BITTERSWEET

Last week Friday was my last day with my first permanent client.  I have been working at Mililani Middle for a little over 4 months.  Within that amount of time I have made strong connections with the DOE personnel and with the students there as well.  I was excited to be transferring and getting another client, however when the day was almost over, I felt sad.  He's a really good kid, and I'll never forget our eventful, last week together.  I wish him and his family the best of luck in the future and I will definitely miss everyone that I have been blessed to have the opportunity to work with!!  Now it's time for me to venture out into new waters!

What I'll miss most:  School lunches and the fact that teachers get DOUBLE!  The cold weather up in Mililani Mauka makes me feel like I work in the North Pole.  Treats and goodies from the students.  The rainy days!  P.E. class and KICKBALL!!  :'(

Uncovering the truth down under: AUSTRALIA TOUR 2011

WARNING: The blog entry that you are about to read is very long [just as I like it] detailing exactly how busy Ma'ohi Nui dancers are! We do work, son... No joke about that ;) And please stay tuned for more pictures to come in the upcoming weeks.  AFE's photographer on tour, Joshua Gatlin, did an amazing job documenting the shows and workshops that we've conducted in Australia. 

Mahalo Nui Loa!
 

Where do I begin?  There is just so much nitty-gritty-business when it comes to preparing to go on a tour.  Of course it's always exciting to travel, but not a lot of people see the hard work that goes into these things.  Yes, the dancers have beautiful costumes, the hair, accessories, and other adornments are in place, the dancers pretty much nail the performance AND choreography, the music and beats are to the tee, but ALL of these apsects don't just come out of thin air!  With dedication, blood, sweat, tears, and hard work--people make these things happen!  The costumes have to be created, choreography has to be made, formations in the line up have to be memorized, the music has to be composed and played to the right tune, key, tempo, etc., everything has to be well thought of before the actual show can come together.

3 WEEKS before leaving to go on tour
We had to learn a whole new Samoa section and Hula section for tour.   And as dancers, it is very critical to be flexible to any changes to the routine, no matter how last minute the changes are [& I mean "last minute" as changing something the very moment before you get on stage]!  So that's why things can get a little frustrating!

The typical daily grind for me includes: Work-itself, work trainings and supervisions, helping to teach keiki tahitian class, helping to teach beginner tahitian class, helping to teach intermediate tahitian class, and practicing in advanced tahitian class [Yes! That's 4 separate dance classes per week], doing Insanity work outs 6 days a week, house chores, AND doing an average of 2 gigs per week [whenever/where ever in the islands].

Still doing dance gigs & trying to manage other aspects of our lives with only 24 hours in a day!

Thus, on top of all of that, the 3 weeks before tour, we've added yet ANOTHER session to practice strictly for the tour and all of my extra time and energy went to figuring out transitions, formations, and how we were going to get our costumes made!!

It was TIRING for me to keep up with work, dance, and other outside priorities, but I've somehow managed.  So, you can already imagine how exhausted we were BEFORE we actually set off to go on tour!  Hahaha!  So not the bizness, I tell you!

Packing was a BITCH!
Please excuse my foul mouth, but it really was only because we had to be mindful to pack lightly due to all of the equipment, drums, and other instruments that the group needed to check in as well.  So aside from packing the normal things that people pack when leaving to go on a trip, we also had to pack our costumes.  Just reminiscing about my packing makes me irritated, so I'll just leave it at that... packing was a major bitch!  But once that was squared away............. all I could think about was......... AUSTRALIA :)

6 DAYS in AUSTRALIA
DAY 1: It was a 10 hour flight from Honolulu to Sydney, Australia.  **Just a side note: I get restless and irritated when it comes to plane rides because I can never fall asleep like everyone else** Once we touched ground, got through customs, and collected all of our luggage and equipment, we boarded our tour bus which took us to Novotel Manly Hotel... [another frikken hour away].  On the way there, it was my first time seeing the famous Opera House.  I thought it would've been my last, but luckily it was the first of many times I got to see it on this trip :o)  Once we got to the hotel, we unloaded equipment and got settled into our rooms.  Everyone pretty much did their own thing, some got to explore the city, others were mixing kava in one of the guy's room, but me and a few others showered, then knocked the fuck out!!!  SERIOUSLY!

DAY 2: The next morning we got ready, ate breakfast, and had to load up into the tour bus YET AGAIN to board Qantas to fly from Sydney to Alice Springs where we were conducting one workshop and performing two shows in partnership with none other than the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with one of their former head cheerleaders and a personal photographer!  The funny thing is, I'm not really into American football, but I LOOOOOOVE RUGBY!!  So, speaking of rugby, as luck would have it, as we were doing a group check in at the airport, we ran into Australia's finest...  RUGBY TEAM!! 

This would be a good time to mention that Australia is fahhhking expensive!  Right before boarding the plane, Kapua was little bit thirsty so she bought one bottle of Stella for $10!  Sheesh!  It's just as expensive as Tahiti and US money is pretty weak there.  However, we learned from a Commanding General (Pardonne moi as I am not to familiar with Military titles, but I did receive a special coin from this particular man who invited us to Australia), that although the cost of living in Australia is HIGH, the minimum wage is $14/hr and if you work at McDonald's you'll start at $18/hr and Aborigines get $1200 every two weeks from the government as a sort of compensation or amnesty because of the commercial development that has taken over their land.

Still in DAY 2:  So after finally arriving in a different part of Australia called Alice Springs, we got settled into our separate houses and then set off to go grocery shopping.  This was a major culture shock for us.  I knew Aborigines existed, but I never thought about the kind of situation they had to live in.  Most of them literally lived in the surrounding bushes, the males are violent toward women, children, and especially tourists... LIKE US!!  They use their money that they receive from the government to get butt-fuck drunk by mid-day, or to gamble at the nearby casinos.  When we were shopping in the grocery store, all we could smell was their funk, because they don't shower :o(  I gagged a couple of times in the alcohol section because it was just sooooo hauna!

 

After our grocery shopping "experience", we got our living situation a little bit more organized then had to get ready for the potluck that the Commanding General threw for us.  We drank, BBQed, ate, shared stories, and then we were off to go feed some Wallabies.

Once we got back to the houses, it was time for another [alcoholic-kava] drinking session for the entire crew!  Maohi Nui, Buccaneers & company UNITE [As if the FREE booze on the plane ride and from the potluck weren't enough]  SHEEEEZ!!

DAY 3: We were up bright and early ready to start, yet another long day!  After eating homemade breakfast burritos and sipping on coffee [I don't usually drink coffee, but it makes a great laxative for me].  We got up, put on our practice gear and set out to our venue where we would be performing that same evening.  Musicians did their sound check and the entire crew ran through the whole performance twice to work out any changes and so forth as far as staging.  We definitely worked up a sweat as it was a much needed detox!

Afterwards, we went to BoJangles restaurant to sample some of Australia's native grinds, then we hurried home to our respective houses.  The boys said they cruised and had time to sleep before the start of the actual event, but for the girls it was a different story!  We were a mad house, ironing pareu's getting our hair prepped, flower pieces, accessories and all of our costumes together, showering all the damn sweat off of our bodies, getting our show-make-up on, etc. etc.  It sucks being a female dancer because we put in more work than guys do [And I state that as a matter-of-fact because the girls ended up sewing the guys' and musicians' costumes]! LOL!

Once we get to the venue, the guys do air brush tattoos and the women do lei-greeting and casual hula as the guests arrive.  After about an hour & and half... It's SHOW TIME!  The line-up:  Eye-Opener, 'Ote'a, Emcee Song, Hula Imps, Hula Kane, Hula Wahine, Tonga section, solo Ahuroa, Samoa, Samoa sasa, Samoa slap, Vahine 'Ote'a, Tane 'Ote'a, audience participation, finale, & picture taking session. The first show was rough on us all.  It was okay, but not up to Ma'ohi Nui standards and if you know our leaders, then you would know that they expect only the BEST!  But regardless, it was fun for us all and now we knew what we had to do to make show #2, even BETTER!!!  So after the show, we scoped out the casino's, bars, and restaurants in Alice Springs.  The whole scene was okay, but we decided we had enough of that scene and it would be in our best interest to bring the party back to our houses.  So we drank, laughed, screamed, danced, and "Big Booty-ed" they night away ["Big Booty" is a game that no tour would be complete without].

DAY 4: We were up early, AGAIN, to host a workshop for the people of Alice Springs.  The NFL players did a football workshop with the guys, and Ma'ohi Nui, did a dance workshop for the girls.  I ran the workshop with much help from my fellow female dancers, musicians, my leaders, and the guys were there to support us.  This workshop was conducted in 105 DEGREE WEATHER!  

So we were BEYOND detoxified by the end!  Some of the men stayed to play a friendly game of football on the field, but the rest of us went back to the grocery store for more food to cook and more alcohol!  It was the weekend in Australia, so the store was packed with even more drunken Aborigines.  One was passed out on the floor :o( SERIOUSLY!  

After our grocery store run, we went back to our houses to get ready for SHOW #2!!  We were all drained from the heat and the workout that we got earlier in the day so having to prep for another show was tiring, but as the saying goes, "THE SHOW MUST GO ON!"  So it's the same routine as the first time we arrived at the Alice Springs Convention Center, however, this time around, our leader was really satisfied with the way the show turned out.  Show #2 was way better than the first so it definitely called for A Major Celebration!

We all gathered at the girl's house to cook, have a pot-luck style dinner, drink, and celebrate the completion of an awesome tour!  So much jokes, laughter, and food was shared between the musicians, the dancers, the leaders, our collaborating team: The NFL Buccaneers and company.  This night, the two leaders which I give my utmost respect to, and I stayed up until 8am partying and mostly sharing our deepest gratitude for what we have in front of us!  It's truly a blessing to be where I am in life and I'm not going to let anything stop my train in it's tracks!

DAY 5: Slept for only 2 hours because we needed to get up to board the plane back to Sydney.  I was so wired-awake and grouchy because I didn't want to be awake AND because I was either spotting or on my full blown period for the entire trip!  [Yesss! I PMS-ed for the whole trip :(] I felt like an insomniac!  UGGGHHH!  So I endured the 2 hour plane ride back to Sydney, and the hour bus drive back to Novotel Manly hotel.  It's already night-time in Sydney and we were given an hour to get ready to go out for our LAST NIGHT IN AUSTRALIA!!

We showered and got all primped up not knowing where the hell we would be spending the evening LOL!  We ended up at the Manly Warf, catching the ferry over to the Opera House of Sydney.  That boardwalk is beautifully lined with bars, restaurants, romantic lighting... IT WAS BEAUUUUTIFUL!  We had a group dinner at a fancy restaurant called Searock Fish Cafe and all the food tasted awesome!!

So of course, after spending the night out on the boardwalk along the Sydney Opera House, we miss the last ferry going back to Manly Street, which was shortly after 11:30pm :o(  So, we decided to take the city bus back because it seemed like the most reasonable plan, but we had no clue which bus stop would take us to that route.  Luckily, out of the blue, a nice Australian street walker lead us in the right direction... the only problem was that mother fucker took us walking up, down, and ALL around the WHOLE entire city for about half an hour until we reached the right bus stop.  Then, we discovered that it would be another half an hour wait for the actual bus to come.  We were tired... exhausted!!  We just wanted to go home to our beds, so we decided to just cab it back.  Luckily for us there were several cab drivers across the bus stop, whom were able to take us back to our hotel.  $10 per person to get to where we needed to be without having to wait versus $4 per person to have to wait to ride in the city bus having to deal with all the stops a long the way...  I think we made the right choice lol!

Once we got back to the hotel, we all gathered together in our POC's room for a small chill session before we departed the next morning.  Before we settled and got the little party started, Jame's Lee, one of the NFL football players on tour with us, led me to the balcony and told me to look over in the next room.  I saw a messy luggage, but when I looked further to my left, I found our POC's hotel-neighbors fucking... NO SERIOUSLY, going at it with their curtains open, and their lights on... just humping!  I was too much in my PMS-mood to find it funny... [okay, okay, it was a little funny].  So we spend the rest of the evening drinking beer courtesy of everyone's mini-bar [because last call in Australia is 9 frikken pm] and watched the video of our performances in Alice Springs.

DAY 6: Time to head home.  We were up early.  Some got to catch the waves across the street at Manly Beach and I rest of us went to catch breakfast at a lovely little place called Poco Loco, right next to our hotel, still across the stree from Manly beach :o)

After all the morning business, it was finally time to bid Australia a fond farewell.  It was beautiful, it was fun, it was CRAAAAZZYY!  But despite all the glamor and fun, it was fucking exhausting!!  We had an hour bus ride to Sydney Airport, 13 hour flight to San Francisco with some rude guy kicking and putting his nasty toes on me during the whole flight, rushing to get on another 5 hour flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, the constant packing, unpacking, and packing up again, and the hauling of numerous heavy luggage and equipment, and going in and out of baggage claim and customs completely tired us out!!

But it's not like I came back home to rest..............

1ST WEEK being back Home
Sooo, I arrive home on Presidents' Day only to go back to the daily grind.  My body is telling me, "You've got to be fucking kidding me, right?!" But my alter-ego is saying, "Runnnn 'emmm haaaard girrrrrl!" So this is what my schedule was like the very next day after 18+ hours of traveling.

Tuesday 7:45am-4pm, [P.S. I take NO breaks at work on any given day because my student is nuts like that] then straight to help run keiki tahitian class, then beginner tahitian class right after.
Wednesday work 7:45am-3pm, then prep my costumes, hair, and make-up, then head out the door for a dance gig at the Waikiki Sheraton.
Thursday work 7:45am-4pm, then straight to help with intermediate tahitian dance, then practice in our advanced tahitian class.
Friday work 7:45am-3pm.  Clean up the mess I brought back from Australia!!

I finally get to catch up with rest tonight and THANK GOD my CPI training for tomorrow from 8am-6pm got rescheduled, otherwise I would've had an absolutely rough week to endure!!  But Ma'ohi Nui is getting busy with shows so my schedule doesn't look like it'll be opening up much anytime soon!  This is my life, this is my train and it's definitely going 100+ miles per hour with always something to be done at every minute of the day.  If I skip a beat, then my train gets jacked up!  I gotta keep up and I think I do a pretty good job at it.  That's why I created this blog, so you can jump on and catch glimpse of my life as a dancer... a glimpse of just how fast my train is going :o)

Home, Sweet Home!

Yes, I'm back on the rock! I've been meaning to blog about Australia since I got back this past Presidents' Day, but I haven't had the time to do so :( but I will definitely get a chance to do so soon. It will most likely just be of pictures and captions because we did A WHOLE FRIKKEN LOT!!

Ever since I got back, there was no time to recuperate or rest. We barely got any sleep on tour and we worked our booties off! When it was time to head home, I was just exhausted, but frustrated at the fact that I couldn't sleep comfortably :0( I was on a 13 hour flight from Sydney to San Francisco, then another 5 hour flight from San Francisco to Home, sweet home, HAWAII, and before I knew it, I was back to waking up to long days at work and going straight to dance gigs and dance practices. Uggh I've been exhausted, especially with having my period during the tour I just feel all sorts of strange things going on with my body. But it was definitely a fun trip and I will definitely blog about it sooner, if not later! Love you guys and I'm glad to be back :0)

A Few of My Favorite Things

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things" 

I'm sure you're familiar with that tune :0) With that in mind, I wanted to list a few of a dancer's favorite things.  They might be minor things to anyone else, but to a Polynesian dancer, these things are as good as GOLD!

• Bobby pins
• Hair berets 
• Safety pins
• Hook & eyes 
• Industrial velcro
• Fire-engine-red color lipstick
• False lashes (The Best Kine from Longs)
• Lash glue (Shiseido brand only from Japan direct)
• Bushy, bushy, BIG hair!
• Coconut bra
• Hula panty
• Angel Cake cutter (to shred them ti leaves)
• Dog grooming brush (to shred them tahitian grass skirts)
• Twine
• Scissors
• Extra black shoelace strings

Those are just a FEW things that are essential to have on hand as a dancer.  I have a huge tool box at home filled with "tools" that I need when it comes to costume making and show prepping!!  It's kind of ridiculous.  What I also think is ridiculous is the amount of space that my costumes take up.  It's bad enough that women, in general, keep a whole closet(s) and drawer(s) full of clothes!  So, can you imagine needing double that amount because your show costumes take up that same amount of space!  Hundreds of colors of show pareu's, practice pareu's, pau skirts, ahu purotu dresses, hula vignette dresses, cellophane skirts, pule tasi's, piu piu skirts, feathered outfits, headpieces, mother of pearl accessories, coconut accessories, rafia/lauhala outfits and accessories, muu muus [Yes, I do own and wear muu muus on occassion haha!], hula implements-uli uli's, pu'ili's, & ipu, headpieces... etc., etc.

Yes, this is just another thing you might want to consider if you ever decide to live with a dancer because chances are she'll probably ask for double the space just to house all of her "native attire" HAHAHA! Have a happy Thursday everyone!!  Weekend is almost here!

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Update: A few of my NEW favorite things :0)

Just a couple of outfits I picked up from a boutique, House of Aria, courtesy of the birthday gift certificate that I got from Marichris and Leilani!  Yeah, I'm so on a budget these days!  I only ended up spending $58 for these three items because I had that gift certificate :0)  **pat on the back for me**

Typical Hectic Day of a Dancer

Tonight's Main Event: 

MA'OHI NUI kicking off the ProBowl Party @ Waterfront, Aloha Tower.  

Live performances by T-Pain and JBoog 

You're probably thinking that I'm crazy to be blogging on a "show day," but trust me this one will be short, because I'm running on a tight schedule... tight like my pu........ Bahahahaah!  Okay so before working my 7 hour shift today [with no break, as usual], I got up early to work out, eat breakfast, pack my lunch, shower, brush my teeth, and then I had to scrounge for ti-leaves to make our fresh costumes for tonight's show.

You're probably asking, "Why did I procrastinate and not have my fresh costumes done earlier in the week?" Well, for two reasons, 1) I was working during the day and practicing nights to prepare for our upcoming tour.  2) Our clients don't hire dancers that dance with dead crap for costumes, thus we try to keep our costumes as fresh as possible... [Just like fresh ahi poke from Tanioka's].

So, if you don't own a farm or botanical garden, which most dancers don't, you're gonna have to go on a wild search to find the plants and resources you need for costume making....... et Voila!  Here is my secret spot for picking my red ti leaves.  I try to look conspicuous or pretend that I'm doing regular maintenance so that I don't get caught, busted, or arrested!  Yiiiikes!

I already have green ti leaves in my yard, so that's where these babies in the pic below came from.  Now I have to clean, strip and braid the leaves into material to make my costume, which for tonight will be a hip costume and a hei for my head.

Even if you're a pro at making these, finding the time out of a busy schedule to have your costumes done is still a hassle because it is time consuming.  Just like cooking, you want to make your costumes with love, otherwise the end result just comes out sh***y.  Preparing for shows and being a hardcore dancer in general gets really tiring :0( but the pay off is great, which is why I'm still die hard!

Anyways, the end result is shown below :0) Now all I have to do is throw some water on her, put her in a cooler, or a cool place in general, and I'll be ready to rock the sh** out of her at our show!!

Wish us luck at the event!  Hope you all have a HAPPY THURSDAY, a GREAT ALOHA FRIDAY, and an AMAZING WEEKEND to follow!  Xoxo!!

A U S T R-maa'fuckin'-A L I A Baaaabyyyy!

I want to start off with a quote from my dear friend, Madea!  Haha!  Also known as, Tyler Perry :)

Nobody said it was gonna be easy! But it’ll get easier when you learn how to love yourself. When you get to a point in your life when you look at people and go: “okay, wait a minute. You? Or me?” You will make a decision. Look, I’ve never just thrown nobody away. I’ve never in my life just thrown somebody away, just say: “don’t bother me. Don’t talk to me no more.” I have never done that. What I do is, I tell them: “look here, this thing you’re doing right here? That’s gonna cause a problem; you need to fix that. ‘Cause if we gonna be friends, you gotta fix it. If you don’t, we gonna have an issue.” Now, if you see someone fix it, or they even trying to fix it, that’s someone that cares. Keep them around. That’s a leaf that’s trying to grow up and be something else. You understand? But if you tell somebody that what they’re doing is hurting and they need to stop it, and they keep doing it? They don’t care; move on. Let them go. No matter how much it hurts, let them go. And it’ll get easier, I promise you . Everyday it will get easier and easier and easier. You just got to make it through. You hear me honey?

I looooooove wise ole Madea!  Reflecting upon that quote makes me realize and be all the more thankful of the wonderful people--my family and friends--that I have in my life!  This past week was so difficult for me to get through.  I'm not sure if it was just a menstrual or hormonal imbalance kind of jive, but I felt super fat, unmotivated, lonely, a bit suicidal... haha don't take the latter seriously, I think the suicidal part was probably just me taking the "F*** My Life" perspective to a whole new, majorly melodramatic level.

But anyways, there are definitely times where I look forward to having restful days, peace and quiet, not having to deal with work, gigs, dance practices, chores, errands etc. etc.  Days where I can just have absolute "Me" time.  Yes, those kinds of days do exist for me.  I make it happen, otherwise, I probably go crazy, gouge my eyes out or jump on broken pieces of glass or something.  On the contrary, I have my moments where I look forward to my life where I am so busy that I am not able to indulge in "Me" time at all!!!  [Not to say that I enjoy every minute of being bussst-ass-busy, but there are stolen moments where I do enjoy "gettin' busy."]  Yes, those days exist too, and unfortunately, they unjustly outnumber the peaceful and restful days... by a landslide :(  I don't know if you recall reading my blog about our dance group's Christmas Show, but just as an example, during that time, it was caaah-ca-ca-caaa-raaaay-zzzeeee busy!  And the next couple of weeks will be the same because in the middle of February, a select few dancers from Maohi Nui are going on tour to.....

A U S T [mother fuckin'] R A L I A !!! Yeah, Australia!!

I'm super duper excited!  I still didn't ask for leave from work yet, and I haven't even prepared my student's substitute plan either.  I haven't thought about packing.  We haven't learned any of the dance numbers we're supposed to perform.  And we haven't prepared/sewn any of our costumes!  Ohhh what joy will the next couple of weeks bring!  Ugggghhhh!  I'm not looking forward to the stress that comes with preparing for these kinds of dance events, but HE surely does plan my life accordingly.  And I say that because my sister is leaving, and I've been having more bad days than good days, so I know HE knows that the stress will help to get my mind off of things and help me get through the emptiness I've been feeling and focus on life and the better things ahead :)

To help brighten the mood of my sister leaving for New York, my mom, Tine, and I went shopping today at Ala Moana.  It was more for my mom than anything and Tine and I were just there to support her decisions [No that material looks cheapy! Oh yea, go with that one, you look so Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy] but hey she deserves it :) Oh, I also scored myself two cute pairs of shoes that I plan on rocking in Australia... and I'll probably rock them out for the next 10 years of my life as they become "so last season" and then slowly make their comeback into the fashion world... like bell bottoms!  I don't ever buy anything stylish.  Meaning to say that I am the epitome of "ghetto" haha kinda sorta so I'm very happy with the shoes :) Okay have a great week in Hawaii Nei all!

Oh yeah **CHEEEERS** for starting the New Year off with a new blackberry phone :) Ohhh how I loooove her soooo :)

Pill Boxes!

First Hike of 2011!  Kailua, Hawaii, Pill Boxes :)

Let's see how long I can keep this up... too tired to write so enjoy the pics! ...I had pics on here...then I don't know where they went lol. Must've had something to do with my phone upgrade. YIKES! Technology these days!