Good day for a great cause...

Today was a good day for a great cause,

I booked it on over into town to meet up with some high school classmates of mine to meet up, talk story and eat, and we did it all in the outdoor garden area at my friend's apartment.  (It's something we do once in a great while.)  It was pretty awesome.

It was a potluck shindig so I went to grab some fried noodles from good old Zippy's.  It was quite the adventure, before hitting up Zippy's I drove from place to place trying to find something to take for the potluck.  For one reason or  another nothing was working for me, either there was too many people waiting in line, restaurants that I thought were open were out of business or what they had to offer didn't sound appealing, so Zippy's it was.  Today was hella hot so I just had to hook myself up with an Icee, Pepsi and strawberry mix, yeaaah baby.

So I made it to my friend's place, and it was pretty cool.  We chilled in the garden area and looked at photos from our (much slimmer) high school days.  I also got to see my friend's crib, which he fixed up, pretty nice place I must say.  So when we booked it back down to the garden area, we met up with the gang.  I got to talk briefly with them and then I had to book it on out.  I wish I could've stayed longer, but that's what you get when you're Mr. Busybody.  It's all good, there will be more opportunities.  But ya, I got this killer shot in the garden area of my friend's place.

So after the shindig at my friend's place I drove over to grab my other friend and then we headed on over to the windward side.  Today there was a "I Heart Japan" fundraiser that took place, which was a Zumba, slash Kickboxing, slash Hip Hop two and a half booty workin' event, all for $10.  All of the proceeds went towards Japan and their very unfortunate situation that took place there.

At the "I Heart Japan" fundraiser, there was a (non-mandatory) dress code of wearing the colors red and/or white to kinda go with the theme of the event.  So I busted out my red Dickie's (oh yea baby) and threw on my "Aloha for Japan" shirt, so I was good to go.

So yup, there we were again, the "fly dancers" dancin' backup for my friend Mara.  (If many of you remember, we all did a very similar fundraiser a couple of weeks back. http://haynmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/zumba-dunny-and-haynmade-what-combo.html)  The only difference was, the stages were more stable and I didn't have that fear of falling between the stages "tectonic plates" cracks.  But ya, all in all we did a pretty good set in front of 150+ peopz.

After the workout, my friend and I booked it on over to get some grub, cuz we were hella starving, lol.  So we headed on over to Kailua Town Pub & Grill.  I ordered me my French onion soup and a club sandwich, my friend got her a pastrami melt sandwich.  Man, that was some good stuff.

And what's a meal without dessert?  Haha.  (I know we burned calories for nothing, lol.)  So we headed on over to Coldstone to have some icecream.  I had me my typical order of coffee icecream with malted powder and Kit Kat, in a waffle bowl oh yea baby.  My friend jus' had her some coffee icecream.  I was one happy dude.

Upon leaving I snapped a couple more pics...

And then there's pic at a fountain nearby...

I made state finals for the science fair Uncle HaynMade Part 2...

So tonight was the awards ceremony,

For the state finals for the science fair here in the 808, which was held at the Hawai'i Convention Center.  As many of you remember, I guided my niece and her partner in getting their presentation board ready (http://haynmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-made-state-finals-for-science-fair.html), and tonight was the awards night for all of the entries.  In a nutshell, she didn't place, lol, but that's okay, I was still proud of her accomplishment, being that she made it that far, that's commendable in my books.  So as usual, I seized the moment to snap some pics for memory's sake.

My niece's board...

And some other entries in my niece's bracket...

Also at the state finals for the science fair, there was an art competition for next year's science fair information booklet cover.  I must say, these kids have some ridiculous talent, you'll see what I mean.

1st place winner...

3rd place winner...

Honorable mention...

Another entry...

After the awards ceremony the family went to have some dinner together to celebrate my niece's accomplishment, so we head on over to Ricado's for some killer Italian food.

Two words...shrimp piccata...

Bringin' in the new year with a Zumba sesh...

So one of my good ole college buddies,

Gave me a ring, asking me if I wanted to bring in the new year with a Zumba sesh this morning.  With me always being up n up on a new challenge I accepted her offer.  So my friend picked me up in her spankin' new Honda Pilot (beautious) and I went all ready and rev'd up to jam for my first ever Zumba class. 

When I got there, it was 95% women, lol, and I must say, there were some beautiful ladies there, damn!  And when I saw the instructor, I was like, double damn! 

So anyways, with my hip hop background I thought I'd be able to kick some royal Zumba rump...BIG NEGATIVE!  That instructor worked me over like no tomorrow with a steady workout that worked every inch of my bod, arms, back, legs, rump, you name it, we did it.  She was hella good, and very positive and motivating, which is what I liked best. 

My friend cracked the hell up as I did my impromptu hip hop in between some of the moves.  After our sesh, we hit it to Jamba, my friend got some yogurt granola thing and me, my fav, Razzmatazz (no bananas sub straw).  But ya, for those of you who haven't done Zumba before, you gotta try it jus' to say you did it, and for those of you folks who do Zumba, major props, cuz I know I'm gonna feel it tomorrow, haha.  Happy New Year peopz!

The holidays in the 808...

So today I booked it on over to my friends' crib,

For the holidays in the 808.  These guys go all out for Christmas, I mean all out, from decorations to gifts to food.  You'll see what I mean in my pics below.

Okay, kinda funny story, on Christmas Eve, my friend has her daughter and son write their wishlist on these plates she brings out every year.  On the plates they both know to leave cookies and milk for Santa.  This year, because we were hella tired from the football game, we didn't have the energy to bake cookies.  So this year, Santa had to be content with a an old leftover cookie, a slice of pizza and marshmallow chex mix, hahaha, friggen hilarious.

Gifts up the ying yang for the kiddies...

Das' some lucky bootay kids, I swear...

Hmm, I wonder who this is all for, lol...

This is my absolute fav pic, cuz we were all rollin' when we saw this.  So my friend's mom, for those of you who have been following my blog, the one up in Cali.  Well, every holiday season, she always sends my friends and their family their gifts in the mail, because her husband is usually coaching or attending a "football bowl" game.  Well my friend's daughter got a solar powered hand waving Royal Queen figure.  But what was even MORE hilarious was the note my friend's mom left for her granddaughter:

"Merry Christmas!  Since I can't be there to watch you celebrate Christmas, wanted to send a statue of me to 'fill in!'"

Hahahaha, when I saw this I was seriously rolling, especially when the hand started waving back n forth.  I swear my friend's folks are friggen hilarous and they're hella cool.  This year they hooked me up with a remote control helicopter, yesssss!

Feelin' like ish...

So my eventful Thanksgiving weekend finally caught up with me,

My friend's son had just gotten over a cold.  According to his mother, he was not contagious, but hmm, how is that so when her husband and I got sick?  Lol, it would be my luck.  I really can't stand it when I get sick because when I do I get hit pretty bad.  So today, I took the day off so that I wouldn't get the office peopz sick and I bought me a whole bunch of stuff to hopefully drown out all the crapola that's in my system.

Around the island...

So my friend's bday was on Saturday,

So her husband (also my friend), their son and I went driving around the island, which is something their son hasn't done, and something I haven't done since I was a kid.  We packed a whole bunch of food and headed on out, good times.

Makapu'u...

Chinaman's Hat...

Triple Crown at North Shore...