Maunawili Falls

Tuesday was the last day before Spring term starts. That doesn't really affect me too much other than that my friends will have school, so I probably can't do so much with them. So we decided to go on a hike, since we went to the beach not long ago. Scat and Flora decided not to come since they went to the gym and Flora got sore! Ha ha! So me, Dolly, and Lisa went to Maunawili falls, just outside of Kaneohe.

This was a fairly easy hike, not far at all. The trail was covered with tree roots from the thick jungle-like woods we walked through. There were many different kinds of trees, and we even saw some palm trees high up in the hills. This was the stream that we crossed several times on the way up to the falls. It was very green and wooded.

The view opens up at one point and gives a great view of the Koolau Mountain ranges. I liked this view a lot. I'm trying to look tough here, just in case we get attacked or something! Ha ha!

The falls was not quite as big as I was expecting. I saw some photos where there was another part of the fall coming off the left. This fall has a deep pool that people jump from. Dolly and Lisa jumped, I took photos...I still don't like jumping. One guy made a jump that was probably about 40 feet up while we were there.

After we got done, we went and ate at a Korean barbecue place. Since I dont have a meal plan, trying new hole-in-the-wall food joints is going to be a more common activity. It was delicious. I had a mixed plate which came with ribs, teri beef, and teri chicken on rice with some other random Korean stuff I assume (cucumber, kimchi, mac salad...guess these arent Korean so much). I didn't eat but the cucumber. Kimchi is spicy!

Boat Trip

Scat participated in a service project in his ward, which entitled him to discount tickets on a speed boat ride. He invited us to come (this was 26 April). So me, Dolly, Scat, and Flora went - the fantastic four! (I just made that up...we could use a better name!) Normally, this ride is like $60, but we got to go for 15. Not bad! I was a little disappointed actually, but it's probably because I enjoyed the whale watching tours much more. This boat was quite large, and more comfortable to sit on, but not as fun.

It was obvious it was geared towards tourists. They were making a big deal about being able to see turtles (which we didn't). I guess when you realize that you can see them at about any beach in Hawaii, its not quite as novel as it was before.

We did see a lot of dolphins, some large spinner dolphins. These were much larger than the ones I saw on the whale tours. They followed the ship for quite a while, and started jumping and spinning from the water. Some of the dolphins could spin around almost 3 times in the air before hitting water again! I didn't have the camera, so I didn't get any good photos. I was just enjoying it instead. Flora at least got some dorsal fins on digi-film!

After the boat trip, we went to the swap meet. I got a few thing to add some personality to the Jeep. The photo speaks for itself! Ha ha!

We've made quite a few trips in the Jeep. It has definitely allowed for a few more fun activities than before. Its fun to go on double dates and go see different places here on the island. Jeep makes it happen (easier)!

Once a Jeep driver...

On Tuesday, April 8, I bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I suppose that technically its my first Jeep/car, but I still claim the Wrangler as partly mine, since it was my family's and I drove it and cared for it! I bought the Jeep from Stace Hall, one of my buddies that I worked with who had returned to Utah. He sold it to me way below the low book price. The interior is in practically perfect condition. Outside, there's a little bit of rust (it is Hawaii and the Jeep is 10 years old...) but it runs real smooth!

Its gotten quite a bit of use already. The day I bought it, my buddy Scat and I took it to Circuit City to put a new stereo in it. I bought a Sony deck, complete with a direct iPod connection (also has an aux jack). The direct connection sounds SO much better than the AUX jack. I was surprised, the speakers are actually quite good! We had a good cruise in the car on the way back, jamming to island music while driving along the east shore.

I also picked up Grandma Northrup from the airport on the 19th. We then went to North shore for lunch, then over to Laie. That night we went with Jeremiah to Haleiwa for dinner, then back again to Laie. On Friday, Grandma and I went to the temple, and then I took her to town to meet up with Karron and Jim. Saturday, I hauled a netball team down to town for a tournament.

This week the Jeep has been resting. I did go register it this week. Actually, all I had to do was pay ten bucks to change the title. They gave me a continued registration that is good til September. Kinda nice!

Today, Dolly and I washed it for the first time. I had vacuumed it last week, but the exterior needed some help. If only gas wasn't getting close to $4, I'd be cruising all over the place! I cant believe I bought gas for 96 cents once in high school...that'd be nice to have back.

Cheesecake Factory

On April 4, there was a ball here at BYU-Hawaii. It was rather expensive, and didn't really appeal to me. There was not going to be any food at the ball, even though it was really expensive! Lets not forget that traditionally, I haven't been much of a dance person.So, we decided to take the money we would have spent on the ball and go somewhere nice to eat.

Me, Dolly, Bilge and his sister Tugso went to Cheesecake Factory. It was a lot of fun (despite the bill!). I had never eaten there before. I got a mixed plate: steak and shrimp. I also finished off Dolly's orange chicken. Bilge ordered a Mahi plate as an appetizer that we shared, and that was incredible! We got 3 cheesecakes that we shared. One was raspberry or strawberry, the other a banana creme, and mine was some chocolate macadamia wonder that was really thick! It was hard to put down after such a large meal!

We borrowed Ryan's car to get down there, as well as his GPS. That was the first time I had used a GPS unit, and I must say, I am sold on those things! It takes all the stress out of driving somewhere new! There was one time where it told us to take a left turn where there was a no left turn sign. Yeah...