Last of Hawaii

22 April 2008

So these past few days I’ve been playing a tourist. Went on an island tour and saw various beaches including the famous Northshore. It was very windy but nice beach. I was surprised it is still undeveloped and country. Diamond head was next up and whew! What a climb but the view was spectacular.

Ordinarily, I’m a chicken but I thought this would be interesting or at least be a good story to tell. I saw a brochure on swimming with sharks… then a friend of mine mentioned it and wanted to go. Since then, the though has been ruminating in my brain and well… I went. I was so nervous I didn’t sleep – the thought of swimming with sharks and flashes of the movie 'Jaws' kept coming to mind. It wasn’t as scary as my dreams since we snorkeled in a cage… when the sharks heard the boat motor and of course, the smell of breakfast they came swimming as fast as they could.

Dole plantation wasn’t as heart stomping but it was a good way to relax and see lots of pineapples. My roommate and I had a bet going on where pineapples grow – she said in the ground, I had said in trees. We were both wrong but we’d been debating about it for a good two months – since we met. I didn’t realize there were more than one kind of pineapple but there were some from Vietnam and Paraguay – there are 3,000 species and hundreds of hybrid of the bromeliad family. More interesting is that Dole, first started out as a fruit stand and became famous by canning pineapple for further distribution.

19 April 2008

I’ve been living on the ship for 2 months now. I signed off today – no more ship life. It’s a strange feeling from going from one extreme to the other. Living in small quarters and always being around people versus now, I have a hotel room all to myself. I think people have grown on me. I’m kinda lonesome. It’s a bit difficult to describe but I have always hungout with at least one person on board. On ship, I had two roommates so I was never alone in the room. In my free time, there was always someone that also wanted to go sight-seeing with me. Granted, it was different people but the fact that there were always people around just grew on me. Never was there a time of being alone since there was always something to see and someone to go with. Again, as in all my seasonal work I have met some really interesting people and glad I had the chance to know them.

Before, when I lived at the South Pole, the population was small at 265 and I felt a bit overwhelmed at times because of the lack of privacy – you were constantly around people (except for my day off where I became a hermit and remained in my jamesway.) Working 6 days a week at Pole was tough because I was not used to being around constant people. I am very fond of the Pole and would like to return someday – perhaps winter over but was concerned about the lack of being alone – strange as that may seem in an area that is secluded from civilization. I mean, if you wanted to not be around people there was no where to escape except your own room.

Now that I’ve worked 7 days a week for 2 months on ship, had total lack of space and privacy I feel that it has forced me to be more social and probably equip me better for another Pole experience or a place where there are always people present. While in training, my roommate was the social one and I was quite the introvert. I did get frustrated with all the people about and yearned for my own space. I have realized without any extroverts present, I tend to become quite the recluse. At Pole, I realized I have to force myself to talk to people just so I didn’t seclude myself. On ship, it was quite different. I didn’t have for force myself to talk to people – everyone was friendly enough for the most part. Ship life is good… I like most of the people. Granted there are 1,000 workers onboard but I only had contact with few whom have become friends.

The part I did not like about ship life is the actual job. It’s more like 85% cleaning and 15% making sushi, when I actually made it to the sushi bar. In the beginning, I was working in the bakery and these past two weeks I somehow turned into a prep cook pealing potatoes, carrots and whatever else that was not prepared or sent to a different restaurant to help out. The mentality on-ship is teamwork… teamwork is great only if everyone is working together. But a majority of the time, 20% of the crew would work while the remaining 80% did not, which grew extremely frustrating when the supervisor would get upset with the 20% working and not say anything to the 80%.

After I signed off the ship, two buddies came with me to hangout. We ended up going to Hanauma bay for snorkeling. The water current was a bit strong so I was a little nervous but with the reef so close, we were swimming in about 3-4 feet of water. There wasn’t as much fish as I thought there would be but I was still quite close to shore. Looking at the bay from above, we should have gone out farther. My mask kept fogging up so I couldn’t see and I think the fish knew I couldn’t swim so well since they would dart out of nowhere and swim right up to us then take off. I’m really glad my friends joined me even though it was only a few hours before they had to return to the ship.

Hanauma bay would be more of an all day trip but living and working on ship, crew only get a glance at the island and not even the touristy glance… for the most part, many crew only have time to go ashore for a quick trip to the mall for a bite of lunch, a quick trip for souvenirs, or a quick walk around – things that are only a few minutes away from port unless you get special permission to arrive at work late or leave early.

It didn’t occur to me until now, but I think there will be many things I will miss. Not only the friends I have made but also the ship motion – sea sickness finally went away but it’s nice to be lulled to sleep with the rocking motion of the boat… kinda like falling asleep in a hammock except more comfortable. It took some getting used to but I will miss working in a huge chunk of floating metal, living and working in a tight-knit community – the friends you make while onboard are quite close and even seeing the guests come in, chatting with them and finding out where they are from.

I doubt I will work for another cruise line but the opportunity to do so is an experience to remember. Furthermore, I can mark it off of ‘things to do in my lifetime’ checklist. So far, plans are to return to southern California. I have made some good friends there and I miss them.









Hanauma bay

















some friends joined me snorkeling at Hanauma bay.

Josie (on the left) works in the bakery - amazingly, she's trying out to summer at the South Pole.

Takita (right) works in the same restaurant as me - East meets West. Surprisingly, we went to the same culinary school in San Francisco... at the same time! We only lived a few blocks from each other but have never met before working on this ship.




getting ready to swim with sharks - at least we were in a cage.
















to attract the sharks, they had couple of buckets of fish












yikes, how scary! there was a great white in the area last month but these sharks are mostly silky, galapagos and a few tiger sharks... small for a shark but very big to me - all were bigger than 5 feet long.








tiki carver at the international market
















view of Waikiki from Diamond head













waikiki sunset










state flower - the yellow hibiscus









Dole plantation - lots of pineapples there












polynesian cultural center









rainbows were all over the place - this was in honolulu






old sugar mill


































north shore








nuuapali lookout
















chinaman's cap





halona blowhole







NCL: pride of america

fun stuff

7 Apr 08

First kiteboarding lesson was today. Didn’t get in the water but just learned how to fly the kite… stayed on the beach and still had fun. Forgot to use sun block on other areas besides my face and got burned abit – bright red is not a good color for me.

6 Apr 08

My first sea day… something happened to the ship engine and we were out of power for a bit. Luckily, we were still in the Honolulu port. We usually leave at 6PM but for some reason just noticed that the ship wasn’t moving at midnight and found out the engine had to get fixed before we could leave.

Anyway, instead of spending Sunday in Hilo, we’re skipping it altogether and going straight to Maui, spending all day traveling there. Apparently, engine failure occurs quite frequently and we were lucky we were in port.

4 Apr 08

Had the chance to go on an excursion this morning. It was great. I had a friend to go with me which made it even more fun. It was called mudbugs and waterfall tour which was basically going mudding in little dune buggies then washing off in a waterfall. It was such a nice day out but we finished right in time since it started raining about a ½ hour after we completed our trip although that would have been even more fun.

sushi work

The other sushi cook I've been working with is going on his 5 week vacation this Saturday. This means, I am taking his position ordering all the fish, supplies and running around the ship trying to "borrow" items/ food that we need. Or haggling with the butcher downstairs insisting the ahi tuna is for the sushi bar and the executive chef told us to just go and get it without a requisition.

In the meantime, we got 2 new sushi people in last Saturday. One guy is the sushi bar supervisor who has worked on the other 2 NCL ships but never this one. (The other two ships make sushi in the back with the rest of the restaurant and the waitstaff deliver the food to the table - there is no sushi bar). So this open sushi bar with all-you-can-eat is really different for him. So the supervisor is implementing new procedures from the other ships so it's more familiar and convenient for him. The other guy worked on this ship before but doesn't like the sushi bar and wants to transfer to one of the other restaurants.

I guess working 55-57 hour weeks is too much. The supervisor got rid of one of the sushi cooks saying he couldn't make the rice correctly and now I'm only working 4 hours a day. The really frustrating part is the cruise passengers really enjoy sushi and the whole restaurant East meets West will be open for lunch - sushi bar, teppanyaki, shabu shabu and Asian fusion starting this Friday. The waitstaff has already been informed of this change and will be working more hours. Us sushi cooks found out about this information by looking at the calendar and eavsedropping on the waitstaff pre-dinner meeting and when asking about who will be working lunch have been informed that the restaurant opening is only a rumor. It's not set in stone just yet... so we have no idea who will be working the lunch schedule. But with one guy out of the sushi bar and the other leaving, there will only be 2 sushi chefs (me included) and the supervisor.

On the other hand, Disney cruiseline just bought this ship itinerary. It will be a few months to a year before they will take over and no longer be Norweigian Cruise Line. Guess we'll see what happens. I'm counting down the weeks... 6 more to go before returning to California. Whew!

Luau - Kauai, Japanese garden, liliuokalani park - hilo

31 March 08

Went to Kihei today on the bus. I didn’t really know where to get off and it was not as big of a tourist area like Lahaina. This place had a lot of beaches and places to snorkel or fish. Got off the bus to look around for a bit but the ride was long and had to get back to work so I didn’t have much time to sight-see.

30 March 08

Walked a little around Hilo and saw Banyan Drive – it’s a street lined with banyan trees all planted in the 1930’s by famous people like Baby Ruth, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Cecil DeMille, etc. These trees are about 70 years old… the one in Lahaina was from 1830’s and was huge. It took up a whole block – the trees dangle out their branches which act like roots and grow where ever the branch goes.

Today’s work was quite funny. We’ve been ordering unagi sauce the past few days but it hasn’t show up (it is sauce we put on the eel – it’s kind of like teriyaki sauce). We figured the executive chef looked over our requisition and cancelled the order. Since there are 10 restaurants on the ship and everyone’s orders get cut, there has been a lot of stealing. Other cooks from other restaurants will come to our restaurant and take whatever they need and vice versa. One night we actually ran out of soy sauce – there were just none to give to the customers… yes, it a sushi bar where soy sauce it a bit mandatory. We ended up going to the buffet upstairs and “borrowing” theirs.

But anyway, on with the story… so we haven’t been receiving our unagi sauce. Again, we ran out of soy sauce and one of the wait staff went upstairs to the buffet to find more. In addition to the soy sauce, he also found 3 gallons of unagi sauce. Ok, so the upstairs buffet doesn’t use this sauce for anything but the hilarious part was that it was found in the tea cupboard where the ice tea concentrate is kept. Apparently, people have been taking our restaurant unagi sauce thinking it as the ice tea concentrate for iced tea. They do look exactly alike even the label except one says tea concentrate and the other unagi sauce.

Our restaurant manager was debating whether to pass on the message of unagi used as tea. Perhaps that’s why the guests have been complaining the ice tea doesn’t taste very good. Anyway, he called to inform the chef who then had to taste all the ice tea and dump them.

28 March 08

Worked the breakfast omelet station in the morning then had the rest of the day off. I had the chance to attend the luau in Kauai. There was dinner, dessert and a show – all sorts of hula dancing. The best part, I thought was the dancing with fire. I got a few pictures and a short video.

My roommate decided to get a tattoo. She had set up an appointment for today. I was trying to scare her and say she was going to cry it would hurt really bad since she wanted it located on the back of her neck on the spine. So much for that since she giggled… guess it didn’t hurt but rather tickled. Perhaps she’s a bit of a masochist.





banyan trees



























hilo was hit in the early 1920's by tsunami and lava - this area kept getting destroyed.























Japanese garden






























Luau





















fire dancing movie

Lahaina and Ocean Center - Maui

25 March 08

Went to the Ocean Center aquarium in Maui today. I finally got to see some hammerhead sharks up-close. Thought it was way cool. Yesterday, I went to explore a beach town called Lahaina. On the bus ride there, I saw some whales in the distance. The bus was going too fast to take pictures.


23 March 08

We went by the coast of Hawaii. The captain hadn’t gone this way in a few months but the past few months there was not any lava flowing. Last week, a volcano erupted so there’s lava and steam all over. It was dark out being 930PM but I got to see the lava. I wished we were closer to shore. I took a few pics with my phone but all it looks like are red dots in a black background. I was so excited about it, I called my roommate. I thought for sure she would grab her camera and run upstairs but she was busy sleeping and a bit terse answering the phone, not interested at all.

We’ll go by the coast next Sunday too. Perhaps then I can get some better pictures.

21 March 08

Today was a long day… late night last night from work and an early morning. It was my turn to make omelets in the restaurant buffet. Things are going alright, I guess. I’m making plans on what to do after this seasonal position is complete. With those plans, I’ve decided on moving back to Southern California… and this time, move my bike down as soon as I get settled in. Yes, another road trip. I can’t wait!

19 March 08

The executive chef is slowly growing on me. He worked as a sushi chef for 9 years, so he has sushi knowledge. Today was the second time, he has come over to see how the sushi is doing. The first time, I got a little class on an appetizer. The French term is called amuse bouche… he had called it something but I forget but it’s the same thing but in Japanese. He showed us – the other sushi chef and I – a different way of making the spicy sauce for spicy tuna. It actually tastes a lot better but then again, I prefer the Japanese mayonnaise called Kewpie which is the main ingredient.

Course, this being the second time he’s come over to teach something – this is the second time he’s volunteered me for the Home Away From Home. Yes, and this time it was for the 8PM showing – which is filmed and broadcasted on the ship television network.





at work...













ocean center in maui... saw lots of sea creatures.














moray eel




















sting ray with fish





hammerhead and lots of other sharks and fish
















in the underwatter tunnel with a school of fish












green sea turtle



jelly fish



















Lahaina, Maui




















banyan tree that was planted in the 1830's - it takes up about a city block





boat wreck off the shore of Lahaina.