Maui Day 2

Day two definitely did not disappoint. I woke up at 6 in the morning to get down to the ziplining ranch in order to fly down the zip at 8 sharp. From our timeshare to the zipline office, it is only about a 30 minute drive without traffic, however with traffic, a one lane highway, and at hawaiian local driving speeds, our 30 minute journey took about an hour. However, the drive was absolutely worth it. As you look down off the 100 feet platform while you try to held back by a rope on the ziping line, your stomach fills inside out and your brain starts to second guess the ride, but once you let go and fly down a sense of relief and the realization of the beauty of the surroundings around you, make you forget of those inching minutes you had to wait while the crew made sure you were strapped & attached correctly. The experience was kind of like parasailing, intimidating at first, however it ends up feeling safe & adventurous. Of course I ate a lot of delicious food today. My mom is one of those people who actually YELPs restaurants, looking at the reviews and pictures, before she can even consider calling in for a reservation. And her yelping skills have not failed us yet! Coconut crusted shrimp, fresh market tuna sashimi, baby back pork ribs drizzled with tangy barbecue sauce, mahi mahi fish pan seared with a slight lemon drizzle made my families hearts and stomachs melt away into the build up of fat that we are going to gain from the delicious food. Hopefully our exercise throughout our trip will be enough to balance out all the food that we are devouring, but in reality I know that it is not enough. One reason I really love traveling with the parents, besides the endless amount of generosity in the spending department, is that they are never stingy on spending money on excellent food. I am very grateful that I have grown up with my parent's desire to advance their palates and that I am able to be a passenger on their journey, because without my parent's recommendations and teachings, I wouldn't appreciate food as much as I do now. Now only if my parents had the motivation to work off all the pounds of food, it would make my life so much easier. But nevertheless I am very appreciative and thankful that I have the parents that I have & wouldn't trade them for anyone else. Thank you for this trip mom & dad. 

Maui Day 1: just the beginning

Day one in Maui was a success. I woke up considerable early at 8 in the morning to go parasailing along the coast line with my brother. The experience wasn't anything like how I planned it to be.. 1200 feet above ground, attached by a skinny wired parachute, flying against the ocean winds made me believe that parasailing was only something dare devils would attempt, but it was the complete opposite. 1200 feet above ground couldn't feel anymore safe and secure. It was actually very calming and a beauty to my eyes. The smell of the ocean and the beautiful scenery below was the best way to wake up in the morning. But parasailing was just the beginning. Today, my family & I went to the D.T Fleming Beach Park, where we swam in the warm & clear ocean, sun tanned our pale bodies, and ate a pick-nick of hawaiian poke and hawaiian plate lunch. I forgot my love for the markets on Hawaii. If you have never been inside of a Hawaiian food market, you definitely have to make it an event on your bucket list! Walking in at first it may seem like a regular grocery store, however venture farther into the heavenly arena, you will find all of the delicious & irresistible food displayed for you to devour. Literally like food heaven, but reality hits as soon as all that food is scanned & all the scanner has to say to your shocked face is, "Welcome to Maui!" It's amazing how one day on this beautiful island can make me already fall in love with everything it has to offer to me & I am looking forward for the activities & food to come. In Maui, its only 9 at night, but back home its already midnight: the start of a new day. It feels nice to be 3 hours behind from the timezone at home. But I have to go to sleep early tonight because I have to get up early & start my adventure for tomorrow. Goodnight Maui. 

Maui: So close, yet so far

It seems like the airport is becoming second nature to me. This is like the 8th time I have had a boarding pass in my name, went through annoying security, and waisted my precious time for a flight that will take me outside of my comfort of California just this year. Its not like I don't like traveling; actually I love it! but I just don't like the waiting and the environment of people enclosed in one building. Next to me is my brother constantly touching and worrying about his chlorine damaged hair. In front of me is a girl wearing sunglasses inside of the airport terminal, acting like she is all cool, probably listening to some fan girl boy band.  Behind me is a middle eastern family with crying babies, attracting the attention of everyone in the terminal. When I am at the airport, something annoying always ends up happening to me for some odd apparent reason. SIGH .. For this trip, it was the brightness of my phone preventing me to scan it past the TSA man who permits my entrance into security. The struggle of airports. Today my destination is the beautiful and tropical: Maui, Hawaii. Feelings of excitement and nostalgia come to mind as I look at my electronic boarding ticket on my phone. Excitement because this year I am going to fly 1200 feet above ground parasailing above the island, eating amazingly delicious local hawaiian food, and spending a whole week with my brother; which I haven’t been able to do since he left my mom’s house. I feel a sense of nostalgia because it reminds me of all the family bonding time we used to have when I was a little girl on the beautiful island of Hawaii. I am definitely looking forward to feeling the humid air sink into my skin as soon as I get off the 5 hours plane ride. I am looking forward to swiping my timeshare key, opening the doors to my week home. I am looking forward to swimming in the clean Hawaiian pools and beaches, snorkeling with the variety of fish and turtles. I just can’t wait for Maui. Sitting in this airport makes Maui so close, yet so far from me. 

HOMG! I JUST GRADUATED!!

HOMG!! Yesterday was definitely the biggest and most life changing experience of my life. I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL!! I managed to pull through 4 years of procrastination and some what dedication to finish off my high school career with high honors, a national honor society member, and an ABC Unified School District Distinguished Scholar. Honestly I don't remember what I was feeling as my name was called and as I walked across the stage because it was all so fast. I only remember hearing my family's unconditional love and cheers for me as I was walking into the field towards the ceremony. I remember waiting and listening to the songs and speeches of my principal and fellow peers, just waiting for the ceremony to end so I could run to my friends & watch the firework show with them. The speeches were somewhat memorable, our ASB president, Danny, said that our senior class was like crocodiles hatching from eggs in the swamp for some reason & our ASB Vice President, Tony, well he was just being his FOB grammar self. Nevertheless I love those 2 somewhat high achieving valedictorians & glad I got to know them really well. Only thoughts of relief and happiness come to mind when I think of that night because I know after this summer in Cerritos, I will be going 2000 miles away, across the country to the beautiful BOSTON with my Vivi. I FINALLY MADE IT!! 

I know I am not going to miss going through my daily routine of waking up, picking up my neighbor, driving to school, honking at all the retarded asian parent drivers who think they have the right of way all the time, and walking like a zombie from class to class. But surprisingly there are some things that I will miss about high school. I am going to miss sharing journals with Vivi, Alice & Ganesh, trying not to sleep, looking to see if Tony & Angela came to class, and complaining about the articles in my first period senior MUN class. I am going to miss walking to 2nd and 3rd period with Scott, talking about random things and making fun of how girls dress at school. I am going to miss venting to Angela about all the AP Lit assignments while Kevin tries to steal her attention away from me. I am going to miss sitting in front of the beautiful Jessica being all confused about our BC openers. I am going to miss seeing all my FOB friends at snack, pretending to understand everything they are saying. I am going to miss my 4th period Mr. B gang, Arnelle, Kalyani, and Jessie, cheating on our photoshop assignments. I am going to miss pretending to be studious pharmacy students with my 5th period boys: Mikael, Andrew, Brian. I am going to miss laughing with Mr. Turek & all the little juniors with all his nerdy jokes and fun iron man shirt fridays. And most of all I am going to miss seeing my best friends: Nancy, Nicole, Marisa, Consta, & Samsta every single day laughing and talking about random things that girls would usually talk about. I guess there is a lot I am going to miss about high school & I am proud of every single one of my friends, especially the ones who made high school more than learning. Seriously love you all & see you all sometime in my summer adventures before I leave! CONGRATS EVERYONE! PEACE OUT SUCKAS! 

"It's going to be too real graduating tomorrow..."

"It's going to be too real graduating tomorrow, hearing your name be announced, the turning of the tassel, and knowing that people will be going their different ways after four years together." No matter what way, when, or how you feel the day before an important day, there will always be a sense of unity with those words amongst the people involved. Tomorrow is my high school graduation, the start of summer, and the day my easy world becomes reality. All I see on facebook and instagram are all the longing and excited feelings of everyone posting of what is to come. Some are frantically trying to buy more graduation tickets for their humongous families and others are congratulating the Class of 2013 on a successful journey to the end. For me, my feels towards graduating high school are way past excitement! I wasn't the most popular person, the smartest student, or the most involved in school, but I still found a way to connect and meet amazing people to help me have a decent high school experience. If you were to talk to me at school, you would know that the first thing that you would probably here me say is that I was either tired or that I hated school. But thinking about graduation and leaving high school scares me and makes me consider if I was really that tired or if I hated school that much. These mixed feelings about tomorrow will hopefully clear up once I walk up as my name is announced to receive my empty diploma frame, because I won't be get my official diploma until Friday.  LOL Nevertheless, whether I got to know them or not, I am proud of my graduating class and wish them the best for their future. And to all my close & best friends, I know they are going to go far and achieve what they want because people like them are undoubtably capable to tackle every obstacle the world throws at them. I seriously love them all & I don't know how my high school career would have lasted without them. Class of 2013, WE ARE ALMOST DONE! 

GradNite 2013

Saying I have an obsession for Disney might be considered an understatement. I basically grew up watching disney movies & disney channel, memorizing the story lines and songs in every single one. I have no shame when I say I go to Disneyland at least once a week, sometimes just for a food run with my best friend, Nicole, because we get 20% off with our annual passes. Every time I am swiped into the magical land by the friendliest people in Orange County, I still feel the indescribable feeling as if it was my first visit to Disneyland. For the past 2 months, Nicole & I have gone every Friday just to watch the workers set up the dance floors for Grad Nite, just wishing that our school's Grad Nite would come a little faster. But slowly but surely, our GradNite had arrived and there couldn't have been a better way I could spend it than with my best friends. We rode Radiator Spring Racers, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Midway Mania, and Indiana Jones all within the 4 hours before midnight when the dances started, and if you have ever been to Disneyland on a Friday night with no fast passes, riding those four rides is considered a miracle. How we got to do all that will remain a mystery. The clock struck midnight and 3 hours disappeared within a blink of an eye and I was back on the school bus to school. Despite my runny nose, sore body, and extremely tired state for my last all nighter as a high school senior, regret is far from desire and thoughts. Disneyland Grad Nite 2013 was a night that I will never forget. 

closing one chapter to start a new one

Unforgettable. The experiences and memories made throughout my four years of high school has come to a close. Feelings of joy and excitement of not having to wake up at 6:30 in the morning, not having anymore homework and projects, or not having to deal with anymore irrelevant high school drama just enlightens my day like no other. Although, the overwhelming feeling of sadness and closure hasn't hit me like it has with many other students at my school. I didn't cry as I took my last pictures with many of my classmates. I didn't start to reminisce about the amazing footsteps and knowledge I have gained from my teachers. Instead, I am looking at my future. Sure, I will miss all the people I have met in high school who have helped me learn and grow and I want to thank them for everything (good or bad) they have let me experience and remember, but I am not sad because I know the people who are worth my tears are those who are going to stay in my life for a little longer. High school is a chapter in my life book. Leaving high school is a setting change, my classmates and teachers represent minor characters, and the main friends who were there for me through my ups and downs will hopefully start to develop into the main characters. And we all know that the main characters are in the book to stay. Leaving high school is not closing an entire book, but its essentially closing one chapter so that I could start a new one.