to say that it was a lot of fun going through the items on the list is so inadequate to describe some of the experiences i had… now, over a year later, i’m at another standsill, somewhat. a lot has happened since my first list, and maybe it’s time to start another… (to be continued)

1. skydive
2. pose nude for an art class
3. eat at swan oyster depot in SF
4. a “pay it forward” project
5. read tolstoy’s “war and peace”
6. perfect my recipe for tom yum
7. take a dance class
8. get published in opium magazine
9. find a plant i can’t kill
10. get certified in CPR
11. watch the sunrise on haleakala
12. try bikram yoga
13. take a language class
14. do a full moon hike
15. dress up and go for martinis @ lewer’s lounge
16. pay for someone’s meal behind me in a drive through
17. ride the trolley for honolulu city lights
18. try stand up paddle boarding
19. try the pho at to chau restaurant in chinatown
20. write letters to my immediate family telling them why i love them
21. send the cutest guy in the bar a drink
22. make something in a ceramics class
23. volunteer w/ hospice or lanakila pacific (registered as a volunteer, just waiting for them to need me!)
24. take an art class
25. see a play at diamond head theater or go to the opera
26. get fresh bread at kanemitsu bakery on molokai (hoping to finish this one the last weekend of march)
27. buy myself something nice from tiffany’s
28. learn how to jar or can something (pasta sauce? jelly?)
29. learn how to pop a champagne cork
30. learn how to clean a fish

Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.

And so we jumped…

Flash back to July of last year when I was thinking of items to put on my 30 before 30 list… I wanted a blend of things that would be fun (taking a salsa class), meaningful (getting CPR certified), and a few that would really push me out of my comfort zone. Skydiving was one of those things.

I’m not afraid of heights or anything, but I’m not exactly what you’d call a “daredevil” by any stretch of the imagination either. I figured that skydiving was a way for me to really challenge myself to do something I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing before, and I made it #1 on my list. It was pretty much the item that terrified me the most.

As soon as I posted my list, a few of my friends mentioned that skydiving interested them as well. Encouraged by the thought of “strength in numbers,” I started looking into booking an actual reservation. One of the websites directed me to a YouTube page with video from past jumps. It made my stomach turn just to watch! I started to think maybe this wasn’t the best idea, since I couldn’t even stomach looking at pictures and video. How was I going to live through actually jumping?

Well somehow on a chilly March morning on the weekend before my 30th, I ended up heading down to Skydive Hawaii. On the long drive there, I kept repeating to myself, “there’s no turning back now. It will all be over in a couple of hours anyway. You can do this.” Over and over, I’d get chills just thinking about it. I pulled up to the parking lot and saw my friend Leah, who was also celebrating her 30th by jumping out of a plane. Leah had talked her cousin Harvey into coming along and he looked just as nervous as I felt. Leah, on the other hand was beaming. The three of us walked inside for the orientation.

Now, if you’ve never been skydiving before, it’s easy to imagine that many people would change their minds after watching the safety video and signing off on the 10+ page waiver, which repeated in about a million different ways “Skydiving is dangerous. Skydiving can result in death. I am willingly choosing to participate in this activity knowing I might die.” Sign here, initial here, here, here, here, and here. Done. It’s pretty intimidating, but again, we’re past the point of no return. And with three of us, no one wanted to be the chicken who’d back out.

Soon our names were up on the board, we were the 4th group to go. Because we’d each opted for the photo package (hey, I’m only doing this once – I need the photos to prove it!) we had the three of us, three tandem masters, and three photographers who’d be jumping with us to catch pictures on the way down. With our entourage, we took up a whole plane to ourselves, which was great! I met my tandem master, Chad, who I probably scared with my questions about motion sickness. Nicole, my photographer, told me that this jump was to be her 900th! (WOW!)

After standing around for another half hour or so, for some reason I felt like my anxiety level was going DOWN. When I mentioned this to Nicole she told me, “great, that’s good. But don’t worry, you’ll be terrified once you get on the plane,” and walked out to the runway with a smirk. Gee thanks, that made me feel better!

As we all got settled into the tiny plane, I realized that I’d be the first to jump. I guess this was a good thing, as there was no way that I was backing out now, and not having to watch the others go first meant that I’d have less time to think about what I was actually doing. The plane climbed up to 12,000 ft altitude in less than ten minutes and I kept waiting for my fear to return, yet I still felt surprisingly calm. Chad tapped me on the shoulder and said, “welcome to my office. Pretty cool, huh?” I must admit, as I looked out the window to the blue-green water below, I could understand how the scenery could really make this a great place to work. (Except for that jumping out of the plane thing.)

Speaking of which, the door to the plane rolled up and we inched our way to the edge. I only got to look down for a moment, but unbelievably, I still wasn’t scared! In fact, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of excitement! I followed the instructions we’d been given on the ground – to bend my knees, grab onto my harness, and lean back into my instructor. Soon, he took a step forward and before I knew it we were falling.

As the frigid air blew past my body, I almost didn’t have enough time to compute what was going on. I remember looking up and seeing the plane above us getting smaller, with the sun behind it. Then we turned over and looked down into the free fall. It was absolutely incredible. They say the 45 seconds of free fall goes pretty quick, and that is an understatement! For a couple of seconds, my photographer edged closer to us to take pictures at arm’s length. I tried to smile for the camera but I soon got distracted by the amazing view of the island below.

Nicole let go of my hand, and I could feel Chad getting ready to pull the cord on our parachute. I braced for the impact, expecting that dropping feeling in my stomach like a roller coaster. The chute went up and we were tugged upwards a tiny bit, but it wasn’t bad at all. Nicole continued to fall backwards, snapping photos of us as she went. She got so tiny in my view so quickly, until she was just a speck.

“Your office is absolutely amazing,” I said to Chad over my shoulder, as we drifted back and forth over the airfield. He circled around a couple of times and I started looking for whales. (No luck.) At this point, I remember thinking, “I could SO do this again.” And right on cue he mentioned that they have discounted rate for a second jump on the same day! haha!

When we were finally back on the ground, I met up with Leah and her cousin (who was now talking about wanting to get certified as a tandem master!) and we had a huge group hug. It was such an exhilarating feeling to have faced my fear and come out smiling…

I remember reading a quote once – “If you only had 6 months to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing right now?” That’s the thing with bucket lists – sometimes I think if we put things off too far into the future, we forget to live for today. Every moment is precious, and who knows what tomorrow will bring. We all have those things that are beyond our comfort zones, that we put on our list for “someday”…

What’s on your list?

1. skydive (scheduled for sunday 3/21 – let’s hope the wind cooperates this time!)
2. pose nude for an art class
3. eat at swan oyster depot in SF
4. a “pay it forward” project
5. read tolstoy’s “war and peace”
6. perfect my recipe for tom yum
7. take a dance class
8. get published in opium magazine
9. find a plant i can’t kill
10. get certified in CPR
11. watch the sunrise on haleakala
12. try bikram yoga
13. take a language class
14. do a full moon hike
15. dress up and go for martinis @ lewer’s lounge
16. pay for someone’s meal behind me in a drive through
17. ride the trolley for honolulu city lights
18. try stand up paddle boarding
19. try the pho at to chau restaurant in chinatown
20. write letters to my immediate family telling them why i love them
21. send the cutest guy in the bar a drink
22. make something in a ceramics class (started this a few weeks ago… will be posting pictures of the finished product soon!)
23. volunteer w/ hospice or lanakila pacific (registered as a volunteer, just waiting for them to need me!)
24. take an art class
25. see a play at diamond head theater or go to the opera
26. get fresh bread at kanemitsu bakery on molokai (hoping to finish this one the last weekend of march)
27. buy myself something nice from tiffany’s
28. learn how to jar or can something (pasta sauce? jelly?)
29. learn how to pop a champagne cork
30. learn how to clean a fish

sooooo much fun! =) kimi helped me out with this one by introducing me to some of her friends who live up on the north shore… i was really excited to try SUP, and all day, i couldn’t stop thinking and talking about it! before i left work, i picked up a hawaiian fire rashguard thinking that it might get a little chilly since it would be around 5pm by the time i reached the north shore. and as i drove up there, boy was i happy that i bought it – it was POURING on the freeway!

when i arrived at haleiwa beach park, kimi was already there ready to go and kyle soon joined us with a couple of cold beers before we hit the water. the boards were all laid out and as we were getting ready to get into the water, two japanese girls stopped us and asked to take a picture with us! LOL! (i wonder if they realized that i’ve never done this before and would probably fall off right in front of them!) “you are so cool,” they told us after we took a picture with each of them. those crazy japanese, they really will just take a picture with anything huh? but hey, we got to start off the day feeling like celebrities!

you can see the rest of our photos with captions by clicking here

1. skydive (scheduled for sunday 3/21 – let’s hope the wind cooperates this time!)
2. pose nude for an art class
3. eat at swan oyster depot in SF
4. a “pay it forward” project
5. read tolstoy’s “war and peace”
6. perfect my recipe for tom yum
7. take a dance class
8. get published in opium magazine
9. find a plant i can’t kill
10. get certified in CPR
11. watch the sunrise on haleakala
12. try bikram yoga
13. take a language class
14. do a full moon hike
15. dress up and go for martinis @ lewer’s lounge
16. pay for someone’s meal behind me in a drive through
17. ride the trolley for honolulu city lights
18. try stand up paddle boarding (scheduled for 3/17!)
19. try the pho at to chau restaurant in chinatown
20. write letters to my immediate family telling them why i love them (working on them now)
21. send the cutest guy in the bar a drink
22. make something in a ceramics class (started this a few weeks ago… will be posting pictures of the finished product soon!)
23. volunteer w/ hospice or lanakila pacific (registered as a volunteer, just waiting for them to need me!)
24. take an art class
25. see a play at diamond head theater or go to the opera
26. get fresh bread at kanemitsu bakery on molokai (hoping to finish this one the last weekend of march)
27. buy myself something nice from tiffany’s
28. learn how to jar or can something (pasta sauce? jelly?)
29. learn how to pop a champagne cork
30. learn how to clean a fish

Tom Yam Goong (spicy prawn soup)

3/4 lb prawns in the shell
1 tsp oil
3 c. chicken or fish stock (i actually used 3 c. of homemade shrimp stock with some of the same flavors – lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, chiles, etc, and then used 2 c. chicken broth instead of the water, below)
2 c. water
3 stalks lemongrass, cut in 1/2 in. slices
2 small red chili peppers, sliced (i ended up using 5!)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1-inch piece galanga, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms (i used button mushrooms the first batch, and straw the second, either works fine)
5 kaffir lime leaves
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 limes, juiced (i ended up using both lime and lemon juice)
1 tbsp. fish sauce
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 c. cilantro leaves and stems, sliced
(i omitted the red pepper and celery but added sliced bamboo shoots… of course, most of this can be adjusted “to taste”)

Remove the shells from the prawns, set aside. Slice the prawns in half lengthwise and refrigerate.

In a large soup pot, heat the oil and sautee the prawn shells until pink. Add the stock, water, lemongrass, lime leaves, chili peppers, garlic, and galanga. Bring to a boil. Lower the head, cover and simmer for 60 minutes. (using this method, you can always make a double batch of the stock and save some in the freezer for another batch of soup.)

Strain the stock mixture then return it to the pot. (I had to strain a few times to get all the the sediment out, using cheesecloth.) Bring to a boil and add the mushrooms, onion, celery, and red pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

Add the prawns and simmer for another 2 minutes. Add the lime juice, fish sauce, green onion, and cilantro just before serving.

Serves 6.

i’ve never quite gotten over that desire to take a “fun” dance class, so i put it on my 30 before 30 and headed down with heidi, dawn, sheryl, lourdes, and desi to salsa no ka oi for their beginner salsa class tonight… i even ran into a classmate from high school (hi laurie!) who was strapping on her sexy new heels with the velvet soles for turns!

but not to worry, not everyone was a pro… in fact, when they asked who was there for the first time, about 6 people raised a hand, including yours truly. we warmed up slowly with the basics, and then later split into male/female groups so that the guys could learn to “lead” and that the girls could practice making sexy salsa fingers! haha. then they put us back together and we’d practice the steps with a partner for a few moves, then the guys would rotate to the left (kinda like speeddating! or speeddancing? haha!)

after the beginner class ended, we could stick around to watch the “advanced” class and at 8pm they had a “social” dance for 2 hours so that you could practice your new moves with classmates! i didn’t stick around for the social this time, but i think i might try to make it back next week! classes are taught in 4 week sessions that build each week on what you learned the week before…

and as you can see, i need a lot of help! haha. but i had fun, and that’s what counts. another one down, 10 more to go!

i also decided to change the item on my list from getting a tattoo… just couldn’t figure out where i’d put it if i got one. so instead, i’m going to seek out another “hole in the wall” food expereince here in honolulu… i’ve always been curious about to chau restaurant on river street. their pho is supposedly so good that people will stand in line for it (even when there are tons of pho places in chinatown just steps away) and i’ve always wanted to go just to try it out…. so i’m adding it to the list.

1. skydive
2. post nude for an art class
3. eat at swan oyster depot in SF
4. a “pay it forward” project
5. read tolstoy’s “war and peace”
6. perfect my recipe for tom yum (made a first attempt on 2.21.10 but it still needs some tweaking…)
7. take a dance class (tenatively planning on taking a salsa class sunday 3/14 – anyone want to join us??)
8. get published in opium magazine
9. find a plant i can’t kill
10. get certified in CPR
11. watch the sunrise on haleakala
12. try bikram yoga
13. take a language class
14. do a full moon hike
15. dress up and go for martinis @ lewer’s lounge
16. pay for someone’s meal behind me in a drive through
17. ride the trolley for honolulu city lights
18. try stand up paddle boarding
19. get a tattoo of my family mon (maybe??) <—- i decided not to do this one. any suggestions for a replacement list item?
20. write letters to my immediate family telling them why i love them (working on them now)
21. send the cutest guy in the bar a drink
22. make something in a ceramics class (started this a few weeks ago… will be posting pictures of the finished product soon!)
23. volunteer w/ hospice or lanakila pacific (registered as a volunteer, just waiting for them to need me!)
24. take an art class
25. see a play at diamond head theater or go to the opera
26. get fresh bread at kanemitsu bakery on molokai (hoping to finish this one the last weekend of march)
27. buy myself something nice from tiffany’s
28. learn how to jar or can something (pasta sauce? jelly?)
29. learn how to pop a champagne cork
30. learn how to clean a fish