Muddy Ka'ena Point

Me and Ryan decided to go muddy mountain biking at Ka'ena after the big storm!  However, it was a little bit too muddy!  Haha our wheels were so clogged, and mines even stopped rotating!  I think we must've de-mudded our wheels like seven times or more.  We only barely made it 1/8th of a mile in!  Haha!  It was still fun and we got to eat delicious pho at Cuu Long after!  :)

If that truck looks stuck, it's because it was!

That is what we biked through! I walked most of the way!

Muddy buddies!

Ryan's big feet!

Lunar Elcipse

There were so many clouds that I wasn't able to see the total lunar eclipse outside. Luckily there was a live web feed!  The moon was red!

Wet Winter

Rain, rain, and more rain!  That's the forecast for today and tomorrow! Red means LOTS of rain!

The river behind my house is getting big!!!  Might have to buss out my surfboard, wetsuit, and booties soon!  Haha

There's even some nice waterfalls in the mountains!

Star Struck

Me and my friend went surfing today!  I feel like I haven't surfed in ages!  I definately had the wrong board...shoulda had my short board!!!
The waves were gooood!  

While I was parking the car, my friend totally spotted this guy like super far away, she said "Thats the Caan guy!"  She couldn't remember his name, and I had no idea what his real name was.  He's the guy from Hawaii Five-0, Scott Caan!  I wasn't gonna go over to say hi, plus I didn't really think it was actually him, but my friend made me do it!  I'm glad though because it was the first TV star I ever met (afterwards I learned that he's actually this really famous guy that's been in a lot of movies, like Ocean's Eleven!).  If I look tall, it's because he's short!  SHORT! I'm only five feet!  And he's SUPER DEDUPER HAIRY, like gross hairy! 

This is me not wanting to touch his hairyness (my friend said his back was super hairy too when she posed for her picture!). And Scott Caan (Dano) looking, well hung over or something, he looked shaggy and tired I guess, and nothing like Dano, well except for his face.

At least I leaned in a little for the picture! I'd rather meet that Australian guy, the other cop guy, what's his name?! Or the skinny Korean girl, the one that plays Kono!  Sorry Dano! :)

Girls day out in the water!

Sunset session!

Christmas in Hawaii

is almost here!  Only one more week left to shop for gifts!  Luckily, I've done all my shopping!  This year I opted for food gifts rather than trying to figure out what to get people!  Yummy chocolate-dipped marshmellows, rolled in graham cracker crumbs!!!  Mmmmm!  

Someone loves Christmas trees, and can't get enough of them!  I think he gets high off of watching the lights...

Did You Know...

...that sand dollars can be found in Hawaii?  I had no idea!  But I found one the other day!  The correct term is Miniature Heart Urchin, and it only gets up to 3/8 of an inch!  Yes it's tiny!!!  It was actually kind of floating, and that's how I saw it!  (by the way, it's dead, it's rare to find them alive!)

Reef Watch Waikiki MLCD Monitoring Blog

Did I ever mention the Reef Watch Waikiki site?  Bookmark it!  :)  Everything that has to do with marine life is on there!

Even though there has been some wave action on the south shore today (yay for late south swells!) I was still able to get some decent underwater shots!  :)  The only one that has still eluded my camera is the Brighteye Damsel fish, which I hope to get a picture of by the end of the year!  If only I had a better camera....nah my Canon point and shoot is awesome (and so is PhotoShop)!

This is a juvenile Yellowtail Coris, a wrasse.  The adult looks drastically different!

The endemic Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby.

Juvenile Saddle Wrasse, the most common in species in Waikiki.

Mariner's Ridge Hike

I went on an easy hike with some girl friends!  It was the first sunny day after the storm we just had, so it was muddy!!!  Thanks to HYCC, I was prepared for dirty hiking!

This butterfly was a great photo subject!

Panorama shot from the top of Mariner's Ridge

Underwater Photography

So, I've been trying to get profile shots of fishes, and it's really really tough!  The fish don't stay sill, the water is moving, and I can't hold my breath forever! I was able to get one nice shot yesterday while doing a benthic survey!

This is a Bluelined Surgeonfish:

Sick at home during a Swell

I like to think that I rarely get sick. And today happens to be one of those days that I had to stay at home because of some type of sinus cold.  Nothing too major, but I hate that there's a swell today and I can't go!  Booooo!!!!  Me and Ryan planned a surf date for this morning too!  :(  Well, I'm super bummed I didn't get to go but I'm stoked for Ryan because he told me he got BARRELED today!!!!  Way to go Ryan!!!!  <3

Anyways, some advice for those of you who plan to jump in the water anytime until summer time, wear a WETSUIT because the water is ice cold!  I'm going to blame myself for staying in the water too long yesterday at work and getting sick!  At least I was able to get two good photos!  I was trying to get profile pictures of fishes - not the easiest thing in the world to do!  It was fun anyway!  Next time I won't wait to return to shore when I'm shivering!

The water quality wasn't exactly great for photography...

My photo of the day!!!  The smiling Saddle wrasse!

And a cute baby Hawaiian Sergeant

Christmas is Just Around the Corner!!!

Let me just tell you that Photoshop is awesome!!!!  There's so many things that I still don't know about Photoshop!!!  Ryan was our wonderful photographer and helpful photo editor!!!!  And our studio was our living room, but cannot tell yeah?  Out of the four photos we had, I was able to swap faces, both human and animal, to have everyone smiling and looking at the camera!  Ryan also had this great idea to darken the carpet!  It made the photo look so much better!!! THANKS RYAN! YOU'RE A GENIUS!

Now the hard part is getting them printed and sent out!

It's Been a Little Windy Lately

Me and Ryan decided brave the hurricane and go surfing yesterday.  Well, not hurricane, but the wind was pretty strong.  Ryan had this awesome idea to wear a snorkel mask so that when you're paddling, you don't get water blown into your face.  I thought it was an awesome idea!!!!  Everyone probably thought I was kooky though, but they all secretly wished they were just as smart!  Haha!

This guy was sitting right next to me!  I caught a picture of him right when he got up and flew away!

Good thing I had my camera to capture the beautiful sunset!

Oneil Cat

I went to see the world premere of Innersection the other night.  It's a surfing movie made up of lots of surfers, professional and no-namers, that are competing to win $100,000!  Rob Machado was there, and so was John John Florence, Nat Young, Pat Gudauskas, and Mikala and Daniel Jones.  Matt Meola of Maui was the guy that won the money!  Anyways, I didn't have my camera...And me and Ryan got free hats and free t-shirts!!! 

Our free hat, modeled by our surfing cat, Tuey!  :)



Alive and Well in the MLCD

Today's weather conditions were perfect for a snorkel and a fish survey!  No waves, no wind, plenty of sun!  I went to the Marine Life Conservation District in Waikiki, because it's a no take zone, which means lots and lots of fish!!!!  The survey was very successful!  I identified at least 40 species of fish, not counting the ones I couldn't identify (like all the parrot fishes!).  Check out my photos!  :)  I saw only one Lagoon Trigger, which is really really rare, but I wasn't able to get a picture!

Saw 3 Moorish Idols

Orangespine Unicorns

Saw two Pearl Wrasses!

Many many weke, Yellowfin Goats!

Black Durgon, a triggerfish!

Rare Nenue, Hawaiian Chub, and some other chubs!

Saw only one Mu, Bigeye Emperper

Saw only one Paku'iku'i, Achilles Tang

Saw two Fourspot Butterflies!

Barred Filefish



Project 118

I'm gonna turn this old board into a new shape! I'm calling it Project 118.

Hopefully I can construct this board without too much of Ryan's help, but with lots of Ryan's supervision!  :)

Rock Piles was fun this morning! Clean, glassy, and building!



Thats some HOT sauce!

At BC Burrito:

Can you handle?  I cannot, Ryan can!

Fish Survey

Pics from my first REEF fish survey! 

 It was conducted in the Marine Life Conservation District in Waikiki, which is often confused with the Fisheries Management Area.  Most locals don't know, but the MLCD is a no take zone, which means you cannot take any fish, coral, rocks, or shells from the area at any time; it's a protected zone.  This is why the reef is healthier and there are more fish.

However, Diamond Head of the MLCD is the Fisheries Management Area , where it is open to the public to fish during every even-numbered year.  So in 2011, it will be closed for the entire year.

The water clarity wasn't great though....so the pics are very bad...

This is a cool pic cause there's 5 different species: a juvenile Christmas Wrasse, 3 Bluespine Unicornfish, 2 Orangespine Unicornfish, 2 Manini (Convict Tang), and a female Bird Wrasse!

The Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (Reef Triggerfish)

'Ulua (Bluefin Trevally)

Juvenile Hawaiian Sergeant

Female Whitespotted Boxfish

Very long Teated sea cucumber