NYFW In pictures: Nicholas K Fall Winter 2014 collection

Nicholas K FW 2014

In pictures: Daily Candy Bazaar [Soho, NY]

Welcome to Daily Candy's first-ever bazaar featuring 30 handpicked designers, craftsmen, bakers, boutiques and designers. I passed by hoping to see a performance by the Wicked Cast but classic me, I got the days mixed up. Glad I dropped by anyway to see the happenings. 

More pictures after the jump...

Donate $5 to Free Arts NYC and pick a balloon with a surprise prize

Sugarfina shop where I picked up my candy cube prize

Lady M!

Party skirts

Soko Charms

Lulu Frost 

Charms and Chain

Basil Racuk bespoke bags

Fancy dog treats from Bocce's Bakery

Cute potted plants from The Sill 

Impressive home decor items by Jung Lee 

Tutu du Monde

Hey Gorgeous...selfie in the bathroom

Daily Candy Bazaar this weekend only! 

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Snorkeling in Waimea Bay: Winter madness, summer coolness! [Oahu, Hawaii]

Calm water in the Summer at Waimea Bay

I wanted to write about this experience as it is still fresh in my mind. Waimea bay was one of the two snorkeling spots we visited in Oahu. We were only in Oahu for 2 full days (not including the day we arrived and day we left) and had to pick our spots carefully. We had already done the popular Hanauma Bay on our first day and had two other spots in mind for our second day including Sharks Cover and Turtle Bay. Luckily, Dave found Waimea Bay during his last minute research (I am so grateful for his patience to look up stuff to do)!! Waimea bay is best known for being home of the first Big Wave surf riding phenomenon and hosting famed surfing competitions during the Winter time (100 foot waves?!). The beach is somewhat secluded and not too large. There are limited snorkeling spots but when I read that there could be possible spinner dolphins sightings from the beach, I was sold!

OMG a turtle!

Selfie with turtle taking a breath of air. Notice his  one missing flipper?

Same turtle

OMG two turles!

OMG another turtle!..wait, is that the same one?

The dolphin sightings were on and off as pods of dolphins (not sure if they are the same ones) swam by the beach. They were a good distance away so no one really swam out to see them but there were many people on paddle boats that did and probably got really up close (jealous!). Because no one swam out, I stayed behind since I didn't want to be alone out there not knowing what is lurking under the sea. After about an hour of snorkeling and meeting many turtles, I decided that I would not miss my chance to swim with dolphins and that I must go out there. There were no lifeguards when we got there so I felt unsafe to swim alone and sadly, Dave wasn't confident in his swimming capabilities just yet. He only took swimming class right before our vacation. Before heading out, I spoke to two paddlers who had just made the trip back and told them that I would be making a swim excursion to see the dolphins and if possible, to look out for me in case something goes wrong. They said no problem but that the lifeguard has just arrived and setting up and so it would be totally safe for me to go. Cool! I was ready! About 10 minutes into the swim straight out from the beach, I see two people swimming nearby! I was so happy. It was getting a bit scary especially looking down at the dark deep blue sea and shark attacks in the back of my mind. I quickly caught up to them and screamed: "Hiiii...I'm so glad to see you guys out here... Can I join you guys!?!". And so, we ventured closer to the dolphins altogether and was even later joined by a man and a dog on a kayak. When I got back to shore, Dave told me a lifeguard paddled close to us as well so he stopped worrying and continued tanning. I didn't even notice the lifeguard because I was frantically trying to film and take pictures of the dolphins! At that point, I was on a high. I am swimming with wild dolphins!! This was no Sea World show here as I saw dolphins swim by and jumping out of the water. They didn't stay for too long and after about ten minutes, we all swam back to shore. Best.day.of.my.life.

Pictures? But of course! A video too!

OMG dolphins!

They are called spinner dolphins

Because they spin out of the water!

A dolphin pod..with baby dolphins!

And of course, to make my experience complete at The Waimea Bay, I had to jump off this 30 foot cliff by the beach. It looked easy but when I got up there, it took me about 5 (or 15?) minutes to rev up the courage to just jump! 

Want to see all of this in motion? I made a video! No video of me jumping off the cliff though because by the time I found the guts to jump, the camera was already out of battery :( That's okay, I will forever remember jumping off this cliff. I hurt my ass real bad doing it too. Big time wedgie!

That's it for now! Next stop, Kauaiiiiiiii........

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Honeymoon Travelogue: 4 days 3 nights in Oahu [Hawaii]

I have to write everything down before memories from our dreamy vacation fades away!!!

As mentioned before, we visited 3 islands in Hawaii (Oahu, Kauai and Big Island) and loved them all. Of course, some more than others. With days passing by so quickly, we wanted to do everything and I truly lived by what younglings say nowadays...YOLO! "Oh look dolphins out in the distance where sharks might lurk...must swim there..YOLO!"..."Oh look, a waterfall but we don't have hiking shoes...must walk barefoot down to go see it...YOLO!"..."Oh look, a tall cliff which I must jump off of...YOLO!". Just some examples.

Three days in Oahu seemed so short and since it was the beginning of our honeymoon, we went full throttle and expected to get some rest by the time we reach the Big Island. Without further ado, here is the list of some noteworthy (and some not so worthy) places we visited in Oahu.

-Hanauma Bay: This is where we got our back totally sunburned on our first day in Hawaii. I'm usually really really good about putting on sunscreen so I was pretty disappointed at myself for being lazy. Hanauma Bay is recommended if you're a beginner snorkeler HOWEVER, we did witness a drowning (no death) the moment we left the bay and we were told that incidents like this happen often due to snorkelers panicking and gulp in way too much water. My best advice, always go in with a partner and keep each other in sight. Actually, the 9 minutes educational video they force everyone to see before you enter the bay will also advise the same thing!

In hindsight, this is probably my least favorite snorkeling place we've tried in Hawaii!

-Halona Cove/Blow Hole (water blows out of lava tubes during the winter time only): There's a secluded beach near the blow hole which is called Halona Cove. We had just gone snorkeling so we didn't check it out. It's too not crowded probably due to the rocky climb to get down there.

Bonus: Two resident green sea turtles are often spotted there which we we got to see from afar!

-Keneke's: a local dining chain where I thought I had the best of the Li hing mui shaved ice. It was the first time I had shaved ice so I had nothing to compare it to but now that I've tried multiple places, I think it was my fave shave ice spot. For Li hing mui flavor anyway. It's also a good spot to get some really big lunch plates for less than $10! Check out the lunch plate Dave got which we shared. I end up eating a tuna salad and got a spicy salmon roll from the nearby 7-eleven.

The 7-eleven served dim sum and all these good stuff for cheap!

Char siu bao at the 7-eleven 

7-eleven spicy salmon roll for $1.99

-Kahuku Superette: Famous for their poke and yes, really good ahi tuna poke is served here! I think it was $17.99 per pound!

-We took a nap under palm trees at Kualoa Regional Park:

-Shrimp trucks: We tried Romy's shrimp trunk which is one of the two well known shrimp trucks on the North Shore. The other is Giovanni's and we heard the hot sauce is so hot that there is no refund if you change your mind! We weren't impressed with the garlic shrimp from Romy's which we heard was better than Giovanni's. Maybe we were full from our lunch already because I usually love garlic anything! Now I wish I could have tried Giovanni's so that I can compare the two. We were only minutes from closing so had no time to stop at both! I guess it is still a must-try if you're up in the North Shore. Don't forget to try the Li Hing Mui pineapple! 

Li Hing Mui + pineapple!

Romy's garlic shrimp over rice

-Waimea Bay: Love!!! (Will have a separate post about this place! YOLO! Click here )

-Sunset beach: Watch hot surfers and sunsets. I didn't see any hot surfers but we did see a gorgeous sunset.

-Ala Moana Center: This is where we pigged out on unami flavored ramen at MenYa-Ifu-Do-Do ramen. We also had fried octopus balls from Yama-Chan, a French crepe from Crepe Harajuku and salmon sashimi from Maguro Zanmai. All the food was consumed within about an hour.

-Side Street Inn: This local favorite serves the largest portions we had seen on the island and at a very decent price. We were definitely stuffed and had enough leftovers for lunch. The fried rice is popular and was pretty good.

-Pearl harbor: Finally, on our last day in Oahu, we had less than hour to visit Pearl Harbor. We had a plane to catch in the afternoon and didn't know the museum was not free. Some of the tickets were actually sold out. There are shuttles that brought you into different vessels where the museums were located. What was annoying is that you cannot bring any bags inside Pearl Harbor including purses or even your camera bags! There's a locker space you can rent for $3/bag and they suggest you do not leave any valuable items in your car due to high volumes of thievery so, it was like a trap for tourists to check in their bags. So, before you go, leave all your goodies at home or pay up! We didn't care and left our shit in the car only because we were staying for such a short amount of time.

All the vessels you can visit at Pearl Harbor

Some not so worthy places to mention but nothing to brag about:

-Jameson by the Sea: We ate there because everything else was closed that evening we arrived in Oahu. Most of the local restaurants close early and the rest are mostly tourist traps i.e. expensivo $$$

-Dole Plantation: Everything was kind of overpriced as expected and catered to tourists. We bought this little guy as a gift for Dave's aunt and he's the cutest thing Totoro has ever met. We heard the pineapple yogurt was good but did not try and I was intrigued by the Spam flavored macadamian nuts. We didn't stay for very long but some families could make it a day's event touring the plantation and play in the world's largest maze.

-Matsumoto's shaved ice: You go here because it is famous. Since i was all about Li hing mui flavoring, that's all I know to compare. I still prefer the syrup from Keneke's. The other stuff all tastes the same to me. And it's not a grocery store, it's just pretty much shave ice and souvenirs. 

-Royal Hawaiian's legendary Mai Tai Bar: This is where the "original" Mai Tai drink was born. I would say it's definitely not the best place to get a Mai Tai.

some winning drink 

overrated original Mai Tai

That's it for now! Next stop, Kauaiiiiiiii........

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