The Red Balloon

Rediscovering this world with the realization of an adult but the nuances of a child carrying a brand-new red balloon as it trails behind them in playful glee.

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Location: Sugar Land; Lubbock, Texas, United States

Living the life of an excentric elfen artist in a world of logic and numbers.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Hawaii Day 6


today is our last day. We are traveling back to the main land tonight. This afternoon Peter and I went to the beach. He boogie boarded and i finally got that tan that i've been wanting this entire week. (and the minor sun burns) lol. So in other words, it was nice and shiny on the wet side of the island. It was really nice. Well, i hav to go. Need to finish packing! See you all on the flip side!

-Reijn

Hawaii Day 5


Well the subtitle of this blog entry should be "Gene Pool". But I'm getting ahead of myself...

I woke up this morning to the loud boom, boom, boom...and "don't forget the towels...did you get...blah blah blah". The family that was staying above us in the condo directly above was moving out. They had several kids and they were all very very loud. so loud that they woke me up. I was very tempted to go outside and tell them to walk softly walk up and down those wooden stairs. Sound carries horribly in these condos.

My poor dad has had no vacation. He's been dealing with my grandparents all week. Thankfully he spoke up for peter and I, so we (and mom) went to Poipu to snorkle. We drove to Whale Cove and snorkled alittle bit. There was not too much to see. There were afew schools and some large fish here and there. Some scuba divers were there too, while we snorkled. Peter and I were hoping that some sea turtles would come into the cove while we were there...but it did not happen. The last time we were in Kauai, we rented a house (along with my uncle, aunt, thier families, and the grandparents) in that area. So, every evening the green sea turtles would swim into the cove for the night. Last time we were able to time it just right so we could snorkle with them. This year we weren't so lucky. There was alot of construction around, and it was very cloudy.

After afew min. of snorkling, we went back to Wiameia and had lunch there. What is a trip to the dry side of the island if we don't go to Jo Jo's shaved ice shack? This time i got strawberry with cream on top. It was sooooooo yummy. I love Jo Jo's. When i have kids i'm so talking them there and telling them of all the stories that my parents and grandparents have told me.

Mom, Peter, and I drove back to Grandma and Grandpa's apartment and went through afew more photos. I watched Dr. Phil and Judge Judy with Grandma. *sighs* I know...you don't have to say it...i was feeling it the entire time. lol. Peter inherited a family wall scroll from grandpa. I have inherited...nothing...at least not directly. I won't carry on the family name. Only Peter and our younger cousin Hale will. Mom took Peter and i back to the condo so we could swim. It was too cloudy. I tried to get some painting done, but it started raining on me. I'm so behind on my art work. That ontop of my school work that is bogging me down, i'm going to be a busy busy girl when i get back to the mainland.

We went to dinner. That is the one thing that I do enjoy, dinner. There, we get to hear all sorts of stories from Grandpa...some are tedeous and some are very interesting. I think i have descovered my "bad" streak. Grandpa. Before i go into that...Peter and I had gotten into a discussion about genetics. He has a "hitch-hiker's thumb" while i don't. He has the dominent gene (i believe) and i have the recessive. Well, i got my thumb from mom...and my finger nails. lol. During dinner we had discovered that Peter got his thumb from Grandma. They have the exact same thumb. Dad has a slight hitch-hiker's thumb. What was especially cool about this was that there were three generations present at this table...three different forms of genetics and how its been passed down. So, we could compare traits and see where it came from. We compared ear lobes, finger lengths, the bent pinkie finger...etc. It was really coold to see the progression of genetics through the generations. So, here is when Grandpa starts to talk about his "bad bad days" He said that he had learned to gamble and was quite good at it. His gambling problem became worse when he went into the military. As a kid on Ohahu, he would sneek out of his high school dormatory (boarding school) and go fishing and hunting with his buddies at night. Their teachers would be sitting on the outside of thier doors inorder to catch them in the act. So, they would climb onto the floor above them and make alot of noise inorder to draw attention to the upstairs area. Then, they would see which stair case the teachers would use, then they would use an opposite staircase and slip into thier beds. They never got caught...officially. It gets better. In the army, grandpa and his buddies would have a rule, "never give a fool as second chance". They were right. By the time they reached France, they had earned so much money from the men onboard of thier transport ship that they did not know what to do with all the money. Dad said that Grandpa taught him to never gamble by showing him (20 years after he had stopped) all the tricks he had learned. And they were good, even by today's standards. So, with all that said...my "black sheep" or "wayward child" streak...comes from my grandfather along with my stuborness...and my air elemental tendencies comes from my grandmother on my mom's sides. Funny how that all works. I guess when it really is boiled down, we are all a jumbled mess of genetics.

Tonight is our last stay here. We leave tomorrow around 11pm Hawaii time. I'll be back in SL around 12 in the afternoon, Houston time. Oh lordies, do I have alot to do!

Mahalo!

-Reijn

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Hawaii Day 4


Well today was alot of fun. I hung out with my mom all day.

I woke up and mom and I headed out to the Kauai Coffee Plantation. It is the biggest coffee plantation in Hawaii...and REALLY good coffee. I got such a caffene buzz off of tasting all of the different types of coffee. We toured the plantation. And learned how they make thier coffee. I bought a mug. I like it. Alot. Its a pretty mug. Mom bought me a shirt from there. Oh, we were on the dry side of the island so it didn't rain. Lots and lots of sunshine. Mom and I bought alot of coffee. One of the bags is for me when I go back to Tech. It will sit next to my Canadian coffee. lol

After coffee, we went to Wiameia. This is the town/village that my family is from. Funny thing, every store we went into asked us where we are from and once we told them our last name, they all knew who we were. Its like we are famous or something. Pretty cool. I got to look at the land my family owns and all the mangoes. It was pretty cool because one day that land may belong to me. Right now its going to my dad. We'll see if it makes it to either my or my littler brother's hands. More than likely it will belong to my brother instead of me. Tradition. I'm female. Either way, i got to see the family house and the family market, and the local church where everybody attends and where most of my family got married in. Lots of family significant value. It was pretty cool to see my "roots". And to almost be a local celebrity. Mom and I hit up the local shaved ice parlor: "Jo Jo's". OMG, it is THE best shaved ice. We both got Mango flavored with vanilla icecream at the bottom and cream poured on the top. Absolutely delicious! Very yummy. Did you know that Kauai is the inspiration for Disney's Lilo and Stitch? That shaved ice parlor is the same one in the movie. Very yummy.

After Wiameia, we went to Hanapepe, or the Art District. We went through around four different art galleries. I got to meet three artists. They were all very friendly. One even offered to let me borrow one of his canvas's. That was very generous of him. I really enjoyed this one artist's work. Her stuff is all acrilic but she painted on huge leaves and on glass. You could tell she was educated in art, because she had a totally different dynamic to her paintings that most of the other artist's works. The last artist we visited, did beautiful wood work bowls and such. He was very friendly too. He joked with me because I wore a Beatles' shirt and I am "too young" to understand who the Beatles are. (evidentally) (BS if you ask me, he was too young to know who King Cole is, but it doesn't mean he doesn't know his music). Either way, he did do beautiful wood pieces. I liked them alot. Overall, the art district was very nice. Expensive because it was art galleries and origional art, but overall quite nice. There were only afew outstanding artists there that i liked. I was able to hand out afew cards myself. I like art districts, you learn alot from them. Oh, i also picked up a bag of "red dirt" to paint with later. I would LOVE to put some Hawaiian red dirt in some of my paintings.

Anywhos, i'm going to grab some food to eat since i really haven't eaten anything all day.

Mahalo!

-Reijn

Hawaii Day 3


Well, today sucked royally. I was yelled at to get out of bed. That should have been the first indicator that my day was going to go quite horribly. I logged onto Wharton's online courses and discovered to my horror that I needed my textbooks for my courses AND that i have several homework assignments and quizzes due within the next week. We'll i'm in Hawaii. *sighs* So i had to sit down and work on homework for several hours before i could go out and "play". It really sucked being responsible.

My mom came and picked me up then took me back to my grandparent's apartment. I had a bento box lunch from 7-11 there. Why can't all 7-11s have bento lunch boxes? They are SOOO good! I love bento boxes. After that, i finished my quiz and homework...while dad, peter and grandpa went to Wihamea to pick mangos. I was not happy. I wanted to pick mangos because one day, those mangos could be mine. One day that land may be my land. And i didn't get to pick mangos. I got to sit in a hot stuffy apartment room doing absolutely nothing...for several hours. This made me very pissed off. I don't like being grouped as "one of the females". Not cool. Not cool at all.

To top it all off, for dinner my grandfather ordered for everybody, and didn't ask me what i wanted to eat. He asked Peter and Dad. This is very tipical Japanese culture. Its always the males. And i'm sick of it. I've been dealing with it for three days now, and i'm so fucking sick of it. I'm also sick of my cousin's being the prefered pair. I'm sick of alot of things now. All I want to do is sit on the beach and chillax. But i have at least one more day of obligatory family buisness. Then i'm done. I'm so completely done from this bs. Because, that is what it is...a load of Bull Crap.

Anywhos...my stomach is filled and I am in my favorite spot on the patio right now. So I think i'm going to hit the bed and pretend that this day did not happen.

Mahalo

-Reijn

Monday, July 09, 2007

Hawaii day 2


quickly, because i'm very very tired:

Woke up very early and went to a horribly stale church with my grandparents. It was named Kauai Baptist (i think). Both my dad and I agreed that the music was left to be desired, and the vote between my grandmother, mom, and I was that the women's study was absolutely attrotious. I mean, there was no substance to it and no continuity. Both mom and I almost fell asleep. I fought the urge to pick up my sketchbook and doodle. I really did fight the urge. lol.

After church we went out to eat at the marina. I had a traditional Hawaiian dish. It was fairly good. It wasn't anything I would have on a daily basis, but it was most definately a dish that I enjoyed and that I can say I have experianced. It rained on and off all day long. This was nice because you could see the water reflect off of all the plants and whatnot in the sunshine. Weather changes here as fast as a tumbleweed crosses your path in Lubbock, or for my Houston readers...it changes as fast as a person would say "oh shit" when they see a cop on 59. Pretty fast, i know. Though cool none-the-less.

After lunch, Dad, Mom, Peter, and I went shopping around Kauai. We went to afew Red Dirt shirt stores. Unfortunately i cannot get a shirt, because once it is washed afew times the shirt color is a burnt orange tone, and I am not allowed to wear burnt orange of any type in Lubbock. lol! Anywhos, I got a nice phonecall from a freind that i took a drawing class with last semester. Ashley is such a cool person. We are looking into the possibility of getting an apartment together. I digress...we went to an outdoor mall. And I got a red and black surong, and a really cute hawaiian outfit. I can't wait to wear it to the Goin' Band's luau that we have every summer. lol. After all of that, we went home and Peter and I went to the beach. He boogie boarded and I just sat around, took pictures, and enjoyed the scenery. It was very peaceful.

We ordered out for pizza as we all sat around the table and listened to my grandfather tell us stories. These stories are very interesting. I love seeing my grandfather smile. Whenever he smiles, its like one of those old cartoons of an old asian man grinning. That is what my grandfather looks like. He is so proud of himself when he smiles too. He told us of a story about all the birds in his backyard when they lived in Sacramento, CA. My grandparents grew a garden in thier backyard, and Grandpa would have trouble keeping the birds away. So he caught them, sprayed them down with water so they couldn't fly away. He would feel bad, so he put them underneath a huge tub to let them dry off, all the while scolding them. Can you picture, an little old asian man scolding a turned over tub filled with wet birds? I can, and its hilarious. Then he would say that he would find eggs around the yard. He would build them little houses with a little light to incubate them. Then when they would hatch, he would scold them and say, "now, don't lay your eggs here!" All awhile my grandfather is telling these stories, he is grinning and smiling. I get my high cheekbones from him. Oh, and listening to my grandparents bicker...is so funny. after 56 years of marrage, they still know how to argue with eachother and get along. Its a beautiful thing. I can only hope to keep the type of grace they have with thier marrage, in myown.

Well, its late and Peter is watching american soccer leage on TV while sitting in the massage chair. I am about to go to bed. Its been a long day.

Miss you all, and wish you were ALL with me here. We would have so much fun! Maybe next time! *huggles*

-Reijn

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Hawaii Day 1


I woke up today to the sounds of birds and the ocean. Then my brother took a shower or something like that and it was really really loud. I went into the kitchen and made myself a breakfast of fresh mangos and banana nut bread and kauai coffee. I took it out onto the padio and ate my breakfast in the cool Hawaiian breeze. I watched a bird come down and sit beside me. He looked almost like a cardnal, but abit more brown. He just flew down onto the chair right next to me. Looked at me for a good 30 seconds or so then decided that i wasn't interesting enough company....then flew off. I was also having a silent conversation with a lizard this morning. He was sitting on a palm tree not too far from me. He showed me his red neck dance. Then he would look at me as if to say, "do you like it baby?" He would then proceed to twist and scratch his nose on the tree trunk. For a good 30 min. or so i watched him. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing morning.

If you haven't been able to figure it out yet, but I am taking a vacation in Hawaii right now. I can't begin to tell you how relaxing it is. It is something that i have been needing to do for a very very long time. All the stress from the last year is finally away. I sat in the massage chair in the town home we are renting, and it really helped taking the knots and whatnot out from my back. A nice warm shower after that and now i am on the computer updating all of you. I love wireless! lol. EItherwhos...I'll be here for the next week or so. And i'm really loving it. It is really really relaxing. I have forgotten that you don't need airconditioning in Hawaii...just open the windows! lol!

Well that is all for now! Enjoy yourselves!

-Reijn