My dad lives on Oahu. My awesome brother and his amazing wife help my dad all the time — grocery shopping, doctor visits, social visits–everything. My brother mentioned that my dad is moving to a new place and since I was on spring break, I could fly up and help with the packing and cleaning since I don’t do anything else.

On the morning of my flight to Oahu, the TSA line was a little crazy (2-3 hour wait if you didn’t have TSA Precheck) but it was fixed before my afternoon flight and thankfully, when I showed up, there was no one in line and I breezed through the screening. I had a confirmed reservation for a truck from Budget in preparation for ease of moving all the things but when I showed up at Budget, there were no trucks available. I was given the option of waiting or coming back tomorrow but neither option had a guarantee of a truck. I ended up catching a taxi (right across the rental car area) and met up with my family at Izakaya Nonbei where we ate, ate, and ate.

First Full Day: We left Hawaii Kai at 7, and went to Donki to get lunch for my son since he is interning at a CPA firm right across the street. After that, my brother and I went to my dad’s apartment and began cleaning and packing for a couple of hours. We took him to his new home in an assisted living facility at 10 a.m. and started setting things up. We were surprised with lunch reservations at the facility where we enjoyed everything from saimin, mahi mahi in a lemon butter caper sauce, cherry pie, and ice cream. After lunch, there was an orientation session to help educate us about all the services and activities available to support my father. After all that, we went back to the old place and got a few more things including two reclining chairs. Somehow, my brother and I puzzled out the fit of everything in the Toyota Highlander and even left a sliver of a seat for my son to sit on and then had dinner at Korea House. Yum! I Ate, ate, and ate again–Korean BBQ, seafood pancake, mandoo, and soondubu. My brother fortuitously had a bulk trash pick-up scheduled for the following day and so we were able to put out the two old recliners to be picked up from home. I initially had planned to go home on the last flight on the second full day, but it was pretty clear to me that this would leave my brother with a lot to do on his own so I changed my flight to allow me to spend three full days on Oahu.

Second Full Day: Leave Hawaii Kai at 7 a.m. for the same son drop-off and then headed to Target to get some essentials for my dad’s new place. We finished shopping just in time to meet up for breakfast with a friend at Liliha Bakery at Macy’s Ala Moana. I had been wanting to see this particular friend so much and I am so glad that our schedules aligned for us to meet up. Kimchi fried rice from Liliha was yummy! After breakfast, we went back to the old apartment to continue packing/dumping/cleaning. We packed up more things to dump including an old mattress and box spring that we tied to the top of the car and filled the interior of the car with other trash. I had no clue where the rubbish dump was on Oahu and this was a new experience for me. After that, we had lunch at Doraku where I tried to keep my meal on the lighter side by ordering a shrimp and avocado salad that I really enjoyed! We brought a few more things to my dad’s new place after lunch and visited with him. After lunch, we packed up even more things that we are planning to temporarily store at my brother’s house. We finished a little early so that I could watch my nephew at judo practice in Nuuanu and then picked up my son and headed home to Hawaii Kai. I wanted to eat the Korea House leftovers and my SIL made delicious salmon and broccoli for my nephew and my son. Dinner was so enjoyable as I watched my 6-year-old nephew trying to coax my 21-year-old son into eating broccoli.

Third Full Day: Last day of moving! We packed up a few things, visited my father in the morning, and found that he was at the dining lounge having breakfast. We visited for a bit and my dad told us that he slept really well the last couple of nights and was enjoying the food there. After our visit, we went to back up more things at the old apartment to transport back to Hawaii Kai but stopped at Pieology in Aina Haina for lunch. I loved the thin-crust Margherita pizza and the custom salad. I love pizza and would go back any time. After lunch, we went back to the dump, headed back to the apartment, packed up the last of the items in the house, and took our last trip back to Hawaii Kai to unload. My brother’s garage is filled. My brother and I succeeded in cleaning out EVERYTHING from the old apartment! We finally relaxed for a bit, and in the afternoon, had time to head to Donki to purchase yamaimo and pick up my son before heading to the airport to catch the last flight home to Hilo. As seems to be the usual–it was slightly delayed but I made it home. I was looking forward to checking on my garden and my household. And attempt to eat some healthy food after three days of indulgence. My dog was so excited to see me!

The purpose of the trip was to work and help my father out of his old place and into his new place. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to help since I’m so indebted to my brother for being the primary support for my father on Oahu. But turns out I was the one who was blessed with time with my father, brother, SIL, nephew, and son as well as being able to catch up with a dear dear friend I have been wanting to see! Living Hilo Style on Oahu.