Hawaii 5-0

Luau with my Bro Jordan and sis Tiff 

This is supposed to be Jake in Japan, right? Well I flew the coop for a while to meet my family in Hawaii! With my first semester at Otaru University of Commerce wrapping up February 11^th, I was able to convince my mother and sister that it would be a good idea for us to meet in Hawaii sometime before my second semester began in March. With a little planning, the three of us as well as my younger brother Jordan and both my sister and mom’s boyfriends were able to meet in Hawaii from February 23^rd through March 3^rd. I set out on February 23^rd flying from the Sapporo Airport connecting in Tokyo, followed by an 8 hour flight to Honolulu.

Preparing to jump out of plane

We stayed on the North Shore at Turtle Bay Resort, the filming location for Saving Sarah Marshall. While beautiful and quiet, the North Shore is a bit removed from the nightlife and shopping of downtown Honolulu. We opted to stay along the Waikiki beach for one night of the trip to soak up the city sounds. Rolling out of plane at 10,000 feet was by far the highlight of the trip. Again, I convinced my mom and sister that skydiving would be an unforgettable experience. It's amazing the leverage you can get by living overseas for a year! I think I probably would have chickened out if it wasn't my own idea. Tiff and I agreed that our mom kept her composure the best of all of us before and during the descent. I'll return to Otaru on March 4th, have a few days to unpack and repack for a week in Taiwan! This is by far the best Spring break to date!