These entries cover my two week vacation in Maui, Hawaii (and a little bit before and after). Unlike my other entires on the Updates and Announcements page, these entries are in chronological order, from the earliest entries at the top to the latest entires at the bottom.
December 23
It�s another beautiful day. The sun is shining, and the skies are warm and blue. But I�m not in my little rainy town in the continental United States. Instead, I�m sitting on a beach in Ma�alea Bay on the island of Maui. In front of me is the Pacific Ocean, and the 9�000 ft mountain Haleakala (House of the Sun) and behind me is the horseshoe shaped condominium complex where my grandfather owns a condo sixteen years ago. I watch the crabs scuttle up and down the beach, and I�m antagonizing one who�s attempting to escape from his hole. I swat it with a pencil. But perhaps I�d better go back a ways.
(I don�t remember exactly what I was writing about in my last entry, so perhaps I�ll start off with the last day of school.)
As always, most of my teachers were making us work. My math teacher was a little late once again, leaving us to stand out in the cold morning, freezing. But in Japanese class we had a party and made New Year cards and ate American food. In Psychology we had a test that our teacher was supposed to give us on Thursday, but it hadn�t been ready. In C++, we searched for the answers to random questions online, and got to draw random computer prizes out of a box that Mrs. Meizel provided. I picked out a pen that lights up when you click the end cap. I also was persuaded to sing in my Munchkin voice for my fourth period class, and that was a big hit. They wanted my singing more than they did the Mads singers.
During lunch, I passed out non-denominational winter vacation gifts and ate cookies that were free on the quad, and despite the rainy, dreary skies the overall mood was bright and cheerful. I even did the voice for a friend of mine on videotape, and that was hilarious. In science we took a test, and in English we were supposed to eat food, but instead we just passed out papers to one another and had to eat all the food in the last five minutes of class. I ended up being a bit late to my seventh period, and we had a History Battle Royale. I did surprisingly well, and our team�s name was �NO!� After that, I stole Chris� Santa hat and did the voice for my seventh period class. I then loaded up a bag full of food and made the happy bike ride home. I was nearly shivering by the time I got to the house, and the clouds were darker than ever.
As the night wore on, I packed clothes, but the Christmas lights, our huge beautiful display, short circuited. My dad and I spent an hour of fruitless effort attempting to get them working again, but to no avail. Dad bought a new plug, and I hoped that they would work when we left the next day, and for the next two weeks. You see, we were leaving the wintry coldness of California and heading for two weeks to my grandpa�s condominium in Maui. The weather would be warm and tropical, and the swimming and snorkeling would be paradise. I couldn�t wait.
The morning, Dad woke me up bright and early (4 O� CLOCK�.) and we all went sleepily to the airport. Gracie, our cat, was safely at our grandpa�s old veterinary practice in Sacramento, and Grandpa was taking care of our rat, Cocoa, who had a large tumor. Mom and I both forgot our sunglasses, but we would be able to buy more while we were there. The morning in Sacramento was cold, windy, and dark, but Sacto International was alive with activity. After an hour, we boarded Aloha Airlines, where all the crewmembers were wearing some trace of flower printed clothing. The beverage cart came by us at least five times (!!) and Seabiscuit amused my family for a while. (Of course, I was asleep, as I usually am on long plane rides.) When I woke up, there was sunshine.
We got off and were pleasantly surprised by the 75-degree temperatures and lushness of the mountains of Maui. The clear skies and warm breeze made it the most atypical Winter Break I�d ever experienced. We were all very warm because we were still in our clothes from the mainland. Grandma (who greeted my sister and I with leis) drove us past sugarcane and the green mountains down to the condo, situated on the long stretch of beach in Ma�alea. We arrived and clamored up to the room. It was very familiar; the roughish stone walls, the couches, the large brown television cabinet, and the circular dining table with swivel chairs. Against the end, a sliding glass door had a wonderful view of the palm trees, the pool, the ocean, and Haleakala. My grandma had set up a Christmas tree, though, and hung up other little bits of Christmas d�cor to give the place a holiday touch. She�d even wrapped a strand of lights around the lanai�s (porch�s) railing We got into our swimsuits and went out into the water at once. At first, I didn�t want to go into the ocean, because I expected cold temperatures like I would feel on the mainland�s part of the Pacific Ocean. I got in and the water was as warm as anything, even warmer than the swimming pool, so naturally I�ve swum in the ocean more often than in the pool. It�s our fourth day here, and so far we�ve gone boogie boarding on the waves, watched the many colorful fish swim underneath us through the coral as we snorkeled off the beach, and relaxed a lot, in general.
Our cousins came two days ago, and they moved into a very nice condo downstairs. (It�s the room that�s featured on the web site.) My two-year-old cousin Ben stepped on a sand crab, and is extremely paranoid about walking on the beach now. Sam is having a great time writing his name in the sand and going in the ocean. My sister is always going out into the ocean and swimming in the pool. Both Dad and Mom are very relaxed now. As for me, I�ve brought a lot of my homework with me, so I�m alternating between writing in this and doing homework. I�m going to relocate to a lounge chair now, because I want to lie down and read. Aloha, by the way!
December 28
Unlike most people, my Christmas Eve was spent having fun in the sun. Some of my friends are staying in town and being with family, others are heading up to snowy cabins in Lake Tahoe. In contrast, I woke up Christmas Eve morning and went out into the ocean. The clouds were parting away from Haleakala, revealing the blue skies, and it looked much like Pyramid Peak had during Work Week. My cousins Sam and Ben were very excited about Santa Claus coming to our condominiums in Maui that night, and while they played on the beach, Jenna and I filled the snowflake luminaras to put on the lanai. The day was warm, about seventy degrees and very sunny, and there wasn�t a cloud in that blue sky. The waves were crashing against the beach, and I rode them on a boogie board until about sunset. The condo came alive with lights: the small individual lights in the rooms, the large orange light of the pool shining down onto it. Many of the verandas were entwined with Christmas lights, and although I was outside in flip flops in the warm night air instead of in a jacket in the frosty winter air, that same wonderful, magical feeling still penetrated that night.
I lit the luminaras and I went out and took pictures of a whole set of luminaras of a whole set of paper bags that had been set against the stone wall above the beach. I wore my Santa hat, and while taking the pictures I lost one of my flip flops. So I was walking past the stone wall looking for them. Little did I know that I was being watched��
As her mother and father enjoyed the merry company of their neighbors and family, the little girl sat on her ground floor lanai and watched the stars come out as another spectacular Maui sunset took its leave. She stared wide eyed as the luminaras along the stone wall flickered. Suddenly she saw movement on the beach. All she could see was a red cloth cap ambling along, attached to a person that could unmistakably be�. She was awestruck. Santa Claus was coming to Kanai A� Nalu, coming in by outrigger canoe from the Pacific Ocean just as the adults had all said, and here he was! Excited, she ran and pointed.
�Mommy! Mommy! Here comes Santa! Uh oh, I should go to bed so he�ll bring me toys!�
And with that, the girl raced off to bed, eager to get to sleep in anticipation of the gifts she would soon receive.
��.So while I was walking along the beach in my Santa hat looking frantically for my flip flops, that little girl saw my hat and believed that she had seen Santa, and rushed off to bed. If that�s not a �heartwarming� Kalikimaka story, I don�t know what is.
I took a quick break to drink some POG (passionfruit, orange, and guava juice) and to give my hand a chance to uncramp from all this writing. I normally don�t write out my entries, but because I didn�t want to have to pay to borrow a computer to type on at Kinko�s (and they charge a lot) I�m doing things the old fashioned way.
After watching seven minutes of It�s a Wonderful Life, my little cousins got rowdy because �Santa is coming.� It was about 8:30, and dinner was finished, so I went for a swim in the pool and took the movie Hook upstairs to 207 and watched it. I listened to the merrymaking of the other folks in the complex and watched the glow of our fiber optic tree, with paper cranes and Hawaiian ornaments. It seemed strange to see a few of Grandma�s many Santa figurines (seven of 102) with Grandpa�s shells and coral in the brown T.V. cabinet, but it was merry looking just the same. I slept well.
Christmas morning came with bright sunlight and clear blue water, and we put the music of the Hawaiian Boys Choir on and had the strangest Christmas meal I�ve ever eaten. Portuguese sausage, eggs, papaya, POG, and a breakfast burrito sort of thing. Then we all opened our many gifts, which were wrapped in Aloha paper and had island flair. Everyone was pleased with what they got, and a lot of it was bought right on Maui. I got a conch shell (one that you can blow and make noises through) and some Maui Mini Golf certificates and a new sleeping bag (still back on the mainland, of course) along with much more.
Once the wrapping paper was thrown away and the Hawaiian Christmas tags were saved, my mom, dad, sister, cousins, uncle, aunt, and myself all headed out onto a Pacific Whale Watch boat. We were wished a Mele Kalikimaka, and I still couldn�t believe that it was December 25, when back in my town it was cold and wintry. Well the water was a deep blue, and the sun was up and there weren�t any clouds. We saw the flukes of thew whales, but no breaches. We saw many tails though, and people rushed to the edge of the decks with video cameras and cameras to take pictures. Whenever a whale would appear, the group gave a great cry, and many camera clicks could be heard. On the way back, sea turtles swam around the cove, popping their little green heads above the water on occasion.
Dinner was once again a fun affair, and all in all, it was a great Christmas, the warmest and sunniest I�ve ever known. The 26th we typed up our family �Christmas card� at Kinko�s and a storm was predicted from Saturday until Tuesday. On Saturday, we drove to the Iao Needle, a huge rock formation covered with plant life in a little beautiful green valley. We accidentally parked the car in a bus-unloading zone, and a Japanese tour bus blocked our car. The clouds began to move in. We then went to the Maui Golf Center, a brand new mini golf park with a bungee jump trampoline, rock-climbing wall, and of course, golf. But the balls would sometimes be hit too hard and roll quickly into the next set, so that was problematic, especially when the courses were set on a slope. Today, the skies were grayish, but they were sunny when we went on the bumper boats and got soaked. There was even time for some boogie boarding afterward. As for me, my hand is cramping up and I�m tired. Good night.
January 1
The weather did not improve for the rest of this week. I mean, it�s been warm the whole time, but it�s been cloudy. On Monday (Dec 29) my sister took a hula lesson and learned the Hukilau. Then we all went to this restaurant called The Big Wave, and afterwards we walked around. We visited the Maui Tropical Plantation and took a tour through this big ol� plantation with all sorts of tropical plants and saw how they were grown. Tuesday, my dad, uncle, and I made reservations to go snorkeling at Molokini, a big sunken crater off the coast of Maui. We went early the next morning.
It was about 5:30, and we walked down the silent and dark street to the harbor, where a boat was waiting for us. We went out to the crater, and I was able to fully appreciate the hugeness of it, and how it had sunken down into the ocean. The waves lapped against the boat, but the crater made a natural barrier against the waves. Above the water, the place looked cold and foreboding, bot when I put my mask under water, I found forty feet of blue ocean beneath me, with fish of every color swimming all around. The surface looked like a crater should, except it was covered with all sorts of coral. We swam down and watched eels and stingrays glide peacefully through the water. There was even a monk seal swimming among us, as large as I was, but swimming through the water with ease. It was a rare occurrence, the captains said. The views for snorkeling and snuba diving were wonderful. We got back onto the boat, had a filling lunch of cold cuts, and our captain took us out to another area called Turtle Cove, which was murky and rather choppy. I didn�t see a single turtle, and salt water got into my snorkel many times. I did see other sea life, though. Between the two spots that we stopped, Molokini was the better of the two.
The next day was New Year�s Eve, and we went to the Maui Ocean Center, only a block away. Although it was raining, it was still quite warm. We walked through the many tanks of fish of every color, and through all the different layers of the ocean. We even got to watch the sea turtles eat their broccoli, but it was becoming too rainy. So, once my sister had petted the sea cucumbers two million times, we went out of the aquarium and back to the condo. Although it was still slightly drizzling, my sister and I went boogie boarding until dusk, at which point it was time for dinner. We spent the next few hours listening to Dick Clark, but fortunately I escaped and watched Edward Scissorhands in the other room. Not only did they play the movie twice, but they also had previews for Big Fish, which I wanted to see once I got home. So at about 11:30, we went and hung out on the beach with the people who were down there and lit off fireworks. Let me tell you, there is nothing more fun than lighting off fireworks next to the ocean. The surf was pounding against the stone walls that serve as a barrier from the beach and the condo. The waves came crashing in, five feet tall, and crashed against the wall up to where we had put the fireworks. They never were extinguished, though. We went back up at 11:55. Then, as tradition would have it, we yelled �HAPPY NEW YEAR!� and drank our glasses of sparkling apple cider. Then, to totally demolish tradition, I took my conch shell and blew it a few times. We looked up and down the dark shores of Maui, and all along the beaches off in the distance, the hotels and other condos were lighting off spectacular firework displays, and even up in the high country. It was marvelous. Then we all went to bed.
The next day, we packed up and left. We closed the condo, locked it, and said goodbye. As though it knew we were leaving, the skies opened up in rain, although it still was warm. We went and picked up two boxes of pineapple from the Maui Plantation We boarded the plane for the ride back, and four hours later, I saw the bright pyramid like shape of The Money Store, and the blue lighted elevator of the Esquire Theater down below me. I was home.
Of course, it was no good to come back to our dark house and find that the heater had shut off, because it was no warmer inside the house than out. So we were all shivering in the house, and fell asleep very quickly.
There's all I have to say about Maui.
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