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The Android Future

So, I finally took the plunge and upgraded from my iPhone to a Nexus 5 Android phone… and I feel more like I’m living in the future then ever before. Rather than rant about it, I thought I’d just share this photosphere of my living room:

Pretty slick! And Android is so much more open, hackable, and customizable. Good times.

Hawaii Trip 2013, Summary!

Overall we had a wonderful relaxing, and yet stimulating/educational, time exploring Hawaii together this year. Teisha had a lot of fun firsts (snorkeling, lots of snorkeling, exploring a rain forest, experiencing a luau, and just visiting Hawaii) and both Andrew and Teisha had some amazing firsts together (swimming with dolphins, poking hot lava!!, and just exploring so many neat places together, like Hilo and the surrounding area). We made several day-by-day posts on Paradoxdruid’s Rants, which we thought we’d compile together in this (belated) post. Below the links to the posts is a link to trip photo gallery.
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Hawaii Trip, Day 8: Hilo Wanderings

Our flight home wasn’t until 9PM, so we had quite a bit of time to wander around before heading to the airport. First thing in the morning we checked out the local farmer’s market again, but since it was a Saturday they had the larger farmer’s market – it filled a few square blocks, and there was an amazing assortment of just about any fruit that could be grown in the area, as well as many Asian-style prepared foods, jams and honey, flowers, plants (amazing orchids), gifts, and more. (photos from today are on Day 8 of the Hawaii Trip Gallery)
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Hawaii Trip, Day 7: Kapoho Tide Pools and the Volcano

Today we spent the day mostly wandering around the Hilo/Pahoa area, with the highlights being exploring the Nanawale Forest Reserve/Park, snorkeling at the Kapoho tide pools, and getting close enough to poke hot lava with a stick (in Kilauea). (photos from today are on Day 7 of the Hawaii Trip Gallery)
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Hawaii Trip, Day 6: Driving to Hilo & Botanical Gardens

Having explored the area south of Kona, we headed to Hilo (which is on the opposite side of the Big Island) taking the Nourthern route. Hilo is the rainforest side of the island, and we were excited to see more lush landscapes. (photos from today are on Day 6 on the Hawaii Trip Gallery)
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Hawaii Trip, Day 5: Snorkeling around the Big Island

Today was our big day of snorkeling. There were a few beaches around the Kona area specifically recommended for snorkeling, so we first headed to Snorkel Bob’s, a little shop next to our hotel that rented snorkeling equipment, and rented some fins and floating devices to make it a little easier (we already bought some snorkeling goggles/tubes before the trip). We were ready to go! (photos from today are on Day 5 of the Hawaii Trip Gallery)
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Hawaii Trip, Day 4: Swimming with Dolphins and Luau in Kona

Catching a 7:30AM SpeediShuttle from our hotel to the airport, we got on our early morning flight to Kona. It was a short, beautiful flight, as we flew over several other Hawaiian islands (mostly Lanai and Kaho’Olawe) before getting to the Big Island, where Kona is. We were going to make a splash with our first day– literally, by going swimming with dolphins!
(photo from today are on Day 4 of the Hawaii Trip Gallery)
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Hawaii Trip, Day 3: Kayaking and Snorkeling

With our last day on Oahu, we went on a kayaking/snorkeling adventure…
(photos from today are on Day 3 of the Hawaii Trip Gallery)

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Hawaii Trip, Day 2: Waikiki Chinatown, Aquarium, Diamond Head, and Beaches

Waking up early due to jet lag, we decided to go get breakfast in Chinatown. We figured out how to use the local bus system (which we later came to really appreciate) and hopped on a bus outside our hotel (for just $2.50 each) and found ourselves in Chinatown about 25 minutes later. We learned that “Chinatown” is actually a bit of a misnomer – the area contains a mixture of several different Asian cultures and ethnicities, and has long served as a trade port for several different Asian countries (we mostly saw Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, and some Japanese foods and cultures present). (See http://www.chinatownhi.com/.)

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Hawaii Trip, Day 1: Arrival in Waikiki

After catching a 10:05AM flight from Denver to L.A., and then a 1:00PM flight from L.A. to Honolulu, we found ourselves on the Hawaiian island of Oahu at 3:40PM. (It was about 8.5 hours of flying, but we gained four hours – back in Colorado it was 7:40PM when we landed in Hawaii.) We got our bags and hopped on to a SpeediShuttle bus – we had booked it in advanced and the service was great. They took us right to our hotel, the Aqua Palms, right near downtown Waikiki (not right on the beach, but close enough). Honolulu, which includes Waikiki, is the state capital and the most populous city in Hawaii, and it certainly felt like a big city – lots of skyscrapers, resorts, and traffic.
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