Sunday, November 18, 2007

Last Day in Hawaii

(You should probably start reading about Milo the Chocolate Lab for the beginning of my stories about Hawaii.)
(Statue ofDuke, the original Hawaiian surfer, on Waikiki)
My last day in Hawaii I spent running errands while everyone was away. I had damaged the mirror on my rental car, so had tons of stuff to take care of with that and I bought more souvenirs and mailed them off. I saw my cousin, Junior, who lives in Diamond Head for a couple hours and then met up with Jennie, her man, Trevor, Amanda and her friends visiting from Japan at Duke's restaurant. Mahalo guys!

Waimea Falls Park

Peacock at the Waimea Falls Park in Hali'ewa during our road trip.
While on our road trip, we simply gased up and pointed to some places on the map. We were going to go to the Surfing competition, but time was running out since we left only at 2pm and sunset was at 6pm. One of the main things I wanted to see was a waterfall. Waimea Falls did it. The botancial gardens there were beautiful. It was greenery everywhere. Too bad we only got there one hour before closing. We hiked to the waterfall and got a quick glimpse, but it was too late to swim in it. Oh well :)

Doesn't it look like we were superimposed in this shot? Well, that IS a real waterfall.

Wai'a'nae: Fun Times on the West SIDE!!!

It was Sunday after a trip to Pearl Harbor, when I decided to head to a less touristy side of the island (and to give Jennie and her roommates a break to study and write papers). I had found a cheap overnight stay on Craig's List with some guy named Thunder, a Native American guy, and his partner, Tina, over in Wai'a'nae. My plans to go to the island of Kauai never came to fruition as the task of planning it seemed daunting to me, especially since the cost of a helicopter ride, a second rental car and overnight stay, might send my budget for this trip through the roof. When I first got to Thunder and Tina's I was a bit taken aback since the place was in transition and was being renovated. I quickly met Stacey, who was now a New Orleans/Californian transplant and was staying with Thunder and Tina in the hopes of finding a place to stay in Hawaii. The same night that I arrived, our hosts made us delicious burgers.

Sea Turtle Siting!
The same day that I arrived, Thunder drove Stacey and I to a spot where we could see a sea turtle beaching himself on the shore. This was such a rare sighting on the island, but the West is mostly underdeveloped and it's where most Hawaiians live, so a beaching on this side of the island must've been much nicer than some touristy place like Waikiki for this sea turtle.
That same night, Stacey and I went to the beach at night. Yes, we did go at night and ended up meeting a local Hawaiian nicknamed "G." He rode his little moped into the beach right behind us and immediately was curious as to where we came from. He also told us about his desires to leave the island for Las Vegas (a place many Hawaiians seem to want to go to because of the gambling). He was a young buck, I'd say about 21 or so, hustling on the streets and probably needed to hear some stories from the mainland. I had read that this side of the island is where the native Hawaiians are and that many of them face all kinds of economic hardships. Sad for an island that brings in so much money from tourism, yet doesn't share the wealth with the people that are native to the place. Gentrification at work as usual.

Bright and early the next morning, Stacey and I headed for the Mahaka beach (still on the Wai'a'nae coast). It was sooo peaceful and so nice to be the only soul on the beach until a few straglers came around. We saw a lone surfer paddling along the shore and dangerously close to some rocks, but he never stood up to surf.

Hello Stacey, Morning Glory. Stacey and I later went on a road trip along the middle of the island where we visited the Dole plantation and got stuck in traffic after a surfing competition. Thunder and his friends suggested we try eating at Hali'ewa Joe's, a famous restaurant in the Surfing Capital.




Road Trip! Road Rules Hawaii

Jennie Major (left) and Amanda Gomes (right) are both studying at the University of Hawaii. Jennie, I met while studying abroad in Moscow and Amanda I met while on the JET program in Japan.

Soon after this picture was taken, Amanda and I decided to take a road trip down the east coast of the island of O'ahu on the Kamehameha Hwy where we stopped at a Macadamia Nut farm for fresh coffee and tons of Macadamia Nut products. We also happened upon a shrimp shack for some food and rolled through Hali'ewa, the "Surfing Capital of the World."

Polynesian Cultural Center

That pig was dead before I got there, I swear!

After the show, it's the after party! (read below)

Hot! Hot! Hot! Many of you have already heard about my regrets for growing up on the wrong side of the world. I would like to document proof of why Polynesian men are the hottest on the planet, but first, I guess I should tell you about my experience at the Polynesian Cultural Center sans the pictures.
Friday morning, Diane and I Thelma and Louised it down the Kamehameha Hwy and made a few stops along the way to take some photo ops, particularly of the Chinaman's hat. When we finally arrived at the Polynesian Cultural Center, it was around noon and the place was crowded with tourists, mostly Japanese of course. We bought an $80 ticket for the full luau and Polynesian dancing experience.
There were "villages" set up around the center (which we learned was attached to Brigham Young University - a Morman institution). Each village described the life of a different Polynesian island: Fiji, the Maori of New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii, Somoa and a few other smaller islands. It was all very educational, but we didn't REALLY see what Polynesia was made of until we saw the Parade of dancers floating on the boats down a canal that showcased each island's dancing.









(Dancers from Somoa) (Tahitian Dancers, the stars of the show)



The Luau

Usually, the best thing about any culture is their food. After a long day of oggling beautiful island men and watching dance shows and seeing performances, it was time to eat. Diance and I finally got our ceremonial "leis" and took pictures with, you guessed it, more beautiful people representing the Polynesian islands. We settled down to a less-than-entertaining host and ate buffet style after they presented the pig. (see picture above)

Up with the sunrise in Kailua

After arriving at Honolulu airport, nearly 4 hours late, Jennie Major, one of my good friends from study abroad in Moscow, came to pick me up with her boyfriend, Trevor. I was extremely tired after being on several different airlines/planes before finally arriving at my destination. My bags were misplaced in the airline shuffle, so all I had was one pair of clothing, a bathing suit (the one you see to the right) and some toiletries in my carry on. That was good enough for me. When I got to Jennie and Trevor's place, I met one of her roommates and her other roommate's mom, Diane. Jennie was really nice and allowed me to sleep in her bed while I was there.
I was clothless the following day, since my luggage had yet to arrive. I was told that if that happens, then the airline will pay you back up to $100 (keep your receipts!), so Diane and I went shopping at the local Island Wear shop in Kailua (the sleepy beach town Jennie lived in). I got a really cute white sun dress, some nice shoes and tons of toiletries totaling $100. After that shopping bonanza, Diane and I were hung out while I waited for Jennie to get home to take me to pick up my rental car. The rental car people forced a sweet Honda Accord with a sunroof down my throat, but after some maneuvering, I got used to it.
Early the next morning, Diane (who had just arrived 1 night earlier) woke up early, as did I at 5:30AM. We both decided that since jetlag got the best of us, we might as well make the most of it and watch the sunrise. You can see me bikini clad above, but it was the most perfect temperature I'd ever experienced. The water was warm and there was a breeze. After a few moments on the beach, Milo, the chocolate lab arrived and started playing with coconuts. Read below...

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Milo the Coconut-eating Chocolate Lab

Five Minute Blog Entry:
I got here just a day after the heavy rains, so it's still a bit cool and there are some sunshine showers every once in a while. I thought that I might miss out on photo ops, since my camera equipment is on my luggage. So for today, we do a Luau at the Polynesian Center.

Anyways, got up to watch the sunrise this morning with Diane, my friend's mom, and we met little Milo, the coconut eating chocolate lab. Here's a YouTube video of him: http://youtube.com/results?search_query=milo+and+the+coconut

Enjoy!