door.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures of my room. I'm going to try to put new pictures up from everytime I redecorate my room. Tomorrow I'm going to Laniakea Beach again with Alex, Tami, and Lauren. Hopefully this time we'll get to see one up on the beach. We're also going to eat at a shrimp truck which are famous on the North Shore. I will write again soon. Sending you warm wishes and aloha kisses. Love Jessica:)