During the glorious three consecutive days off around my birthday, Eaman and I spent one full day on the road, checking out life on the island beyond Honolulu, which also gave us an opportunity to use Eaman’s cool new camera lens. Craig, master of road trips, put together a nice itinerary for us, and our friend, Doug, generously lent us his car for some Friday fun. We had actually considered jetting to Kauai for those three days, but in an effort to save money, we decided that it’ll be more fun to leave Oahu, able to say we really knew the island. (Besides, we’re headed to the Big Island over Memorial Day Weekend for a big camping trip, so at least we’ll have gone to one other island.)

Here, a little map of our eight-hour trip with stars marking the stops:

First stop: the Pali lookout off the Pali Highway.

Second stop: Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe. Nestled in the back of a spacious cemetery is the non-denominational Buddhist temple Byodo-In. It’s breathtaking. We felt so at peace, like we were witnessing something really special — and it got us very, very excited for South East Asia.

Our next stop was a close-up view of Mokolii, better known as Chinaman’s Hat, an island named because it’s in the shape of…you guessed it. The sky was a bit gloomy at this point, but it was a nice deserted spot to munch on our peanut butter sandwiches.

Our next stop wasn’t planned, which is precisely the point of road trips. We whizzed past it and quickly turned back around once we saw clear water. This beach had such a lovely, carefree vibe. I don’t think anyone was even in the water; it just happened to be the backyard for a few (lucky) people. And I just loved that green beach house.

We then headed to Waimea Bay on the North Shore since Eaman still hadn’t seen that area. (I had previously gone while he was in Oklahoma, remember?) But no getting in the water for us; the huge waves break ridiculously close to the shore.

Finally, we made it to Kaena Point. It’s the most northwest edge of the island, and besides seeing rows upon rows of patient fisherman, Craig had told us to park the car and walk the long walk to the very, very tip of the island to see some monk seals and nesting seabirds. Well, since we hit the road a bit later — noon to be exact — than Craig had suggested, we got to Kaena Point only around 6:15 p.m. The sun was setting, my phone and its all-important GPS was dying and that walk was mighty long. We walked and walked, though not all the way out, so no monk seals for us. But Kaena was still my favorite part of the road trip.

So spectacular, it gave me goosebumps.

Waimea on Dwellable

I’ve been working at the smoothie shop — which shall remain nameless on this blog just so I can rant and rave as I please and remain less Google-able — for just over a month now, and in my time there, I’ve realized some things about this job that are best reflected by a pro-con list.

Pros: Being around fresh, mostly local and often organic food; sampling the extras of any smoothies, juices or bowls (thick smoothies with toppings eaten with a spoon); talking to friendly locals while I’m at the register; the non-desk-job factor; certain weekdays off; strong(er) biceps with all the heavy lifting and manual labor

Smoothie girl with some specific blur-outs to maintain my anonymity. Also, my hair is definitely not usually that nicely coiffed and shiny; I had just gotten a haircut.

Cons: Aforementioned manual labor; days when I have to open the shop at 6:30 a.m.; getting only 20% off menu items and not a free smoothie per day, as I had expected; irregular work schedules that change week to week and require me to work one day of the weekend; closing the store and dealing with the mopping

So what exactly do I do, you ask? Well, my duties range from working the cash register and restocking fruit, yogurt and other ingredients to adding people to our loyalty rewards program on our computer, and, oh yeah, making smoothies, juices and bowls. I actually feel like that’s the order of tasks from most to least frequent, for me anyway.

Like any customer service-style establishment, speed is a premium, so the shop likes to have the quickest people in the back making the drinks. Since I am completely hopeless when it comes to memorization — there’s a reason I sucked at chemistry and did not become a doctor — I couldn’t remember the down-to-a-science, super specific smoothie recipes and was thus, pretty damn slow. To motivate their employees to memorize said recipes, the managers require you to pass a “smoothie test” before you’re privy to the tip jar. (People tip very well at this shop.) I just passed my test, so…go me!

But more often than not, you’ll find me at the register. I suppose I can take it as a compliment, that the managers like my super smiley, hyper chit-chatty personality. But at the same time, there aren’t many other options since two other (Mexican) employees have pretty thick accents. And how in the world am I supposed to remember my smoothies if I’m never making any?

Eaman stopped in for a juice and snapped this with my phone, hence the grainy quality:

On the upside, being at the register has me interacting with some pretty cool people, including Lost and Hawaii Five-0 star Daniel Dae Kim. I actually never cared for Lost, but still. (Apparently fellow Hawaii Five-0 star Alex O’Loughlin phones in orders often. Too busy to come in person, I see! Also, the local newscaster has come in a hat and sunglasses as to not draw attention to herself. Lady, I don’t think anyone cares.)

As far as my other employees go, half are youngins in college and the other half are moms. One co-worker is absolutely infuriating and constantly corrects others to do things her way. She’s on a serious power trip and likes to think she owns the shop. (She does not.)

I waver between liking this fun, fairly simple job that I know is temporary — and hating that I don’t really care about it, hating that one co-worker and hating really disliking how it’s turned life into a routine. I come home tired from work with aching feet and legs that’ve stood all day and then it’s virtually impossible to motivate myself to go out. I know I appreciate my days off a lot more than if I was just chilling here unemployed, but sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to get ready for work. You’d think it’s the kind of job where you can zone out and just push “pulse” on the blender, but there’s an emphasis to always be doing something — whether it’s refilling the whey protein or wiping down the tables — so I always feel nervous that I’m not doing enough. And because I’m still learning, I’m probably doing it wrong.

In the long term, I now know just how hard working in the food/restaurant industry is and will probably think a lot harder about whether opening a bakery or brunch spot — which was always a vague daydream — is really for me. But for now, it pays the bills.

There have been fleeting moments when I think I’m crazy for working at this job after going to such a great university and having such great work experience. But I will say, much like an internship where all you do is fax documents and Xerox documents, this is the kind of job where you build on your basics and learn practical skills. And much like living in New York, I think this is the kind of job everyone should experience at least once. The kind of skills you learn here, like the ways of customer service or even how to work a cash register, round you out as a person if all you know is how to work from behind a computer at a desk.

Perhaps more than anything, though, this job has taught me how to be a better consumer. And there are five specific rules I hope to carry on with me:

1. I will be patient with my waiter/server/shop girl, especially if he/she can’t hear me. You wouldn’t believe the number of dirty looks I get from people when I apologize and ask them for the second or third time how to spell their last name so I can find them in our loyalty program to give them points. Excuse me if we happen to have machines that BREAK DOWN ICE blaring in the background.

2. I will not hand over crumpled up bills. No, no, I really enjoy unfolding your wet-from-the-beach $1 bills while a line of customers wait.

3. I will try to make as few changes to my order as possible. “Can I get an acai bowl, but instead of the apple juice, can I get coconut milk? And no strawberries mixed in…or on top. Can you replace that with half a portion of papaya and a half a proportion of mango? And can I get an energy supplement mixed into that? And a peanut butter scoop on top, but not too much.” “Oh wait, I’m allergic to coconut milk. Let’s go back to the apple juice.” Yeah, that really happens.

4. I will try my hardest not to go to an establishment as they’re closing. It’s soul-crushing to see someone stroll in at 7:55 p.m. when your store closes at 8 p.m. It’s not like we go home at 8 p.m.; we have to stay and clean! If someone comes in that late, it just means there’s even more time before my feet get a break. I know, I know. You have a right to come in if the sign says open. But it’s just common courtesy.

5. I will not talk on my cell phone whilst ordering. Rude!

I know I technically have already posted about Honolulu, but I also know I owe you guys a proper update. The thing is, life has been, well, insane, to say the least. I’m an organizational maniac, so I think bullet points will work best since so many different things were happening at once:

• On February 15, we traveled 15 hours from Panama to Hawaii — with a three-hour layover in LAX filled with Baja Fresh (sad they didn’t have Taco Bell) and these.

• We spent our first night in Honolulu in a rather dingy hotel. My parents had booked Eaman and I a nice hotel room at a Marriott for the wedding Thursday through Monday and despite their insistence, I told them they did not need to spend more money on a room for Wednesday night since we were getting in at 10 p.m. anyway. We figured we’d just book a hostel for one night. Cut to two days before we left for Honolulu and ALL THE HOSTELS WERE BOOKED. And all the rooms at our Marriott were booked. So we ended up spending $108 on a dingy hotel room. Believe me, we considered sleeping at the airport or on the beach.

• I got my first cold in 5 months of travel. Yes, I’ve had food poisoning, but a cold — an annoying, pestering cold — is sometimes worse. Dang recirculated air in airplane and too-high A/C in dingy hotel room.

• We went to my cousin’s beautiful Hawaiian wedding.

It was a three-day event, filled with impeccable dinners, song and dance and some of the best slideshows I’ve ever seen at a wedding. (And I really love wedding slideshows.) Now I don’t know my cousin’s new husband, Craig, (a.k.a. my new cousin) all that well, but I do know my cousin, Pratt, and what I loved so much about this particular wedding was how true to her personality it was. Unfussy, stylish, relaxed, so genuinely sweet with touches of Hawaiian culture (Craig and Pratt actually live in Honolulu), it even involved yoga, which she teaches here in Honolulu.

We started the weekend with a beach day of paddle-boarding, badminton and, yep, yoga; we were treated to a brilliant dinner at Iolani Palace, then got to show our best moves at the sangeet, which is kind of like a talent show at Indian weddings; and we witnessed the union of two beautiful people at the ceremony and reception. And my god, the attention to detail! Fans — in the wedding color scheme — for guests during the balmy afternoon ceremony, tasty vegetarian options, which I can’t imagine are that easy to find in pork- and SPAM-loving Hawaii, and jars of local honey for wedding favors. Such a love-filled, beautifully planned event. Here, some snaps from the weekend:

Eaman, taking part in event one during beach day — a paddle-boarding competition moderated by Craig’s uncle, ESPN’s Brent Musburger:

Dinner at Iolani Palace, the official home of Hawaii’s monarchy:

Sangeet at Kathy Ireland’s home in Honolulu, which she rents out for weddings:

See? Kathy has an obsession with Liz Taylor, as I saw with all the Liz Taylor pop art in the house. Weird.

My cousin’s adorable daughter, Janaki, on the d-floor:

Lavender-cucumber water:

With the bride-to-be and my other cousin, Runjini. There are 20+ cousins in my family, so I understand if you’re confused:

The couple’s getaway vehicle, a 60s VW:

Ceremony and reception at — wait for it — a home owned by Dolly Parton:

Typically, an Indian groom enters the ceremony via white horse and a drum band. Craig came in on a boat!

The happy couple!

Janaki, again:

Mochi ice cream:

Hair straightener, I’ve missed you:

Sunset before dinner and dancing. I dare you to find a more beautiful setting.

• We found an apartment! It was simultaneously easy and mind numbingly difficult to get. I’ll explain in the next post — and share pictures of our new place, which we moved into on Tuesday.

• I found a job!

The idea in coming to Honolulu — a place not really on most RTW trip itineraries — was to push pause on the constant movement, take a break from the whole “here’s what you need to do in [insert country here] in two weeks,” slow down and live in an island paradise. We considered the Caribbean but figured that’d be much too expensive. Hawaii would give us what we wanted and, being a U.S. state, we wouldn’t have to get work visas. (It didn’t hurt that Craig and Pratt are a wonderful resource and live here.) Because you see, friends, Hawaii ain’t cheap and in order to stay for a few months, I’d need to get a job to alleviate costs.

While Eaman is still considering what kind of job he wants, I, of course, could’ve tried for a magazine gig and gone back to what I know. But the idea was to do something different. I applied to jobs at Whole Foods (mostly to get a discount for groceries), Barnes and Noble (though they wanted someone for the cafe, and I wanted to be around books and work the floor), a cupcake shop (that could’ve been dangerous) and a local juice/smoothie shop. Both Eaman and I had that instant feeling of knowing that the last one — at the smoothie shop — would be the job I’d get. And as it turned out, our hunch was right! I started training this past week and will be working part-time so I still have time to 1.) blog, 2.) get back in shape,  3.) get back into cooking and 4.) enjoy Hawaii. So far it’s a blast — working with fruit, learning recipes — but don’t kid yourself, it’s actually more work than you’d think. I’ll tell you about my adventures in juice-making as my time in Honolulu goes on.

Speaking of, I have work tomorrow, so time for bed. So that’s all for now…mahalo!