Haunted Lagoon

This year PCC hosted its first annual Haunted Lagoon for Halloween. I'm not sure they anticipated how successful it was going to be considering the average wait in line was about 2 hours. But, if you ask me, it was well worth the wait. Just a few recommendations before you go:

1. Be enthusiastic about it, and go with people who feel the same. If you are a party pooper, save your money and don't go. You won't enjoy it.

2. Make sure there is at least ONE scaredy cat in your group. They just make the experience that much better, because if you don't get scared by the ride, you can laugh your butt off at how easily the "scaredy cat" freaks out.

3. Wear something that can dry quickly. YOU WILL GET WET NO MATTER WHERE YOU SIT!!! So, be sure to cover your mouth when you scream, cause there's nothing worse than getting that nasty lagoon water in your mouth. And trust...the after taste is soooo not the bizness!

Now, to share my experience. I would like to think that I got all three of the aforementioned tips down when I went. I went with Greg and Ane and Ane's cousins. Luckily, Ane got there before us, and saved us a place in line. Unfortunately, we still had about an hour and a half to go before we got on the canoe. But, the wait wasn't so bad cause we had good company. See how excited we were to be there!

Me, Greg and Ane...holding up our tix!!!
Greg, Ane, Heidi and Losa...all excited to get their scream on!

So...they said no camera's allowed on the boat, so these were the only pix I got. Not to mention I was too slow to pull it out when we got to the loading dock. So sorry.

DON'T READ ON if you plan on going on the ride.

We finally get to canoe, and me, Greg and Ane decide to brave and sit in the very front. So...first of all, can I just say that riding on a canoe in dark, murky water, at night, is just scary in itself. What's even scarier is that the only thing that separates you from the water is about 4 inches!!! So, as we enter the lagoon, they have this audio recording telling us the story about some lady in white, and blah blah blah. I didn't even hear the story, cause I could see the lady in white standing on a landing in the middle of the lagoon. As we're passing her, she just stares at us, and continues to stare as we head for the bridge. Just when I think we're safe, she starts walking towards us. But, she's stuck on an island which is about 15 ft. from us, so I think we're good. And then she starts walking on the freaking water!!!! Thank goodness I was on the far end of the canoe, otherwise I would've had a heart attack! Homegirl came right up to the canoe!!!

Then just as we leave, and I think we lose her, I turn towards the bridge ahead of us, and see the same girl walking towards us from the front!!!! Oh snap...me and Ane fly ourselves, along with Greg, who is sitting in the middle of us backwards, and we land on Ane's cousins sitting behind us. We found out later that because we fell backward, the people behind us fell, and the people behind them fell, and...yeah...you get the picture. Full on domino effect! So shame. The people in the back probably hated us..but oh well. Hahaha.

Anyways...back to the white lady...she just wouldn't stop. She came up to the canoe, and was jumping up on the damn boat! Me and Ane were freaking out while Greg laughed at us!!! Then...the girl disappeared under the boat, and came up on the side to scare the people in the back. All I gotta say is....GOOD actors!

Ok....scary part #2. This one takes the cake for realz! So, we're coming by the Maori village, and these kids are playing jump rope. They stop, walk towards the edge, and just stare and point at us while we row on past them. I think to myself..."ok...this isn't so bad. I can handle this." Then, as I look down, I notice the plants in the water start moving a little. And then all of a sudden, those freaking plants jump out at me!!! Talk about freak out of America...I screamed so loud! But not only did I scream, I was like jumping up and down in my seat, and pushing against Greg so hard, trying desperately to get away from those freakin' laua'e bushes!!!!!!! Those damn bushes would not quit! They kept coming after me...I swear I almost kicked one in the head.

Apparantly, after the ride, Greg and Ane said they were yelling at me to stop freaking out, cuz I guess I was pushing so hard against Greg, that I almost pushed Ane off the canoe!!! Hahahahaha. I felt so bad. they were saying that they were screaming at me, "STOP! STOP! UI STOP!!!" But i swear I didn't hear anything!!! I was so focused on those dang moving bushes!!!

By the end of the ride, I had a headache from laughing/screaming/the stinky fog/the smell from the dang chainsaw!!! BUT...I had so much fun!!!!! Memories to last a lifetime for sure! I'm glad PCC did something like this, cause our community needed that. They probably should charge more next year. I'm excited to see what they'll add next year. Whatever they do, I'm sure it will be just as good, if not, better!

Duke's Factory....

Earlier this month, Greg's best friend Josh flew in for a short weekend visit. It was nice to finally meet the person on the other end of the phone. I like to think Josh has always been a part of our weekly adventures since Greg ALWAYS calls him when we're out to give him the whole play by play. The first night he came in, we decided to take him out to dinner. Since he LOVES Duke's restaurant, and my sister Mahea can hook it up, we ate there. So, of course, in order to get the discount, Mahea had to come with us...which turned out to be the best idea considering she was our entertainment for the evening. Jan ended up meeting up with us later. I highly reccommend the ribs if you ever find yourself at Duke's for dinner. Thanks Mahea and her bosses for hookin' it up!!!

And, since what we do best is eat....we decided to hit up Cheesecake Factory a couple days later. Unfortunately, Mahea couldn't join us this time, but Joe and Nephi did. First we hit up Hale'iwa for some ice cream at Scoops of Paradise...which by the way has the BEST Chocolate Macademia Nut ice cream. We spent our usual hour there because we were consumed by that stinkin' photo hunt game. Now that we got dessert out of the way, we drove and drove until we finally decided to eat in Waikiki. The line was forever long, so we spent our time waiting in the new Mac store. I swear they come up with the coolest stuff. I want a MacBook sooooo bad. Dinner was delicioso!!! I gave in to peer pressure and had the ribs. A bit of advice....don't EVER listen to a vegan's reccommendation. They just want you to get the food that they can't eat, and when the plate comes you realize that you can't eat it either cause it's so dang BIG!!! But...it was scrumptious! We ended the night with a mercy match between Joe and Jan. It was pretty funny! Thanks guys for the great evening, and thanks Josh for visiting, and giving us an excuse to go out!

My partners in crime....Greg and Nephi

Cheezin it up at Cheesecake

GO WARRIORS!!!!

This year I've been fortunate enough to attend the UH football games to support my buddy 'Inoke Tulukinga Funaki, thanks to Keala and Tony Tuioti. Tony is the recruiting coach for the team this year, so he hooks up the tickets, and I provide the additional set of hands and eyes for Keala as we take their 5 of 6 kids to the games. It's been quite an adventurous season so far. We've experienced some wins, and losses, some good times, and rough ones, but overall it's been great! Now with three more home games left (damn that season came and went in a blur), we're ready to take on whoever comes our way! GO WARRIORS!!! I just wanted to share some of the good times that we have at these games.

rain or shine...we are die hard fans! lol

Me and Teimana...Uncle Kapano's mini-me

Teilor...Tony's mini-me

and Teitum....the biggest 3 year old I know

Keala is totally camera shy, so I don't have any pix of her. But her kids are the cutest things ever!!! They make the games so much fun with their non-stop inquiries about what's going on around them in the Stadium. The trips up and down the stairs to take them for bathroom breaks, snacks, drinks, and anything else to keep them entertained during the 4 hours spent there. It's quite entertaining. I'll have to blog about an actual game later. But yeah....GO WARRIORS...and GO NOKE!!!

The Final Chapter....

Monday....

I know it's been like almost a month since I've been back from Utah, but I just need to finish with the last couple of days of my trip. After the whirl wind of a weekend, it was nice to finally sleep in and just relax. Some of my friends in Provo had planned a huge FHE at Line and Saia's house in Provo. All of my old friends from the early BYU Provo years got together to spend some time with yours truly. Well, I like to think so at least. Hahaha. Did I mention that almost all of my friends from that stage in my life are married and most have kids? And here I am with my single-never-gonna-get-married-cause-i-love-traveling-more self in the mix with them married folk! But it was awesome. Line....you're the best for hosting such an awesome event. Crystal and Kara came as well with their other halfs...so it was like the old and new getting together.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of sleep from the weekend, I had a major headache and wasn't able to enjoy everyone's company like I had anticipated. BUT....it was good seeing everyone. It has definitely been a while, and it's always good to get together with everyone and reminisce about the good old days. All the kids were looking at me like, "who the heck is this crazy lady?" Pretty funny. But yeah...here's some pix from that eventful nite. Sorry Line, I don't have any pix of you considering you deleted them ALL....RUDE!!!

Baby Tau...what a cutie!

Ms. V and her son Etano...gorgeous!

Spencer...look at those fabuLASHES!!!

tina and V

micah and karlee. why u gotta block karlee for micah? lol


granny and his roomie

me, tito and kara

Ok....so my bad. I just realized that I didn't even take that many pictures that nite. So fired. But everyone who was there, you know who you are, thanks again for coming, and making it a memorable evening. We'll have to do that again the next time I come up, and this time I'll be sure to have pix of everyone. Blame it on the headache. Lol.

TUESDAY.....
I had originally planned to leave this afternoon, unfortunately the flights were all booked. However, the morning flight to Honolulu from L.A. the next day was promising, so my cousin had arranged for me to leave on the last flight out to L.A. that night. This gave me more time to visit with people. So, I went back to Lehi to cruise with my cousins out there. I always feel bad cause I feel like it's a rushed visit. The day always seems to fly when you're pressed for time. I wonder why that is?

After saying our goodbyes, I headed over to IKEA to meet up with Ms. Crystal Lynn. She ended up calling in sick to work, so she was nice enough to meet me for lunch. It's crazy to know that our friendship started 8 years ago at S.O.A.R. at BYU Provo. After our lunch, I went home, and did the fastest packing of my life (5 minutes) and headed to the airport. The flight was wide open, so I got on.

Ana Bunz met me there with open arms. I was lucky enough to spend the night in L.A. with her and her brother. They live about a half hour away from the airport, so she was able to take me back the next day. I haven't seen her in about 5 months, so it was nice to catch up with her. I can't wait til she moves back to Hawaii. Here's some pix of us at our late nite dinner/early breakfast at IHOP.

i don't know what this is but i thought it was super pretty! lol.

me and bunz

us again...i luv this girl

we ended up getting back at her house around 12am, and had to leave for the airport in 5 hours. By the time we got caught up with each others lives, and the happenings, it was time to leave, and this is what happens when you get an hour of sleep.

Yup...we were hash burgers!!!! Sooooooo not the tee!

WEDNESDAY (kinda just mixed in with Tuesday nite...all a blur)....
Anyhoo...after I checked in my bags, I headed to the gate. That is where I saw half of Laie waiting for the same flight I was listed for. FREAKIN A!!! I knew I wasn't gonna make it. So, I hid away, and found an awesome corner to catch some Zzz's. This is where I camped for the next couple of hours.

waiting for the next flight
finding out that i would have to fly to lihue, kaua'i instead
taking some time to relax, and catch up on some much needed sleep.

The flight to Lihue was a full flight which fully sucked.

Big Girl + Full Flight + Small Plane = Suckiest flight ever!!!!!

Luckily, I had a window seat, so I didn't get hit every 5 minutes by the flight attendendants and their carts. I sat next to the smallest Mongolian girl, who found every way to possible to irritate the heezy out of me. Not only was she taking up ALL the room, the whore stole my drink! She's lucky I was flying standby otherwise I would've slapped her asian $%$ back to China!!!! So yeah...if you can't tell, I was a little irritated.

When we got to Lihue, I had about an hour before my flight left. Thank you Ana for letting me use your miles to get a ticket to O'ahu. You are a lifesaver...I owe you! After the 15 hours of waiting and flying, I was finally back in the hot and sticky!!! It was good to be home. But sad at the same time. This trip was A-Mazing!!! Thank you everyone for making it one of the best! I have memories to last me a lifetime!!! I'm already planning my next trip...so be prepared!!!!

Utah Saga Pt. 4

SUNDAY....

This was almost as busy as the day before. Full of conference talks, firesides, and frost bitten toes. Because I didn't get home til about 5 in the morning, I slept in and missed the first session of conference. I had actually planned on that...sad, I know. But I could hear bits and pieces here and there, thanks to my deaf aunty in the room next door, who had the t.v. on full blast. Hahaha.

So, I finally got out of bed at around 11:30, started getting ready for the day. I had planned to go and watch the second session at the Joseph Smith building with Tina. I figured I probably would stay up if I watched conference at a public place. So, after getting ready, I headed over to the Moleni's to meet up with Tina. She sooooo wasn't ready by the time I got there, so I just went ahead with Tito and Kumi. That was just as fun though.

We found some decent parking, so we thought we'd try to get in to the conference center in the standby line. As we walked towards the door, we asked one of the volunteers where the standby line was. She looked us up and down and asked, "where are you from?" I was like, "Oh...Hawaii." She smiled and was like, "oh...just go on in, there's room on the balcony. That was pretty cool. Now I know what to say if I don't have tickets. Lol. We sat at the VERY top of the balcony section. It was cool though, cause we sat in the "wheelchair" section, so we had a bunch of room.

Funny thing, I sat next to this woman who was in a wheel chair, and she started making small talk with me. You know...the usual, where you from? Is this your first time? Blah blah blah. I was nice about it, and answered all her questions. Then all of a sudden home girl straight GRABS my hair and was like, "I just wanted to touch your hair." I was thinking to myself, "uhhh...ok...please don't pull it. And usually people ASK before they touch you." It kinda freaked me out. She seemed nice though, but I definitely avoided eye contact. Lol.

We met up with Bubs and Mele after conference at temple square. Chilled for a little bit, but it was so dang windy, we didn't really want to stay to mingle. Besides, I was with a married couple...I don't think they would wanna kick it with the single folk. Even though they would be totally down, I wanted to go as well. So we headed back to the Moleni house for some grub.

Later that evening, Tina and I went to the YSA fireside at her stake center. We were hecka late, so we just stayed outside and ended up talking story with Moana, None, and Pono. I don't know how they could stand outside...cause it was FREEZING!!! Man...you know you've been on the island too long when you cannot handle 60 degree weather. Brrrrrrrr. The usual post-fireside tradition is to go to Club T and mingle with the singles, but this year was just too dang cold for me. I ended up going home with Phil and Ron, where we watched movies and played Boggle! Exciting huh?! Hahahahaha. But that's how I like it. Just chill and laid back. We played til about 6 in the morning. I kept beating Ron, and supposedly that was HIS game, so he kept wanting to have rematch after reamatch. It was all good though, cause with all the smack he was talking, it was nice beating him game after game.

So that was Sunday in a nutshell. Here's some pix from that day...just for your enjoyment.

Happy Birthday Nono'a

Ok...I had to interrupt the whole Utah Saga to post this. Last week Saturday was my nephew, Nono'a's FIRST birthday. He is the final member of the Saaga 'Ohana...so it was a pretty big deal. Not to mention that he is TOTALLY my baby!!!! My sister had planned on having a "small" barbeque with close family and friends, but I think she forgot that our close family and friends continues to increase in numbers with each new year. So there was a grip of people. But it's all good...the more the merrier right?! Well, here's some pix of Nono'a's birthday photo shoot that I thought was just too cute for words. Enjoy!

How you like the "Top Gun" outfit? Hahaha.

You know I HAD to get a shot with him right?! Lol.

Playing in the bouncer with Kala and Malu Boy!!!



Cheezin' it up with Mommy and Daddy

Utah Saga Pt. 3

SATURDAY...

This was probably the longest day of my life. It was a good thing I got home early the night before, because this day was a doozie! It started bright and early at 6:30...that's the time I had to get up in order to get ready for the morning session of Conference. And yes...I actually went to conference this weekend, and was inspired by the talks and testimonies of our church leaders. I met up with Bubs and her Vegas crew for the first session. We got some pretty good seats too! We sat at the bottom of the terrace, probably the closest I've ever sat in the conference center. It was pretty amazing. Here's some pix of us at the blessed event.

me and bubs

me, bubs and jorge

view from our seats

calling dad to see if he saw me

oops...not supposed to be on the phone

After conference ended, we were greeted by rainstorm outside. And the Hawaii girl that I am, went to conference in a short sleeved (thin) blouse, short jeans skirt, and slippers!!! So you can probably guess that I was freezing my bootie off!!! Oh yeah, did I mention that I didn't have a jacket either?! Jorge, Bubsie's friend, was kind enough to let me use his umbrella at least, as we walked back to the car, which was parked about a block away from the conference center. As soon as I got in the car, I turned the heater on full blast to defrost my frost bitten appendages.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay for the second session because I had to do some shopping for Ms. Tito's baby shower, which was scheduled to begin immediately following the last session. So, I hopped in the car and drove over to Mele's house to pick her up so we could go and get a gift for Crystal Lynn. Me, Mele, Char (Mele's oldest sister), and Mele's cousin drove to the nearest Wal Mart to find our gift. Ok...so just a tip. Don't EVER shop at the Wal Mart in West Valley on 54th because it is so dang empty!!!!! Not only was their registry machine broken, but they had NONE of the items that Tito registered for! So we ran through the rain, hopped in the car and drove to the Wal Mart in Taylorsville. MUCH better! After getting all of our baby items, we went back to Mele's house, wrapped the gifts, and went to the shower. Did I mention it was STILL raining?!

As we pull up to the house, I noticed that there were a grip of people inside. So, how embarrassing was it when Mele and I come hauling in our gift (a rocking chair) in front of everyone, and then getting stuck in the middle of the room with it cause there was no room to set it down. Talk about claustrophobia. I ended up kickin' it outside with Ms. Ofo...just catching up. The shower was a success! Everyone from every part of Tito's life was present. Here's some pix of some of us who stayed behind to help clean up. Lol.

Group shot
And another one
The Hawaii crew with Silly Billy

The shower ended at around 7pm, and can you believe that this was the just the halfway point of my day? *Sigh* Tis the life of a young single adult in Salt Lake City during General Conference. What can I say? Sleep is not an option. We all went our separate ways to get ready for yet ANOTHER dance. This time however, we were to be entertained by the skits of each singles ward in the three Tongan Stakes. The North Stake probably had the BEST skit. It amazes me how people are so willing to participate in these things. They're such good sports about it too! This dance was a little more entertaining because all of the girls were there. It was like we were all back at BYUH dancing stupid and making fun of each other. Here's a clip of what happens when me and Bubs gets together at dances. Stinkin' Mele snuck up on us with this one. The beginning of the clip is of Mele's cousins, so just wait til the end.


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Here's some pix of everyone at the dance.

Bubs is always so excited to see me! Lol.
The girlies!!!!

Us again...this time with Nela.

Of course, after every dance, there's an AFTER party. So everyone headed back to the Moleni's for the usual kick it sesh. I was thinking it would just be our original crew there, but I was in for a rude awakening. As I walk in the door, there is MADD people in the house already. Random people were showing up, and I was like "uhhhhhhh.....claustrophobia!!!!" With all those singles there, I hope at least ONE marriage comes out of that. LOL. Kara, Phil and some other talented people serenaded us with their beautiful voices. Man, I wish I could sing. *sigh* I was planning on sleeping over to spend more time with Tina and Crystal, but all those people kinda killed it for me. We didn't leave til about 4:30 in the morning. That's almost 24 hours of activity. What a long day!