Maui II

photography by The Hubby
- except for the one blurry picture of hubby plunging into the water :p

Sunrise at Haleakala Crater

We woke up at 3am to drive 9000ft up the crater for this awesome view. OOooh! it was c-c-c-COldd as we waited, but ah! what a sight when the crack of dawn came! Commanding, yet gentle; awe-inspiring, yet humble. It was one of those moments you stood motionless and reflected on your life, start confessing your sins and wished you had given that candy bar back to the baby.

We took a short hike down the Sliding Sands trail at the crater after the sunrise. A gently-sloping easy path, but boy at 9000ft, was I out of breath!

Next was our adventure into the Hana Highway! Driving this highway is the ultimate tribute to the saying 'It is not the destination, but the journey that matters' - 52 miles of narrow, winding roads that lead into a subdued little town that didn't have a restaurant nor grocery store open past 7.30pm. We barely squeezed into the last store that was closing for the day when we got there.

On the way, however, is breath-taking scenery that errr...takes your breath away. Seriously, standing at the edge of the cliff, looking out into the far horizon, listening to sounds of the crashing waves, with the spray of ocean mist on your face, you feel there is no other place on earth you'd rather be.

One of the many many waterfalls along Hana Highway

We also stopped at a few turnouts and hiked/thrashed our way into the more obscure waterfalls/hideouts.

Venus Pool, looking out into the ocean

Our guidebook also rated it the Best Place to Ponder and Write a Great American Novel:

We decide it's worth more fun than that! :D Wheeeee!!!

Nirvana Baby! Wheeee!!!

Blue Pools - we had to ignore several keep-out warnings on the trail, and hike our way across boulders to find this gem. This place was absolutely surreal - the ocean washes up the boulders just 20 feet behind me.

Blue Pools

It was a little piece of paradise on earth. We stayed for the sunset, and I have no words enough for its beauty.


More photos here:
Topside http://scottpenny.smugmug.com/gallery/3595746#204451673
Underwater http://scottpenny.smugmug.com/gallery/3586596#203771869

ALOHAAAAAA!!! :D

WE'RE IN MAUI!!! ooohhh it's BEAUTIFUL!

It's so green and lush everywhere! and the ocean is really really blue and sparkly! Flowers of all colours blooming everywhere, cotton-white clouds in the sunny blue skies, and little coves all along the coast to snorkel in, waves crashing on fine sandy beaches and craggy lava rocks, underwater caves to explore where white-tipped reef sharks rest and green turtles lay sleeping, 100 ft clarity in the water, schools of fish, fish of all colours and patterns - spiked, streaked, striped, banded, painted, spotted, camouflaged..

Oooh! Hawaii is just such a happy place! :D

View from the lanai, Wailea where we're staying with friends

Thy Loving Presence

Scott and I have 3 wedding dates: our court date, our wedding day in Singapore and our wedding day in Buffalo. The more joy to celebrate.

People often ask me which date is the real one. What can I say? We made vows at all three weddings, and they were all real.

The least spoken about I guess would be our union in court: simply as it was as private an affair as it could've been, with no one else but us and the judge. With just us and the judge, I tuned in to the quiet celebration, to the dignity, to the great blessing of this moment in our lives.

***

We made a court date for this date 2006 at the Beverly Hills Municipal Court. Why September 14? We don't know. We simply picked a date. Scott proposed 2 weeks before and it seemed an appropriate interval....whatever that means.

Anyway.

12 noon was our appointment.

11.00am we threw on something nice from our wardrobes and sped off to 90210. We cleared security at the entrance, and got directions to our Judge's courtroom.

Judge Richard Stone. Judge Stone. Pleasant-est guy around, he was cracking jokes with his clerical staff when we arrived. It's nice to know the judge will not be barking out our vows to us in an already very nerve-wrecking time.

He gave us a choice of location - the courtroom or the rooftop. We chose the rooftop, and so we went.

There, overlooking the Beverly Hills neighborhood, 'neath the clear blue Californian sky, Judge Stone stood before us and gave a sermon on the sanctity of marriage.

We didn't have rings then. We just held hands.

As Judge Stone spoke, tears welled up uncontrollably and the next moment, I was bawling my eyes out.


**

I used to think about loneliness, about the wrenching uncertainty of my future, how sad I might be all alone. I wondered if I will ever have someone to hold my hand, and share the laughter and dry my tears. I wondered if all I ever will have is watching others be happy.

As we stood there on the rooftop, I felt an immense sense of gratitude, reassurance and peace.



Lay back in the arms of someone
You give in to the charms of someone
Lay back in the arms of someone you love -ONJ

In Praise of the Seas - The Allure of the Deep Blue

Some of Scott's best photography yet. I thought these were so hauntingly beautiful:












Beyond the ken of mortal men, beneath the wind and waves,
There lies a land of shells and sand, of chasms, crags and caves,
Where coral castles climb and soar, where swaying seaweeds grow,
And all around without a sound the ocean currents flow...
- Graeme Base

The Man with Nine Knuckles

Our friend, Alex, from NY swung by for a visit last week on his way to Burning Man in Nevada.

This is the wedding gift he brought for us, a sort of symbolism for fertility



It is a water jug of sorts - you fill the water into the handle-end of the pot, and it streams out from the penis-end.

but this is what happened on its journey here to us.


Oops.


Alex had also packed something else similar, instead with a huge head that symbolized wisdom - no prizes for guessing where that got bonked and cracked open (which I surmise was what he intended for his roommate in the following story).

Alex: " Oh well"



And as the story goes: His hand, btw, was broken when he had fUU-Riiously bAshed his dickhead of a roommate repeatedly on the skull for being, well, a major dickhead. Alex's knuckle got smashed irreparably. His roommate, uhh let's call him Dick, was in such shock that he supposedly ran naked into the streets of NY, albeit in the middle of the night. Still Dick's skull of steel was intact and he suffered no more than a slight headache and a bruised ego, and got away easy for some mega dumb-ass prank he did.

Alex, on the other(or this) hand, may make his appearance at Burning Man as a Russian hero with nine wives (according to a famed Russian tale and thus the beard), but he has a tale of his own to show for. Ironical, but pretty funny I think :p


The first time I met Alex, he had a broken shoulder from skiing, and the last we heard from him, he had been held hostage and in prison for a number of days in Iraq (true story) where he had gone sightseeing - don't ask me why.

In between, though, we are always relieved to hear of him engaging in saner activities like the Argentinian Tango and cross-dressing in public.





It's always good to see you Alex :)

It's An Ocean In Here Sweetie!

California waters is co-old. I have dived in 52F/11C waters in my wetsuit all 12mm of it in three layers, but I am for the wiser.

And fortunately, hubs loves me enough to keep me warm on my dives. This is what he got me for my birthday -

Ta-Daaaaaahhh!!! My new DUI TLS350 drysuit! I will never freeze my butt off looking for slugs underwater again! :D


***

Before donning my new drysuit in the ocean, I gave it a go in our pool. Here's the episode in pics and videos:


Burping my suit




















Got my BCD on me



























Checking my valves



























Putting on my fins




























And ready to go..




huhhhh..I'm as floaty as a life-saver.. won't. go. down. unngh!


Try again -





I drop like a stone!


What happened?

Evaluation:






hahaha, so sotong, forgot to deflate my BCD the first time :p

So what's the conclusion?





Success! And all ready for the ocean! More underwater adventures coming up! Yaaayyy!!