Top 8 Signs from Hawaii

As my journey comes to a close, I decided that I'm going to start a series (amidst a few other posts) on the "Top 8" in Hawaii.  In case you should come here some day - take note!

So, first of all, I have compiled a group of signs I've seen around here that are funny, just plain weird, or that you would never see in Saskatchewan.

This one came in handy during the tsunami.

Ahh.. Verna's. I'm guessing this doesn't make sense to you, unless you're from Hawaii. I'll attempt to explain. Pretty much - Come to Verna's.

Bump. Just call it a bump.

I sure clicked it when I saw this one.

In Saskatchewan it would read "Beware of unexpected falling snowflakes, even if its June."

Thanks tips.

I hope Rose had some luck. 

Oh what people will do to obey the law.

A Kona day with Aunt Kalila and Kayak Crasher

Well.. some more visitors I had..! It's been really nice to get to visit with everyone! Terra and Aunty Gayle (or .. I should say Kalila, her Hawaiian name which me and Terra proceeded to call her throughout the day) came this week (and are still here until Saturday).  We had a full day... us Snider's can't just stay sitting around.. we have to get out there and get busy! 

To start the morning off, we took it upon ourselves to enjoy some shaved ice. Cherry to be exact. Yummm.

Next, we took a tour of one of the Kona Coffee farms...

A berry..? I think not. A coffee bean (they call them cherry beans, I think).

This is what the little guy looks like when the outside is peeled..

That shell is peeled again!! And then there were two.

Finally, one last peeling. The more I looked at my hands in these pictures, the more I think I need to use some anti-wrinkle cream on them.

Then they're dried to exactly 11% humidity before they are processed. 

There, now you know a little bit more about the beverage you drink every morning!

They had a bunch of fruit trees there as well, of which they later gave us plenty of free samples...  This one? A papaya tree.

An orange tree...

And.. mango tree..! These little guys are just starting to come in season.

We went snorkeling for the afternoon. Terra was quite focused and swam amongst an array of  kayakers trying to get around her.  Next, we settled down for some nice Thai food.

And then, there was the incident at Walmart. All I wanted was some gum! But of course, not thinking, I threw out my receipt just as I was going out the door. And what do you know, the theft buzzer starts going off. Great.  So, here is my Aunt Gayle and I digging through the Walmart garbage just so I can keep my stinkin' gum! That's not even the worst part.  These other Walmart workers come over to us and are trying to pull away the garbage from us because they think we are trying to steal receipts so we can return things there later!! So I used my basketball moves to box them out of the area while tring to scrounge for this little scrunched up receipt. ALL I WANTED WAS A FEW PIECES OF GUM!!! And this is my story of almost getting kicked out of Walmart.

It was an eventful day to say the least! Wish I could have seen you guys longer, thanks for coming to visit!

Some familiar faces!

I was able to meet up with my cousin Steph this week... it was really good to see her!  We relaxed all day at a really nice resort (called Mauna Lani) that my friend works at.  It's nice to have friends with benefits, really nice.

In the hammock!

Ahhh.. beautiful.

Played a little beach volleyball....

We found a "romantic dinner" set up for a couple that would be coming. We may or may not have spied on them. Steph and her friend Shauna were taking advantage while it was empty.

The Tiki man!! He was running around (literally) and lighting all the torches around the resort. So naturally, I asked to get my picture taken with him.

Another sunset!

And all the trees are starting to bloom here.. so pretty! This is at the University Campus..

Latley I have been spending virtually all my time with the band... but don't worry - I'll try to post some more videos soon from the wedding party we played at last night! Or click here and watch them on our fan site! It was a lot of fun!

Battle of the Bands

So, like I said earlier - I have been playing in a band called the New Year Romantics.  We've been practicing extremely hard, and last night we played in the Battle of the Bands at the University... and.... WE WON!! It was a lot of fun to play.  Here - watch us! (I'm in the background on the keyboard.. !)

Say it in Hawaiian!

Pidgin is a "dialect" the local people (mostly young people) speak here.  It's not Hawaiian necessarily, but it's kind of adjusted english with some Hawaiian added in, if that makes any sense whatsoever. Here are some words that my friends have been teaching me: 

Cherry! - means "Cool".   As in:  That movie was cherry!

I'm told you can't just say it just plain. You need to say it with emphasis....chheerrayy!

Brok' da mout - really tasty.  as in : "That plate brok' da mout."  

Da kine - Nope, it's not just the brand name on backpacks.  It's what they say when they're trying to explain something, a whatchamacallit. "Lesgo to dakine place to go swimming."

Shaka - This is what they call that hang loose hand sign you always see them doing.  

Howzit?: What’s happening? How’s it going? It's used in place of "Aloha".

Shoots - "alright".  Shoots bra. (where we would say something like "alright man".)

Its actually quite humorous to hear them talk in pidgin, sometimes I cannot understand what they are saying at all even though it is still English.

As you can tell, I've been doing a lot of cooking lately. And a lot of cooking with lemons. You gotta use what you got!

  A little mahi mahi frying up with lemon and pepper = Lemon pepper mahi mahi.

Add a big salad and broccoli and you have a great and delicious meal, if I do say so myself.

Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Rain. There's been lots of rain lately. And when it rains in Hilo, it RAINS in Hilo. Sometimes the sound is so deafening on the roof top that I can't hear other people talk! 

And when I think of rain, I think of lemon drops and icecream, because that's what I wish the raindrops were. Especially when I open my mouth to catch some drops while driving Petey.  If you are wondering who Petey is, it's the name I gave my little scooter. It's about time I named that little guy. 

Anyways, back to lemons. And cookie dough. They make a great combination!

They're comin' along in the oven!

These guys rose a little more than what I wanted. So, either something is wrong with the baking soda I used, or I added too much. I like my cookies crisp, none of this puffy stuff!  But regardless, they still tasted wonderful, as any cookie does.

And, while I had the lemon out, I decided to whip up a little smoothie to eat with my cookie.  The lemon was nice because it added a little kick to the bland banana flavor.  

These are just approximate measures, because I just threw it all in!

Lemon Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie

1/2 cup Plain yogurt

Half of a regular banana ( I used an apple banana)

1 tsp squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp peanut butter

1/8 cup pina colada mix

Handful of ice

Throw it all in the magic bullet and watch the magic happen! 

And there you have it. So get out there and buy some lemons. 

Better yet, come on over and I'll give you some! And before you do that - subscribe to my blog to get email updates by entering your email address on the top left hand side of the page! 

Here's the recipe I used for these ones:

Lemon White Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda (I'd recommend lessening the amount)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter, sugar, lemon, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Add eggs and beat it well.  Stir together flour, baking soda, salt in another bowl, and then add to butter mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.  Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes until almost set.  Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

I'm from Sask - atch - e - won

So.. one of the things I've noticed about being down here is people really don't know anything about Canada.. let alone Saskatchewan (my friends remember it by calling it "the sketchy one"... great.)  First of all, here's a conversation I had with one of the other girls on exchange:

Girl: "So what sports are popular in Canada?"
Me: "Umm.. mostly football and hockey, I'd say.  Have you ever heard of the Roughriders? We have some pretty crazy fans."
Girl: "Ya.. I think I have!! We have some pretty crazy hockey fans too."
Me:  " .....um.."
What I was thinking: "You don't even know.. and its football, not hockey."

There is also a great unawareness around here of Tim Hortons, Lululemon, bunnyhugs, runners (they call them  sneakers)... just to name a few.
Also.. my pet peeve....! People always call me Bri-aw-na.   NO !! That's not how you say it! I don't care if you have an accent or not.

I'm still having a hard time getting used to the moisture too.  My curling iron has steam even when its not wet! There's really no use in curling it in the first place because it falls out right away... and it takes twice as long to blow dry...sigh... where is my dry Saskatchewan!!

On the bright side - I got to show you some beautiful flowers here.. ! 

Stars and Banana Bread

Today was a sad day. I didn't pull any pranks for April Fool's Day!  Sigh. What is the world coming to? I need to get my prankster mode back. I'm going to have so many brainstormed by the time I get back, watch out!

What do you get with some very ripe bananas and a little bit of spare time??

I say, make banana bread! I wish you were here so I could share it! 

I got to go up to Mauna Kea last week- an inactive volcano up here - and star gaze!! It was really cool, I'd definitely recommend it. I actually signed up as a volunteer - and I'm planning on doing it some more before I leave... it DOES come with perks - free meal and trip up! 

Here is the moon from looking through the telescope monitor hooked up to the computer.  It was a full moon that night!! Not great for viewing the other stars, but the moon itself was pretty amazing.

And.. my new camera! Its a new edition of my old camera I had. I have to say  - the digital macro option on this camera is not quite as good as my old one.  My closeups aren't quite as clear :(   I miss my oldie!