The Komae + Lam crew all hit up the island of Oahu for a week vacay in paradise! This was honestly a dream come true for me...not only because I could spend an entire week with my family who I love and miss dearly, but also because Hawaii is one of my favorite places on the planet and holds a lot of special memories for me: aka Family vacay with my sister's basketball team, Yonsei high school graduation trip, and my sister-in-laws bachelorette when I was in college. To make matters even more perfect, Hawaii is conveniently placed almost equal distance between Japan and CA so meeting everyone there was a breeze! Thank you Lord!
I left Japan on a Thursday night red-eye and landed Thursday am Hawaii time. I waited 30min or so at the airport for my mom, dad, and sister's fam to get in and we all had a fun reunion by the baggage claim!
My little Eden "Ofie" Ophelia! When I moved to Japan, Eden was just a tiny baby so I've seen her grow up more via photos and social media than in person...so I was super stoked to spend plenty of quality time with her!
Our first stop after the airport was to get acai bowl and head to the house my dad rented. I loved being back with Stac + Ant and their girls!
ACAI + GOOD COFFEE...best way to start the day.
My dad found this awesome house right in Hawaii Kai that fit all of us (8 adults, 4 kids), had a pool, back patio that led to the water to go kayaking, washer/dryer, tv, full kitchen, and conveniently in the perfect location!! Props dad!
Not long after we got there...Russ + Jen and the boys arrived. They ran in the house and greeted me with a loud "BON BON!!!!" and my first thought was "Hunter is so big!!" Kids really grow so fast...and I couldn't believe how much he has leaned out and grown taller. Once we all hugged and I passed out the candy I brought them from Japan...we went straight in the pool.
Our first night in the house was chill...we all relaxed in the pool (but is it really relaxing when you have 4 kids under 5 to watch in the pool HAHA) Jen D and I hit up Costco (literally so close to our house), and Dad ordered us bomb pizza, spam musubi, and breadsticks for dinner. Pair that with POG (Passion Orange Guava) juice and I was in Hawaiian heaven!!
One of the best parts of this trip was that my auntie, uncle and cousins were also in Hawaii at the same time. If you know us, you know how close we all are as a family so being there with them was so much fun. On our first morning in Hawaii, my cousins had planned to hike up to the Lanikai Pillboxes so D and I told them we'd tag along. We woke up and left the house by 5:45 and started hiking at 6:15ish to make sure we got up to the summit before sunrise!
The trail up is a bit steep at first, but once you get to the top of the rolling hills it's all easy breazy from there! This hike is foreal so dope. Everyone who goes to Oahu has got to see this view!!
We got up so quick...maybe 15 minutes or so (thanks to D's fast pace) and caught the sunrise. It was so surreal standing up there...being in Hawaii with everyone I love so dearly, and standing there on my first morning in paradise looking at this glorious sea with the rising sun...WOWWWWWWW!!
UNREAL. BUT SO REAL.
Hikers note: When you go up to the pillboxes go to the 2nd or 3rd one...because the 1st one (picture above) is always jam packed and too crowded.
Love this pic of D.
and this one of Kris too!
After the hike...it was still only 7am HAHA so we had the whole day ahead of us which I will write about in my next post.
I am so thankful that everyone had the time and finances to make a trip like this happen...and on my end I am just grateful that I was able to take the time off work! Shout out to my vice principals for letting me go haha!
I LOVE MY FAM. HAWAII IS BEAUTIFUL. GOD IS GOOD.
more soon...