Ooohhh...fancy

Why? Oh, because I have the new iPhone 4 and I got an app that allows me to update...from my photo. Ah? Ah??? Pretty cool huh?...

Yep...anyway, bad news is...I don't think it let's me upload pics...ah...nevermind...I found the upload option....guess who I miss??? A lot.. :(

I super miss this face...

Sent from my iPhone

Meet the cousins..and everyone else

  I'm a failure as an iPaparazzi and I oughta be ashamed of myself...I had so many pictures to take and didn't take very many at all. Before Brent left for Shanghai, I took the day off to spend some time with him. We ended up running a lot of errands because it was literally the day before he left but it was nice to go for a drive and spend time with him...and it definitely beat having to go to work. We started our day early and went to breakfast at Cream Pot. I wrote about it once, but if you recall, I was very sick at that time so I didn't really write about the food. We ended up ordering the same Egg and bacon bake with baguette (it's very Japanified French food). I got it as a set so mine came with a crepe and iced tea as well.  After that, we literally had to drive everywhere for last minute items and trip details, like his haircut, bank deposits, internationalizing his cellphone, cold weather clothes...there was quite a bit on our to-do list. We also went to dinner with his family at a pho shop called Little Saigon. It was delicious because I had been sort of boycotting pho for a while...nothing against it, but I had been conscientiously trying to eat something outside of pho on the Vietnamese menu.

From left: Josh (Sharla's husband), Jase (Aunty Arlene's bf), John, James, Tim (behind Michael) and Michael.

  But failing to take pictures of all our stops while we ran errands was not my real reason for calling myself a shamed i-razzi. It's actually because today, I met everyone. And by everyone in quite literally mean everyone in Brent's family and friends circle...mainly on his father's side...and failed! to get pictures of everyone. But see, my excuse is that I didn't think it was very appropriate for me to do so. Brent's grandfather passed on so I attended the service without Brent. The family was at peace with the passing and did not want to see it as an occassion to mourn their loss so almost everyone was smiling and at ease at the service. I saw it as a good opportunity to meet Brent's cousins, who I've heard a lot about. Brent was very sad that he wasn't there today because believe it or not, it had been the first time in years that the majority of his family and cousins had gathered...and he had missed them by a few days. Brent's father comes from a family of four--with three older sisters, Uncle Bryon was the youngest and only son. His eldest sister, Aunty Joanne, has four sons: Michael, John, James and Timothy (in that order). Michael and Tim are recently married and Tim had recently been blessed with a beautiful baby girl. I got to meet the wives, with whom I got along well with when we all started talking about manicures and pedicures and I also got to talk to each of the boys. I had been told that Brent and his cousin, John were the most similar in personalities and I could immediately see why--they're both comedians and rascals! I also got to see Brent's other cousins--twins, Sharla and Shawnti, whom are both also married. I've met them several times before but it's always nice to catch up with them. I was being introduced to people left and right by Brent's mom. It was very flattering and a little embarrassing to constantly hear family and friends say, "oooh, ok. Yes, I heard that you were very pretty...it's nice to meet you." Did you hear that? They thought that I was pretty. It was definitely a great day for my ego but it was hard to keep myself from constantly blushing. Overall, it was nice to see that I had already been accepted by the family and to be introduced to Brent's distant relatives and family friends.

Brent looking at the menu at Cream Pot.

"This place is very Japanese"--Brent.

Our eggs and bacon bake....yum!

the crepe...with homemade whipped cream. Delicious!

super mini flowers in a super mini jar.

the entrance.

It's attracted quite a crowd by 9am.

The sign outside.

I spot the Sapphire Princess again and get called an absolute nerd by Brent..."it's one of the many reasons why I love you," he says...

Inside of Little Saigon

They had a pond...

Brent and his Extra Large bowl of pho...he finished all of it.

The sign outside.

Have I ever shown you...

...my ship collection? Oh you didn't know that I was that weird? Yes, I'm nerdy enough that I get excited about ships. But I don't collect just any old ship, they have to be cruise liners. This past week, I saw three of them--Carnival, Sapphire Princess and the Rotterdam--and took a picture to add to my collection. What? You thought for a second that I literally had a physical collection of miniature models of these bad boys, didn't you? Don't worry, I'm not that far gone. Close, but not that weird, thanks. Anyway, here's my collection...I don't remember all of their names so....yeah. Enjoy!

I think this is a NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line) ship...they do a week long island-hopping tour and visit the four main islands...I think.

Not quite sure if she qualifies as a ship...but she was big enough to add to my collection.

Comes from the Holland America Cruise fleet (plain white cylinder "chimney" gives her away)...Probably the Rotterdam. She frequents Hawaii often.

Same as above...the next day.

This was a floating island...I think this is the NCL Pride of America...I recognize the flag on the "chimney"...stop judging me!

This is a Carnival. You can tell by the red "tail"

You can't really see her, but she's called the Sapphire Princess. HUGE ship, but prettiest so far.

Rotterdam's back.

I thought she was the Rotterdam...

But then I read the side and she's called Volendam...looks like shes from the same Holland America fleet.

Close up.

Today I went to visit the tattoo shop with Seychelle to see how her bf, Kealoha's neck tattoo was going. As I looked around the room I noticed a few interesting things so I decided to shared these. This painting looks like an elderly couple's profile but if you look closely you can also see a young woman being serenaded by a young man.

As I looked to the other side of the room, I noticed a glass jar sitting on the shelf. As I leaned in for a closer inspection I realized that there was an reptile in it. "Is that a snake?" I asked. Much to my horror and fascination, the tattoo artist replied that there's "three baby cobras in there...it's alcohol. Like the kind that you drink." He explained that it's a hard liquor from Vietnam and that yes, he's tried it before but that it's strong enough to do some major damage to your liver. A second tattoo artist, working on a customer nearby added that he's tried the liquor prematurely once. He had been in Vietnam and had gotten drank enough to say "hey, if the people here can do it then so can I." Unfortunately for him and everyone around him, he opened up a bottle that was only a week in to a process that normally takes about two years to complete. He said that the shot he took didn't make it past his tongue and he spit it out. "It tasted exactly how it looked and smelled--like dead, rotting snakes," he said. He also mentioned that the smell stayed for a week because it was just that potent. When I asked if it would always smell that way, he said no, the alcohol neutralizes the smell and it tasted like a very strong liquor. The pictured bottle contains three baby cobras and a several smaller snakes, one which is actually in the top cobra's mouth....*shiver*