Showing posts with label hawaii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hawaii. Show all posts
Monday, March 19, 2007
Paradise Day 6
As far as I'm concerned, this day never happened. I'm still in Hawaii. I'm still in paradise. I'm relaxed. Don't bother me.
Paradise Day 5
Day 5: outlet day. We woke up, got some Mitsu-ken (which has awesome garlic chicken) on the way, and went to the outlets. If you look at the pictures, it may appear to you, dear reader, that I bought a lot of clothes, and it may also occur to you that this is a ridiculous proposition. One guy outspending two girls? Unthinkable.
This about it this way. I was gonna get dragged to the outlets anyway. I might as well do all my shopping at once rather than having to endure this unpleasant experience again in a few months. It's like going to the dentist. If you're going to be dragged to the dentist's office anyway, might as well get your teeth cleaned.
After getting our teeth pulled, we stopped by Wailoa Shave Ice, where the ice was once again super soft. I think the water in Hawaii is better. Either that or everything tastes better when you're in paradise. We also stopped by Zippy's for some last minute chili before MJ decided to make us hike Diamond Head.
I almost died.
That's right, I had a near death experience in Hawaii. The only other time I almost died is when my appendix ruptured, but that was nothing compared to climbing the Stairs of DeathTM.
We got to Diamond Head about an hour before the parking lot closed, so they asked us if we could make it back before they locked our car in. We said, "Sure," and we headed off. At the beginning, it's just dirt trails and a couple switch backs; nothing too difficult. That's how they get you. After you've already hiked more than halfway up, you turn a corner and are presented with the most horrifying sight known to man. It must have been 1 million steps. At least. I told SS and MJ that if I didn't make it, to tell my family I loved them. Somehow God granted me superhuman endurance and I actually made it up to the top. The view at the top of Diamond Head is amazing. It totally makes it worth it (I'm pretty sure.....yeah, I guess it's worth it).
After we came back down, SS wanted to goto Costco to buy some souvenirs. Always thinking of others, that one. It's a good thing she's so selfless, because it led directly to the purchase of the most amazing machine on earth. That's right. I bought a Wii. MJ did too. And there was much rejoicing.
The rest of the night was a blur. I honestly don't know what happened between buying the Wii and falling asleep with a stupid grin on my face.
This about it this way. I was gonna get dragged to the outlets anyway. I might as well do all my shopping at once rather than having to endure this unpleasant experience again in a few months. It's like going to the dentist. If you're going to be dragged to the dentist's office anyway, might as well get your teeth cleaned.
After getting our teeth pulled, we stopped by Wailoa Shave Ice, where the ice was once again super soft. I think the water in Hawaii is better. Either that or everything tastes better when you're in paradise. We also stopped by Zippy's for some last minute chili before MJ decided to make us hike Diamond Head.
I almost died.
That's right, I had a near death experience in Hawaii. The only other time I almost died is when my appendix ruptured, but that was nothing compared to climbing the Stairs of DeathTM.
We got to Diamond Head about an hour before the parking lot closed, so they asked us if we could make it back before they locked our car in. We said, "Sure," and we headed off. At the beginning, it's just dirt trails and a couple switch backs; nothing too difficult. That's how they get you. After you've already hiked more than halfway up, you turn a corner and are presented with the most horrifying sight known to man. It must have been 1 million steps. At least. I told SS and MJ that if I didn't make it, to tell my family I loved them. Somehow God granted me superhuman endurance and I actually made it up to the top. The view at the top of Diamond Head is amazing. It totally makes it worth it (I'm pretty sure.....yeah, I guess it's worth it).
After we came back down, SS wanted to goto Costco to buy some souvenirs. Always thinking of others, that one. It's a good thing she's so selfless, because it led directly to the purchase of the most amazing machine on earth. That's right. I bought a Wii. MJ did too. And there was much rejoicing.
The rest of the night was a blur. I honestly don't know what happened between buying the Wii and falling asleep with a stupid grin on my face.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Paradise Day 4
Sorry for the delay. We are experiencing a phenomenon known as 'laziness'. Please bear with us while we work to rectify the situation. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
Day 4 was Sunday. Sunday is the-day-to-go-to-church-
even-though-we-shouldn't-be-just-Sunday-Christians-
and-really-church-means-the-people-not-a-building. So we went to church.
MJ and SS found a church called New Hope Fellowship. When we got there, I detoured to the bathroom while they went ahead. After using the facilities, I walked into the sanctuary where I was promptly hugged. By a man. I thought, "Oh, that's interesting. Maybe that guy is just really friendly." Then I got hugged again. By another man. This changed my hypothesis to "They must hug all the newcomers." But, after church, I asked MJ and SS if anyone hugged them when they walked in, and they said no. Do I just look particularly huggable? What's going on? Please, if any of you see me walking on the street, don't hug me. Reference this post.
After church, (where the sermon was a video feed from the main church, cuz we were at a satellite church) we went to Pearl Harbor. The memorial is a white structure built on top of the remains of the U.S.S. Arizona. It's very somber inside. We also had the option of paying to tour the U.S.S. Missouri, which did not sink, but being the Asians that we are, we opted for just the free ferry trip to the Arizona.
After Pearl Harbor, SS and I were still lamenting the previous day's failed attempt to locate and consume garlic shrimp. So we decided we would make a second attempt, but this time drive the opposite direction, so if we still couldn't find the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness, we could just stop at Giovanni's.
To make a long story short, the weather turned bad, MJ felt sick, and we couldn't find the MBSTA so SS and I just ate at Giovanni's. It doesn't matter that there were flies constantly buzzing around or that there were stray cats roaming the picnic tables where we ate. It was the best shrimp we've ever had. The fact that we were sucking on the shells speaks volumes.
Day 4 was Sunday. Sunday is the-day-to-go-to-church-
even-though-we-shouldn't-be-just-Sunday-Christians-
and-really-church-means-the-people-not-a-building. So we went to church.
MJ and SS found a church called New Hope Fellowship. When we got there, I detoured to the bathroom while they went ahead. After using the facilities, I walked into the sanctuary where I was promptly hugged. By a man. I thought, "Oh, that's interesting. Maybe that guy is just really friendly." Then I got hugged again. By another man. This changed my hypothesis to "They must hug all the newcomers." But, after church, I asked MJ and SS if anyone hugged them when they walked in, and they said no. Do I just look particularly huggable? What's going on? Please, if any of you see me walking on the street, don't hug me. Reference this post.
After church, (where the sermon was a video feed from the main church, cuz we were at a satellite church) we went to Pearl Harbor. The memorial is a white structure built on top of the remains of the U.S.S. Arizona. It's very somber inside. We also had the option of paying to tour the U.S.S. Missouri, which did not sink, but being the Asians that we are, we opted for just the free ferry trip to the Arizona.
After Pearl Harbor, SS and I were still lamenting the previous day's failed attempt to locate and consume garlic shrimp. So we decided we would make a second attempt, but this time drive the opposite direction, so if we still couldn't find the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness, we could just stop at Giovanni's.
To make a long story short, the weather turned bad, MJ felt sick, and we couldn't find the MBSTA so SS and I just ate at Giovanni's. It doesn't matter that there were flies constantly buzzing around or that there were stray cats roaming the picnic tables where we ate. It was the best shrimp we've ever had. The fact that we were sucking on the shells speaks volumes.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Paradise Day 3
This was our North Shore Day.
We woke up, and drove through the middle of the island towards the North Shore.
On the way, we stopped at the Dole plantation. Imagine a store surrounded by pineapples. Now imagine that store is filled with pineapples and pineapple-produced food. And pineapple related merchandise. And it has a yellow interior. You have just imagined the Dole plantation. The ice cream was very good though. After we strolled through the building, we decided to do the Pineapple Garden Maze. The conversation went something like this:
me: "Do you guys want to do the maze?"
(at the same time) MJ: "No." SS: "Yes."
MJ: "I mean, yes."
From that unanimous decision sprang forth our quest through the garden maze. The goal of the maze is to find 6 locations where there are stencils you have to trace onto a card. After you have found all 6, you come back to the start. They time you and if your time is one of the fastest 5 times, you get a poster. The 5th place time was 15 minutes, so we tried to beat that. At the beginning, we split up to try to find the 6 stencils faster and then were going to copy the stencils onto one card. After the girls found 4, and I found 2, we met up and were going to trace the cards. But SS didn't want to cheat so I showed them where the last 2 stencils they needed were. In the end, we made it out in 18 minutes. But SS kept her morals. I guess it's good that SS is the teacher and the two cheaters are an attorney and a software developer who pretends to fight piracy.
From there, we headed to Matsumoto's shave ice. It's basically a snow cone (with really soft ice) that you can get with ice cream or red bean or both. You can pick the syrup flavors and add condensed milk if you want. There was even a Caucasian lady that hesitantly ordered "red bean?" From her confused look, we knew there was no way she thought putting beans in ice would make anything remotely close to a good tasting dessert, but MJ assured her the beans were sweet and she had made the right choice. Way to spread the Asian culture, MJ.
As we resumed our drive to the North shore. We noticed some shrimp trucks and this ignited a debate whether we had passed the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness.
(The origin of the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness goes something like this: Before we left for Hawaii, JL/EL recommended we eat garlic shrimp from the roach coach shrimp trucks on the side of the road. All the trucks were located along the side of the freeway on the North shore. The most famous amoung tourists is Giovanni's, a white truck, but JL told us about a better truck which was blue.)
After much discussion and driving back and forth, we called up JL and asked him if we were in the correct place. Alas, we were not. We would not get to the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness until we were on the way back to the hotel.
We kept driving and came upon Waimea Beach. The waves were huge so we decide to go rent some boogie boards. After getting destroyed by the waves for most of the afternoon, we headed out and saw a surfing competition sponsored by Monster. Then we commenced Operation: Shrimp Truck. We drove along the coast on the way back to the hotel, keeping our eyes peeled for the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness. We passed Giovani's and knew we were on the right track. We looked. And looked. We called JL. And looked. But, we couldn't find it and ended up back at the hotel. SS and I were very sad. Since we couldn't find it, we just decided to eat at Willows, a buffet.
Since I didn't know they had self-parking, I pulled into their valet lot. Then we rushed inside because they were about to close and ate hurriedly. Then we got our bill. $30/person. The buffet was definitely not THAT good. All in all, a subpar experience. Especially since the next day, MJ got food poisoning.
We woke up, and drove through the middle of the island towards the North Shore.
On the way, we stopped at the Dole plantation. Imagine a store surrounded by pineapples. Now imagine that store is filled with pineapples and pineapple-produced food. And pineapple related merchandise. And it has a yellow interior. You have just imagined the Dole plantation. The ice cream was very good though. After we strolled through the building, we decided to do the Pineapple Garden Maze. The conversation went something like this:
me: "Do you guys want to do the maze?"
(at the same time) MJ: "No." SS: "Yes."
MJ: "I mean, yes."
From that unanimous decision sprang forth our quest through the garden maze. The goal of the maze is to find 6 locations where there are stencils you have to trace onto a card. After you have found all 6, you come back to the start. They time you and if your time is one of the fastest 5 times, you get a poster. The 5th place time was 15 minutes, so we tried to beat that. At the beginning, we split up to try to find the 6 stencils faster and then were going to copy the stencils onto one card. After the girls found 4, and I found 2, we met up and were going to trace the cards. But SS didn't want to cheat so I showed them where the last 2 stencils they needed were. In the end, we made it out in 18 minutes. But SS kept her morals. I guess it's good that SS is the teacher and the two cheaters are an attorney and a software developer who pretends to fight piracy.
From there, we headed to Matsumoto's shave ice. It's basically a snow cone (with really soft ice) that you can get with ice cream or red bean or both. You can pick the syrup flavors and add condensed milk if you want. There was even a Caucasian lady that hesitantly ordered "red bean?" From her confused look, we knew there was no way she thought putting beans in ice would make anything remotely close to a good tasting dessert, but MJ assured her the beans were sweet and she had made the right choice. Way to spread the Asian culture, MJ.
As we resumed our drive to the North shore. We noticed some shrimp trucks and this ignited a debate whether we had passed the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness.
(The origin of the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness goes something like this: Before we left for Hawaii, JL/EL recommended we eat garlic shrimp from the roach coach shrimp trucks on the side of the road. All the trucks were located along the side of the freeway on the North shore. The most famous amoung tourists is Giovanni's, a white truck, but JL told us about a better truck which was blue.)
After much discussion and driving back and forth, we called up JL and asked him if we were in the correct place. Alas, we were not. We would not get to the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness until we were on the way back to the hotel.
We kept driving and came upon Waimea Beach. The waves were huge so we decide to go rent some boogie boards. After getting destroyed by the waves for most of the afternoon, we headed out and saw a surfing competition sponsored by Monster. Then we commenced Operation: Shrimp Truck. We drove along the coast on the way back to the hotel, keeping our eyes peeled for the Mystical Blue Shrimp Truck of Awesomeness. We passed Giovani's and knew we were on the right track. We looked. And looked. We called JL. And looked. But, we couldn't find it and ended up back at the hotel. SS and I were very sad. Since we couldn't find it, we just decided to eat at Willows, a buffet.
Since I didn't know they had self-parking, I pulled into their valet lot. Then we rushed inside because they were about to close and ate hurriedly. Then we got our bill. $30/person. The buffet was definitely not THAT good. All in all, a subpar experience. Especially since the next day, MJ got food poisoning.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Paradise Day 2
Day 2 is what I want to call Snorkeling Day. But I can't. Due to some unfortunate decisions, I am forced to call it The Day the Coral Got Angry.
We woke up, checked the weather, and went to McDonald's for breakfast. Spam and Portuguese sausage in the morning hits the spot. We had to ask for the saimin, because it wasn't on the menu.
After breakfast, we headed out to Hanauma Bay, where we would go snorkeling. Upon arrival, we were ushered into a briefing room where they showed us an instructional video about snorkeling. During this video, they pound into your head Rule #1. Rule #1 is "Look, but don't touch." Apparently, touching coral causes death. And death is not good for coral. Who knew?
After walking down to the bay and renting our equipment under the watchful eyes of a few stray roosters, we settled on the beach and put on our equipment. If you look at the pics of the bay, you will see clear areas where there isn't much coral. For our initial foray, we wisely chose to swim in a clear area. We enjoyed it very much. Nobody got hurt. We enjoyed it very much. We saw lots of fish. We enjoyed it very much.
After snorkeling for a while, we went back to the beach and rested. This is where the story turns ugly. Parents, you may wish to cover the eyes of your children at this point.
After we felt restful from having rested for the rest of the resting time, we decided to go back into the water and snorkel a bit more. Because we had risen early, (in Hawaii, God grants me special powers that allow me to wake up before 10AM) when we arrived at the bay, it was relatively empty. By now, the afternoon, more people had come and were snorkeling in the middle area. We decided to snorkel towards the right, where there were barely any snorkelers. For good reason, we would soon discover.
Very much unlike the clear areas, the right side is full of coral. There was barely enough water to swim over the coral without touching it. We figured we were just in a bad area, so we looked for a clear area and headed toward it. After getting there, we were stuck. The waves started to push us into the coral and we started to look for a way back. On the way back, we saw a turtle (it was huge, but sleeping) and took a photo (which I will upload when we scan them in), but the tide must have gone down. We got stranded on coral that was above water and had to literally crawl over the coral to get back to shore. That's where we took the "after" picture and assessed our losses. Coral: 1 Humans: 0.
After leaving Hanauma Bay, we drove to the east side of the island, to Kailua Beach. We stopped on the way for chili at Zippy's, took a few pictures at a scenic spot, and arrived at the beach. The Beach. The sand was soft, fine, and white, (kinda like my dream girl, but the sand didn't speak Mandarin) and the water was so clear. It was definitely the beach that all other beaches in Hawaii should strive to become. We swam there for a bit, drove back to town where we got slush floats, then went back to the hotel to shower. We decided to splurge for dinner and went to a high-end steak place. We were so underdressed, they put us in the back corner next to the kitchen. You would think this happens to me fairly often, but surprisingly it doesn't. (it must be because I usually go out with well dressed friends) After dinner, we went back to the hotel and actively participated in MJ's plan-for-tomorrow party (see pics).
We woke up, checked the weather, and went to McDonald's for breakfast. Spam and Portuguese sausage in the morning hits the spot. We had to ask for the saimin, because it wasn't on the menu.
After breakfast, we headed out to Hanauma Bay, where we would go snorkeling. Upon arrival, we were ushered into a briefing room where they showed us an instructional video about snorkeling. During this video, they pound into your head Rule #1. Rule #1 is "Look, but don't touch." Apparently, touching coral causes death. And death is not good for coral. Who knew?
After walking down to the bay and renting our equipment under the watchful eyes of a few stray roosters, we settled on the beach and put on our equipment. If you look at the pics of the bay, you will see clear areas where there isn't much coral. For our initial foray, we wisely chose to swim in a clear area. We enjoyed it very much. Nobody got hurt. We enjoyed it very much. We saw lots of fish. We enjoyed it very much.
After snorkeling for a while, we went back to the beach and rested. This is where the story turns ugly. Parents, you may wish to cover the eyes of your children at this point.
After we felt restful from having rested for the rest of the resting time, we decided to go back into the water and snorkel a bit more. Because we had risen early, (in Hawaii, God grants me special powers that allow me to wake up before 10AM) when we arrived at the bay, it was relatively empty. By now, the afternoon, more people had come and were snorkeling in the middle area. We decided to snorkel towards the right, where there were barely any snorkelers. For good reason, we would soon discover.
Very much unlike the clear areas, the right side is full of coral. There was barely enough water to swim over the coral without touching it. We figured we were just in a bad area, so we looked for a clear area and headed toward it. After getting there, we were stuck. The waves started to push us into the coral and we started to look for a way back. On the way back, we saw a turtle (it was huge, but sleeping) and took a photo (which I will upload when we scan them in), but the tide must have gone down. We got stranded on coral that was above water and had to literally crawl over the coral to get back to shore. That's where we took the "after" picture and assessed our losses. Coral: 1 Humans: 0.
After leaving Hanauma Bay, we drove to the east side of the island, to Kailua Beach. We stopped on the way for chili at Zippy's, took a few pictures at a scenic spot, and arrived at the beach. The Beach. The sand was soft, fine, and white, (kinda like my dream girl, but the sand didn't speak Mandarin) and the water was so clear. It was definitely the beach that all other beaches in Hawaii should strive to become. We swam there for a bit, drove back to town where we got slush floats, then went back to the hotel to shower. We decided to splurge for dinner and went to a high-end steak place. We were so underdressed, they put us in the back corner next to the kitchen. You would think this happens to me fairly often, but surprisingly it doesn't. (it must be because I usually go out with well dressed friends) After dinner, we went back to the hotel and actively participated in MJ's plan-for-tomorrow party (see pics).
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
Paradise Day 1
We left for Hawaii on Thursday. After sleeping on the plane and playing the Bean game (Bohnanza, a German card game that is awesome), we finally arrived. The first thing we did after picking up our rental car was check-in to the hotel. You know those movies that show people deplaning and people putting leis on them after they get off the plane? All lies. We didn't get one until we arrived at our hotel. I bet they just put that in the movies to try to trick people into going to Hawaii. You know, because Hawaii is hurting for tourists.
At the hotel, as MJ checked-in, a Master of Welcoming Guests to the Hotel came up to us and gave us guava juice! A pleasant surprise from the Best Hotel Welcomer Master ever!
After that, we quickly dumped our things and walked a few blocks down the road for some ramen. JL had recommended this small restaurant to us, but we had to keep calling and bugging him and EL because we didn't know if we were at the right restaurant or not. We went in and had some awesome ramen. The broth is a lot thicker than normal and it's really good. After we were done, the cook/manager/owner/head person came out and asked us if this was the first time we'd been there. When we said yes, he said we ordered the right thing. Definitely a good recommendation from JL/EL. Actually, nobody gave us any bad advice for the whole trip.
After eating our fill, we went swimming behind our hotel at Waikiki beach. This is the most touristy beach because it's where all the hotels, and thus tourists, are. This is when we discovered there are rocks in the ocean. Apparently the beach is eroding (as it is really short, take a look at the pics) and there is not enough sand on the ocean floor to cover the rocks. That's the conclusion I just made up. I blame global warming. Everyone please stop driving your cars so we can all enjoy the beaches in Hawaii.
For dinner that night, we had planned to go to Yummy's, a Korean restaurant that served "meat jun", which is just another name for "french toast with meat inside". We looked up the closest one and supposedly it was right across the street in the International Marketplace food court. Little did we know that the food court was closed for renovations. Since we didn't know where the second closest one was, we asked the concierge, who told us we would have to go to a nearby mall. We got to the mall, went inside a Macy's and asked an employee there if the food court had a Yummy's. Everyone we asked gave us this weird look like "Why do you want to goto Yummys?" We thought nothing of it until we got to the food court. Then it dawned on us: driving around Oahu asking people where to find the closest Yummy's is the equivalent to a tourist driving around LA asking where the closest Panda Express is. Not a place you would normally ask for specifically. The meat jun was good and then we had some Dole pineapple smoothy/frozen yogurt/ice cream for dessert.
Then we hung out at Barnes and Nobles.
Then I went back to my room-without-an-ocean-view and crashed.
At the hotel, as MJ checked-in, a Master of Welcoming Guests to the Hotel came up to us and gave us guava juice! A pleasant surprise from the Best Hotel Welcomer Master ever!
After that, we quickly dumped our things and walked a few blocks down the road for some ramen. JL had recommended this small restaurant to us, but we had to keep calling and bugging him and EL because we didn't know if we were at the right restaurant or not. We went in and had some awesome ramen. The broth is a lot thicker than normal and it's really good. After we were done, the cook/manager/owner/head person came out and asked us if this was the first time we'd been there. When we said yes, he said we ordered the right thing. Definitely a good recommendation from JL/EL. Actually, nobody gave us any bad advice for the whole trip.
After eating our fill, we went swimming behind our hotel at Waikiki beach. This is the most touristy beach because it's where all the hotels, and thus tourists, are. This is when we discovered there are rocks in the ocean. Apparently the beach is eroding (as it is really short, take a look at the pics) and there is not enough sand on the ocean floor to cover the rocks. That's the conclusion I just made up. I blame global warming. Everyone please stop driving your cars so we can all enjoy the beaches in Hawaii.
For dinner that night, we had planned to go to Yummy's, a Korean restaurant that served "meat jun", which is just another name for "french toast with meat inside". We looked up the closest one and supposedly it was right across the street in the International Marketplace food court. Little did we know that the food court was closed for renovations. Since we didn't know where the second closest one was, we asked the concierge, who told us we would have to go to a nearby mall. We got to the mall, went inside a Macy's and asked an employee there if the food court had a Yummy's. Everyone we asked gave us this weird look like "Why do you want to goto Yummys?" We thought nothing of it until we got to the food court. Then it dawned on us: driving around Oahu asking people where to find the closest Yummy's is the equivalent to a tourist driving around LA asking where the closest Panda Express is. Not a place you would normally ask for specifically. The meat jun was good and then we had some Dole pineapple smoothy/frozen yogurt/ice cream for dessert.
Then we hung out at Barnes and Nobles.
Then I went back to my room-without-an-ocean-view and crashed.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
mainland USA
Returning from Hawaii is like dying, getting to heaven, and then being forced to come back to earth.
pics to follow.
pics to follow.
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