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Sorry for the confusion!
Monday, June 15, 2009
A Hilarious Series of Events
Reason for change of site: I've changed the host site of the blog because as pretty as the Tumblr was, I didn't like how people couldn't respond if they wanted to. So, I now invite you to respond to the posts if you would like! Knowing that people are actually reading/enjoying the blog helps me keep up with it.
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This past weekend Dave and I had a very busy, fun time. There where however quite a few bumps along the way.
We started off the trip by renting a car. I did some research and found the cheapest rates for a convertible. Should have known though that when we called to make a reservation and they told us they don't take reservations, something was kind of up. What kind of car rental doesn't take reservations? Well, apparently skeezy ones associated with hostels. Though a bit weird, it turned out to be totally fine. They didn't have the Seabring Dave wanted, but they did have a convertible (I don't know if it is technically a convertible) Jeep. I was pretty excited and by the end Dave really enjoyed the Jeep too.
We drove all the way around the East-side, or windward side, of the Island and then back down to Honolulu. Getting out of Waikiki was AWESOME. We have the perfect location for the summer, especially since we don't have a car, but getting out of the tourist trap was amazing. We drove the coast all the way up to the North shore and it was surreal. Wind in our hair, huge volcanic mountains on one side and ocean on the other.
We rushed to get up to a town up north called Laie to get breakfast at this local cafe my mom told me we HAD to go to, so says food network magazine. I called the morning of and asked what time they served breakfast, they said 11:30. We arrived at 11:25, walked in and they said they were closing. Well, guess I didn't ask the right question, should have asked what time they were closing. Who knew they wouldn't serve lunch after breakfast.
Our adventure continued going around the island looking for somewhere to eat and moving in the direction of this cove we wanted to go snorkeling in. Well, it's really hard to tell where anything is on the island, so we passed it. I was navigating, but how was I supposed to know? There are beaches everywhere! So we went too far, turned back around and made our way to a foodland to get stuff to eat on the beach before snorkeling. I kept calling this shop about where they were located to get snorkel gear, on my 2nd call he told me to just buy some from foodland as they cost the same and are germ-free. Seriously, people here are so nice. Maybe too much so to the point where they lose business.
We made it to Shark's Cove (our snorkel spot), tried to secure our Jeep as best as possible. How do people do it? Just leave it open? We couldn't quite close it all the way, so thank god nothing happened to it. We had to climb down a bunch of lava rocks down to this inlet, grabbed a spot on the pebble beach, ate lunch, and got ready to snorkel. It was really difficult to get out into the water as the current was pretty strong, the rocks rough, and sea urchins present. Once we got out into the water though it was pretty cool. The shallow rocks drop off to reveal about 30 feet of open water with a whole bunch of fish. There were all different sizes and colors. I had an underwater camera with me, once we get it developed I'll put those pics online.
The water and I had a bit of a battle and I'm pretty sure it won. My mask kept filling with water, no matter how tight I made it. And then I would freak out and start breathing really heavily in my snorkel. If anyone was near me they could have certainly mistook me for darth vader. Once the heavy breathing ensued, naturally I inhaled a whole bunch of water a few times. By the end I was standing on a rock, mucous pouring out of my nose and mouth, and when I breathed deep my lungs felt the same the last time I had bronchitis. So, once I got back onto the beach, I had never felt happier. I love the water (afterall I am a cancer crab), but I think it's best I don't snorkel in it too often.
Once we were done snorkeling (I finishing much earlier than Dave for obvious reasons above) we got back in our Jeep and drove to the Dole plantation. It was...okay. It was cool to see the pineapples grow. I had no idea they grew like that, for some reason I thought they grew underground or at least would be harder to find, rather than just sticking out the top of some fern-like leaves. The Dole plantation was free! Hoooray! We were going to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center, but that was $45, Dole was free. Yay for free, even if it was a bit lamer. They did of course have delicious Pineapple juice and Ice cream and for some reason I was really tempted to buy a Dole Hoodie. I don't know what came over me to want it, but it was just so fun and sweet looking.
We came back to Honolulu, saw where Pearl Harbor is (but didn't go in because it was closing in 15 minutes), went to Target (there's nothing like the comfort of entering a store and knowing exactly where everything is-haha, sick), and went to a restaurant.
The restaurant: We went to a local Hawaiian cuisine restaurant that was HIGHLY recommended by the people we are renting from. They are known to have the best Hawaiian food in Honolulu. Since we had the car, we felt we had to go. We waited to get in to a very tiny, quirky room filled with newspaper clippings and real Hawaiian flair. We were both excited as we were really hungry from our day. Hawaiian food isn't too vegitarian friendly, but I managed to order an egg soup (basically scrambled eggs in broth), sweet potatoes (these turned out to be bright purple) and poi (I opted for the regular). Dave ordered a combo meal and he got the dill poi. Our lovely, matronly waitress brought out our food and we were excited to try it all. My egg soup was fine as were my potatoes, but they were cold and a bit dry, but fine. Poi, however, heed my advice- STAY AWAY FROM POI!!! Before going in, I thought how bad could poi be? It's just taro root, mashed up, and fermented for a bit. It's not like it's like some weird meat cut like Tripe. We got small bowls, but once we tasted the poi they all of a sudden looked ginormous. The two of us sat at our table, not saying a word, just trying to eat as much as we possibly could, despite the grossness of it all. We felt so bad, it was such a local place, our waitress was so grandmother-ly, she had suggested the poi, how could we dissapoint? Eventually, we had to stop. We walked out of the restaurant in silence until we finally both lamented about what we ate. It was rough, but absolutely hilarious in retrospect. That event could certainly be turned into a sitcom episode.
This was the longest post ever! Congratulations if you've reached the end!!
Dole Plantation
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This past weekend Dave and I had a very busy, fun time. There where however quite a few bumps along the way.
We started off the trip by renting a car. I did some research and found the cheapest rates for a convertible. Should have known though that when we called to make a reservation and they told us they don't take reservations, something was kind of up. What kind of car rental doesn't take reservations? Well, apparently skeezy ones associated with hostels. Though a bit weird, it turned out to be totally fine. They didn't have the Seabring Dave wanted, but they did have a convertible (I don't know if it is technically a convertible) Jeep. I was pretty excited and by the end Dave really enjoyed the Jeep too.
We drove all the way around the East-side, or windward side, of the Island and then back down to Honolulu. Getting out of Waikiki was AWESOME. We have the perfect location for the summer, especially since we don't have a car, but getting out of the tourist trap was amazing. We drove the coast all the way up to the North shore and it was surreal. Wind in our hair, huge volcanic mountains on one side and ocean on the other.
We rushed to get up to a town up north called Laie to get breakfast at this local cafe my mom told me we HAD to go to, so says food network magazine. I called the morning of and asked what time they served breakfast, they said 11:30. We arrived at 11:25, walked in and they said they were closing. Well, guess I didn't ask the right question, should have asked what time they were closing. Who knew they wouldn't serve lunch after breakfast.
Our adventure continued going around the island looking for somewhere to eat and moving in the direction of this cove we wanted to go snorkeling in. Well, it's really hard to tell where anything is on the island, so we passed it. I was navigating, but how was I supposed to know? There are beaches everywhere! So we went too far, turned back around and made our way to a foodland to get stuff to eat on the beach before snorkeling. I kept calling this shop about where they were located to get snorkel gear, on my 2nd call he told me to just buy some from foodland as they cost the same and are germ-free. Seriously, people here are so nice. Maybe too much so to the point where they lose business.
We made it to Shark's Cove (our snorkel spot), tried to secure our Jeep as best as possible. How do people do it? Just leave it open? We couldn't quite close it all the way, so thank god nothing happened to it. We had to climb down a bunch of lava rocks down to this inlet, grabbed a spot on the pebble beach, ate lunch, and got ready to snorkel. It was really difficult to get out into the water as the current was pretty strong, the rocks rough, and sea urchins present. Once we got out into the water though it was pretty cool. The shallow rocks drop off to reveal about 30 feet of open water with a whole bunch of fish. There were all different sizes and colors. I had an underwater camera with me, once we get it developed I'll put those pics online.
The water and I had a bit of a battle and I'm pretty sure it won. My mask kept filling with water, no matter how tight I made it. And then I would freak out and start breathing really heavily in my snorkel. If anyone was near me they could have certainly mistook me for darth vader. Once the heavy breathing ensued, naturally I inhaled a whole bunch of water a few times. By the end I was standing on a rock, mucous pouring out of my nose and mouth, and when I breathed deep my lungs felt the same the last time I had bronchitis. So, once I got back onto the beach, I had never felt happier. I love the water (afterall I am a cancer crab), but I think it's best I don't snorkel in it too often.
Once we were done snorkeling (I finishing much earlier than Dave for obvious reasons above) we got back in our Jeep and drove to the Dole plantation. It was...okay. It was cool to see the pineapples grow. I had no idea they grew like that, for some reason I thought they grew underground or at least would be harder to find, rather than just sticking out the top of some fern-like leaves. The Dole plantation was free! Hoooray! We were going to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center, but that was $45, Dole was free. Yay for free, even if it was a bit lamer. They did of course have delicious Pineapple juice and Ice cream and for some reason I was really tempted to buy a Dole Hoodie. I don't know what came over me to want it, but it was just so fun and sweet looking.
We came back to Honolulu, saw where Pearl Harbor is (but didn't go in because it was closing in 15 minutes), went to Target (there's nothing like the comfort of entering a store and knowing exactly where everything is-haha, sick), and went to a restaurant.
The restaurant: We went to a local Hawaiian cuisine restaurant that was HIGHLY recommended by the people we are renting from. They are known to have the best Hawaiian food in Honolulu. Since we had the car, we felt we had to go. We waited to get in to a very tiny, quirky room filled with newspaper clippings and real Hawaiian flair. We were both excited as we were really hungry from our day. Hawaiian food isn't too vegitarian friendly, but I managed to order an egg soup (basically scrambled eggs in broth), sweet potatoes (these turned out to be bright purple) and poi (I opted for the regular). Dave ordered a combo meal and he got the dill poi. Our lovely, matronly waitress brought out our food and we were excited to try it all. My egg soup was fine as were my potatoes, but they were cold and a bit dry, but fine. Poi, however, heed my advice- STAY AWAY FROM POI!!! Before going in, I thought how bad could poi be? It's just taro root, mashed up, and fermented for a bit. It's not like it's like some weird meat cut like Tripe. We got small bowls, but once we tasted the poi they all of a sudden looked ginormous. The two of us sat at our table, not saying a word, just trying to eat as much as we possibly could, despite the grossness of it all. We felt so bad, it was such a local place, our waitress was so grandmother-ly, she had suggested the poi, how could we dissapoint? Eventually, we had to stop. We walked out of the restaurant in silence until we finally both lamented about what we ate. It was rough, but absolutely hilarious in retrospect. That event could certainly be turned into a sitcom episode.
This was the longest post ever! Congratulations if you've reached the end!!
Dole Plantation
Dole Plantation. We made the best faces for these cutouts.
Dole Plantation
I hate bananas!
A handsome looking couple
Mr. Cool in the Jeep
Dave LOOOOVED the random chicken on the shore
Windward side of Oahu
Dave in front of our Jeep on the Windward (east coast) of Oahu
King Kamehameha statue pre-lei ceremony
Hula girls and King Kamehameha Lei ceremony
Waikiki at nightUkuleles and The Beach (Bums)
The past few days have been pretty low key as Dave settles into work and I’m on “vacation.” Although we did visit the museum to participate in a performance work where we got to eat Japanese soup. It was pretty good and an interesting project. It was perfect out that day so there are a bunch of pictures posted below.
We went and saw Jake Shimabukuro, the best ukulele player in the whole world, on Friday. He is originally from here and performed in a small restaurant venue, so it was really interesting to see all his friends and family in the audience. Throughout his performance he kept seeing people he knew and shouting out to them. Pretty funny. If you haven’t yet seen his playing which is insane, click on his picture I’ve posted below and it will link you to 1 of his youtubes. That should give a sense of what we saw. It was pretty surreal.
I’ve been spending a lot of time at the beach which has been lovely. I’m usually there for about 2 hours a day. Just enough time to get some sun without getting sun exhaustion and gross and sweaty. Although I think I’m going to take a short break and visit the pool on the roof for a while as a really creepy, old surfer-dude approached me yesterday. There have been a ton of surfers out lately, which is really fun to watch, because there have been unusually large swells this week. So, I was just minding my own business, listening to This American Life on my Ipod-hooray for dorkiness!-and picking out tiny shells from the sand around me, when this old surfer came down and sat next to me. He was maybe late 50s early 60s and was like, so you want to surf? Of course, I really REALLY do, but not with this guy, so it pained me to say no. I asked him how long he had been on the island and he said “many moons,” I asked what he did (as in to make money) and he said surf, and then he wanted to thumb wrestle with me. Gross. I think he finally got the point I wanted to pick up on my This American Life ep when I kept giving him 1 word responses. Thankfully, he moved on.
I was also approached on the bus. OH THE BUS. Seriously, a new story every time I get on it. There were many, many seats around, but of course this older man (perhaps older Hawaiian men have a thing for women 30 years younger than them with ethnic noses and short hair) had to come sit down right next to me. As soon as he opened his mouth, I could smell the beer. He proceeded to tell me about his knee pain and how he was supposed to get pain killers that day, but the dr. changed his appointment so instead he went to go play pool and drink and made $50.
Quirky as they are, these strangers I’ve met have been harmless and certainly have brought me interesting albeit uncomfortable conversation.
Theme of Waikiki.
I’m soooo good at taking pictures with my left hand. It’s nuts.
View of Diamond Head crater and Honolulu from the road walking down from the Contemporary Museum.
The ridiculous clear view from the Contemporary Museum. Look for Diamond Head in the distance.
Little jungle on the Contemporary Museum grounds.
At the Contemporary Museum. Realizing how mushroom-y my hair looks when the weather gets to it. Notice Dave’s shark tooth necklace. hilarious! yes, he’s almost 26 and still wearing something my little brother wore when he was 10.
Dave waaaay out in the warm water. As far out as he is it’s still surprisingly shallow.
Dave on the beach.
Jake Shimabukuro-safe to say the best ukulele player in the world. Apologies for the blurriness, it was dark in there, had to keep the shutter open for longer than I wanted.First Week
Well, it will be my first full week tomorrow afternoon. It’s pretty crazy to me how most people only get to spend about a week here and then have to go back. I feel very lucky that I have many more weeks to come. I couldn’t imagine leaving now without seeing what more is here. I’ve just barely seen the very tip of the iceberg.
I’ve been back to the museum a few times for work, but getting there is so ridiculous, so I’m going to write about the bus as it is a very interesting experience.
I think I take THE slowest buses on all of O’ahu. I asked Dave if his buses were filled with old people, and no they aren’t, because they are all on mine! I really like old people usually, they are pretty funny, they speak their minds, but not when I have to make it to a connecting bus route that only runs once an hour and then makes me late and forces me to get a cab. grrr. Anyway, because I am consistently the youngest person on the bus I never feel like it’s okay for me to take a seat because inevitably someone is going to need it a lot more than me. Which is fine, but the other day I was carrying back an education kit from the museum which was this big bulky black box. I was trying to get to the back of the bus, because for some reason no one ever stands back there no matter how crowded the front is and however many times the driver makes announcements to exit from the back exit, and of course my big black box grazes someone by accident. I felt bad, but then when I went to apologize and saw the person, I couldn’t help but thinking, ‘oh, come on!” I understand old people don’t want to get sick, but I will never understand the wearing of surgical masks and gloves. If you are so concerned with sickness, then don’t take public transit! oooo, colorful times on the bus, I’m sure I will have more stories as the days go by.
I went to the Honolulu Academy for the Arts today. It was pretty cool. they had a generally awesome collection of Asian art. Many genres that I’ve never seen before, so that is always fun. Dad, don’t be offended by my posted picture of you, it just struck me funny.
Across the street from the Academy is this ridiculous park with the most amazing tress, Banyans. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before, so they were super cool to look at close up. It’s almost as if their limbs grow out of their limbs to the ground and then create roots? I don’t know, wikipedia didn’t give me very good info on them besides the fact that one of the largest ones is in India and the Banyan is their official tree.
This weekend will likely bring some amazing ukelele and more hiking stories so stay tuned.
Most amazing trees ever. It’s like their limbs sprout limbs down to create roots. Oh, Banyans.
a forest of limbs. amazing banyans. now my favorite tree.
not actually attached to the ground, just hanging there. nuuuts.
Such an interesting installation. Honolulu Academy of the Arts. Filipino exhibition
Interesting Installation. Honolulu Academy of Art.
Interesting Installation. Honolulu Academy of Art.
Dad? haha just kidding, maybe it would be you without the teeth. That’s what you get for being the only man I know with dark hair and a big mustache.
Favorite work at the Honolulu Academy for the Arts.
Favorite work at the Honolulu Academy for the Arts.A Day at Diamond Head
Beach:
Had my first day at the beach yesterday. We went out early and stayed until about lunch time. The water is so incredible. I’m too used to the cold atlantic and fearing placing my feet on top of a crab or some other painful sea creature. Here, it’s fantastic because I can go way out into the water and still am able to see the floor. What’s even cooler is that there were a ton of fish just chilling in their schools and swimming around. I’m not too much of a fish fan, but for some reason these guys were pretty cute and I enjoyed thinking that they were right there instead of doing what I would normally do, which is cower away. I put on a ton of sunscreen before going out, but alas my fair skin dislikes the sun and I got a little pink. That’s okay though because today it’s mostly tan.
Food Store:
The largest and most normal grocery store near us is Don Quijote. I don’t know why it’s called Don Quijote because it is maybe the most asian place I’ve ever seen. It has a huge seafood section ever, hundreds of different kinds of rice, soy sauce, mochi, weird snack mixes, and cartoon characters all over the place. It’s a weird place in that they are a grocery store, but they also sell TVs and a whole mini store of video games. I will for sure have to go back and take some pictures to give you all a sense of what it’s like. We walked there and even though we assured ourselves we just wouldn’t buy anything heavy like drinks, dave had to get 2 gallons of Japanese Green Tea. The walk back was certainly awesome because of that.
Diamond Head:
Today, we took a bus to Diamond Head, a non-active volcano, turned mountain on the southeast side of Oahu. Once we got there we did the 1.5 hour hike to the top. It was HOT. No shade all the way up and hundreds of stairs. I claim I handled it better than Dave, but of course he won’t admit it. I’m amazed by the people who hike up with their babies strapped to them, or literally holding them. If I were a parent I might have to just strap my kid to a tree at the bottom and give them one of those huge shaved ices to entertain themselves with. There is no way I would want to lug them up with me. The view was definitely worth it though. Many pictures of it below.
Dave's favorite restaurant from his last Hawaii visit.
At the base of Diamond Head
awesome tunnel up to diamond head and sweaty dave
shot of the crater from diamond head
almost at the top
ocean from the top of diamond head
Largest and most needed shaved ice ever.
Aloha Hawai'i!!
After a much needed full night’s sleep after 12 hours of travel, today was my first offical full day in Hawai’i. Below I’ve listed some interesting/quirky things I’ve discovered in the last 24 hours.
Apartment:
-The owners must love themselves because there is not a single wall in the living/dining/kitchen space that isn’t a mirror from floor to ceiling. One day I might just bump into a mirror thinking there’s real space behind it.
-My eyes are better than I thought. I can actually see swimmers in the ocean from the lanai.
Beach:
-Never, ever shave your legs and then go swimming. The salt will make them burn like hell!
-Water is ridiculously blue AND doesn’t make your body numb from coldness like the NJ ocean does.
-There are a lot of old people. All the white ones wear the loudest Hawaiian shirts and move slower than I could ever imagine anyone walking.
Honolulu:
-I think I’ve seen a lot of prostitutes. I have no real reason behind thinking this besides the fact that they were all wearing high shoes and tight clothing. Maybe I’m wrong, but trust me, I think I’ve seen at least 3 in the last 2 hours.
-thebus, the public transit bus system is pretty good. Nicely air conditioned, the buses come on time, friendly drivers, however it’s near next to impossible to not be Hawaiian and understand what the hell streets are being announced. Everything sounds the same to my unaccostumed ears! Everything ends in -ua or -aia and starts with kala. Because of this I totally got off one of my buses too early and ended up walking through a seedy area when I could have just ridden through.
Work:
-I’ll be at The Contemporary Museum, Hawai’i. It is in a residential area up a huge hill. Pretty ridiculous. It is an old converted house and still retains all of its outside features (ie, swimming pool, tennis court)
-There were no security guards. I couldn’t believe how liberating it was to not have anyone around!
Food:
-Kona Coffee: $2, Foldger’s Crap Coffee: $8. Hilarious.
-Best sushi ever. I only had supermarket cucumber sushi, but even that was unbelievable.
-I had a piece of Dave’s fish last night. Just tastes like chicken. I think I’m going to have to start eating fish now that I’m here. I’ll post when I have my first Sushi Sashimi. We can celebrate it with a party.
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