First Day

Whew, what a day. Got in to Oahu at about 11am local time, which meant I was up at 6am Pacific to get to LAX in time for the six hour flight. The flight was pretty good - I sprung for the $10 entertainment package where I could watch a bunch of movies. I watched Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief and Valentine's Day. Percy Jackson was pretty good but a little long. Valentine's Day was pretty silly and I was disappointed by Taylor Swift's performance, though I shouldn't be surprised.

My studio is pretty nice. It's located on the far east side of Waikiki by Kapiolani Park and Diamond Head. It's on the ninth floor. I've got a full kitchen and a large full bed. A TV (with basic cable) faces the bed. I also have a lanai and a partial ocean view that's quite beautiful to look through even on the couch through the glass door.

After unloading my stuff I headed over to Hana no Sato/Bento Box and Iyasume Musubi which are a few yards away and right next to each other. Service is very slow at Hana no Sato and the chicken teriyaki was not that great so I'll likely not go back even though it was wonderful that they spoke mostly Japanese there and the meal cost $3.94. I didn't like the salmon onigiri I got at Iyasume Musubi (too fishy tasting) but I also got a SPAM one that I'm going to eat tomorrow ($1.88 each). I ate lunch while sitting at Kuhio Beach Park watching folks surf and play in the water. I definitely felt a little stress leaving.

I then went to Food Pantry and dropped $94 on barely any food. Got some eggs, soy milk, frozen veggies, bread, etc. Everything is so expensive. But I hear Safeway is a little cheaper and folks at the firm are very generous and have offered to make grocery store runs with me since I don't have a car. Hopefully won't have to go back to Food Pantry again. The ABC Store is cheaper than Food Pantry. Yikes.

After a short nap I was off to the firm's attorney's social outing at Hawaiian Brian's for a pool tournament followed by dinner at Morton's Steakhouse. I've only played pool like once in my life and that was in college in the lounge of a dorm. Needless to say it was pretty hilarious to play having been up since 3am local time. I had a very kind partner, an attorney named Al, and we actually won several rounds (more like he won and I dragged him down, but not badly enough not to win). We got third place! I have a small medal and a gift certificate to Jamba Juice. Dinner was wonderful at Morton's. I wasn't able to eat the jumbo shrimp or crab cake appetizers because both had dairy, but they looked amazing. I had a salad and the fillet mignon which was juicy, tender and huge - have some leftovers for tomorrow. The set desserts were a chocolate mousse and a key lime pie, but the staff provided some fresh raspberries and strawberries for me. Overall, a great meal.

The attorneys at Starn seem really fun and laid back. I had a lot of fun talking with them and the other summer associates and everyone was very generous. I'm really looking forward to Monday when I start work.

Waikiki Banyan on Dwellable