Happy Tsunami Saturday!

Alright, bear with me, this is going to be the length of a novel. But the only reason I'm doing this is so you not only get an accurate account of what happened yesterday, "Tsunami Saturday", but also so I can look back on this and remember that strange, strange day.

So I usually sleep with my phone near my head, just because I always feel like I'll miss something if I don't. Yesterday morning at 3:58 am, I woke to a buzzing from my cell phone. I was so sleepy, I had gone to bed at 12:30 that night, so with just a few hours of sleep I read the text message on my phone. It was from Kali, telling me that there was a tsunami coming, we were going to possibly be evacuated, and the sirens were going to go off at 6am. So of course, i wake up and go turn on the tv. As the image flickers to life, it opens on the NOAA facility, a gentleman talking about the quickly approaching 12ft tsunami waves that are speeding towards the Hawaiian shores. My first reaction is that they are over-reacting. But as the hour ticks on, it gets more and more serious. People are lining up at Walmart, stores are scheduled to open at 6am so people can stock up. They're saying don't use your tap water once the water surges inland, electricity will be shut off...move to higher land. What the!? What am I SUPPOSED to think!? FEMA is sending troops, and before the wave has even HIT the governor declares Hawaii a State of Emergency. All before 6am!!

I call my dad, let him know of the impending danger, and go wake up Grady. At 6am, the quiet sleepiness of a Saturday morning in Waikiki is rudely awakened by the low, eerie rumbling of the tsunami sirens warming up. It's still dark outside, I rush to my balcony as the symphony of hundreds of simultaneous sirens, all over the island, and all over all of the Hawaiian islands, sound off. The only way to describe this eerie drawl is to envision what you've seen or heard of the air raid sirens from WWII. The low pitch, rising into a high ear-piercing shrill. As the sirens go off and start echoing off the mountains, lights start flickering on in all the hotels and apartment buildings. People come out on their balconies genuinely confused. My knees start to shake, this isn't a drill...it's the real thing. As the shrill sirens die to a hum, my whole house is up...and we're watching as the news casters start making more telephone calls, emergency reports and interviews.

I got dressed and decided that if this is REALLY as bad as everyone says it's going to be...I best go to the grocery store. I had been living off nothing practically, living off rice and water...so Grady and I decide to go get provisions for at least a few days...water bottles, bread. The small grocery store right next to us usually is completely empty. Before 6:10 the line wraps around the store and people start waiting with their water bottles, crackers and the line starts creeping towards the outside door. I waited in line for an HOUR and in that hour learned that Ala Moana shopping center, Windward Mall, most stores, restaurants, jobs...were closed. As I step outside again with my groceries, the sirens blare up again. It was creepy to see no cars on the roads, people running with food and water to their buildings. The sirens didn't die until I was back in my apartment.

Around 9am the situation looks like it's becoming more serious. The view of the ocean from my window that is usually dotted with maybe 3-5 boats is FILLED with ships. Not only small boats but the Coast Guard, Navy, Matson, Young brothers. All the dinner cruises, Navatek, The Star of Honolulu, Ali'i Kai...are all huddled out on the horizon. More and more ships are being forced out of the harbors by the USCG, they're closing the ports and any ships that can't leave, need to be brought out of their slips and onto land. The cop cars start partoling Waikiki, in groups of 2, making announcements through their loud speakers. I can't hear them, but watching the news, it seems as though they are going close down all the streets at 10. A cop car coming down my road, stops below the building, and what he says over his speaker sends chills down my spine...

"Attenion Attention Attention! Tsunami wave's are quickly approaching our shores. They are scheduled to hit at 11:58. Move to higher ground immediately or above the 3rd floor of your hotel or apartment building. This is a mandatory evacuation. Move to higher ground immediately!"

They drove off with their sirens.

10:30 am...the sirens go off again. But their reverberations fall on a ghost town. The hustle and bustle of Hawaii's most populate stretch of beach, their largest influx of tourism...is at a stand still. There are no cars on the streets, no people on the beaches. There are a few stragglers running to their buildings. The only humans you can see are standing on their balconies and roofs of the hotels, watching the water. Watching the hundreds of bobbing ships, being circled by Coast Guard helicopters. The only people on the roads are the occasional police and fire trucks, screaming their warnings to get to higher ground. The entire vibe of the city as the sirens go off again, is tense. It's eerie. It's strangely quiet. Everyone is just...waiting. What else are we supposed to do?

Our elevators are shut off, we've braced for the worst. I figure, it has to be bad...it's on CNN, Fox, everyone knows about it. It's headlines on the internet. Is it going to be Sri Lanka? The lady on the tv says the sirens will go off one more time at 11, than the emergency crews will get to higher ground, and than it's up to us to stay off beaches and roads.

11:00 am. Sirens go off again. Low moans of warming up tsunami sirens. I hold my breath. First wave is supposed to hit Big Island in 5 minutes. Will it be as destructive as they are expecting? They die out, and we are all glued to the tv.

11:05 passes.

11:12 passes.

11:20 passes.

Is this a joke?

Finally what seems to be a tidal change on the webcam in Hilo harbor happens. The rocks that we're covered start to appear, the water turns murky...than the slush of mud and water surges back into the harbor quickly. It happens again another few times. Doesn't look like anything terrible. The news says it's happening on Oahu. They cut to people standing on the cliffs of Diamond Head...the only way to describe their faces is.. "WTF?!" ...nothing.

Nothing.

Let me repeat.

Nothing.

Maybe like a slight tidal change. No surging water rushing out to expose dry reef. No 12ft wave crashing onto shore and destroying everything in it's path.

Than..it was done. Are you SERIOUS!?

Welp, they do say better safe than sorry. But that was definitely anti-climactic. It was actually disappointing. No flooding, no crashes palm trees, no running screaming and utter chaos. I bet they felt like idiots.

Oh oh oh...and to make it that much worse. After they called the whole warning off at 1:58 pm... I had to work on the dinner cruise. No other dinner cruises went out. All the ships that had gone out to sea to avoid the flux of the 12ft monster were coming IN to the harbor. We were going OUT. The only idiots that were going OUT after a day of sirens and warning and panic. Yup. The dinner cruise went OUT.

And it was choppy and it was surgy and they did say that it was because the tsunami. The swells were HUGE and people puked everywhere.

And than the tsunami was done.

And I slept like a baby that night.

Ventura county got more damage and tsunami-ness. My friend Jean posted pictures of her backyard in the harbor, the entire boat dock and boats sitting on mud and than the water rushing back in. That happened two or three times. That was a tsunami!!

It's ok. I heard the sand crab that got flipped over by the wave here in Hawaii was righted and he's living out his days in his tide pool.


...Tsunami Bree

Little nothings

Just about a week left until Uniform 182 graduates. I can't believe how quickly it went. Not only because it marks when my brother will be done, but because it just shows how quickly time flies. I can't believe how quickly it will be April or July. Geez.

Alright well I don't have much to say today, but I'll definitely keep my eyes open to adventure and post something soon.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. Here's sending you love and aloha.

Brianna :D

All of Waikiki cheered for YOU tonight

After the crazy madness that I had felt the other day for that job, tonight I was reminded why I work in Hawaii. I cleaned the house (because that's what I do when I want to feel like I've accomplished something...haha) and I am sitting here in my clean apartment, making artichokes and rice, drinking a glass of Merlot, candle lit on my dinner table and from outside I hear a loud !BANG! Like a gun shot, like numerous gunshots! The car alarms start going off and the reverberation off Diamond Head echoed back into my apartment and jolted me from the couch. I ran outside, into the perfect cool Hawaiian night air...and watched the Friday night fireworks explode over my head, illuminating Waikiki beach and sparkling off the high-rises around me. For a few peaceful moments while exploding colors above me tinkled down like thousands of falling stars, I took a moment to pray.

I prayed for my brother in New Jersey and I hoped that he gets his mail this week and all the belated letters of love that were sent to him for Valentine's day. I prayed that he is well and that all of Uniform 182 is succeeding and growing and looking for the light at the end of the tunnel...they're so close! I prayed that my brother Jonathan is successful in his school work and his life. I prayed for my father's health, my mother's happiness, my cat's fat couch-dwelling pleasures. I prayed for my grandfather and grandmother's health, my cousins and aunts and uncles. I prayed for my friends here in Hawaii and far away in California, Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, England..all over the world. I prayed for Grady's ease through his last semester at school, for strength in myself to realize what I have, can and strive to accomplish.

It was at the end of that moment when I realized that THIS is why I work. I work so I can look out at fireworks over a Hawaiian beach on a balmy tropical night. I work so that I can have a moment of prayer from my balcony for my family and friends. It didn't seem so bad in that moment and I felt and still feel extremely blessed.

As the last beautiful bouquets of neon colors fizzled out and the echoes off the surrounding mountains came to an end, all of Waikiki broke their silence. They irrupted into cheer and applause and it was so neat to be able to hear a whole city go up in a roar of happiness. All of the town was watching that with me, and to me, all of the town felt like they were cheering for my prayers and hopes. They were cheering for my brother in the Coast Guard, they were cheering for my family in California. They were cheering for my friends, they were cheering for the other families of Uniform 182. They were helping me cheer all of the people in my life that I want to applaud.

I wish you were here to see this, it was truly wonderful.

I love you all :)

Brianna

5 star fail.

It's been a while since I've been able to blog. Not that I haven't had time, just that nothing really exciting has happened. But today Uniform 182 posted a short, but non the less, blog. I realized it's only about 2 weeks away until I get to see their graduation!! I'm so proud! :D

Work today was pretty lame, I was told I need to wear a hair net. YES. Hair NET. And that I can't wear a head band. WTF!?!?!?! It's a 5 star..."5 star"...restaurant (kinda). Hair net!? That's like Denny's. That's like Denny's dirty kitchen workers. I told them I should just shave my eyebrows off and pencil them in and than get some big lip stick and draw it on and talk vato. And I also asked them what I'm supposed to do with my hair. They want me to slick it back with gel...flat against my head..and get a hair net. Um...

N O

Ok!!?? You're NOT fancy restaurant! You are a cafeteria-style dinner cruise that's CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. It's not cooked on site, there are no chefs in the kitchen, you get watered-down drinks and you want your servers to wear HAIR NETS!?! Ew, NOT 5 star. I think that you should go to Roy's or Kahala Hotel or Alan Wongs or even effing CHEESECAKE factory for better food. Give me a break. I spend money for parking, for nylons and now for hair nets. Yeah...R I I I I I I I G H T.

Anyway. Rant over.

Hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day. :)

Love you all,

Bree

Splurging

I celebrated an early Valentine's Day dinner last night with Grady at Roy's, a restaurant that we hardly afforded. But it was so worth it. What's life without splurging every now and than? Besides this was our 5th Valentine's Day spent together so might as well. I brought my camera because my dad loves to take pictures of his food. I forgot to take a picture of the main course because I got a little too excited about the food.



Appetizer, blackened Ahi, edamame.



Dessert, chocolate souffle :D! Sooooooo good!!

I don't usually eat fish though, and eating it for an appetizer and a main course really hurt my stomach and I ended up going home and burping up most of it. But it was good while it lasted.

We're just waiting on a call from Michael this weekend, so excited to hear where he will end up!! And just a few more weeks until I get to go see him in Jersey!!

Alright, I'm going to go back to looking on Craigslist.com for apartment and townhomes in Ventura/Oxnard/Channel Islands. They're so cheap! 1 bedroom or even 2 bed 2 bath apartments, dogs and cats OK, fully furnished and close the beach for less than 1500!!! WHAAAAT!?! I guess it's because the place I started living on my own and providing a rent for myself is some of the most expensive real estate in the world...Waikiki Beach Oahu. But HEY! If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere!!

Have a super splendid dayyyyyy!

Breeeeee

Semper Paratus!

I'm never eating Taco Bell ever EVER E V E R again. It's not as good the next day as it was the first day. Ew, anyway.



I saw this wonderful picture today of Uniform 182 doing their first humanitarian mission, digging people out of the snow that were snowed in. My mom got a letter today from Michael that said how when they were marching off base to dig people out, they were cheering them on and thanking them because otherwise they were going to be stuck in the snow. Jersey was called a state of disaster and they were going to move the Coasties off base to an Army base up north because their base had no power. Crazy! Just makes me thankful for being here in Hawaii where it is nice and warm!!

Well, tonight is night number 8 at work. Finally a day off tomorrow...phew! Hope everyone has a wonderful day and evening! :)

Namaste!
Bree

Uniform (182/Star of Honolulu)

Ok so here goes something totally embarrassing. But it's ok because my mom wanted to see it....





Kali and I in our work uniforms...oh geez. Kali is working at a photographer on the Star of Honolulu, I'm working as a 5 star server (note the freakin bowtie and gloves).

Anyway last night while I was at work, two Coasties rode. I told them my brother was Uniform 182 and they said that they had graduated Xray 181 last year. They reassured me that everything after week 5 gets easier and that everything is downhill from here. They also told me to be prepared to cry and graduation and that not all of bootcamp is the Coast Guard. I started to get choked up as they were saying this. Haha. Especially because all over the news it is just saying how bad the weather is on the East Coast. Cape May county is without power and from DC to Jersey has had A TON of snow! But the USCG website posted a note today saying that the base has power and that everything is going on as normal. Phew!

Well hope everyone has a good day, I hope that everyone has a good Superbowl and I hope that everyone stays warm (because I'm toasty over here in Honolulu!)

Love you all,
Bree :)

Hiking Koko Head Crater

We received a letter from my brother a few days ago...well more technically his girlfriend got a letter and emailed it to all of us. Sounds like he's hanging in there. I'm so excited to go see him in March! Less than a month!! I'm proud of him :)



In other news, I hiked Koko Head Crater two days ago. OMG the HARDEST thing I've ever done! Over 1,000 steps to the top. At one point I thought I was going to puke, haha! But the view was INCREDIBLE and it was something I've wanted to do for a long time. At one point it was completely vertical and if you stumbled you'd probably roll down the rest of the stairs. The stairs are actually old railroad ties and there's even one point where you have to cross a bridge of nothing but railroad ties. Insane! But once you get to the top and see the view it is totally worth it. From the vantage point where I was sitting...legs shaking and trying not to throw up, it was as if nothing was below me, as if I was floating above the eastern side of Oahu. It was breath taking, almost scary, because I've never been that high on my own accord. It was really neat to know that I was so high and I had gotten myself up there. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't take my camera (rightfully so because I my hands to pull myself up the stairs most of the time) but here is some photos someone else has taken of Koko Head.


the mountain..



the stairs..



the vertical stairs..



the view towards hanauma bay...

AMAZING HUH!? Well when you come out here, you can come see it too :)...and suffer the consequences two days letter...ouch...

Aloha, miss you all!

Bree :)

RUN!! THE PROM DRESSES ARE COMING!

Simple things that make me happy. Like being able to pay my rent and have some more money left over for spending. Granted it's not THAT much money left...haha but knowing that I didn't have to borrow any money (I thought I wasn't going to make it) and know that it's all my OWN money makes me happy. And it's all because I work my bootay off!!

Speaking of working. I had some CRAZY stuff happen to me a few nights ago! There was a charter on our top deck of our ship, the charter was called "Dream Club". It was a cosmetic company from Japan, something like Mary Kay, and they were the top sellers of their company. 90 of them had won a trip to Hawaii and were having their going-away dinner on the Star of Honolulu.

So here comes onto our ship 90 decked out Japanese women in full prom dresses, HUGE jewelery, crazy hair pieces, fur coats, way too done-up makeup...all 90 of them speaking in high-pitched tones. We told them that we were going to seat them, and we were standing in the dining room (because they go out to the back deck to take pictures with the Captain) and we're holding trays of drinks. Out of nowhere there's a rumbling on the ship. The whole ship starts to shake and all of a sudden, theres 90 Japanese women RUNNING and screaming at us. It was like a bad game show. Prom dresses flying, full out SPRINTING at us from both sides. All of us ducked and hid and tried not to drop our drinks as they ran past us grabbing and shoving and playing high-pitched rock-paper-scissors so they could sit next to the owner of the company. It was something out of a movie. All I could do was laugh because I was scared for my life. When the Captain came to toast, they irrupted into cheers and screams of "HAI!" One of the servers literally couldn't serve because all the girls lined up to take photos with him the entire night. They were sitting on the floor so others could see the jazz show while they waited to take pictures with him...hahahaha!

Earlier that morning we hiked the Lanikai pillbox to a lookout that over-looked all of the windward side. Here's some photos :)









That's my favorite slug ever haha!

Alright off to take Grady to school, do some homework and nurse my sea urchin wounds, haha :) Hope everyone has a good day!

Bree