Superman Training

Two posts in one day! Today me and a bunch of people went to Turtle Bay for beach volleyball. Its beginning to be a favorite Hawaiian activity here in La'ie. We had quite the turnout, at one point about 17 or so. Its a great place to play, right on the beach with beautiful sand and scenery. Here's a photo from one such excursion a few months back:
We had fun as usual today. I didn't have as many hit as I would have liked, and I missed a lot of great sets. Overall, it was fun.

So, as we were playing, the ball was inadvertently hit over a fence. Turtle Bay was doing some "enhancements", which more looked more like they were trying to let their grass grow back in. So, they put up this fence thing made with PVC pipe and plastic webbing. I decided that I was going to get the ball, so I looked for the lowest place in the fence and ran over to clear the fence. Okay, the fence was only 3 1/2 feet high or so, meaning it SHOULD have been an easy jump. But, as I went to clear it, for some reason I put my hand down on the top of the fence for an extra boost. Apparently the fence was built to hold up plastic webbing, not hyper beach goers. The pipe cracked, and the fence section collapsed, sending me into this "rolling up the windows", Napoleon-Dynamite-from-the-top-of-the-fence fall. Fortunately, everyone playing saw it and laughed hysterically! I'm a champion!

Starts with B, rhymes with 'impeach'...

Guess where I slept last night? I'll give you a hint: Read the title of the blog. Bilge and I finished an adventurous night off by sleeping at Hukilau Beach. I have secretly wanted to sleep on the beach since I arrived here. Now my dreams have been realized (no pun intended! ha ha!)
So there we are, in the flesh. Notice the ocean in the background and the flip flops on my feet (not a good plan, by the way, when sleeping on the beach). It rained on us a little bit, but Bilge had brought some sort of tent cover that we were able to cover ourselves with a bit. It basically just made the sand stick more to everything.

Speaking of water, I have never seen the tide so high! The water came clear up to the bushes in most places. We finally found a really high patch of sand to lay on, but it took some hunting. I'm just glad we got their at high tide, instead of low tide. Otherwise, we may have gotten really wet!

It was a bit chilly, actually, to sleep on the beach. The bed was a bit firm, but you could mold it to your body. But you know how people spend money on CD's and machines that play soothing ocean music to relax you and help you fall asleep? Well, we had something kind of like that too!

Exuberant Excercise

Yesterday was arguably one of the most physically active days of my life. This is not for the faint of heart; only the strong should read on! :)
My day started at 5:45, where I went to the gym until 7:24 ish. I worked out my back and triceps. Then, I ate, showered, went to class, worked, and then Bilge called and we went to Hukilau Beach. The surf was really choppy, and not good for body surfing, so we swam out to the buoy (maybe a couple hundred yard swim in shark waters...just kidding, I haven't seen a shark...yet). I took fins and pretty much just used my legs, which was tiring. Then I came home, then went to the gym again and worked out my chest (I went again because I forgot my lifting buddies were going in the evening, so I went twice!). That went from 6-7:30. Then I ate and went to family home evening. For FHE, we ended up playing steal the flag, which I didn't remember being so hard. That's pretty much solid sprinting. I played defense for a while, but I got tired because I was the only guy on our team doing defense, and I was chasing all the other teams fast players (I caught them all!). Then, I was tired, so I decided to go for the flag, which was actually harder. But I did get the flag and return it to our side for the win. THEN, after FHE was over, some girls invited everyone to go play basketball. Why not? So off we went and played basketball. How am I feeling today? TIRED! BUT, it was heaps of fun!

The photo has nothing to do with yesterday. I took this from the Hawaiian Heiau (temple, now ruins) which overlooks Waimea Bay (pictured). Just felt like I needed to put a photo in, but had nothing to show.

Scooter Garage 96762

Faithful readers of this post may have felt concern after my last posting regarding my scooter's wake-less slumber. Today, I set out to arouse the sleeping beauty. Might I first explain the grave magnitude of my mechanical and technical ignorance. Other than filling with gas and changing wiper blades, I doubt I could do much maintenance on a car. Changing oil means driving to Jiffy Lube to me. Because of the lack of local mechanics here in Laie, HI, I decided to try and fix my scooter by myself. The other day, me and Bilge (my buddy from Mongolia), opened up the scooter and honestly, I had no idea what to do. So, we put it back together. Today, I started the day by playing touch rugby, where I got hot, sweaty, and muddy. Later a guy named Tyson lent me his tools, and pointed out some parts on my scooter and recommended a few repairs. First, I took out the spark plug (which looks more like a soldering iron...its really a bizarre plug). I also removed the fuel filter and the battery. Then I went to NAPA and bought some WD40, carburetor cleaner, a new fuel filter, and had them charge up my battery. Then I went to lunch. No one sat even close to me, I was a dirty, stinky mess! HA HA! Then I hooked it all back up, then opened up the carburetor and cleaned it out. My kick start has been really stiff and actually not working at all. I opened up the drive shaft and cleaned out the kick start. The gears are pretty stripped, but I cleaned out a bunch of gunk. It works WAY better now! So, after all the assembly, we gave it a try. After a little time, it fired up! It runs like a new machine now! When it was warm and sunny it was firing up in no time. Tonight, after a little rain and cool weather, it took a bit longer, but at least it started! I am SO relieved! Bilge and I went to the beach to celebrate. While we bodysurfed, I couldn't help but be proud of the fact that I had fixed my own scooter. I feel like telling the whole world that I fixed my scooter. Very few actually have cared, but I still tell them just the same. There's a sense of accomplishment in doing it yourself, plus it costs way less than hiring a mechanic! There's also that inner manly urge to get out tools and get your hands all greasy tearing apart a machine. If I was Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, I think this is the part where I start grunting...

First Surf Trip

Okay, so this story isnt exactly funny or weird, so it may not exactly fit my blog, but 08 Jan 08, I tried surfing for the first time. We tried to take my scooter (it died!), so we ended up hitchhiking. How adventurous! We went to a beach called Castles, just on the North side of Goat Island. I felt pretty uncoordinated for a while trying to paddle out to the surf. That really works your arms good! I did manage to catch a few waves. I stood up once, but by the time I got up, the wave was pretty much waved out, so I had the privilege of hopping down again. Other attempts I had were close, but I never quite got a full ride. Needless to say, I could tell that once I'm up, I'll feel like I'm on any other board I've ridden. While paddling, I did see a sea turtle swim about 5 feet from me. We spoke for a short moment about the Civil War, then he went on his way. His name was NOT Mr. Turtle...I blew that! You think I'd have learned somewhere they are not all named Mr. Turtle. Oh well. Anywayz, so surfing was pretty cool... Special thanks to Bilge for providing boards and company! Funny to think just about a week ago I was snowboarding.

Every year, my mom's family draws names for Christmas to determine which cousin each of us will give to. This year, I drew Brock's name. While I was over at school, I received word that a good month or more before Christmas, Brock was already talking about how he wanted a gift from Hawaii. So, I went to the swap meet in Honolulu to see what I could find. I settled on an ukulele with little turtle decals on it. Then I had the thought to get matching T-Shirts that say Hawaii on them.

Soon after I got home, I visited Brock and his family. One of the first things he asked was, "What'd you get me for Christmas?" I didn't spoil the surprise, but I did play my ukulele for him (oh the foreshadowing)! Christmas day, Brock was rather wound up as he was handed the box. He opened it and got rather excited: he knew I had an ukulele too. Without being prompted, he ran over and gave me a big hug. I got the perfect gift! I heard through the grapevine that he even refers to his ukulele as his "special gift". Mele Kalikimaka!