ladykrystal

We lived near Wahiawa at Schofield Barracks for four years. There is nothing in Wahiawa to take pictures of, we used it to get driver’s license, car registration, dry cleaners, WIC checks and to turn in coins at a grocery store. It is a quiet community. There are no beaches near there—a highway runs right over it past Schofield Barracks eventually goes to North Shore. There is a main bridge that goes in Wahiawa there homeless people lived under it until the police come to run them out. I wouldn’t walk in the town alone at night very dangerous—many criminals live in the town. I was followed once by car going to the dry cleaners by car. I hardly went there only if I had to. The places to go outside of Wahiawa and Schofield Barracks that are worth visiting is the zoo in Honolulu, Sea Life Park, Ko Olina 4 lagoons—beautiful beaches/calm water/can snorkel, Pearlridge Mall in Aeia which has Sears, Macy’s, 16 theatre complex as well as a tram that goes in between North and South Pearlridge Mall. Also Circuit City and Toys’r’us is near there. Ala Moana shopping center in downtown Oahu had only seafood restaurants to eat from, great Christmas plays, Disney store and The Sharper Image. Otherwise my husband was bored with this Mall. The Windward Mall had small stores but a better variety of food to eat—my husband was bored there too. Across the street was a huge theatre complex. Our favorite restaurant is the three story aquarium called Oceanarium at the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki. To get a window seating you need to make reservations and buffet is the best in choices of food/seafood/beef/pork/desserts/salad. We easily spent $100 for three adults and one small child. Best Luau we went to was at Paradise Cove in terms of entertainment and Hawaiian activities to do like learning to Hawaiian dance, Hawaiian bowling and making leis. As for best buffet style in Hawaiian food was Germaine’s Luau. We loved the Atlantis submarine ride—we got the tickets at Hilton Hawaiian Village. We also loved the Navatek cruise—food/entertainment okay as well as the Star of Honolulu dinner cruise where we got the tickets at Pier 6 Clock Tower—very romantic, great food and fun with the staff in terms of entertainment/dancing. Polynesian Cultural center was great too—staff too nice due to being mormon run but very educational and asks for audience participation. Buying a house in Oahu—I would not advise—they are very small and very expensive $300,000 when you buy the house that is all you own not the land/property. If you want a spacious house on the beach you need millions of dollars. Jobs there pay little money for rent, often people there are having to work two part time jobs with no benefits. Traffic is horrible from September to May due to school. One can’t get to the airport or to Waikiki once there is an accident on that highway if coming from Wahiawa. ICE is an epidemic there as well as car racing on highway at night—one has to watch one’s back. There are no interconnecting highways between islands, air fare is expensive in between islands and a ferry is being built to go in between at a future date. Majority of people there are very nice and friendly especially at Schofield as well as on boat, restaurants and stores. But on occasion we ran into people who had other intentions. One time my family and I drove to North Shore to see the sunset on a beach and a car followed us. The man in the car parked behind us and thought I was driving alone with my three year old son. He had bad intentions for us and drove away in his car once my husband jumped out of our car to confront him. I would advise females not to drive alone in a car to North Shore. Also at Schofield when my husband was sent overseas—a man came to the door of my house 7:30pm at night he said he was a newspaper reporter which I found out later he wasn’t. He was angry when I didn’t open the door to him and he had bad intentions too. So just be careful there—don’t open doors to strangers. I would say it is a nice place to visit and not to a good place to live. It is too expensive to live there in terms of grocery prices, gas prices and housing prices.

I lived in Beaverton for 20 years or so. Then I joined the military life for six years now and have visited Beaverton twice in that time frame. I am impressed with Beaverton in how much it has changed and grown. The country I grew up in is now Condo and townhouse miniture cities. Many of the condos come with pools, clubhouses and drycleaners on property as well as front door access to light rail train system. Beaverton has so much to offer in terms of shopping/dining/choice in one’s way of living. Transportation is top of the line. They have a light rail train and bus system that goes everywhere—the bus/train ticket are interchangeable. I really like the light rail train—I believe it goes from Hillsboro up into Portland. It goes right through a hill that goes under the zoo which is so cool. There are two lives one can have there. One can live by car and get stressed out in traffic trying to get into Portland for work or one can live by taking light rail transit system into Portland while reading a book or typing on a laptop which is very peaceful. I have a friend that lived in a condo on the light rail train max line in Beaverton, she would kiss her husband goodbye every weekday and send him off on the light rail train to go to work! Also multiple shopping opportunities and dining choices. I imagine though it can be expensive to live there—one has to look in the newspaper to find housing within one’s budget. A downside is that my mom has had trouble finding work in Beaverton and Portland area which could be due to age discrimination. When my son and I visited I was able to find playgrounds for him to play in. Downtown Beaverton they have a huge library with a fountain that kids can play in during the summer and playground next to it. My son loved that area. He also loved riding the light rail train and visiting the zoo. I am excited to bring my husband there soon to show him where I grew up and take him to Portland. A must see in Portland are the Rose garden, the riverfront, the zoo and OMSI/planetarium. My only other complaint about Beaverton is how much it rains and how cold it is in the winter. Otherwise if you have money, a job lined up and don’t mind rain/cold it is a great place to live.

I have been living in Augusta for almost two years at Fort Gordon. The best thing I did for our car before our family came here was fix the air conditioner you are going to need it. If you have a child there are two places you can visit for some fun—Fort Discovery and Funsville. If you like shopping—there are three main places to shop—Augusta Mall, Deans Bridge Road/Washington Rd and Augusta Exchange—all the favorite big stores (Circuit City, Sams Club, Target, 2 Walmarts, JcPenney, Macy’s and Best Buy, etc). Fort Gordon is like living in the country I have seen foxes, coyotes, deer, squirrels and geese (geese groups stop by for a pit stop in fall and spring). Also lots of green spaces at Fort Gordon. The down side of living here—Atlanta and Columbia are three hours away so be sure you have a comfortable car for driving long distances. Also if you want to get anywhere you need to rent a car—do it in advance. Bus and taxi transportation is very unreliable here especially around the holidays. Also these last two years have been scary off post with in home robberies and robberies at businesses on Gordon hwy outside the Fort Gordon gate. Two hotels we stayed at when we first got here got robbed six months after we moved on post. Robberies seem to be at their highest from November to February. Also there were two kidnappings at two gas stations in this area. Otherwise, it is pretty laid back here. Easy to save money because there is little to do except occasional festivals held on by downtown Augusta, Lake Thurmond and Fort Gordon. Also if you are a foreigner the only place to work here is at fast food restaurants. I have a german friend that came here with job experience and not able to find a decent job except at a fast food place. The most beautiful place to visit here is J Strom Thurmond Lake it is so quiet.