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| Me and my brother enjoying shave ice in Hilo. |
I had survived the grueling 13 hour climb up Mt. Fuji and was now enjoying the reward of being home for 2 weeks. What was my first meal being back in Hawaii? Go on, guess ;) The answer: RUBY TUESDAYS! 2 turkey mini burgers, a side of steamed broccoli instead of fries, and their endless salad bar. Delicious. The next couple of days were filled with dinners, surfing, parties, Ala moana trips, and other outings with friends and family. I surprisingly got back into driving on the right side of the road pretty quickly. (There was one incident early on where I annihilated the 'no parking' sign in our driveway but besides that, everything was cake.)
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| Mom and me at TACO BELL! (My 2nd meal back in America!) |
It was so nice eating the food in Hawaii! (At one point when I was very homesick in Japan, I made a list on my laptop about all the eateries I wanted to go to when I returned home.) Although there wasn't enough time to go to all of them, I did manage to go to the following: taco bell, L&L drive inn (spam musubis....thanks Erickshin!), subway, shokudo (honey toast mmm...thanks Colin!), yamaz fishmarket, zippys, island burgers in manoa, buca di beppo, cheesecake factory, big city diner, kincaids (thanks Heather&Brandon!), and kaka'ako kitchen. Notice, no Japanese food! Yeah, I made it a point not to eat Japanese food...
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| Buca di beppo w/Kai, Allie, Heather, Brandon, Steph, and Kele. Oh...and Myles ;) |
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| Cheesecake factory w/the family :) |
I was blessed to have the chance to celebrate my champagne birthday (24 on the 24th!) back home. A small handful of people came over to my house for a home-cooked spaghetti and pizza dinner. Seeing as how my house is an alcohol-free zone, we moved the party to Toma's and drank&sang well into the night. にじかい (2nd party after the main party) was at Ocean Sports Bar where James and friends took good care of us ;) I had such a great time. Thank you again to everyone who came out! You guys ROCK!!! Doomo to James, Shelby, and the gang at Ocean! (Let's party it up in Japan next time!) :)
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| The gorgeous ladies of the evening :) |
During my trip, my friend Cyndi (a fellow ALT from Yamaguchi who was ending her contract) came for a short visit. It was really cool having my life in Hawaii mix with my life in Japan. Cyndi got to meet my friends, people that I had talked about all year, and see me in my natural habitat :) We did a lot of touristy things (things that I had been wanting to do after finding this new sense of excitement for my island home!) like Ala Moana, Waikiki, surf lessons (sorry Cyndi! I am a BAD instructor!), and North shore. Jamie (a 3rd year JET this year) also came down for a visit! The time flew by and before I knew it I was packing up and heading to Hilo.
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| Cyndi and me at Waimea Bay, North Shore. |
The final highlight of my trip was going to Hilo to see grandma&grandpa. It had been one roller coaster of a year and I was so happy to finally be able to go and see them in their new home. They were the main reason I came back this summer. We spent time on my uncle's deck, looking out into the beautiful surrounding landscapes, and talking about anything and everything that came to mind. It was nice having the entire immediate family (with the exception of my older cousin Ryan) all under one roof. We were like one big, happy family. We had an amazing local dinner one night with everyone eating together at the table. That moment could not be beat. One day, my mom, dad, brother, and I went to Akaka Falls and did the 30 min hike (which only took us 15 min). It was nice just spending time with everyone, laughing about stupid things, and being "tourists" for once.
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| The Yoshida family in Hilo. |
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| The best grandparents a girl could as for. |
I'll never forget my trip home to Hawaii. I'm so glad I decided to go home. The time spent there really refreshed me and gave me a new perspective to bring to this new upcoming JET year. That no matter where I am in the world, I'll always have Hawaii and it's amazing&beautiful people to call my home.
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It was awesome seeing you all! To those I didn't get a chance to meet up with, I hope to see and spend time with you when I come back for good! Love you all so much! :)
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