Spam Jam

I've lived here in Hawaii on the island of Oahu for 3 years now, why is it that I have never heard of Spam Jam?! Today was the 4th annual Spam Jam down in Waikiki. If you noticed a bit of a traffic jam near the Ala moana area all the way into Waikiki, well that's why. Kalakaua was closed off from 2-11pm. I'm not big on spam, in fact I hate it, but I had to go to the festival and check out what was going on. I was surprised to see that it wasn't as big of an event that I thought it would be. Thanks to Happy Madison production 50 First Dates, a lot of people associate Spam with Hawaii, I was shocked to see that nothing spectacular was going on. There were a few restaurants like Dukes, Margaritaville, and Gordon Biersch who had booths up selling dishes with spam mixed in one way or another, and there was also live entertainment on two stages. It was fun for 10 minutes, then I was over it.

ZUMBA!!!

ZUMBA

It's the new craze that's taking over the fitness world! Not only is this spicy, aerobics based Latin dance class great for BOTH men and women getting into shape, it's also fun! If you're not the type to get excited about going to the gym to workout, and step aerobics just isn't doing it for you anymore, I encourage to try something new. If you don't like it, you can go back to running on the treadmill and lifting free weights at the gym. 

Zumba is a fusion of the Latin dance and music world. On any given day you can find yourself learning Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Bachata, Cha-Cha or the Samba. Slow and fast easy moves that work your entire body that sculpt and tone your body all while burning fat. 

History: http://www.zumba.com/us/about/

Celebrity fitness trainer, "Beto" Perez, stumbled upon the concept of Latin inspired fitness in his native country of Colombia (South America) in the mid 1990's. One day, he walked into his class and realized that he had forgotten his aerobics music, and his only option was to grab whatever tapes he had in his car. Beto's tapes were comprised of the songs that he loved, the traditional Latin salsa and merengue music with which he had been raised. But it was a challenge to improvise a whole class on the spot using non-traditional aerobics music. Beto rose to the challenge and from this last-minute improvisation was born a revolutionary fitness program – Zumba®! The class soon became the most popular class at his fitness facility.

Now 10 years later, it's stronger than ever with over 30,000 trained instructors all over the world. The best part about that is there are 12 locations right here on the island of Oahu. 

The closest to the downtown campus is located:

Fit for a Goddess Studio

320 Ward Ave. Suite 201

Honolulu, HI 

And the closest to the Windward Campus is located:

Kailua Movement Studio

776 Kailua Rd.

Kailua, HI

Here's a glimpse of what you can expect!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0q6qtThF4

or just visit youtube and find Zumba

Sinking Ball of Rust!

Ahhh, The Navy...a wonderful branch of military. Of course, don't say that to a Marine! I don't know what the big deal is between all the branches, each one plays a very important role. Anyways, I must say, I have a great deal of respect for men in the Navy, and specifically those on submarines. I have a few friends in the Navy, friends that I met here in Hawaii, and it wasn't until I actually knew men in the military that I actually became interested in what they do. Naturally, they can't say what it is that they exactly do...quite frustrating when they're grumpy and complaining about what a long and hard day they had at work. When you ask them, "well what did you do?" You never get the answer. 

I recently had the opportunity to tour an active submarine here in Pearl Harbor. All I can say is WOW! Talk about getting comfortable with a person, so much for personal space! I can't see how these men get any sleep! And I can't even begin to imagine what it's like when they go underway. 2 months at a time, 6 months at a time, you are completely shut off from the world, you see no sunlight, you have to talk to and see the same hundred and something guys...how can you NOT go crazy! I applaud all submariners who have to endure this kind of suffering. I say suffering because I have not heard 1 person say that they enjoy that journey. As my friend once put it, "it's hell in that sinking ball of rust!"

Thank you gentlemen, officers and sailors.

Feet, Big Deal!

As I was sitting and waiting for the bus today, I happened to look down at my feet. Now I'm not big on doing the whole pedicure thing, but I'd like to think that I take pretty good care of my feet. Here in Hawaii, the majority of people where slippahz (slippers), or more commonly known in the mainland, flip flops. And then, I started to notice everyone else's feet. People waiting for the bus, people walking by, people on the bus, people on Fort Street... EVERYONE was wearing slippahz. I don't know why I never thought about before, but golly! This can't be good for our feet! I realized that over 90% of the shoes sitting outside my front door are slippahz. There is no support for our feet, and my feet are so flat that it's not that comfortable to shove my foot into heels anymore (not that it ever was before). Take a look at your slippahz, do you see the imprint of your foot? We wear them so often that there is a permanent indentation of our foot, not to mention there's probably no sole left on the darn things! 

Okay, so enough about the support, what about the protection? Slippahz provide no protection for our feet at all. Our feet are left uncovered to gather dirt, or just begging to be stepped on, stub a toe and split it open, or in my case, mosquitos have a field day on the tops of my feet.  We leave them open for bacteria, and we all know that Fort Street isn't the cleanest place in the world...I mean imagine standing on the corner waiting to cross the street, or simply walking down the street and someone close by happens to spit. That nice ocean breeze we love so much picks a little bit of that spit up, and next thing you know...you've got someone's saliva all over your uncovered foot. Uhhhh can you say GROSS! I suppose that's the risk we take when the island wear is shorts and slippahz...

Detox: Day 3

It's day 3 of this horrible detox. Needless to say...I'm a cheater. 

You don't understand though! Not being able to chew is a crime! My fridge is stocked with nothing but vegetables, some in which I've never eaten before this diet. Surprisingly though, I have noticed a difference, no joke! My stomach is a lot flatter, I wake up energized, and my skin has cleared up. I'm allowing myself to at least eat dinner, and if anything has come from this thus far, I've noticed myself eating a lot healthier. I guess that's really what my goal was all along. We'll see what happens at the end of the week, let's see if I can stick it out!

Detox means you can't eat in another language

So the Submarine Birthday Ball is coming up this Friday. It's basically prom all over again. I get to buy a nice gown and get all done up for one night. Course, I'm a girl, you know how we can be...concerned about losing a few pounds before a big event like this. Yeah, well my roommate and I decided to do this Detox diet. Basically you can't eat/chew, everything has to be liquified. Yuuuummm....NOT! Today is day 1, so far so good. I drank some Berry Green powder stuff (2x), and a cup of tea afterwards. I can drink tea all day if I want. For lunch, I juiced 10 vegetables, made my own V8 per se, more tea...and well, I'm starving! I think since it's the first day and I'm not all that prepared for this detox, I should probably get some protein in me...I don't think some greasy pizza will hurt...just one slice... 

DO NOT EAT, DAVINA'S ONLY!!!

Forgive me if this blog makes absolutely NO sense to you...this specific blog is for ventilation purposes only. 

If you've attended college, and God forbid had to live in the dorms, maybe you'll be able to relate to me. Dorm rooms are small, you're allowed a small microwave and a small fridge. Basically you don't have much to work with when it comes to food. Sure in the beginning everyone is buying food and you're all about sharing, but as time goes on you realize you're the only one buying food and everyone is still eating it. Eventually you get to the point where you start labeling your food with your name along with "DO NOT EAT! so and so's ONLY!". It's understandable, I guess. The mature thing to do would be to flat out say, "hey, if you're gonna eat the food, cough up some ends to help pay for it." Maybe that's just me...

Regardless, it's cute in the dorm rooms. Eventually you take the next step and move out with people you trust and know (hopefully). You're in a house, with a kitchen, with a regular sized fridge, with cabinets, and a pantry. Praise the Lord you have an oven! I would think that financially it would make more sense to go as a group, buy groceries and split the price...right? Or does it seem a little more logical to go out and spend a nice chunk of money on a lot of groceries, come home and label everything, then a few weeks later end up throwing out over half of what you bought because you couldn't eat everything by yourself, all because you didn't want anyone touching YOUR food. Sorry to say this, but if you're 21 years old, living in a household of at least 4 people and you're still labeling your food...something is wrong.

Vampires and Werewolves

Alright, for those of you Twilight fanatics here's a little inside info. So shooting for New Moon started in Vancouver Canada a few weeks ago, needless to say a little behind schedule due to the fact that they finally casted the wolf pack...which if you're a fanatic, you would know that this next movie is all about the wolves. If being behind schedule isn't enough already, there have been some minor injuries on set that will now push back production even further. That's the latest info I have...we'll see what comes up next!