Travels
Puerto Rico
2015
My husband and I took a getaway to the amazing Island of Puerto Rico. When I say AMAZING, I mean wow… where do I even start! We stayed in a cute, old fashion hotel right on the beach with gorgeous views and the weather was perfect. We enjoyed the people as much as the beach and the view. The Puerto Rican people were very humble and friendly, everywhere reminded me of the people back home In Hawaii. We didn’t really have a plan where we were going for the first day, just to walk around and sight see. We began our journey in Old San Juan, we walked the cobblestone roads, shopped, ate great food, and drank some strong coffee. At one point, I was wondering why people were staring at us… like really staring!! My husband was wearing a shirt with big letters “MEXICO” on it, he tends to do this in every country we visit. This is probably why people always talk to us… which works in our favor. We chatted with a local who instructed us on how to catch the ferry to these remarkable islands, Vieques and Culebra. He told us that we must get there early to get in line and the ferry will run every two hours and don’t get stuck on the islands because the last ferry leaves at 8pm. The ferry ticket was a great price, it was only 2.50$, and the ride takes about 30 min. We caught a taxi and got in line and he was not playing when he told us it would be packed. We hopped on the ferry and everyone was calm and collected. They all had coolers, towels, umbrellas, food, etc… so I was assuming there was going to be no stores… I was right. When we got off the ferry I was a bit overwhelmed, people were yelling for us to rent this and that… and go here and go there. To be honest, I think that you or the person you are travelling with, should speak Spanish if you are visiting a country where Spanish is the the spoken language. If you don't speak the country's language, there is a chance that you could be scammed, confused or taken advantage of (in my opinion). Somehow, we ended up cruising on a moped, with a map in one hand and helmets in another. We had absolutely no idea where we were going. We decided to head to the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen… I know what you’re thinking “You are from Hawaii?”, yes but this beach was, wow!!!! Playa Esperanza was the beach we stopped at first. Warm, clear water but the seashells were too easy not to collect. The sand was so clean and soft. We stayed for a few hours and headed back on the Harley. We were hungry, so we drove around looking for food. We ended up at a house…. A Puerto Rican lady turned her casa into a restaurant to feed the tourist… pretty smart if you ask me. The food we ate was delish and we back were on our way. We stopped at a few other places to sight see and then we headed back to the ferry. I was super paranoid about missing the darn thing. Now, the ferry ride back to the main island was a different scene from the morning. Everyone was drunk, it was loud, funny and reeking of alcohol, we were amused! The following day we visited the lush rainforests, historic sites, and the highlight for Ed, was the Bacardi Factory. We had a good time there. We partied at La Placita and danced the night away in salsa bars. Ed even made some new friends. Overall, this was one of my favorite places to travel, maybe because I met Erica Mena from the show, "Love and Hip Hop" in a random castle or maybe because the culture and the people in Puerto Rico are so enriched with love and Laughter “Mi Familia es tu Familia”
Mexico
2016
Mexico City! A dream come true for me. The flight was a skip, hop and jump(2 hour) flight. The ticket was roundtrip 350.00$, not bad at all. The airport was very crowded and I was a bit scared to be honest, maybe because they dumped all of our clothes out and rummaged threw it as if I was hiding illegal crap. We stayed in customs for about a hour, hopping in line after line. I was very annoyed and hungry by then. We finally arrived at our ARBNB and it was very nice but, we were so tired, we slept. The following day, we explored the historic city, just be prepared to pay to use the restroom and tissue paper as well. Mexico City is very historic so, we visited many museums, parks, lakes and my favorite, The Frida Khalo Museum, which was her home with Diego. I am obsessed with her and her incredible art! We also took an hour long bus drive to Teotihuacan, the Sun and Moon Pyramids built by the Aztecs. Mexico City is very diverse, I even saw a Japanese guy speaking perfect Spanish in their "China" town! The food was also amazing, we ate at a nice restaurant called CAFE de TACUBA, that I recommend going to if you are ever in the city. The eatery was beautiful, from the ceilings to the tiles on the floor, not to mention, the opera singer catches you by surprise. The Basilica de Guadalupe is a very important religious site that people from all over the world come for a pilgrimage, we visited to pay our respects and educate our kids. Another place we visited is Chapultepec, which is a canal that has been there for thousands of years. We took a boat ride and other boats sail next to you selling food, souvenirs and some even play mariachi for you, this was quite interesting. I am also a fan of lucha libre, if you don't know what that is, it's wrestling but with fancy looking mask and costumes! The Luchadores are amazing and it was very entertaining! Our taxi driver from earlier that day was a wrestler in the show that night... yes how weird? The matches are held on Tuesdays, Friday, and Sunday nights. You MUST be careful when headed to the arena, everyone advises you not to go alone and take a local with you, especially if you don't speak Spanish. Petty crime occurs frequently in that area. We visited a Orphanage while in Mexico City.
It was previously planned before we arrived to Mexico City.This is where Casa Cuna Orphanage made a imprint on my life even till now. We brought school supplies and clothes to the once was church turned into a safe place for abandoned children. The Orphanage is well ran by nuns and volunteers. After our tour and and talking with the director, I left crying and broken hearted in the taxi... and this is where the taxi driver- Lucha Libre part comes in. I guess he was trying to make me feel better and told me that he was a wrestler. The next day we met up with Ed's family to have our last dinner in Mexico City. We ate at a gorgeous spot and we had a balcony with a view looking out to the whole city. In the street, a protest was happening and were very consumed with watching until, my daughter whispers in my ear that she needed to throw up! We booked it to the far, very far bathroom and she threw up salad. I was a bit confused being she had just eaten the salad 20 minutes prior. When we returned to the table my 11 year old is pale as a piece of provolone cheese! She too is sick to her stomach. We head back to the Airbnb and they both started to throw up, like projectile throwing up. They were also crying... I was scared outta my mind. I knew that they had food poisoning. Ed went to the store down stairs and asked if they had anything for the girls, he came back with "pedialita". By then my girls were screaming and crying saying their stomachs were cramping. Long story short, our flight was at 8am and we needed to be at the airport by 6am. No one slept and as we were going threw customs, Ed mentions to us, "DO NOT SHOW YOU ARE SICK" "WE WON'T BE ABLE TO GET BACK INTO THE U.S.". My poor babies, pale and sick, sucked it up and kept it moving. If you are wondering what made them sick, it was the salad. After that trip we always travel with activated charcoal, which can be used for stomach aches or if you ate something bad. The girls say they would not want to go back to Mexico City because of that experience. Ed and I did end up going back alone years laters. Maybe they will change their minds when they get older. Shit happens... over all what we took home from that trip was worth it. The culture is so rich, the people are so hardworking, the experiences unforgotten, and the time we spend learning together is
irreplaceable.
Vivir nuestras vidas juntos ~LIVE OUR LIVES TOGETHER
Costa Rica
2018
We arrived to Costa Rica with kids in tote, pretty exhausted but still excited. It was a really long flight, 8 hours total, we even had stopped in Florida for a layover. The airport was very laidback and it was easy to retrieve our bags. We took a long taxi ride, which was already set up before we got there. The ride to Jaco, took two hours give and take. We stopped to see crocodiles and got some snacks. Our Airbnb was nice, nothing fancy, we had a pool and beach in our back yard. No plans on the first day, just our usual exploring. We found a little store around the corner for little things we might need and of course the people we’re amazing. The school that we planned to visit and bring school supplies to was just down the street as well. We ate a delicioso meal and when we got back to the condo, Isabel was swollen like a puffer fish. We had discovered she is allergic to sea food. We gave her Benadryl and called it a night, for the next day would be busy and full of excursions. We took a cab to the car rental the next day and we realized there was no street signs anywhere just landmarks. That was a bit frustrating, but we found our way to the school. This was where I was in complete awe, the children were very happy. There were no plastic toys, fancy desk, pricy school supplies, or air conditioning. That experience was very humbling to the entire family. I gave the amazing teacher the supplies and chatted with her as she gave us a tour of the preschool. I made plans with her to return the next day to read to the kids. For those reading this and want to donate to a local school in Jaco, you must make arrangements prior to going there, they do not accept random visitors. It’s always good to find out what the school is lacking and what they might want you to donate. Our Costa Rica trip was 8 days of fun filled, packed to rim experiences... ziplining in rainforest, Starbucks coffee fields and factory visit, beaches and hikes, and shopping. One of my bucket list adventures was to ride horses on the beach up to a mountain. That was a dream come true. The food was good in Costa Rica, a lot of seafood. Fresh seafood!!! The people were very nice and helpful. There were a lot of Americans and Europeans living there and many American owned businesses. We did look at property there and it was fairly cheap. What we didn’t like was it was a bit pricy for souvenirs and groceries. We had a grocery store down the street that was similar to Walmart it was called “Maximos”, it was the closet thing to a American grocery store. The kids loved the surfing competitions and the lush agriculture. I enjoyed the coffee and the laid back atmosphere. I loved the yoga class I took in a treehouse over looking the rainforest. Ed enjoyed it all and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, as well. We always travel to these countries with no expectations and with a open mind. We never stay at pricey hotels or even eat at pricey eateries. We always make sure we want to dive in to emerge ourselves into the local culture and what better way to do this than to actually be around the locals... not on a resort or in a fancy hotel. We want to teach our kids gratitude and we should be grateful for what we have at home. We don’t know how good you have it unless you see what others don’t have.
The saying in Costa Rica is Pura Vida ~ Pure Life.
Cuba
2019
This trip took a lot of planning and a lot of research and it still was not enough upon on arrival. I have always wanted to go to Cuba. I love the singer, Celia Cruz! I love the documentaries I've watched about Cuba and I was interested to find out what this country was all about. I advise you to do your homework if traveling to Cuba is on your bucket list. You must obtain a tourist passport, have medical coverage, a return ticket a US passport. Foreign nationals must carry a tourist card or visa. All passports must be valid for 30 days. IT IS VERY STRICT! Cuba is a communist country if you didn't know, so of course I wanted to explore this amazing place! From the 15th century, it was a colony of Spain until the Spanish American War of 1898, when Cuba was occupied by the United States and gained nominal independence as a de facto United States protectorate in 1902. Since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist party of Cuba. Ok enough about history... The flight was easy, we had a layover in Boston for a few hours. Upon arrival, my son looked out the window (he was 23 at the time) he yells over to me, "Mom there is no one else here!" The rest of the kids looked scared too. I was still not alarmed UNTIL we got thru the gates to exit the terminal. There was so many people yelling and carrying large appliances on carts and boxes, like big really big boxes! We all stuck together holding each others back packs or arms linked. A security guard even asked Ed for his Dodgers hat and we all looked like tourist of course. Ed replied with,"Ok, when I leave Cuba...” Thank goodness he was not wearing his Mexico shirt this time! We made it through the crowd and found a taxi. As we sat down all freaked out, I looked at my kids faces and they were scared. I whispered to Ed "WTF did we get ourselves into?" He replied "We are already here.. go with it.” We chose to stay in a Airbnb that was across a farmers market in a small town outside Havana. The owner is Italian married to a Cuban (super dope people). Ed made arrangements months prior with him making sure we would be in good hands. Nice apartment, air condition, hot water, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The balcony over looked the farmers market and busy neighborhood street. We decided to explore! We started our little walk up the hill. We heard some music and smelt food. When we got to this fair sorta thing, we saw little Cuban girls all dressed up ready to perform. We got some chicken and rice from a vendor and sat. All of a sudden we heard a loud boom! It was thunder it started to rain and then fricken lightning hit! We ran back frantic like the tourist we are. When we got back I noticed Amaiya ran to the room, I heard her crying.I asked her what happened? She said "What am I supposed to eat?" because she was vegan. I told her it would be ok don't worry, but actually I was worried. Her siblings didn't feed her any remorse. They teased and laughed at her, which is pretty normal. The next morning we headed out to look for food and there wasn’t much. We found a tiny grocery store that had hardly anything and they would only let Ed in. We were even more freaked out by now. We walked further and found a Cuban sandwich shop and ate there and talked about the food situation with the kids. I told them we had snacks and some random stuff that we were going to give to the school kids and we can eat that, if necessary. We thought we did our research but apparently we were wrong. We also needed to find a calling card to call home to the US and to use the WIFI. We had no luck finding a card because people buy them and sell the cards on the street. We got lucky and the owner of the Airbnb got us a few. We planned on taking a trip to
the Vinales tobacco farm, which was a two hour ride. This was so worth it. This was one of the highlights of our trip. Ed and I love a good cigar. We learned how tobacco was dried and all about the family history of that particular farm. We then had a brief lesson on how to roll a cigar. Ed and I shared a cigaro over looking the tobacco farm and that was nostalgia at its finest! We purchased a box of 50 to take home and we were on our way. Oh! forgot to mention that I caught my 23 year old giving my 13 year old a puff of that cigar! We paid visits to Fusterlandia, Santa Maria Beach, Old Havana, Malecon, numerous farmers markets (Where much bartering was done). We rode in 1950's classic cars most the time and that was cool. We brought baseballs and soccer balls for the kids of Havana and hygiene items to give out to the locals that we gave out daily. We were very lucky to have visited a school while in Cuba. We were only allowed the visit because of our Airbnb owner. This is when we almost got in big trouble. The Cubans DO NOT like Americans visiting their schools. We got a tour and donated the items. I will never complain or not appreciate my own classroom EVER. This was one of the most humbling moments in my life. My children looked like they were ready to cry. I had a person with me that spoke Spanish and this is the only way we talked our way of being in trouble for this visit. Cuba is a very strict country. The people are humble, beautiful and very cultured. Towards the end of our trip we had figured how to survive. People had small family eatery's in their homes and the food was amazing. Coffee shops had a few items to eat and the last 2 days a American couple heard my English loudly yelling at a kid and yelled "Are you Americans?" he said "Hey man I know where you can eat! I bet you all are hungry?" He gave us the 411 on this restaurant. WOW!!! WE ATE!!! The people were so kind. Ed had one baseball left that he gave a waiter and the dude almost cried. Hamlet was his name. We exchanged info so we could be pen pals. Our Airbnb guy made our breakfast in the mornings 5$ a person and that's how we ate in the mornings. We didn't eat lunch unless we took the left over breakfast with us in our backpacks. We used recycled ziplocs for that. We played so many card games and people watched from our balcony. If one of us snuck a piece of old candy from their bags, believe me we smelt it and fought for it! If you want the real experience of Cuba, this is whats up:) We would totally go back to Cuba. I enjoyed dancing salsa on the side walk with little old Cuban men. I enjoyed chatting with locals with my American Spanish. I totally get why some Cubans don't want to leave their country, but I can also see why some do. Cuba Libre ! Azuca! Azuca!
Boston
Oh Boston, Home of the Red Socks and the Connah Market. What a trip! This was a girls trip. I do these either 48 hour thingies or 3 days tops. I went in April, not thinking it would be cold.. WRONG! We got off the plane and we were freezing! We met up with my role dogs M and C and headed to our mini hotel. We headed out to the streets after a quick hygiene call up in the lobby bathroom because our rooms were not ready, left our luggage and was on the move. Like I said these trips are usually 48 hours so we move fast on these trips with no time wasted. We call these trips YOLO trips. We walked and did all the site seeing there was too see without having a car. We visited the Connah Store, little Italy, pastry shops, museums, and a few other places. We decided to head to The Fenway Park because I just needed to see it. My girls didn't wanna watch a game.. I mean they aren't baseball fans so I am not forceful:) BUT what did happen was CRAZY! We ended up in a bar at Fenway and had a few, maybe a little too many drinks... as we stepped out, I think we forgot where we were? We ended up in a blocked off area and saw a bunch of cars pulling in and people waiting in line. A tad bit confused and a lil tipsy we started laughing stating "Wouldn't that be some shit if we saw a baseball player??" and what do you know? A baseball player appeared out of his very expensive car. M yells "Senor...Como te llamas?" ( Sir! What is your name?") I lost my shit! I was laughing and the dude starts walking over to us. He reaches his hand out and says "Hi" We said "Ugh can we have you autograph?" he signs my friends bags and scarf? And he signed my baseball hat and we walk away laughing! What a bunch weirdos:) We hop in a cab and get some water, bread, prosciutto and wine. Which is the staple of every girls trip. That will last us 48 hours. Oh I forgot to mention we had to buy jackets and sweaters because we were literally freezing our asses off. We got ready and headed back out to bar hop, dance and eat dinner. We did just that. I ended my night with vivid memory of laughing, dancing and throwing up on a cold Boston street. BTW M pretended she was exotic and told some one her name was Moana. My friend C reminded her that her accent was too strong to play that character. The next Morning we popped up bright eyed and bushy tailed to go get our rental car. We headed to Harvard and to look for my Grandfathers old house. He was originally from Boston and I needed to go see his house for my very own eyes. My friends were real troopers, they put up with my crazy driving. Long story short the house was torn down. We headed to the famous bar, Cheers! We had some drinks, pretty cool place, very small actually. We had some dinner and got ready again for another night of shenanigans. We left mid afternoon the next day after shopping and eating. Boston was a pretty dope place lot of History... Boston Tea Party etc.. I would maybe go back again and of course with a coat. I tell ya this much, the accents of those Bostonians were to die for! "HOWAYAH?" "YA GET SOME OF THAT CHOWDAH?"
Hawaii
My Home! I moved to Las Vegas in 2003 and boy was I home sick. I spent the first 7 summers flying home alone with kids.. I was desperate. I missed my Ohana and my dad so much. My summers home were jam packed daily or even hourly with all the shit I missed. I had plans every hour on the hour with family and friends. I ate all the food I would miss eating all year long. The kids and I spent mostly every day at the beach even if it was an hour. There is so much to do in Hawaii if your a local. Tourist only know of the things that are on web sites or in Magazines. If you really want to know about Hawaii you should visit with a Islander or make a local friend. The culture in Hawaii is so diverse. We have so many nationalities and so many different cultures there, it's just one big melting pot. I am posting these past photos so you can see how much things you can actually experience in Hawaii. My trips home are non existent due to Covid, but I did book a trip for the summer. This will be on my Blog when I visit.
Aloha
Temecula
My trips to Temecula have always been fab! The first time I experienced Temecula was in 2015, with my best friends for a girl’s yolo trip. We had the times of our lives! I’ve been to Sonoma and Napa and I personally felt it was a little too uppity for me. I was expecting Temecula to be the same… I was wrong, this was a different experience. Temecula is laid back and there is so much to do. Our first stop was Wilson creek, we bought the tasting ticket and ended up using just 4 out of the 7, I think. How we did that is a secret. We got really tipsy and as I was dancing in the grass to some random reggae music with Hazel, an older fellah stopped me and said “Excuse me Mamm that is not allowed” I replied, “OH MY GOSH, I AM SO SORRY!” He says “Fun is not allowed” with a giggle he says “Hi, I am Mr. Wilson” I still did not make the connection. He said “This is my winery and you guys look like your having fun!” by then I was sober by surprise! He asked if we bought the tour, I said no we did not just the wine tasting. He also asked if we would like the tour, I called the rest of the Hyna’s over and we started the tour. As you can see, crazy gets you places.
We got the ultimate tour and we laughed and giggled the whole way around the winery. We got to see where the grapes would take the fermentation process, where the Vintner works, the barreling room, and more. Mr. Wilson was super down-to-earth and so kind to us. We ate some lunch there at the winery and had more wine and by then we were DRUNK! Not sloppy drunk, just happy drunk. We headed across the street to where we were staying for the night. Pointe Vineyard Inn was gorgeous!! It is a boutique hotel and a vineyard with wine tasting. We walked in and had more drinks, yes, we still didn’t have enough. After we checked in, we had a photoshoot that we had planned to already have, except we didn’t know we were going to be tipsy for the shoot (as you can see in the photos). I think Hazel married Martha and I and Claudia was our bridesmaid. The garden area was amazing and the view from our room Oh my gosh… French doors opened up to a vineyard! Just amazing… We got ready after exploring the rest of the winery (we sobered up) only to head out to downtown… to eat dinner and dance our little hearts out at a salsa bar. The next morning, we opened our French doors to the most amazing sight! A hot balloon festival was happening in the vineyard right in front of us. We sat, drank coffee, watched the balloons and Hazel went for a jog. Keep in mind these yolo trips are 48 to 72 hours so we move quickly, sleep is for the weak… We had lunch and stopped at a few more places and headed back to Vegas. Since 2015 I have visited Temecula every year except for 2020. I have been there with different friends and made different memories. Every trip has been fun and always a tipsy moment. I am a fan of Wilson Creek and I will always go back for another visit. I have not been there this year, 2021, but I will, and if you want to join me let me know. WARNING SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK ON A YOLO TRIP!
Hawaii, My Home
July 2021
Hawaii will always be my home. As soon as I get off the plane, I am emersed with this overwhelming anticipation. Our first stop is of course Zippy’s we dig into chili cheese fries, won tun min, vegan chili the famous chicken chili number. I then head over to my home in Ota Camp. You can read all about that in the Blog “Holomua”. We plan to meet my family at Haubush Beach, it is the beach where my dad’s ashes are scattered into the ocean. I am so excited to see my Ohana! Since the pandemic we have not seen each other so it has been a while. As usual we laugh, hug, tease and catch up! Till the sun goes down. The next day we check into our cabin at Kaneohe Marine Corp Base. We usually stay there when we visit Hawaii, it is Eddie’s lil treat. This is the base that Ed was stationed at while he served in the corp. It is a bit nostalgic for him. We love staying at the cabins we have our own private beach and its very NON TOURIST. OMG let me tell you about how crowded Hawaii was!!! I have never seen so many people on one beach before. It started to get to me when I witnessed the trash throwing and some of the tourist being disrespectful of the land, the animals and the culture. Hawaii is a very Cultured state and tourist need to keep that in mind when visiting. I have nothing against tourism, I get it the state needs the boost to help the economy BUT we also need to be mindful when visiting other states and countries. We stay in the local areas so we didn’t have too much congestion. We enjoyed local mom and pop eatery’s and local shops. We only went to local beaches and stores either on base or in my neighborhood. We attended a family get together and Eddie had his first taste of Opihi. He likes it I think😊 10 days seem so short when I am actually there with my family. I always say I wish I could live in the same state as the boys. Growing up with brothers was so fun! It still is a blast, when we get together all we do is giggle and joke. They are tough but KIND and with me they treat me like I am one of them. They expect me to carry boulders and urinate like them. I am so happy that I was blessed with all these amazing brothers
and half-sisters. I want to visit home again soon.