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
__________________________________________________________
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 night
You are much braver than I. Just the idea of snorkeling freaks me out. I also did not know that pineapples grew like that-weird.
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