"Wait, did everyone get a Mai Tai?"

It's our first day on the beautiful island and a couple of things have definitely stood out to my family:

• The weather is similar to Vietnam's!
• These flowers and trees grow in Vietnam too
• It's really laid back and as easy going as in Vietnam
• There's also a significant number of Vietnamese people here.....

In other words, my parents are pretty happy here! 

Our view!

Today, we just took our sweet time getting settled into the home that we are renting out for a week. We stopped by Costco (which is oh so conveniently located about three miles away from the airport) and Chinatown for groceries, disposable chopsticks, and a large case of Coronas, of course. 

Traveling in a group of people always stresses me out because each person has a set of preferences and temperaments. I always feel like I'm in a circus balancing the dynamics and keeping the peace. I hate conflict. So naturally, I was very nervous about this trip since it's my family -- we get on each other's nerves very, very easily. Thankfully though, without even talking about it, we all settled on the same mindset of relaxing and enjoying our vacation. 

Except for me. I am having a hard time letting go of work, my puppy, and contact with some of my friends. It's going to take a while for these tense muscles to relax. I'm not surprised. I'm a workaholic, through and through.

For tomorrow, we're going to start out the day with swimming in the ocean, flea market, picking up a friend from the airport who is joining our vacation, and going to Vietnamese Mass! We'll figure out the evening activities when it comes. Meh. We're on vacation.

Speaking of which, before our plane landed this morning, our airline gave us complimentary Mai Tais as a warm welcome to Hawaii. I couldn't say no to a free drink (and my siblings couldn't either, apparently) so I gladly accepted their warm welcome. Except that as I was taking my first sip, I realized that it was still only ten. IN THE MORNING. Geez. My judgment of time is always off the rocker whenever I travel. 

Oh well. I'm on vacation. 

-hd