This wedding was no ordinary wedding nor was it one to be forgotten. This wedding was unforgettable for so many reasons and though the power was down, we powered through as a group and came out of it with memories for a lifetime.

Saturday, August 15

It began with some light turbulence in the last hour of my flight, but we all landed safely, at different times, and trickled our way to the car rental area. We were given choices of which vehicle to select and ultimately, a stunning white 4Runner was what we chose to ride off with in Oahu. Our first stop was to Costco. Lo and behold, we nearly crashed carts with the almost-married couple, intentionally, as the groom found us in the alcohol aisle. Serendipitous and silly, I screamed as our gathering occurred earlier than expected, but it was still sweet like the marshmallow crispy cookies from Costco’s baked goods section. We obtained other vacation nourishments such as instant noodles, tequila, water, and fresh fruit. Rain, wind, and playing Tetris with the room in the back of the car gave us the push to continue on our first day.

The first poke of the trip was purchased at Foodland in Dillingham! We sampled at the hot foods bar and I left with a pound of fried chicken skin, Crystal Louisiana’s hot sauce, and truthfully, not enough snacks for what was to come. Hindsight is everything and this trip made its mark as my most memorable Hawaii trip for so many reasons. Please keep reading to learn why, or experience it again if you were on the trip with us!

As we made our way up to the villa, we had two failed attempts in trying to find a couple of shave ice spots, so we settled for a quick trip to 7/11. With canned coffee for AV and DH, a Poppi for me (and a Diet Coke I never got to enjoy), we hydrated ourselves in some capacity and finally arrived to the villa, a few minutes drive from the 7/11 convenience store. Who knew that would be our first and last time being able to purchase drinks and treats from that 7/11? Not me!

As we entered the villa, we take in the noise of someone mowing the lawn, and unload our car. Memorable moment: DH’s suitcase was missing a wheel and a handle soon after broke off. We walked through the tall wooden entry doors and first thing I noticed was the wide and wooden staircase. There was a lot of wood in this villa. Going up and down the stairs would become a task we all partook in as the kitchen and living room is up the stairs, and for AV, JS, DS, and AC, they would find themselves going up and down this spiral staircase into their sleeping area, which is the loft by the kitchen. Lots of stairs for that group of four and lots of staring for our entire group as the next day inevitably arrived.

I personally was trying my best to not drink a drop of alcohol until the day of the wedding, which was on Monday, but due to the fact that AC barely made his flight, DS cried, and the bride was drinking, I started drinking the lychee vodka I purchased at Costco. “Anything for the bride!” I shouted before I drank my first shot of the trip. JS had us at high volume when he did his magic trick with a deck of cards. It was no ordinary, “Was this your card?” trick. It was beyond that. JS eventually turned in for the night and slept for hours on the couch as we stayed up. The night turned into a villa full of volunteers wanting to karaoke. We attempted to learn High School Musical’s “We’re All In This Together” dance and I am chronically unable to learn choreography, so it was a sad attempt on my part, but AV did well! DS gave us a sweet performance of Snakehips featuring Tinashe “All My Friends”, a song that always brings comfort and friends together, a theme we would find as the days went on.

Sunday, August 16

I can’t remember when I fell asleep but I can still remember waking up on Sunday and DH telling me there’s no power. I descended from the top bunk and made my way up the wooden stairs to the kitchen. The bride’s dad said he wished he cooked earlier when there was power but alas, none of us were psychic and could have predicted exactly when the power would go out. Fortunately, the stove in the kitchen was gas-powered so breakfast was prepared and enjoyed. It was my first time ever having Portuguese sausage! I have not been living life, truly, but that sausage brought some sweetness into our morning. Sausage, SPAM, a couple fried eggs, and freshly cooked rice, I could not have asked for a better first breakfast in the villa. Shoutout to the bride’s family for cooking and keeping the optimism high. Negativity? We never met her!

After breakfast, we gathered around the long wooden table where we ate and really looked at each other. I mean, we couldn’t look at our phones, the WiFi was not working! A few people had phone signal and I was not one of those few. My phone was on SOS-mode. Cue the Jonas Brothers song.

Wondering where DH and CT were, I walked into the room I was sharing with them and AA. CT said we’re leaving the villa and so we did. We walked out of the home and into the storm, literally. It was pouring rain and the wind made me question if my hat was going to stay on or not. First, we made an erroneous turn and went right on the main street when we should have turned left. We turned back and got in additional steps as we got on the proper trek to see what was open. Our clothes were soaked and our hair drenched in rain water. As we made our way to see if the 7/11 convenience store, that we visited yesterday, was open, the rain felt like tiny, sprinkled-sized arrows on our backs. There were broken power lines swinging in the air, an ambulance passed us, and brown water in the ocean. It felt thrilling to be outside in the storm with CT. We had a mission: find food, ice, and coffee for the villa. As we saw the 7/11 store come into our view, I saw a brown cardboard sign and my gut knew it was not open. There was someone inside mopping but there was no one walking in. We walked past 7/11 and saw that the Tamura’s parking lot was empty, so that store was also not a viable choice to explore and scour for items.

However, across the street from Tamura’s, we saw people and cars! Lo and behold, there was a business open. It was a small convenience store operating on a cash-only basis with no electricity. There was an older fella cashiering and an auntie cooking up some hot foods. I somehow convinced the owner to let me purchase the entire unopened box of red Shin ramyun that he had originally intended to sell them individually. We walked out with Shin ramyun, Top Ramen, Celcius energy drinks, canned coffee, and two small bags of ice. To my surprise, the ice bags were melting as we were walking back to the villa! A sweet, little boy offered to help us but it was a bit of a distance to walk, so we gestured him away. A truck that I saw pass us earlier had turned around and the uncle opened his door and said, “Get in!” He asked where we were walking to and I replied, “By the elementary school.” He responded with saying that’s far for a walk and we got back to where we needed to be in a zip.

The return to the villa meant both of us were walking around in wet clothes. With my phone not being of much use, I decided to change into a one piece swimsuit. One of my goals for Hawaii was to snorkel. I grabbed my snorkel mask from my backpack and used it in the villa’s pool. I didn’t need to see fish, I just needed to see underwater! The bride’s family was hanging out there and so I did a few, relaxing, and short laps back and forth in the pool. CT and I did one quick race and I followed my intrusive thought and grabbed her leg on the swim back to the 3 feet area. She did not drown and I did not win the race. It started raining, so we stayed in the pool and felt the rain on our skin. I wish I got underwater footage so I could capture what a fish sees in the ocean when it rains.

The day continued on with the power not on. The bride’s family braved the roads and storm and came back with butter garlic shrimp, beef, and chicken for lunch. I can’t remember how many shrimps I devoured but man, that shrimp was goOod!

I showered three times, in total, on this day without hot water and with light coming only from the flashlight of my phone. While there was still sun, I put on some makeup to make me feel more like ‘me’ and the Welcome BBQ started. By this time, we had a generator and one fridge was working and the kitchen lights were on. People who were not staying in the villa came through and the energy livened up. Hugs were exchanged, shots were poured, and the kitchen lights would flicker, go out, and turn on again. It was hilarious the amount of times we would light candles, blow them out, and relight them. We knew the generator would run out eventually, we just didn’t know when. We had fun, nonetheless. ❤ We had a speaker with some downloaded music and we were up! Up dancing, singing, and collectively making an unerasable memory altogether.

Noteable songs:

• “Cyclone” by Baby Bash
• “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada
• “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield
• “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton

Monday, August 17

It’s wedding day! We woke up and the electricity was still not on. The bride’s family made breakfast again, this time with some Shin ramyun and SPAM. I had two bags of red Shin last night and I had the Shin again. Don’t even get me started on how BLOATED I was from the salt, alcohol, and lack of fiber. After breakfast, DS and AC left the villa in search for gas for the generator and a group of us left the villa to walk, and for me and CT, we jogged around, circling back to the group, and eventually we took in the scene of the ocean. We saw the 7/11 from yesterday and again, it was not open. CT and I ran around the neighborhood and met two horses and two donkeys. Since Sunday, we were placing bets on when the power would turn on and by noon, there was still no power.

Power on or not, the classic sign of event preparation took place: getting ready and putting on makeup. We had to get crafty with our hair since the generator was being used (and rightfully so) to power one of the fridges. DS and AC came back to the villa WITH GAS! Success! And as it was the day of the wedding, photographers were present and they requested that we start getting ready for photos… This stressed DS and we all formed a circle at the end of the wooden table, applying makeup and brainstorming ideas of what to do with our hair. I ended up doing random strands of braids in my hair. At an earlier point of my trip, I realized I did not pack a formal attire band for my Apple Watch. By the morning of the wedding, my watch was dead, so alas, I did not need the fancy band (or the watch) to complete my outfit. Less is more in Hawaii.

People started trickling into the villa and we eventually all sat down on the white chairs for the ceremony. On my right arm, I noticed a little amber splat. A bird had released its bodily trash onto my forearm, lovely. Anyway, it lightly showered for a brief moment and it was gone within a few laughs. The officiant, S, told us to all stand up and there she was, the divine view: the bride. Alex walked towards us with her mother on her left, her father on her right, and a big smile I can still remember. Tears formed in my eyes as Alex and Kahai made eternal promises to each other, their love for each other is evident, and I felt so much happiness for my longtime friend as she became a wife and Kahai, her husband. Memories rushed to my mind and I recalled meeting Alex when I was 17 and she 18, not knowing where life would take us and when true love would find her. And indeed, true and unwavering love found her. A single sapphire slid down my right eye as they walked down the aisle for the first time ever as a married couple. They paused for a moment, right by my seat, and then Kahai dipped Alex for the classic wedding kiss.

Rain or shine, power or not, Alex and Kahai officialized their union and their forever began. We walked away from the ceremony, collected our surf board memento, which had our name and table name, and trekked our way to the huge white tent. I changed out of the pink dress and switched into a strapless sage dress. I sat down for a moment and then got back up to get in line for the food! When in Hawaii, eat Hawaiian food. The first bites were poke and this delectable cucumber salad. I got the salad at least twice. Before we got to the main course, the bride and groom switched their outfits and the bride’s dress was a number! It was white with long fringe as a skirt and the cutest outfit I saw all trip. The main course was sweet bread, kalua pork, chicken, macaroni salad, and more that I cannot recall. The mac salad was genuinely, truly the BEST I’ve ever had, so I got at least two servings of that as well. Dessert was shave ice from a vendor A&K had not tried yet but it was the first shave ice of the trip for many! An uncle was pouring tequila into some shave ice bowls and hey, we’re at a wedding, there will be alcohol in places you expect and there will be alcohol in unexpected places!

Before the dancing began, we heard speeches from the married couple’s parents, the bride’s cousin, and the married couple themselves. We got to witness a touching moment of Kahai dancing with his mom and the height difference made it that more endearing. The bride had a sweet moment with her father as they danced and soon, they broke into a number that got us all ‘ooohing’. By this time in the evening, there was still no power, but the tent’s lights were on due to the generator and we were running on good energy. We danced, sang, jumped, and sought refuge in front of the huge fans to cool down. I can’t forget to mention the bride in the DJ booth as we all sang “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada. As the night progressed, I took a break to take a brief nap, and I woke up to DH telling me there is power! A hot shower, air conditioning, and the sound of laundry running, man, was this a great way to end a great night.

❤ Congratulations again to Alex and Kahai! ❤ I am so excited to see where married life takes you! ❤