Hangzhou 杭州 - September visit (part 1)

Going home!! Or at least one of my homes. I was fortunate that my flight came in the same day as Mike came home from Korea, leading to a warm welcome: 

While Mike was at work, so was I. The weather in Hangzhou was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. Not too hot, not too cold. Warm with a gentle breeze. I opened the doors to both balconies while I worked at the desk. 

I had to step outside to enjoy it pretty often. I loved going downstairs to just walk around and buy some great food that I had missed. 

Chinese McDonald's!! ^_^

I didn't realize it when I took this photo, but it was a foreshadow to the next photo: 

Check this guy out!! He totally has an Army shirt on, and he even had the pants on too. You can see that he was totally stoked to get a photo with us Americans. 

Trying my first-ever friend banana - delicious!

Mike getting another photo on his phone. 

Look at all these swords!! No photos allowed! Fortunately I don't read Chinese too well...and I could pretend to be Italian and not read the English either. 

This guy was amazing: he cuts a hole in the bottom of the eggs to drain them out, then he carves them into artistic masterpieces. Those are probably the same eggs they used to make my breakfast!

Awesome. 

Mike is the umbrella man. Here is his competition.

Or future partners? 

This game was ridiculous. It looked SO EASY. You just knock over these little wooden blocks with bean bags. You get 10 shots plus 1 practice shot. 

Mike and I tried it together. We hit one. ONE. So we got this lame "loser" prize. I was embarrassed to have it out, so I quickly hid it in my backpack. 

Check this guy out! He just seemed like such a stereotypical old-Chinese guy that I had to get a photo with him. 

This was the best. Here I am posing for my photo, and a couple Chinese girls were taking photos too. Then one started taking photos of me! : D I really love China. It's great having random people take photos of you. I'm pretty sure I would love being famous. 

I found a Pikachu!!

Mike and his Chinese family. 

Bubbles!

This was SWEET. We took a car elevator!! So cool. 

We were trying to find this restaurant, and Mike and Vivian were discussing which way we needed to go. I finally asked, so which way should we go? They literally pointed just like this. 

Italian food from a real Italian! 

We started having this little argument about how to properly ask for more water. Vivian was saying that one way was correct, but the other way still made sense. Anyway, when the waiter came by she still kept saying it in Chinese (and he's a Chinese waiter), so it was pretty funny. (i.e. "Can I have some more water?", "Could you give me more water?", "Need more water", etc)

Eventually he decided to just leave the water for us. 

I finally saw the famous water fountain show in Hangzhou!! Waaaay better than the one in Vegas. 

We also met this monk, but I guess he's a fake monk because he actually had some hair on his head. 

So I go to teach English course and need to use the toilet. I really hate using squatters, so I checked to see if they had a normal toilet. 

They did, and apparently they used it as the cleaning closet. Haha. 

Looks like squatter it is: 

(I actually decided to just hold it)

Ended the day with English course!! It was pretty fun...for the first hour. The second hour got to be a little long. I got offered a job to go teach there for a year but, 

AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!

Aloha! (Trent's wedding and visiting Ikaika)

This last week I had the perfect trip to Hawaii. I got to visit friends, hit up the beach, eat amazing food, meet all of Ikaika's family, and even got to watch a game of soccer!!

Okay, it was almost perfect. I also played some game called "Sorry" which is a terrible, terrible game. But more on that later. 

There are some other great things I got to do though: Go to a baby blessing, go to institute, work out with an MMA fighter, ride the bus, go to church, eat loads of goldfish, and shower every once in awhile. 

Too much writing, time for pictures: 

Ikaika's new house! I was stoked to be able to stay here with him and his family. 

Ikaika's new sister!!! He doesn't like her as part of the family. haha. 

No trip to Hawaii would be complete without....MAKAKILO MAN!! This guy is a legend around town. 

Basically he's just famous for walking around and lifting weights. Next time you see me on the dance floor you can probably catch me doing the "Makakilo Man"

Ikaika's parents and his niece, Emily!

Look at this beautiful tree. I want one of these in my backyard. 

Emily plays soccer and we watched her team play against Aiea. She did a great job in the game, but unfortunately her team didn't win. I think it's because all the girls from Aiea are giants. 

On the way to Trent's wedding!

Trent had a very nice wedding, and the highlight was probably when somebody knocked down the platter of macaroons. hahaha, just kidding! No one even knows about that, shh... 

The highlight for me (and I think for a lot of us) was when La Rue surprised Trent by singing him the song 1,000 years. She wasn't able to get through the whole song while she was tearing up, and it was very very touching. 

Visiting Taylor! He's always like this....

Going over to Kaycee's to hang out! 

The beach is literally in her backyard. This is called "Bikini Beach" but I didn't have mine with me.

We had a little photoshoot for Ikaika. 

This is where I belong. 

Sam!!!!

The gang after playing cards. It was really fun, but I lost. 

The view from Ikaika's house.

I don't have many photos from Sunday. Let's just say that it was a really great day. : ) Han taught an amazing lesson on eternal marriage, and we also went to a baby blessing! Hawaiians love to get together and eat, so to celebrate the baby blessing we got together with all of Ikaika's extended family and had an awesome dinner. This was my first plate, but I had at least one more full plate, and some more food after that. 

I haven't overstuffed myself like that in a long time. When we got home I literally had to just lay on the bed because my stomach was so full!! haha. The food was just too good. 

Nanakuli Beach Park. We went with our friend Han from BYU-Hawaii. He and his wife are in Ikaika's ward. I'm actually friends with her too and knew her my freshman year at BYU-H. She must be a pretty great wife because she stayed home with their 6-month old daughter, Leia, while Han got to go to the beach with us!

When I asked him if he named his daughter after Princess Leia, he said, well, her dad Is Hans Solo. hahaha ^_^

!!!

I can't believe it, but I don't think I got any photos with Ikaika's cousin Monica!! I also didn't get any with Hapaki and his family. Anyway, they're all super cool and really nice and on one of the days we went and worked out with Monica. It's sad, but I'm really out of shape!!! Okay, plus she's in good shape so I don't feel so bad, but Ikaika and I pretty much died working out with her. haha. 

It was great though. : )

This is a terrible game. We played like...6 times or more and I lost. EVERY TIME. I literally couldn't believe it. Ikaika won 5 times in a row. It's crazy. 

Before I can go back to their house I'll have to brush up on my "Sorry" skills so that I can win next time. 

This is it! The last photo I got in Hawaii. I was eating a hot dog in the car as we drove to drop off Ikaika's mom, sister, and niece at the church before going to the airport. 

The trip was perfect. Relaxing, fun, full of time with people I love. 

When I first got to Hawaii I felt like I was coming home. When I told Ikaika that he said that's because I am coming home. haha. I love it there. I can't wait to get back to BYUH, but at the same time I'm in no rush because I've got big things to do, and I know I'll only get two more semesters there anyway. 

Until next time: Aloha o'e!