Mahalo Xmas.

Christmas time has always been a semi-weird time for me. I love giving and receiving gifts, but it always feels so forced. Why does there have to be one special day a year where we give our loved ones things we think they'll like? Is it to simply let them know we care? Maybe it's because my family is so spread out across the US, I've never really had a big family gathering. Either way, the days surround xmas are a great time for catching up on much needed rest. Also, Starbuck's has those awesome peppermint mochas. So for this xmas season I just hung out with the girlfriend and her family in San Jose.



On the 25th of December, instead of opening up presents, we were booking it down to LA. My girlfriend and her mom wanted to visit their daughter/sister. While they were doing that, I drove down to spend some time with my mom in Orange County. It all worked out quite nicely. My girlfriend's sister was even sweet enough to get my dog and I a little Hollywood star of fame with our names on it. Thanks Jyoti!

On the 26th of December we drove back to San Jose. Normally we would have taken our time, but we had to catch a flight the next morning out of the San Jose Airport. We were heading off to the beautiful garden isle of Kauai. My girlfriend's mom, with the recent passing of her father and an overbearing work load, needed some time to relax, and what better place than Hawaii. Kauai is great because of its lack of modernizations we take for granted. They probably had two or three traffic lights on the island. Jenny's mom agreed to pay for my airfare as an xmas present to me, which was extremely thoughtful and unexpected. Luckily I had a $250 United voucher that I could help her out with. The only downside was that we had to leave our pug Coco at home with one of Jenny's cousins.

Before we knew it, we were in the air. It rained on an off when we got there, but the weather was great. A bit humid, but honestly what can you expect. We went kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, played with sparklers, took photos, you name it. The island is so small you can drive across it in about an hour. One thing I will miss is the honeydew melon italian ice and the kona coffees we got each day. One thing I won't miss is all the roosters everywhere. Kauai is overrun by hens and roosters. According to our tour guide on the kayak trip, there is a 5:1 ratio between roosters/hens and human. Seeing a rooster roaming the parking lot of a Costco is just simply something I never thought I'd see.

I wish I had more to say, but honestly we spent most of the time just relaxing and doing touristy things. Thanks Jenny and Laurie for an amazing trip!

As always, here are some photos from the trip.