livin' the HI life: the san fran experience

Sunday, February 15, 2009

the san fran experience

i returned to hawaii last week saturday. in hindsight, i'm glad i had the opportunity to have some time to relax and explore a whole new city - especially since i didn't have to dish out a single dollar to do it!

i stayed in the hilton san francisco financial district hotel which was right in the middle of chinatown, and just a few blocks away from little italy. i had a breathtaking view from my hotel room (above) that overlooked the bay area including alcatraz, coit tower, and a lot of the city lights. but what i really loved was coming back to a totally clean hotel room with fresh towels! i'm wierd like that, i guess. after the trainings every day i would call brandon and we would just talk for hours. that was the only way we could justify being apart from each other.

i made sure to visit the golden gate bridge, take a stroll through fisherman's wharf, see the beautiful victorian homes, go to ghiradelli square, check out the haight ashbury district, shop at union square, and also see the "crookedest street in the world" - lombard street! it's a gorgeous city with steep hills everywhere, and no freeways. i was told that there are more than 3,000 restaurants in san francisco - which means you could go to a different place to eat lunch and dinner every day for three years and never go to the same place...such variety! i also heard the mexican restaurant "chipotle" had some grindz so i enjoyed myself some lunch there just a few blocks away from my training. it was delicioso. we so need one of those (among many other restaurants & stores) in hawaii.

i was also able to see a few famous places such as: jerry garcia's old home, the school where they shot "the princess diaries", the home where they filmed "mrs. doubtfire", and the row of colorful victorian homes shown on "full house". the only unfortunate thing was that i couldn't experience all of these wonderful things with my family. i was wishing they were with me the entire time...well, except for those long hours sitting in a training room being reminded how a student's financial aid package works. i doubt they would have wanted to endure those sessions with me.

the week-long experience in san francisco only made me want to explore more amazing destinations - next time will definitely be with my family. road trip, anyone?

2 comments:

Tane and Angela said...: count me in!!!! road trip to disneyland!?; February 15, 2009 at 5:38 PM
mary said...: ooh! i'm up for a road trip. loved all the pics from san fran harm. did you eat the rice? i hear its really good over there.; February 28, 2009 at 11:09 PM

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some stuff...

for those of you who may not know much about our family...this one's for you:

1. where are you from?

brandon grew up in kahuku, while i grew up just a few minutes away in laie.

2. so you must have known each other growing up, right?

not quite. although we grew up in adjoining towns, we had no idea that the other even existed! brandon graduated from kahuku high school in 1995, while i graduated from kamehameha in 1999. the only thing we had in common during those days was that my older brother, tane, was brandon's classmate. how funny is that?

3. when did you get married?

we were married & sealed for time and all eternity in the laie, hawaii temple on november 3, 2005.

4. where do you work?

brandon works at the polynesian cultural center and has worked there since june 2005. he is a musician for the canoe show, ali'i luau, and night show.

i work at brigham young university-hawaii as a financial aid supervisor and have been in that department since january 2005. i help students find money to fund their college education.

5. how many children do you have?

three, and they are definitely a handful! our children are the lights of our lives and we are trying to take things one day at a time. but we hope to give them a playmate or two in the future...ya never know!

6. who cares for them while you are at work?

my mother in law watches nahe & linohao in kahuku. and ahonui attends laie elementary school.

7. what do you do in your free time?

if i could wish for more of something, it would have to be that - free time! brandon enjoys getting in his gym-time and practicing his guitar. i love to cook and read...and weirdly enough, cleaning our place actually relaxes me.

8. favorites?

tv shows:

brandon is a non-stop learner. he likes watching the discovery, history, and national geographic channels...but if the UFC is on - forget the rest - he'll be watching the fight.

i am such a girl when it comes to tv. my all-time favorites are "friends" and "seinfeld", although thanks to netflix, i have recently found an addiction to the "gilmore girls". i also LOVE the food network. too bad i can't cook like those peeps...

movies:

ocean's eleven, mean girls, pursuit of happyness, the notebook, count of monte cristo...the usual chick flick classics...brandon's favorite movie is black hawk down. but i think anything with action and/or comedy is cool with him. hehehe.

music:

brandon loves hawaiian, r&b, soul, and jazz music. i'm into almost anything that soothes me, like sade, stevie wonder, miles davis, 'ol school slow jamz & 90's rap. don't hate.

9. plans of moving?

nope. i have never been happier here in laie, hawaii and i'm sure brandon feels the same. if we could stay here for the rest of our lives, i'd be a lucky duck. who wouldn't want to raise their children in the same place they grew up?

i may add or update this information on us from time to time depending on the demand. but if you have any other pressing questions that you would like to know - hollaback!