Day 8: Hike of Death, Halo-Halo Mixer, & Matt (J)

While waiting at a bus stop under the searing mid-morning sun, repeated car honking abruptly broke up my "look at that caterpillar on the tree" inspired reverie.  It was one of my housemates motioning me over--she asked me if I wanted to go on a local hike.  Always eager (though sometimes regretful) to do something new, I tagged along as we went up to Koko Head Crater.   An hour and a half, a ridiculously pounding heart, about a gallon of sweat, and over a thousand steep stairs later, I made it to the top.  The panoramic, 360 degree view of the Hawaii Kai area can be breathtaking- unfortunately, the uncontrollable flying dots and wavy colors in my strain-effected vision didn't let me enjoy it too much.  Great workout, though!
           

 

----------------------

 Later that afternoon, I went to UH with another local friend, Elsie, for a college/ young professional Filipino networking event.  We made Halo-Halo!  (Literally translated "mix-mix," Halo-Halo is a delicious Filipino dessert that involves, among other sugary things, shaved ice, evaporated milk, gelatin, custard, assorted fruit and sweet beans, and ice cream.)   It was fun, we did icebreakers I did when I was in college, and I felt very, very old. 

--------------------------------------------

Finally, to close out the night, we picked up Matty from the airport.  Arriving from Pennsylvania via Las Vegas, Matt got to our house, met all of the house-mates, and promptly smoked out with a couple of them.  Here he is after: