Hawai'i
« Previous EntriesMemories – Honolulu Airport
Saturday, March 7th, 2009Well, I’ve decided to start writing various memories I have that are important/interesting which I haven’t written in my journals. This memory is regarding the Honolulu Airport. There are two major times that I was at the Honolulu Airport (not including return trips).
The first time I was there was in the Winter of 2004. I was attending Dixie State College in the Fall of 2004, and I had applied to BYU-Hawaii. To my surprise, I was accepted for admission. My parents agreed to pay for my plane ticket, so I decided to go. I flew out from the Las Vegas Airport a couple days after Christmas (I think the 28th). I missed the plane I was supposed to take from Las Vegas, so I had to take the next one. This presented a problem, since I had arranged with the Coconut Express to take me from the Airport to the campus and I was hours late, so I missed it. My plane arrived in Honolulu late that night and I ended up having to spend the night there in the Airport. I found a place to sit and just sat there next to my luggage the whole night. I didn’t sleep, partly because I was afraid someone might try to steal my luggage. I just sat there listening to my CD player until morning. In the morning, I was able to meet up with the Coconut Express and go to the School. Once I got to my dorm, I slept most of the rest of the day.
The second time I was in the Honolulu Airport was when I was going back to BYU-Hawaii. I returned home from my mission to Singapore in September, 2007. I then went to Florida to work and save money so I could return to school. This time I flew out just after New Year 2008. I had arranged for one of my friends who I knew from Kuala Lumpur (Royce and his wife Melanie) to pick me up at the Airport. Everything went smoothly with the flight, but when we landed and got to the Baggage Pickup, there was no baggage. We had to wait almost 2 hours before our baggage finally came onto the Baggage Train. Not sure what the problem was with that. When I finally got my baggage and made my way out to the pickup area, I saw Royce calling me from the curb. So I brought my bags over to his car and got a surprise: Sharon was there in the car with them! She had come along with them to pick me up! I had actually secretly been hoping that she would, and she did! Haha. It was strange though because she was totally shy the whole ride home. She didn’t really say anything to me haha. Royce, Melanie and I got caught up so it was nice to be able to talk to them. They took me to my off-campus housing and I gave Sharon a hug before going into my new home for the next 5 months.
Final For IS 240L
Thursday, April 17th, 2008The final for my IS240L class is a comprehensive project which will test all of the things we should have learned over the semester. I am almost done (indeed, this blog post is a part of it). The final can be found here: http://whiting.is2.byuh.edu/final.html . I had to make a flash animation, embed a video, write 3 essays and post them as pdf files, make a blog and write in it every day, and make a web site using Dreamweaver. It was a lot of work, but it is good to have it done. Also, the flash is pretty cool. Check it out.
Shopping Cart Final
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008For my CIS 201 class, we were required to build a shopping cart as a part of our final. It was a big learning experience for me and also a chance to use the skills that I had gained from this semester. It was also a lot of fun. The link to it is here: http://lwhitin.is2.byuh.edu/cgi-bin/cis201/shopcart You should go check it out! Haha. I was the first one done in my class.
Finals Week
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008This is finals week, where every class gives you a super big project or test that will require all of your time for the rest of the week. This would be fine, except that there are 5 of these (1 for each class) and so the work would take about 5 weeks to do. So trying to balance all of the finals is a big thing, and my free time just went out the door. Also, I have to work for 20 hours this week for Kealakai. And somehow I am still managing to spend a lot of time with Sharon. I hope I survive this week.
The Cheesecake Factory on my Birthday!
Monday, April 14th, 2008
April 12th was my 22nd Birthday! Sharon, Brandon, Dan, Kurt and I all went to the Cheesecake factory because Kurt’s mom gave us giftcards. We had sort of a joint celebration because it was Kurt’s Birthday in a couple weeks as well. Sharon got a huge burger and fries, while I got the five-cheese pasta. Both were amazingly delicious! Then we were so full, we decided just to split a cheesecake. We got some kind of White Chocolate with Raspberry type of cake, and it was SUPER good! I LOVE CHEESE CAKE! Haha. We barely finished it, then rolled out of the store and got in the car. When we got home, we took a nap on the couch, then Sharon took me to a surprise she had planned at the school, telling me to dress up first. So I put on a tie and we went. The surprise turned out to be a dance recital from the Social Dance class. We ate the food they had and danced along to as many songs as we could. We didn’t know how to dance them, but we learned fast by watching those around us. My favorite was the Waltz (because it was the easiest, hehe) But we also danced some kind of Turkish step and the Cha-Cha. Then we came home and went for a walk on the beach barefoot, stopping at the playground on the way home to just be with each other. Then we went home and fell asleep on the couch again. When we woke up (around 1 am) I took Sharon home. That was my Birthday. It was a blast! The best part was being with the one I love… Thank you Sharon~
Photo Shoot on Sunday
Sunday, April 13th, 2008On Sunday, Doreen, Sharon and I had a spontaneous mini photo shoot. It was a lot of fun. We posed and just snapped as many pictures as we could. We got some really good pics, and I am happy that we did. I climbed a tree and we took some pics in that as well. I went to Sharon’s ward and the Bishop talked to me about dating Sharon, about how I had to ask his permission before I dated anyone in his ward. Haha. I asked and he said yes. I fasted as well.
Watching Movies
Friday, April 11th, 2008One our favorite past-times which Wen and I enjoy is watching movies. We download them from the internet, then watch them on a laptop together, usually sharing a set of earphones. We have watched countless movies. It is a lot of fun and gives us an excuse to be together.
Plane Tickets to Utah
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008Today Sharon and I bought tickets to go to Utah. It turned out that buying a round-trip ticket to Los Angeles was the cheapest way. The flight stops in Salt Lake City, so we are planning to just get off there. Then I will drive Sharon to Los Angeles when she has to go back, and I just won’t use my return ticket. It is interesting how plane tickets work. You can get round-trip tickets for less than one way tickets. Strange. 2 for less than 1. Anyways, Sharon and I are now very excited about our trip!
Trip to Utah
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008Sharon and I have decided to go to Utah together. This will give Sharon a chance to meet my family and also to go see many of her friends in Utah. We are also planning to go to Los Angeles to go to Disney Land, and also to go see some sites like Zion Canyon National Park, and most important… SNOW! Haha. Sharon has never seen snow (except from the window of an airplane, but that doesn’t really count anyways). We are both really excited. We will be leaving the 24th of April and Sharon will be coming back to Hawai’i on the 9th of May so that she can go back to Malaysia. I plan to work in Utah for the summer, then go see Sharon in July sometime. We are then planning to go travel all over South-East Asia. I am really excited.
Going to the Beach
Monday, April 7th, 2008
One of my favorite past-times here in Hawai’i is going to the beach. I just love to go where the sand meets the surf and enjoy the warmth of the sun mixed with the cool of the Pacific Ocean. I really love nature, and this satisfies my appetite for a little while. The beaches here in Hawai’i are soooooo nice. The water is also much warmer here than on the East or West Coast of the Mainland USA.