something hawaii-ish

just in case you might be thinking,
"is he really in hawaii?"

afterall, i could be making all this up, and i could be hiding out in
new jersey, or even a place like gehenna...
(two places i have no interest in going)

so this is a snapshot of the diamondhead place i see on the way to church.

(if you have not seen diamondhead, it's the thing that seems like a mountain range in the picture. it is actually more like a range of walls; and do you see the middle left side of the picture where it sticks out a little? the size of it is a lot more impressive in person...)

...i realize the above picture is not at all a proof that i'm in hawaii...
(i'll try to come up with something more convincing soon...)


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it's a regular garage band up in this hizzaous!!!

keanu's little sister in maryland sent him
a care package in liu of the above posted picture.


the guy that's playing the drumset is travis (not real name); travis is keanu's best friend from the md since like junior high.

he doesn't like live at our place, but he's like a 4th room mate.
he's a good guy... when keanu was cleaning the apt, travis cleaned the bathroom. it's totally spic and span now.

...but he's episcopalian, so he's not that great... :)


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ah, internet at home...

we had no internet at home for over a week,
due to some missed payments;

it was not the fault of max nor zeke;
the name on the internet bill is/was
under the person before those two.

the slack has been taken away somewhat,
and we have internet, which is sahweeeeeeet!

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baah-icycle, baah-icycle...

recommended by zeke,
i went to the nearest walmart to get a bike.

zeke tells me there's a significant chance of it getting stolen,
so i got the cheapest thing with gears on it.

also recommended by zeke:
i got a hefty cable and the kyrptonite u-lock,
so whoever that might steal it will have to work for it.


i'm been riding this bike for about a week,
and i can tell i'm getting in a better shape for it.

as i've mentioned before, i really wanted a moped;
but if i did get one,
i'm pretty sure i would have just gotten fat and out of shape.

attribute it to providence that i didn't get what i wanted;
praise God.


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moving in

i checked out of the hotel on tuesday,
and moved into the new place.

the apartment is on the 3rd floor,
and it's not exactly anything to write or boast,
but i'm quite thankful to God for His provision.

i have two roommates, max and keanu (not their actual names).


max works; he's a pretty big guy with a blonde mullet.

he is totally into playing the old-school roll-the-dice role-playing games; he and his fiance met at the university role playing game club; his fiance is going to teach in asahikawa, which is in hokkaido, japan for the jet program starting in the fall.

he was totally psyched when he found out i was born in hokkaido, fairly close to the area where his fiance is going in a couple of months. he is planning to move to japan in about 8 months.


keanu is a student at uh, and his major is mechanical engineering.

keanu is currently visiting his parents in the east coast, so it's just max, and the guy from oregon, zeke (not real name), who is staying at the apt until he flies back to oregon in a couple of days.


(description of zeke)
zeke totally looks like a typical surfer dude with his scruffy blonde hair; he's been the most helpful in settling into the area; totally a cool guy.

it was pretty funny when he busted out his japanese, "abunai!," which means, "watch out," and "chotto matte," which means "wait a sec," which he uses commonly at his work, that rents out surf boards to japanese tourists.


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first sunday: let's go thank God...

the place of worship i was recommended to attend was Kapahulu Bible Church, located here.

the senior pastor was on break for that day,
and the assistant pastor spoke on James.
he incorporated singing songs during his sermon;
his expression of worship in song was more animated than any i have seen in some time... i imagine king david worshipping with as much animation.


it turns out that around the corner from the church,
there is a jehovah's witness congregation.

i'm pretty positive the people i know from the jehovah's witness congregation in california are throwing up prayers for my well being; hence i took the opportunity to thank Jehovah God, and throw up prayers in their direction as well.

it's quite curious how Jehovah God (or Yahweh) works amongst our midst.

as the old hymnal goes,
"stayed up on Jehovah, hearts are fully blest,
finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest."


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saturday: finding a place...

since i was turned down by peter's place,
i needed to act further in finding a place to live.

i sent an email friday night for a place that's kind of far from campus,
and stands above some steep hills.

(what i was thinking...)
walking around and taking a bus in hawaii is completely inefficient.
if i could get a moped for about $500, that would solve all my problems.

the guy called me saturday morning about the place.
i told him i was looking to get a moped,
and that i will go see the place sometime in the afternoon.

the search in buying a moped goes completely awry; the day was hot and humid,
and nothing was going as it should, kind of like jonah, on his way to tarshish...
by then, i was pretty sure the place on the hill was not where i was to live.



i had a phone number for another listing that was located a lot closer to school;
if i were to live at that location, i would only need a bike.

the only hang up that i had about this particular listing was that the listed phone number had the area code of "541." i had no idea nor any interest at the time where "541" was.

throwing up a prayer, i called the number.
long story short, i end up at that location; praise God.
(it turns out, "541" is in the portland area)


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the last part of friday (3 of 3)

peter likes to talk math, i also enjoy talking math,
so talking math we did.

we got in the coffee shop about 6-ish,
and we settled on finishing for the day past 9pm.

our conversation hubbed out from math
to topics in philosophy and spirituality,
as well as to art, dealing with patterns,
and what not.

it was a pretty interesting conversation;
peter seemed enthused about the civil conversation considering the spectrum of ideas that were discussed.

i was thankful for the opportunity God granted me in being able to share what i can.
(if you feel so inclined, please throw up a prayer for peter along with me, thanks.)

btw, veronica decided to have the guy that arrived after me to be the occupant of the room. (i'm sure it's for the best... Rom.8:28)


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