Aloha!
I took a little trip to Hawaii in March 2007 and wrote about it as it unfolded on Yahoo Trip Planner's blog like thing. Then their permissions got messed up and nobody could see it... except me. Well, what's the point? So I brought all the stuff over here so anyone looking to take a trip to the islands can maybe pick out some things from here and visit them too.
If you're just arriving, start at the arrival.
Here's an overview of the trip with schedule and places hit.
You can find all the photos put up from this trip in my Flickr photoset.
Here's some of the more notable ones that I like.
Chicks
Airplanes
This guy reminds me of Homestar.
One of my faves, the Byodo-In Temple.
Waikiki, at night.
The monarch.
Boom
Dragon
Thank you, and Mahalo.
Hawaii 2007 Trip Schedule
Here friends, is the trip schedule, as copied out of Yahoo! Trip Planner. It, unfortunately, does not have links to more information. But you always have Google for that.
If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll fill this place with links. But for now, it is what it is.
Items in green are my recommendations. If you don't have a lot of time, you gotta at least hit these.
Thu 03/01/07 (day 1)
Honolulu
Fri 03/02/07 (day 2)
Hanohano Room
6 mile (or so) walk from Chinatown to the Zoo
Buddhist Restaurant
Shillawon Korean Restaurant
Sat 03/03/07 (day 3)
Queen Emma Summer Palace
Lizard Rock, Puka Island
Giovanni's Shrimp Truck
Pu'u O Mahuka Heiau
Matsumoto Shave Ice
Dole Plantation
Sun 03/04/07 (day 4)
Kalaeloa Surfing aka White Plains
Alan Wong's Restaurant
Mon 03/05/07 (day 5)
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl
Chowder House
Tue 03/06/07 (day 6)
Eggs 'N Things
Diamond Head State Monument
Honolulu Zoo (The)
Yotteko-ya Kyoto Ramen
Wed 03/07/07 (day 7)
Jimbo's
Surfing White Plains Again
Kalaeloa Surfing aka White Plains
Casablanca
Aloha Tower
Thu 03/08/07 (day 8)
Yama's Fish Market
Valley of the Temples
Fri 03/09/07 (day 9)
3 par, 9 hole golfing @ Hickam Air Base
Sea Breeze Restaurant @ Hickam Air Base
Frank Miller's 300
Kaka'ako Kitchen
Bowling @ Hickam Air Base
Liliha Bakery
Sat 03/10/07 (day 10)
Place across the street from Mitsu Ken Okazu
Ala Moana Beach Park
Honolulu Festival
Sun 03/11/07 (day 11)
Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, Haleiwa
Skydive Hawaii
Turtle Beach
Pipeline, North Shore
Chinaman's Hat
NEX - Navy Exchange
Olive Tree Cafe
Mon 03/12/07 (day 12)
Harold L. Lyon Arboretum
Gina's BBQ
Waikiki Aquarium
Pho 1
If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll fill this place with links. But for now, it is what it is.
Items in green are my recommendations. If you don't have a lot of time, you gotta at least hit these.
Thu 03/01/07 (day 1)
Honolulu
Fri 03/02/07 (day 2)
Hanohano Room
6 mile (or so) walk from Chinatown to the Zoo
Buddhist Restaurant
Shillawon Korean Restaurant
Sat 03/03/07 (day 3)
Queen Emma Summer Palace
Lizard Rock, Puka Island
Giovanni's Shrimp Truck
Pu'u O Mahuka Heiau
Matsumoto Shave Ice
Dole Plantation
Sun 03/04/07 (day 4)
Kalaeloa Surfing aka White Plains
Alan Wong's Restaurant
Mon 03/05/07 (day 5)
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl
Chowder House
Tue 03/06/07 (day 6)
Eggs 'N Things
Diamond Head State Monument
Honolulu Zoo (The)
Yotteko-ya Kyoto Ramen
Wed 03/07/07 (day 7)
Jimbo's
Surfing White Plains Again
Kalaeloa Surfing aka White Plains
Casablanca
Aloha Tower
Thu 03/08/07 (day 8)
Yama's Fish Market
Valley of the Temples
Fri 03/09/07 (day 9)
3 par, 9 hole golfing @ Hickam Air Base
Sea Breeze Restaurant @ Hickam Air Base
Frank Miller's 300
Kaka'ako Kitchen
Bowling @ Hickam Air Base
Liliha Bakery
Sat 03/10/07 (day 10)
Place across the street from Mitsu Ken Okazu
Ala Moana Beach Park
Honolulu Festival
Sun 03/11/07 (day 11)
Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, Haleiwa
Skydive Hawaii
Turtle Beach
Pipeline, North Shore
Chinaman's Hat
NEX - Navy Exchange
Olive Tree Cafe
Mon 03/12/07 (day 12)
Harold L. Lyon Arboretum
Gina's BBQ
Waikiki Aquarium
Pho 1
Friday, March 16, 2007
|
Moving Target (Day 12)
Jason is off to work today. That means I get up at the asscrack of dawn and follow him so I can have some transportation for my adventures. Back to Hickam Air Force Base!
Dropping him off, I head back to the apartment to pack up my gear and get everything squared away. I also look up some directions so I can find my way to the two spots that are left over on this trip---The Lyon Arboretum and the Waikiki Aquarium.
Grabbing my camera gear, I head out the door and start my journey toward the Arboretum. The directions are simple, but the drive is long. It takes me far, far up the hilly residential area of Honolulu. If you ever go to Honolulu, you'll notice that people have houses way high in the mountainside. As you get higher, the housing begins to get sparse. That's basically where I was headed.
I hit a bit of confusion. The directions tell me to take Manoa Road all the way, but it splits off into E Manoa Rd. and just Manoa Rd. I'll stick to Manoa.
If there's anything I remember about the drive heading up to wherever the Arboretum must be, it's that after the split with Manoa, it feels like some kind of adventure. Yes, there are houses to my left and right, which means it's not really anywhere too far out there, but the way the canopy of trees covers the sky and surrounds your ride up is pretty.
Further up, the road turns into basically 1.5 lanes of rough paved road. I get all the way to the top and it looks like I've hit some kind of dead end. There's a trail to the left of me to go to Manoa Falls, and a parking lot with a building that doesn't exactly look like an arboretum. In my mind, an arboretum is some kind of giant greenhouse.
I get out of the car and see a lot of ... chickens!
Cluck
It's funny how the rooster is the biggest chicken and stays far far away from me, whereas the little guys are curious and get much closer.
Cluck
See it large!
Bac-aaaaawwwwkk!
More chickens in the set.
It turns out the building is a restaurant. I ask the guy how to get up there. He syas it's around this area. Hmm. Maybe the Arboretum is on E. Manoa. I head back down and back up E. Manoa, running into a bunch of residential streets that lead... nowhere. Thankfully, one of the locals is walking her baby around and I stop to ask her. She mentions that it's on Manoa, not E. Manoa, and that you pass the restaurant going further up the hill. Odd, I didn't see a way out, but I'll check it out again.
Back to my original area... Ah I see, the way out is hidden behind a bunch of trees, further past the lot and around the trail to Manoa falls. The trail turns into a one lane paved road which is barely wide enough for one car. I hope there isn't anybody leaving at this time...
Arriving at the Arboretum, which turns out to be a small visitor room and 90 acres of protected rainforest (whoops, not exactly a greenhouse) I chat with the lady in the visitor house to learn a bit about the place and grab a map to point me which direction to go. Heading out, I start on the trail going up, passing a few things on the way.
Duck
Duck
Goose
More flowers in the set.
After a while, I notice that I'm very popular with a lot of flying bugs. And by bugs, I mean mosquitos. Big ones with zebra like patterns on their abdomens and huge long mouths. Repellant. That's what I forgot! I guess I should be glad I wore pants. Every time I stop to take a photo of a plant, my entourage of mosquitos enjoys a buffet of mainland blood.
The trail turns from concrete stones, to small rocks, to huge bumpy rocks (which are slippery from the rain and humidity... good one, guys), to a climb with roots and branches littering the ground. I make it to the top and find... a tiny, pitiful man-made waterfall. Sigh.
At least I was a hit with the mosquitoes.
I head all the way back down, passing some kind of weird contraption on a pole, and get back to my car. I'm starving at this point, and I notice that my directions take me to a familiar spot before heading to the aquarium.
Gina's BBQ! Fish Jun this time. Yummmmy.
Back on track, I arrive at the bottom of the island where the aquarium is and park. The meters are 25 cents for 1 hour. Haha, I put in like fifty cents and head in.
Dragon like.
You know, everything in an aquarium is horrendously difficult to photograph right. The lighting is all weird, everything is dark, and things move. Often.
Take these guys, for example.
It's like an angel.
A stingy, deadly angel of the sea.
Larger.
Lots of different kinds of fish, sharks, and a lot of coral. You get this tiny cellphone-like device which you can dial in the numbers of the exhibit to hear information about it. Pretty neat.
This guy is, obviously, a hermit crab. You might not be able to tell by the photo, but that shell is about a foot long. It's a huge hermit crab.
Overall, since the aquarium is pretty small, I go through it in about an hour (even while stopping to take photos) and I'm heading back to the condo in no time. Man, it's pretty dang hot right now. I remembered that on the way back, I'm taken past... Waiola Shave Ice! Oh, I've just GOTTA stop by.
A cone of shaved ice, carved from a giant block of ice, is $1.68. With a scoop of ice cream, it's like $1.92. Total is $2 for a yummy chilled treat which is very much appreciated at this frying time of day.
Back home, I copy some photos and get all my stuff packed and ready to go. Jason calls and I head out to pick him up, getting a bit lost on the way and missing the exit, getting even further lost heading back to the freeway. I eventually get it right and I'm finally into the base.
Picking up Jason, we head out, discussing our food options. Before we head out, Jason asks if I wanted to take some photos of the planes parked on the grounds. I think, not really, but I think again, well I'm not going to be back for a while, if ever, so I decide, why not!
Butch
Camo
See this large!
We decide on Pho 1. turns out it's a place I was taken to on my last trip. The thing I remember about last time was that they give you the raw meat on a separate plate, and like idiots, Jason and I put all the veggies in the soup. Well, that cools down your soup. Which means the meat doesn't cook. Raw meat pho, yummm....
We do it right this time, and the pho is good stuff. Better than some of the places I've tried in Long Beach, but not quite Pho 54 (which got too dirty and shut down).
Let me tell you kids, the secret to good Asian food is a boiled insect or two in your food. Trust me. And, the lower the grade on the front (only applies to mainlanders and Los Angeles) the better. It sounds gross, but your taste buds will be thanking you. Your subconscious and your gut, once you find that insect, probably won't.
And with that, we rush to the airport and I'm on my way back home.
At home, I count 37. 37 mosquito bites. 37 itch like a bitch bites.
And that, my friends, is where the title comes from.
--------------
This concludes the trip journal. No more Hawaii! Home now.
To keep going, you can see the schedule, or you can see some photos.
Dropping him off, I head back to the apartment to pack up my gear and get everything squared away. I also look up some directions so I can find my way to the two spots that are left over on this trip---The Lyon Arboretum and the Waikiki Aquarium.
Grabbing my camera gear, I head out the door and start my journey toward the Arboretum. The directions are simple, but the drive is long. It takes me far, far up the hilly residential area of Honolulu. If you ever go to Honolulu, you'll notice that people have houses way high in the mountainside. As you get higher, the housing begins to get sparse. That's basically where I was headed.
I hit a bit of confusion. The directions tell me to take Manoa Road all the way, but it splits off into E Manoa Rd. and just Manoa Rd. I'll stick to Manoa.
If there's anything I remember about the drive heading up to wherever the Arboretum must be, it's that after the split with Manoa, it feels like some kind of adventure. Yes, there are houses to my left and right, which means it's not really anywhere too far out there, but the way the canopy of trees covers the sky and surrounds your ride up is pretty.
Further up, the road turns into basically 1.5 lanes of rough paved road. I get all the way to the top and it looks like I've hit some kind of dead end. There's a trail to the left of me to go to Manoa Falls, and a parking lot with a building that doesn't exactly look like an arboretum. In my mind, an arboretum is some kind of giant greenhouse.
I get out of the car and see a lot of ... chickens!
Cluck
It's funny how the rooster is the biggest chicken and stays far far away from me, whereas the little guys are curious and get much closer.
Cluck
See it large!
Bac-aaaaawwwwkk!
More chickens in the set.
It turns out the building is a restaurant. I ask the guy how to get up there. He syas it's around this area. Hmm. Maybe the Arboretum is on E. Manoa. I head back down and back up E. Manoa, running into a bunch of residential streets that lead... nowhere. Thankfully, one of the locals is walking her baby around and I stop to ask her. She mentions that it's on Manoa, not E. Manoa, and that you pass the restaurant going further up the hill. Odd, I didn't see a way out, but I'll check it out again.
Back to my original area... Ah I see, the way out is hidden behind a bunch of trees, further past the lot and around the trail to Manoa falls. The trail turns into a one lane paved road which is barely wide enough for one car. I hope there isn't anybody leaving at this time...
Arriving at the Arboretum, which turns out to be a small visitor room and 90 acres of protected rainforest (whoops, not exactly a greenhouse) I chat with the lady in the visitor house to learn a bit about the place and grab a map to point me which direction to go. Heading out, I start on the trail going up, passing a few things on the way.
Duck
Duck
Goose
More flowers in the set.
After a while, I notice that I'm very popular with a lot of flying bugs. And by bugs, I mean mosquitos. Big ones with zebra like patterns on their abdomens and huge long mouths. Repellant. That's what I forgot! I guess I should be glad I wore pants. Every time I stop to take a photo of a plant, my entourage of mosquitos enjoys a buffet of mainland blood.
The trail turns from concrete stones, to small rocks, to huge bumpy rocks (which are slippery from the rain and humidity... good one, guys), to a climb with roots and branches littering the ground. I make it to the top and find... a tiny, pitiful man-made waterfall. Sigh.
At least I was a hit with the mosquitoes.
I head all the way back down, passing some kind of weird contraption on a pole, and get back to my car. I'm starving at this point, and I notice that my directions take me to a familiar spot before heading to the aquarium.
Gina's BBQ! Fish Jun this time. Yummmmy.
Back on track, I arrive at the bottom of the island where the aquarium is and park. The meters are 25 cents for 1 hour. Haha, I put in like fifty cents and head in.
Dragon like.
You know, everything in an aquarium is horrendously difficult to photograph right. The lighting is all weird, everything is dark, and things move. Often.
Take these guys, for example.
It's like an angel.
A stingy, deadly angel of the sea.
Larger.
Lots of different kinds of fish, sharks, and a lot of coral. You get this tiny cellphone-like device which you can dial in the numbers of the exhibit to hear information about it. Pretty neat.
This guy is, obviously, a hermit crab. You might not be able to tell by the photo, but that shell is about a foot long. It's a huge hermit crab.
Overall, since the aquarium is pretty small, I go through it in about an hour (even while stopping to take photos) and I'm heading back to the condo in no time. Man, it's pretty dang hot right now. I remembered that on the way back, I'm taken past... Waiola Shave Ice! Oh, I've just GOTTA stop by.
A cone of shaved ice, carved from a giant block of ice, is $1.68. With a scoop of ice cream, it's like $1.92. Total is $2 for a yummy chilled treat which is very much appreciated at this frying time of day.
Back home, I copy some photos and get all my stuff packed and ready to go. Jason calls and I head out to pick him up, getting a bit lost on the way and missing the exit, getting even further lost heading back to the freeway. I eventually get it right and I'm finally into the base.
Picking up Jason, we head out, discussing our food options. Before we head out, Jason asks if I wanted to take some photos of the planes parked on the grounds. I think, not really, but I think again, well I'm not going to be back for a while, if ever, so I decide, why not!
Butch
Camo
See this large!
We decide on Pho 1. turns out it's a place I was taken to on my last trip. The thing I remember about last time was that they give you the raw meat on a separate plate, and like idiots, Jason and I put all the veggies in the soup. Well, that cools down your soup. Which means the meat doesn't cook. Raw meat pho, yummm....
We do it right this time, and the pho is good stuff. Better than some of the places I've tried in Long Beach, but not quite Pho 54 (which got too dirty and shut down).
Let me tell you kids, the secret to good Asian food is a boiled insect or two in your food. Trust me. And, the lower the grade on the front (only applies to mainlanders and Los Angeles) the better. It sounds gross, but your taste buds will be thanking you. Your subconscious and your gut, once you find that insect, probably won't.
And with that, we rush to the airport and I'm on my way back home.
At home, I count 37. 37 mosquito bites. 37 itch like a bitch bites.
And that, my friends, is where the title comes from.
--------------
This concludes the trip journal. No more Hawaii! Home now.
To keep going, you can see the schedule, or you can see some photos.
Monday, March 12, 2007
|
I believe I can fly (Day 11)
Lazy Sunday. Man, these days have been getting lazy, haven't they?
9:30 or so, I'm up and on the lappy again, copying photos and writing journal entries. Jason asks the question of the month: What to do today? It's been a persistent question throughout this whole trip. If you guys haven't noticed, my plan for this Hawaii trip consisted of the following items:
1. Buy roundtrip ticket to Hawaii.
What a masterpiece of a plan. I've been playing it by ear this whole time, mooching ideas from Jason and Kristl, since they live here after all. So far, it's been an absolute blast.
I've been checking the weather reports and it looks like Monday is going to be cloudy with a 60% chance of rain. Seeing as how the other day said 10% chance and it was pouring, I'm thinking it'll rain. Maybe even frogs or hellfire.
Sooooo that leaves only today for... skydiving.
Call up Vince and Heather, the two who seemed to like the idea, and we set up a plan to pick them up and head over to the airfield. I make a reservation for 1:30 pm, grab some directions, and we take off. Sara bids us goodbye, and departs.
Jason and I stop over at Vince and Heather's place, pick them up, and head up to the northwest side of the island which is where Dillingham Airfield is. We take the H1 west up to the H2 north, figure out which direction the airfield is, and decide to head into Haleiwa for some food. Once again, we stop at Giovanni's (number two) and get some plates of shrimp scampi. Changing the location thankfully doesn't affect the taste. Full of food, we head back toward Dillingham, burping garlic and shrimp (garlic and hot dog for Vince) all the way toward the Airfield.
The H2 freeway eventually turns into a highway. That eventually loses the shoulders and converts to a two lane road. And that somehow changed to a dirt road with, oh, 800 potholes. Hmm.
We eventually get to the right highway, and after following various dubious directions (most of the directions found on the web say that the signs are poor in Waialua and we have to follow their anecdotal instructions) we arrive at Dillingham Airfield, parking next to the Skydive Hawaii van.
I find Mary, our contact, and she hands us a few forms which basically state that skydiving is dangerous and we can all get injured or die, and that we waive them of all liability if we do. Then a video comes on, which turns out to be the same one I saw last time. It has an old guy with a massively long beard sitting behind a desk and reiterating major points from the forms, basically how dangerous everything is. Then he goes, "With that out of the way, let's get to sky diving!" and a video of a dive is shown.
This is going to be awesome.
We get outside to wait for the tandem instructors/divers to call our names. Vince and Heather's come by, and my guy, Jim introduces himself. He talks about what a beautiful day it is and how it's going to be a spectacular drop. Then he hands me my straps and helps me get them on---oh wait, something's wrong, he says, and takes them off and to the table. I overhear things like "What's that doing there?" and "Why is it doing this?" come from him, and look behind me to see Vince and Heather ready to go.
You can't imagine how confident I'm feeling about this drop now.
Once we strap up, we head out to the middle of the field where the little caravan plane lands and turns in front of us. Note: The time from signing the forms to getting out here was barely 20 minutes. Take THAT, Elsinore!
Our three guys ask us, who wants to go first? I volunteered, but Heather seemed like she wanted to be first, so I mentioned that I'd follow the both of them down. That way I'd be able to see them on my way down. Not that I'd pay that much attention to them when I have the awesome view in front of me. But more on that later.
A bunch of people hop into the plane, including a few tandems and a few solo jumpers. Some diving videographers and cameramen also get on. Cool.
I'm still burping up garlic butter and shrimp, and now my throat is really dry. That must mean I'm nervous. Jim says the first time is the fear of the unknown. The second time?
Fear of the known.
The pilot kicks the throttle to the max and the tiny plane rolls its way down the field, eventually lifting itself free of the ground. At least Dillingham has a paved runway. The ride toward flight is smooth.
I ask Jim how long he's been doing this, and how long is the freefall. He answers "just a few weeks" and "for the rest of your life!" (The real answers are over 13 years and about a minute)
My throat is really dry now. Still burping up garlic and butter shrimp. Dude, I'm really full. This could be bad news.
We reach about 12 to 14 thousand feet in the air. Looking out the window, I see nothing but clouds over the land mass, and a bunch of ocean behind us. Heather is up first, walking up to the now opened canopy door. For some reason I decide to yell "Bye!!!" and everyone else also waves goodbye to her, and she waves bye back.
Only now do I realize how morbid that was.
The tandem guy goes, 1, 2, 3... and dives out the door.
Heather's scream can be heard over the wind. The whole plane erupts in laughter and people give each other hi-fives.
Next up is Vince. His tandem guy gets to the door, counts 1, 2 and 3, and does a flip out the door.
Oh how RAD.
I'm up next. Get up next to the door, dangle my feet over the edge, burp up some shrimp and garlic, and next thing I know, I'm flung out of a moving plane.
The G-forces at this point pull my guts in all directions. Jim starts to spin and now my organs are pulled to my head and my feet.
Uh oh... I start to feel the shrimp go up my throat... crap! Cough cough....COUGH hungghhhhh.....
----I'm good... I managed to use every inch of my being to prevent my delicious lunch from emptying onto Heather and Vince. Now, I can truly enjoy falling (and spinning) at 120 mph. Looking around me, my view is a bunch of clouds over the mountains in central Oahu, a beautiful view to the east of north shore beaches, clouds below us and slightly south of us, and to the north and west more gorgeous beaches and the beautiful blue ocean.
I can't possibly describe in words how beautiful the scene looks and also how I feel as I'm careening towards the ground, the power of the air rushing past me and the surging plateau of adrenaline keeping me insanely alert of every passing millisecond.
Halfway through the cloud, the chute deploys and I'm pulled upwards with it. Jim asks me to take the controls for a moment.
Haha, he trusts me with his life. Silly, silly Jim.
He pulls off my goggles, allowing me to see everything clearly. We float through the clouds and the scene below is breathtaking. I take a moment to catch my breath, surveying the lush green rainforests covering the mountains to our south and southeast, the entire coastline from the edge on the west all the way to the northeast, the vast green fields and small towns dotting the northern part of the island, and the tiny airfield below us. I see two little chutes below me floating their way lower and lower. I think Heather is spinning around in hers.
Speaking of which, Jim mentions that we could do some of our own by pulling on either side of the lines that I'm holding. The left one turns us left, the right one right. He tells me to yank both, and we coast even slower. This is the airbrake, he says. Now pull the left one, to my leg. I do, and the chute catches the spin and we're spiraling toward the ground at a ridiculous speed. He tells me to switch to the right, the G-forces attempting to rip my sanity from me. One more left tug and we're facing straight down.
Straight. Down.
Grab the airbrakes again, and coast back to the right side up position. A few more turns to survey the area, a couple of more spins before we have to stop, and Jim takes the controls again for the landing. We coast on down to the field, and we hit the ground. Hard. My feet hurt a bit, but overall this experience was way better than my jump from Lake Elsinore. The scenery is more beautiful, the people are friendlier, there is less instruction and lag time, and everyone has a sort of energy that really shines. You can tell these guys love their job and love showing people what a great experience diving is.
I like this one. Heather is sooooo happy.
But that other guy...
See it larger.
I get to Heather and Vince and ask them how they felt, and they both loved it. LOVED IT!
Larger.
I get down to the building, we get the payments and tips squared away, and back outside to thank the instructors and head out. Before I do, I walk up to one of the guys taking some shots with a Canon 20D and 10-22 lens, and ask him about what he does and where he came from, photographically. His background is in film and he's learning as much as he can about photography, saving up money to buy a digital camera. He used to do regular business/portrait photos before, and he got a chance to do some skydiving photography, and the rest is history.
Skydiving photographer. How awesome a job would that be?
Mission complete.
I recommend that he get his digital camera sooner rather than later and use that to learn since the film cost is negligible and the feedback is immediate. We chat a bit more, and then peace out, we're gone.
Heading back out east this time to avoid the traffic going in the opposite direction, Jason thinks to find a place that has some bigger waves. We stop by at a beach with people gathered around a roped off area and we find out it's Turtle Beach, a place we tried to find on Saturday!
Turtles!
A woman was there to tell people interesting facts about the turtles, and also presumably to keep people from going in the roped off area and bothering the protected endangered species.
More photos here.
Heather is amused because I'm lying down on my stomach in the sand.
A few photos (okay, possibly 90) later, we head back to the car and decide to try finding some big waves. Heading further east, we pass by a few beach parks with lame waves. Lame, I presume, because Heather vetoes them all. She suggests a place called pipeline, and we head over there to find... pretty big waves.
Cow
a
bung
a
See a bigger one here.
After a few photos here, we head off further to the east and then to the south to get back to the city. We stop by the Chinaman's Hat, a pointy shaped island not too far from the shore, and then take off again to drop off Heather and Vince.
Jason mentions that he'd like to get some cheap gas. Where to find cheap gas? At the military! We head to the NEX, or Naval Exchange, sort of like a big Costco where the price of membership is the US government pwning you. Security is tight; Military ID must be presented at all times. Military personell can get guests in, but guests aren't allowed to purchase anything from this place. Some people enforce it, others don't. I managed to snag a bunch of things (no tax!) but was later stopped when I tried to buy bottled Coke.
Bottled Coke! I never see this stuff on the mainland. It's cuz the Military keeps it under wraps at their shiesty exchange.
I bet they caress those bottles at night, talking to them and calling them "preciousssssssss".
After we grab a bunch of boozahol and whatnot, we ponder dinner options. Jason mentions a good Greek place he knows of, and we head on down to... the Olive Tree Cafe, a tiny place with barely a counter and way too few tables for the patrons there. Jason and I both got the souvlaki plate, which has lamb kabob garnished with some kind of sauce (I think tzatziki) and a Greek salad with tomatoes and cucumbers. We also picked out two appetizers: mussel cevice, a set of six open clam mussels garnished with olive oil, lemon juice, capers, and crumbs of feta, and also some platter with blocks of feta cheese, olive oil, olives, and pita bread.
The lamb souvlaki was tender and had a bold taste which was well accompanied by the sauce. The Greek salad was, well, a salad. George's on the mainland still has the best Greek style salad.
George's salad with calamari? Total pwnage.
Next, onto the mussels. Absolutely sublime. I don't even like shellfish, but you'd lose an arm trying to keep me away from these!
Last, we have the feta/olive oil/olives plate. The feta cheese was strong tasting but not pungent or overbearing, the olives were juicy and full of a rich flavor, and the soft pita bread keeps the palate from being overwhelmed. Bravo!
Delicious place, but I still prefer the ground beef and lamb style of gyro from the mainland. The souvlaki with the sauce here is excellent though, probably better than the one at George's. Next time I'll try it there to compare.
And thus, after stuffing myself retarded, I call it a night.
BTW...
21
Is the number of mosquito bites that I have accumulated thus far.
9:30 or so, I'm up and on the lappy again, copying photos and writing journal entries. Jason asks the question of the month: What to do today? It's been a persistent question throughout this whole trip. If you guys haven't noticed, my plan for this Hawaii trip consisted of the following items:
1. Buy roundtrip ticket to Hawaii.
What a masterpiece of a plan. I've been playing it by ear this whole time, mooching ideas from Jason and Kristl, since they live here after all. So far, it's been an absolute blast.
I've been checking the weather reports and it looks like Monday is going to be cloudy with a 60% chance of rain. Seeing as how the other day said 10% chance and it was pouring, I'm thinking it'll rain. Maybe even frogs or hellfire.
Sooooo that leaves only today for... skydiving.
Call up Vince and Heather, the two who seemed to like the idea, and we set up a plan to pick them up and head over to the airfield. I make a reservation for 1:30 pm, grab some directions, and we take off. Sara bids us goodbye, and departs.
Jason and I stop over at Vince and Heather's place, pick them up, and head up to the northwest side of the island which is where Dillingham Airfield is. We take the H1 west up to the H2 north, figure out which direction the airfield is, and decide to head into Haleiwa for some food. Once again, we stop at Giovanni's (number two) and get some plates of shrimp scampi. Changing the location thankfully doesn't affect the taste. Full of food, we head back toward Dillingham, burping garlic and shrimp (garlic and hot dog for Vince) all the way toward the Airfield.
The H2 freeway eventually turns into a highway. That eventually loses the shoulders and converts to a two lane road. And that somehow changed to a dirt road with, oh, 800 potholes. Hmm.
We eventually get to the right highway, and after following various dubious directions (most of the directions found on the web say that the signs are poor in Waialua and we have to follow their anecdotal instructions) we arrive at Dillingham Airfield, parking next to the Skydive Hawaii van.
I find Mary, our contact, and she hands us a few forms which basically state that skydiving is dangerous and we can all get injured or die, and that we waive them of all liability if we do. Then a video comes on, which turns out to be the same one I saw last time. It has an old guy with a massively long beard sitting behind a desk and reiterating major points from the forms, basically how dangerous everything is. Then he goes, "With that out of the way, let's get to sky diving!" and a video of a dive is shown.
This is going to be awesome.
We get outside to wait for the tandem instructors/divers to call our names. Vince and Heather's come by, and my guy, Jim introduces himself. He talks about what a beautiful day it is and how it's going to be a spectacular drop. Then he hands me my straps and helps me get them on---oh wait, something's wrong, he says, and takes them off and to the table. I overhear things like "What's that doing there?" and "Why is it doing this?" come from him, and look behind me to see Vince and Heather ready to go.
You can't imagine how confident I'm feeling about this drop now.
Once we strap up, we head out to the middle of the field where the little caravan plane lands and turns in front of us. Note: The time from signing the forms to getting out here was barely 20 minutes. Take THAT, Elsinore!
Our three guys ask us, who wants to go first? I volunteered, but Heather seemed like she wanted to be first, so I mentioned that I'd follow the both of them down. That way I'd be able to see them on my way down. Not that I'd pay that much attention to them when I have the awesome view in front of me. But more on that later.
A bunch of people hop into the plane, including a few tandems and a few solo jumpers. Some diving videographers and cameramen also get on. Cool.
I'm still burping up garlic butter and shrimp, and now my throat is really dry. That must mean I'm nervous. Jim says the first time is the fear of the unknown. The second time?
Fear of the known.
The pilot kicks the throttle to the max and the tiny plane rolls its way down the field, eventually lifting itself free of the ground. At least Dillingham has a paved runway. The ride toward flight is smooth.
I ask Jim how long he's been doing this, and how long is the freefall. He answers "just a few weeks" and "for the rest of your life!" (The real answers are over 13 years and about a minute)
My throat is really dry now. Still burping up garlic and butter shrimp. Dude, I'm really full. This could be bad news.
We reach about 12 to 14 thousand feet in the air. Looking out the window, I see nothing but clouds over the land mass, and a bunch of ocean behind us. Heather is up first, walking up to the now opened canopy door. For some reason I decide to yell "Bye!!!" and everyone else also waves goodbye to her, and she waves bye back.
Only now do I realize how morbid that was.
The tandem guy goes, 1, 2, 3... and dives out the door.
Heather's scream can be heard over the wind. The whole plane erupts in laughter and people give each other hi-fives.
Next up is Vince. His tandem guy gets to the door, counts 1, 2 and 3, and does a flip out the door.
Oh how RAD.
I'm up next. Get up next to the door, dangle my feet over the edge, burp up some shrimp and garlic, and next thing I know, I'm flung out of a moving plane.
The G-forces at this point pull my guts in all directions. Jim starts to spin and now my organs are pulled to my head and my feet.
Uh oh... I start to feel the shrimp go up my throat... crap! Cough cough....COUGH hungghhhhh.....
----I'm good... I managed to use every inch of my being to prevent my delicious lunch from emptying onto Heather and Vince. Now, I can truly enjoy falling (and spinning) at 120 mph. Looking around me, my view is a bunch of clouds over the mountains in central Oahu, a beautiful view to the east of north shore beaches, clouds below us and slightly south of us, and to the north and west more gorgeous beaches and the beautiful blue ocean.
I can't possibly describe in words how beautiful the scene looks and also how I feel as I'm careening towards the ground, the power of the air rushing past me and the surging plateau of adrenaline keeping me insanely alert of every passing millisecond.
Halfway through the cloud, the chute deploys and I'm pulled upwards with it. Jim asks me to take the controls for a moment.
Haha, he trusts me with his life. Silly, silly Jim.
He pulls off my goggles, allowing me to see everything clearly. We float through the clouds and the scene below is breathtaking. I take a moment to catch my breath, surveying the lush green rainforests covering the mountains to our south and southeast, the entire coastline from the edge on the west all the way to the northeast, the vast green fields and small towns dotting the northern part of the island, and the tiny airfield below us. I see two little chutes below me floating their way lower and lower. I think Heather is spinning around in hers.
Speaking of which, Jim mentions that we could do some of our own by pulling on either side of the lines that I'm holding. The left one turns us left, the right one right. He tells me to yank both, and we coast even slower. This is the airbrake, he says. Now pull the left one, to my leg. I do, and the chute catches the spin and we're spiraling toward the ground at a ridiculous speed. He tells me to switch to the right, the G-forces attempting to rip my sanity from me. One more left tug and we're facing straight down.
Straight. Down.
Grab the airbrakes again, and coast back to the right side up position. A few more turns to survey the area, a couple of more spins before we have to stop, and Jim takes the controls again for the landing. We coast on down to the field, and we hit the ground. Hard. My feet hurt a bit, but overall this experience was way better than my jump from Lake Elsinore. The scenery is more beautiful, the people are friendlier, there is less instruction and lag time, and everyone has a sort of energy that really shines. You can tell these guys love their job and love showing people what a great experience diving is.
I like this one. Heather is sooooo happy.
But that other guy...
See it larger.
I get to Heather and Vince and ask them how they felt, and they both loved it. LOVED IT!
Larger.
I get down to the building, we get the payments and tips squared away, and back outside to thank the instructors and head out. Before I do, I walk up to one of the guys taking some shots with a Canon 20D and 10-22 lens, and ask him about what he does and where he came from, photographically. His background is in film and he's learning as much as he can about photography, saving up money to buy a digital camera. He used to do regular business/portrait photos before, and he got a chance to do some skydiving photography, and the rest is history.
Skydiving photographer. How awesome a job would that be?
Mission complete.
I recommend that he get his digital camera sooner rather than later and use that to learn since the film cost is negligible and the feedback is immediate. We chat a bit more, and then peace out, we're gone.
Heading back out east this time to avoid the traffic going in the opposite direction, Jason thinks to find a place that has some bigger waves. We stop by at a beach with people gathered around a roped off area and we find out it's Turtle Beach, a place we tried to find on Saturday!
Turtles!
A woman was there to tell people interesting facts about the turtles, and also presumably to keep people from going in the roped off area and bothering the protected endangered species.
More photos here.
Heather is amused because I'm lying down on my stomach in the sand.
A few photos (okay, possibly 90) later, we head back to the car and decide to try finding some big waves. Heading further east, we pass by a few beach parks with lame waves. Lame, I presume, because Heather vetoes them all. She suggests a place called pipeline, and we head over there to find... pretty big waves.
Cow
a
bung
a
See a bigger one here.
After a few photos here, we head off further to the east and then to the south to get back to the city. We stop by the Chinaman's Hat, a pointy shaped island not too far from the shore, and then take off again to drop off Heather and Vince.
Jason mentions that he'd like to get some cheap gas. Where to find cheap gas? At the military! We head to the NEX, or Naval Exchange, sort of like a big Costco where the price of membership is the US government pwning you. Security is tight; Military ID must be presented at all times. Military personell can get guests in, but guests aren't allowed to purchase anything from this place. Some people enforce it, others don't. I managed to snag a bunch of things (no tax!) but was later stopped when I tried to buy bottled Coke.
Bottled Coke! I never see this stuff on the mainland. It's cuz the Military keeps it under wraps at their shiesty exchange.
I bet they caress those bottles at night, talking to them and calling them "preciousssssssss".
After we grab a bunch of boozahol and whatnot, we ponder dinner options. Jason mentions a good Greek place he knows of, and we head on down to... the Olive Tree Cafe, a tiny place with barely a counter and way too few tables for the patrons there. Jason and I both got the souvlaki plate, which has lamb kabob garnished with some kind of sauce (I think tzatziki) and a Greek salad with tomatoes and cucumbers. We also picked out two appetizers: mussel cevice, a set of six open clam mussels garnished with olive oil, lemon juice, capers, and crumbs of feta, and also some platter with blocks of feta cheese, olive oil, olives, and pita bread.
The lamb souvlaki was tender and had a bold taste which was well accompanied by the sauce. The Greek salad was, well, a salad. George's on the mainland still has the best Greek style salad.
George's salad with calamari? Total pwnage.
Next, onto the mussels. Absolutely sublime. I don't even like shellfish, but you'd lose an arm trying to keep me away from these!
Last, we have the feta/olive oil/olives plate. The feta cheese was strong tasting but not pungent or overbearing, the olives were juicy and full of a rich flavor, and the soft pita bread keeps the palate from being overwhelmed. Bravo!
Delicious place, but I still prefer the ground beef and lamb style of gyro from the mainland. The souvlaki with the sauce here is excellent though, probably better than the one at George's. Next time I'll try it there to compare.
And thus, after stuffing myself retarded, I call it a night.
BTW...
21
Is the number of mosquito bites that I have accumulated thus far.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
|
Chillax (Day 10)
Lazy day again. Get up, pondering what to eat. We decide on a place called Mitsu Ken, which is an Okazuya-type place, which means they have a myriad of cheap foods and you get to pick and choose and make your own combo.
Sounds like my kind of place.
We get there, and amidst a smell of sewage, find out that they're closed since they're... having a sewage problem. Looking across the street, there's another okazuya type place! We'll just grab food there.
I nabbed myself a plate lunch of beef curry, shoyu hot dog, and garlic chicken. I add a filet of saba (mackarel) and something called a hash (corned beef and potato, smooshed into a ball). Oh yes, and it comes with a side of mac salad. These Hawaiians sure love their processed meats. Spam is in a lot of things, and hot dogs are all over too. We take the food, grab some drinks and head to Ala Moana Beach Park to eat next to the water.
Ah, so nice and relaxing. The clouds dance in the skies and twirl around the city buildings. The water is a mass of aquamarine, accessorized by streams of white as waves crash into themselves.
What a nice day.
Food is pretty good, saba is nice and oily, hash is decent, chicken is really tasty and the shoyu hot dog is... like a bright neon red color. Eeeuch. Oh well, can't just leave it there. Munch. Tastes like hot dog.
Sara wants to check out the Honolulu Festival since her mom wants some pamphlets for Japan, so we go there. I managed to find a guy who has some awesome underwater photography, John Johnson of One Breath Photography. Once I get in contact with him, I'm gonna purchase some of his work over the web. He flies from Hawaii to Japan working as a software engineer for some company. He also speaks fluent Japanese. Pretty chill guy, amazing photography.
Turns out the Honolulu Festival is, otherwise, pretty lame, so we head back. Jason and Sara have date night tonight, so I make plans with Kristl to do some studying of Mandarin to get out of their hair for a while. Jason takes off at about 5:30 for dinner. Kristl swings by at about 7:30. We head off to grab some boba (it's like a drug to her) and then off to the UH Law school building.
Studying studying studying... Kristl starts to progressively die, mostly due to stress from juggling lots of responsibilities, which, after a bout of sniffling and hacking, is seriously making me start to worry. I start to chat with her about random stuff, life, relationships, whatever the crap comes to mind, and it seems to take her mind off being stressed, and she looks instantly better. Lo, the unconscious power of stress. I feel somewhat bad for taking time out of her busy study schedule, but she seems appreciative that I was there to study alongside her, which everyone knows keeps you focused. Studying alone is an exercise in resisting distraction.
Jason calls, 11:30, says he just finished eating dinner. That was a long dinner. We study a bit more, head to get some grub, which ends up being Zippy's. Zippy's is basically like Denny's on the mainland, except it's not so much sit down as it is fast food. I grab this Zip Pac because I'm too hungry and their stupid photo spoke directly to my stomach through my eyes, and Kristl grabs some saimin (basically, ramen noodles in a broth of unknown origin with green onions, cheap, under $3).
After we done, we meet up with Jason at his condo, and Kristl takes off.
Sounds like my kind of place.
We get there, and amidst a smell of sewage, find out that they're closed since they're... having a sewage problem. Looking across the street, there's another okazuya type place! We'll just grab food there.
I nabbed myself a plate lunch of beef curry, shoyu hot dog, and garlic chicken. I add a filet of saba (mackarel) and something called a hash (corned beef and potato, smooshed into a ball). Oh yes, and it comes with a side of mac salad. These Hawaiians sure love their processed meats. Spam is in a lot of things, and hot dogs are all over too. We take the food, grab some drinks and head to Ala Moana Beach Park to eat next to the water.
Ah, so nice and relaxing. The clouds dance in the skies and twirl around the city buildings. The water is a mass of aquamarine, accessorized by streams of white as waves crash into themselves.
What a nice day.
Food is pretty good, saba is nice and oily, hash is decent, chicken is really tasty and the shoyu hot dog is... like a bright neon red color. Eeeuch. Oh well, can't just leave it there. Munch. Tastes like hot dog.
Sara wants to check out the Honolulu Festival since her mom wants some pamphlets for Japan, so we go there. I managed to find a guy who has some awesome underwater photography, John Johnson of One Breath Photography. Once I get in contact with him, I'm gonna purchase some of his work over the web. He flies from Hawaii to Japan working as a software engineer for some company. He also speaks fluent Japanese. Pretty chill guy, amazing photography.
Turns out the Honolulu Festival is, otherwise, pretty lame, so we head back. Jason and Sara have date night tonight, so I make plans with Kristl to do some studying of Mandarin to get out of their hair for a while. Jason takes off at about 5:30 for dinner. Kristl swings by at about 7:30. We head off to grab some boba (it's like a drug to her) and then off to the UH Law school building.
Studying studying studying... Kristl starts to progressively die, mostly due to stress from juggling lots of responsibilities, which, after a bout of sniffling and hacking, is seriously making me start to worry. I start to chat with her about random stuff, life, relationships, whatever the crap comes to mind, and it seems to take her mind off being stressed, and she looks instantly better. Lo, the unconscious power of stress. I feel somewhat bad for taking time out of her busy study schedule, but she seems appreciative that I was there to study alongside her, which everyone knows keeps you focused. Studying alone is an exercise in resisting distraction.
Jason calls, 11:30, says he just finished eating dinner. That was a long dinner. We study a bit more, head to get some grub, which ends up being Zippy's. Zippy's is basically like Denny's on the mainland, except it's not so much sit down as it is fast food. I grab this Zip Pac because I'm too hungry and their stupid photo spoke directly to my stomach through my eyes, and Kristl grabs some saimin (basically, ramen noodles in a broth of unknown origin with green onions, cheap, under $3).
After we done, we meet up with Jason at his condo, and Kristl takes off.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
|
Balls: Big and small (Day 9)
Up early in the morning (0600 hours Jason time, 6 am everyone else time). We're going to join Jason's dad--big Yee--and Sara for some golf at the Hickam Air Force Base. Mr. Yee arrives at about 6:30, and we pack our stuff and get going. Sara calls; we'll meet her at the front gate.
After heading westward on the H1 for a while, we arrive at the gatehouse area where visitors can gain access to the place. Jason goes to do his thing, grabs a pass for both cars, and we head in, navigating through the various winding roads of the giant Air Force Base, confusing to all but the military.
9 hole, 3 par golf is the game. This is my first time on a 'real' golf course. The last time I played golf, I had a tiny green putter and a neon orange ball, and I smacked it around a course that consisted of mini windmills, tiny houses, castles, and other whimsical crap nearby a large building filled with arcade machines and a go kart race course. Now, I have this huge bag, filled with probably around 10 clubs, three balls, and a bunch of tees. Each club with a number on it. Two clubs have letters which stand for acronyms which are shortcuts for names which describe the clubs usage which still to this moment escape my comprehension.
Should be a load of fun!
Most of the rest of the morning passes like this. Mr. Yee starts off, hitting a fantastic shot which more or less lands on the green. Jason is up next, sometimes hitting a fantastic shot, sometimes skipping the ball over the grass, and sometimes launching the ball in all sorts of odd directions. I follow after that, and all but chaos ensues. Sometimes I whiff. Sometimes I skim the top of the ball, and send it rolling somewhat toward the flag. I manage to, once or twice, send the ball going in directions conceivable only by God.
Jason here. Probably rocking the ball's face.
More from the set here.
9 holes later, I'm in the "lead" with 68 points. So that's...41 over par.
Sweet.
Man, golf is hard. It seems so easy in those videogames. I just gotta hit a button when the bar matches up with the line. Curse you, physics, how DARE you.
Sara takes off, since she's playing hooky from work and she needs to go finish up some stuff. Jason takes us around the base and shows us various places like the Officer's Lounge, the on-base housing for the generals and other high ranking officers, where the President stays when he stops by the base, and a few bars and places to chill. The houses are pretty nice there, and there are a lot of amenities for the people living on the base like an elementary school, supermarkets, auto shop, gas station (cheap gas!), bowling alley, gyms, movie theatres.... It's like a freaking city unto itself.
Here's an interesting tidbit: They left the bullet holes from the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Close up.
The Eternal Flame. Of FREEDOM!
A monument to honor those men and women of the Air Force that served in World War II, Korea and southeast Asia.
Here's the Missing Man Formation. It honors the men and women who were not accounted for. Four planes fly in formation, and one of the planes pulls up and takes off.
We stop by the Sea Breeze, which is a pretty nifty restaurant next to the water. They're having a lunch buffet (woohoo) including kalua pork, mahi mahi, various greens, mac salad and other pastas, clam chowder, mashed potatoes, and prime rib.
Deeeelicious.
After lunch, we head back to the condo and chill for a while. Jason mentions Frank Miller's 300, and I'm down to see it, so we look up times. 2:15 showtime, it's 1:50, perfect. We begin to head out. But wait! Jason ponders if this is one of those times where alcohol enhances the movie. Jason and Jim Beam Black Label shake hands and agree to a mutually beneficial relationship.
I'm not expecting too much from this movie. No big name actors, lots of CG, can't imagine how good the plot is going to be for one of those Braveheart style movies.
Here's a rundown of various thoughts during the movie:
- So much CG. I like the look though.
- Haha, these are some great lines.
- Boobies!
- Bloody. Violent.
- Whoa! Very violent.
- Wait, there's no blood on the ground! I guess they forgot to do this in CG.
- Spartans are freaking buff.
- Xerxes looks like some kind of transvestite.
- Immortals look rad.
- Oh snap, Leonidas's wife is badass!
Pleasantly surprised.
After the movie, Sara comes over and we ponder for a while what to eat. After a long while, including time in the car, with still more pondering, we settle on some place called Kaka'ako Kitchen. I still have trouble pronouncing it. Grab a plate of sweet and sour ribs and shoyu something chicken, brown rice, scoop of mac salad. The pork is really tender and pretty darn sweet with all this sauce and pineapples on it.
Chicken is tender and good, and both go well with the brown rice. Mac salad is everywhere on this island, and it's decent here. Food overall is OK.
On the way back to the car, we spot this tiny store with a few people inside and art all over the place. I see a guy with a 20D shooting some photos, so I stop by to chat with him a bit and ask what's going on. I love to chat with other photographers since I'm always thinking I can learn something from them. Sometimes it's hit or miss though, some people are really opinionated and have this attitude like their word is law. Luckily, this guy is chill, and we chat a bit on what he does, and who the artist is.
Check it out: ArmyOfSnipers
Once again, back to home base. Bowling on base? 9:30? Sounds good. Some more photo editing and blogging later, we finally head out to the alley. I meet Allen, one of Vince's friends, and Lacey, whose husband is on the same boat that Vince is. Vince and Heather are there, Jason and Sara, and then me. We grab some shoes, paid for already (thanks Vince! and maybe Heather, or Allen, or whoever, thanks!) and start to bowling.
The first thing I notice is that their bowling software is wicked cool. Like, not the letters and boxes thing in Cerritos, but a full fledged graphic system that highlights the person and shows these crazy animated scenes when you get a strike, split or spare, much like one of those electronic casino machines you'd see in Las Vegas. You get all these statistics too, like your ball speed (in mph) and your average scores, average strikes/gutters/spares per game. Neat.
The second thing I notice is the cosmic bowling thing. Damn. I put my camera back in the car.
Jason Sara and I are on one team. Vince, Heather, Allen and Lacey are on the other.
I start off the game... with a strike! Next frame, another strike! Dude. I. Rock.
Er, what the heck? When did I get incredible at bowling? This NEVER happens at home.
A few more frames later, and as I thought, it was just luck! Back to the regularly scheduled program.
After the first game, Jason puts a handicap of 120 on our team. Clearly, this is way too much, so he changes it to 90. Last frame of the game, our team down by 15 or so, Jason intentionally chucks a gutter for his last one. Uh, hello, thanks for the pressure, ya jackhole.
I succeed at being whifftacular. Jaaaasonnnn!!!
Overall: 145, 79 and 108. Like golf, I still do better at videogames.
After leaving, Sara suggests this place called Liliha Bakery for their Coco Puffs.
"Uh... we could buy cereal anywhere, Sara."
"No! It's their special pastry."
Crazy Hawaiians.
So with that, we head on over to this place which has a cool old-style diner counter. In fact, they have no tables! We grab a few spots on the counter, and I order me up a saimin, which turns out to be basically ramen noodles in a funky flavored broth, slices of spam, and a lot of green onion. For $3! Yummy.
We also get this famous Coco Puff or something, which turns out to be a sort of cream puff with a blob of buttery goop on top, and filled with a sweet chocolate cream. Very sweet chocolate cream. I scarf down my saimin and the Coco Puff, which almost kills me because it's so sweet, and then call it a night.
After heading westward on the H1 for a while, we arrive at the gatehouse area where visitors can gain access to the place. Jason goes to do his thing, grabs a pass for both cars, and we head in, navigating through the various winding roads of the giant Air Force Base, confusing to all but the military.
9 hole, 3 par golf is the game. This is my first time on a 'real' golf course. The last time I played golf, I had a tiny green putter and a neon orange ball, and I smacked it around a course that consisted of mini windmills, tiny houses, castles, and other whimsical crap nearby a large building filled with arcade machines and a go kart race course. Now, I have this huge bag, filled with probably around 10 clubs, three balls, and a bunch of tees. Each club with a number on it. Two clubs have letters which stand for acronyms which are shortcuts for names which describe the clubs usage which still to this moment escape my comprehension.
Should be a load of fun!
Most of the rest of the morning passes like this. Mr. Yee starts off, hitting a fantastic shot which more or less lands on the green. Jason is up next, sometimes hitting a fantastic shot, sometimes skipping the ball over the grass, and sometimes launching the ball in all sorts of odd directions. I follow after that, and all but chaos ensues. Sometimes I whiff. Sometimes I skim the top of the ball, and send it rolling somewhat toward the flag. I manage to, once or twice, send the ball going in directions conceivable only by God.
Jason here. Probably rocking the ball's face.
More from the set here.
9 holes later, I'm in the "lead" with 68 points. So that's...41 over par.
Sweet.
Man, golf is hard. It seems so easy in those videogames. I just gotta hit a button when the bar matches up with the line. Curse you, physics, how DARE you.
Sara takes off, since she's playing hooky from work and she needs to go finish up some stuff. Jason takes us around the base and shows us various places like the Officer's Lounge, the on-base housing for the generals and other high ranking officers, where the President stays when he stops by the base, and a few bars and places to chill. The houses are pretty nice there, and there are a lot of amenities for the people living on the base like an elementary school, supermarkets, auto shop, gas station (cheap gas!), bowling alley, gyms, movie theatres.... It's like a freaking city unto itself.
Here's an interesting tidbit: They left the bullet holes from the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Close up.
The Eternal Flame. Of FREEDOM!
A monument to honor those men and women of the Air Force that served in World War II, Korea and southeast Asia.
Here's the Missing Man Formation. It honors the men and women who were not accounted for. Four planes fly in formation, and one of the planes pulls up and takes off.
We stop by the Sea Breeze, which is a pretty nifty restaurant next to the water. They're having a lunch buffet (woohoo) including kalua pork, mahi mahi, various greens, mac salad and other pastas, clam chowder, mashed potatoes, and prime rib.
Deeeelicious.
After lunch, we head back to the condo and chill for a while. Jason mentions Frank Miller's 300, and I'm down to see it, so we look up times. 2:15 showtime, it's 1:50, perfect. We begin to head out. But wait! Jason ponders if this is one of those times where alcohol enhances the movie. Jason and Jim Beam Black Label shake hands and agree to a mutually beneficial relationship.
I'm not expecting too much from this movie. No big name actors, lots of CG, can't imagine how good the plot is going to be for one of those Braveheart style movies.
Here's a rundown of various thoughts during the movie:
- So much CG. I like the look though.
- Haha, these are some great lines.
- Boobies!
- Bloody. Violent.
- Whoa! Very violent.
- Wait, there's no blood on the ground! I guess they forgot to do this in CG.
- Spartans are freaking buff.
- Xerxes looks like some kind of transvestite.
- Immortals look rad.
- Oh snap, Leonidas's wife is badass!
Pleasantly surprised.
After the movie, Sara comes over and we ponder for a while what to eat. After a long while, including time in the car, with still more pondering, we settle on some place called Kaka'ako Kitchen. I still have trouble pronouncing it. Grab a plate of sweet and sour ribs and shoyu something chicken, brown rice, scoop of mac salad. The pork is really tender and pretty darn sweet with all this sauce and pineapples on it.
Chicken is tender and good, and both go well with the brown rice. Mac salad is everywhere on this island, and it's decent here. Food overall is OK.
On the way back to the car, we spot this tiny store with a few people inside and art all over the place. I see a guy with a 20D shooting some photos, so I stop by to chat with him a bit and ask what's going on. I love to chat with other photographers since I'm always thinking I can learn something from them. Sometimes it's hit or miss though, some people are really opinionated and have this attitude like their word is law. Luckily, this guy is chill, and we chat a bit on what he does, and who the artist is.
Check it out: ArmyOfSnipers
Once again, back to home base. Bowling on base? 9:30? Sounds good. Some more photo editing and blogging later, we finally head out to the alley. I meet Allen, one of Vince's friends, and Lacey, whose husband is on the same boat that Vince is. Vince and Heather are there, Jason and Sara, and then me. We grab some shoes, paid for already (thanks Vince! and maybe Heather, or Allen, or whoever, thanks!) and start to bowling.
The first thing I notice is that their bowling software is wicked cool. Like, not the letters and boxes thing in Cerritos, but a full fledged graphic system that highlights the person and shows these crazy animated scenes when you get a strike, split or spare, much like one of those electronic casino machines you'd see in Las Vegas. You get all these statistics too, like your ball speed (in mph) and your average scores, average strikes/gutters/spares per game. Neat.
The second thing I notice is the cosmic bowling thing. Damn. I put my camera back in the car.
Jason Sara and I are on one team. Vince, Heather, Allen and Lacey are on the other.
I start off the game... with a strike! Next frame, another strike! Dude. I. Rock.
Er, what the heck? When did I get incredible at bowling? This NEVER happens at home.
A few more frames later, and as I thought, it was just luck! Back to the regularly scheduled program.
After the first game, Jason puts a handicap of 120 on our team. Clearly, this is way too much, so he changes it to 90. Last frame of the game, our team down by 15 or so, Jason intentionally chucks a gutter for his last one. Uh, hello, thanks for the pressure, ya jackhole.
I succeed at being whifftacular. Jaaaasonnnn!!!
Overall: 145, 79 and 108. Like golf, I still do better at videogames.
After leaving, Sara suggests this place called Liliha Bakery for their Coco Puffs.
"Uh... we could buy cereal anywhere, Sara."
"No! It's their special pastry."
Crazy Hawaiians.
So with that, we head on over to this place which has a cool old-style diner counter. In fact, they have no tables! We grab a few spots on the counter, and I order me up a saimin, which turns out to be basically ramen noodles in a funky flavored broth, slices of spam, and a lot of green onion. For $3! Yummy.
We also get this famous Coco Puff or something, which turns out to be a sort of cream puff with a blob of buttery goop on top, and filled with a sweet chocolate cream. Very sweet chocolate cream. I scarf down my saimin and the Coco Puff, which almost kills me because it's so sweet, and then call it a night.
Friday, March 9, 2007
|
Fish, ducks, a Buddha, and a Temple (Day 8)
Got up around 10:30 am. Jason mentioned that if he woke up early and I didn't, he would head out to basketball without me. Well, he's still here, and still in his PJs.
So, I guess basketball is out.
Working on photos and logging my travels in the morning.
12:30 rolls around, and Jason mentions a few places to eat, and we decide on a place called Yama's. It's actually called Yama's Fish Market, a tiny place that looks like part warehouse, part supermarket, and part restaurant inside. It's on Young's street, which is nearby Jimbo's noodles, where we ate yesterday.
This place is known for their poke apparently (woohoo, poke!) and I see big batches of it in the display. There are different kinds too, one with more onions and a bunch of twiggy seaweed, one that appears darker and heavier on the shoyu (soy sauce), and one that looks like salsa. I pick the combo that has lomi lomi salmon, kalua pork, poke (woohoo) and haupia, which is a kind of sweet coconut pudding-like substance. No matter how odd it sounds, it's delicious, as is the kind of poke that Jason suggested, the one with the twig-like seaweed called lima. All of that for about $8.25, nice. We took it to go since we're headed out to the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park.
The Valley of the Temples is up on the east side of the island, a giant cemetary of sorts that has different areas with differing denominations. We arrive there and turn into the park, driving slowly around to see different parts of it. The park really is surrounded by a large swath of mountains and trees, true to its name. We stop by one of the temples to grab a map, and the guy asks Jason if he was there to buy some plots. 10 of them, to be exact.
Who the heck buys 10 plots? Benevolent assassins? Maybe a family member thinking of life insurance money. But you know Detective Robert Goren would eventually find out.
After grabbing a map of the place, we head out and after driving around a bit more, end up near the top in front of the Byodo-In temple, where we devour lunch. As I said, I had some lomi lomi salmon, which is small cubes of salmon mixed with chopped tomatoes, onions, and green onions. Basically like pico de gallo, with salmon in it, light and refreshing in comaparison to the kalua pork, which is nice and tender and this time without any cabbage. As I said, I also have some poke, which is basically cubes of raw ahi tuna mixed with garlic, onions, green onions and a special kind of seaweed, marinated in soy sauce. It's freaking delicious. At the end, there's haupia, the buttery coconut concoction that's excellent mostly because it's not too sweet. You can really taste the coconut, the aroma of which is intoxicating.
We finish up, and get out to head to the Byodo-In Temple. A tour bus arrives, pouring a bunch of mostly old tourists to the place. Damn tourists! Now they'll get in my photos. Oh well. Walk up, pay the $2 admission, and cross the bridge to the place.
The Byodo-In Temple was built in 1968 to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. It apparently doesn't use any nails. It's name translates to "Temple of equality - not to discriminate".
I finish crossing the bridge and notice a small building on the side, called the Bell House. It's probably because there's a giant 5 foot, 3 ton brass bell there.
It comes with a giant log of wood hung on strings so you can whack it.
Yes, as you probably guessed, EVERYBODY whacks it. Now I can't get a steady photo of the bell detail.
Gonggggggggggg.
*faints*
You'll want to see a more detailed photo of this bell.
The sound is a deep low tone, a message of deep calm and peace which cleanses the mind of evil and temptation. It creates an atmosphere of tranquility for meditation that travels throughout the grounds and is customarily rung before one enters the temple to spread the eternal teachings of Buddha.
Wow, I sound smart. Only because I'm copying this stuff from a pamphlet that admissions guy gave me. Cause really, there's no way I'd be able to remember all that.
Walking toward the temple, I walk into the side house and peer over the little lake around the place, noticing tons of koi and ducks. Aside from the yammering of all the lame tourists and my loudass shutter bitchslapping silence, it's really quite tranquil up here.
I get to this doorway which says to take off my shoes, so I do, and I walk inside. Hi, Buddha.
The Byodo-In Temple is home to Amida, a giant 18-foot golden Buddha, an original work of art by the Japanese sculptor Masuzo Inui.
Here's the golden Buddha.
Surrounding him in that halo you see are these guys here. There's a ton of em, but I'll just show you a few.
I like his hands. They're so zen.
Spending some time with Buddha and shooting way too many photos, I pick up my shoes and get to the other side where Jason tries to flag me down for something. He points in front of him, so I jog over there and find...
Duck duck duck duck duck duck duck
But wait, what's that behind the duck duck duck duck duck?
Babies!
Fuzzball.
After snapping a bunch more photos, it starts to rain. Hard. Then pour. Like angels in the clouds were having a beerfest, and they all decided to piss on Hawaii. At the same time.
Sweet! Torrents of rain are nature's tourist spray. They scatter and vanish from the scene like the shiesty cockroaches they are.
At this point, you're probably thinking, "Hey, you're a tourist too!"
Like a baby in a blender, you're wrong.
I'm a photographic ninja. Like all photographic ninjas, we work best when shiesty cockroach tourists are assassinated. With rain. It lets us get gems like this:
Byodo-In Temple
HDR!
You totally want to see it large!
After we finish with the temple, we head back to the car and take off. On the way back, we pass by a Kyoto temple where lots of people are buried, and decide to try and find it. After turning down three wrong streets, we finally get to the right street, but there are trespassing signs everywhere. So we park and head down to the temple. It's run down, and abandoned at this point. Jason said that he used to go there when he was a little kid and get his fortune told. Since it was all boarded up, I decide to just take off, and call it a day.
So, I guess basketball is out.
Working on photos and logging my travels in the morning.
12:30 rolls around, and Jason mentions a few places to eat, and we decide on a place called Yama's. It's actually called Yama's Fish Market, a tiny place that looks like part warehouse, part supermarket, and part restaurant inside. It's on Young's street, which is nearby Jimbo's noodles, where we ate yesterday.
This place is known for their poke apparently (woohoo, poke!) and I see big batches of it in the display. There are different kinds too, one with more onions and a bunch of twiggy seaweed, one that appears darker and heavier on the shoyu (soy sauce), and one that looks like salsa. I pick the combo that has lomi lomi salmon, kalua pork, poke (woohoo) and haupia, which is a kind of sweet coconut pudding-like substance. No matter how odd it sounds, it's delicious, as is the kind of poke that Jason suggested, the one with the twig-like seaweed called lima. All of that for about $8.25, nice. We took it to go since we're headed out to the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park.
The Valley of the Temples is up on the east side of the island, a giant cemetary of sorts that has different areas with differing denominations. We arrive there and turn into the park, driving slowly around to see different parts of it. The park really is surrounded by a large swath of mountains and trees, true to its name. We stop by one of the temples to grab a map, and the guy asks Jason if he was there to buy some plots. 10 of them, to be exact.
Who the heck buys 10 plots? Benevolent assassins? Maybe a family member thinking of life insurance money. But you know Detective Robert Goren would eventually find out.
After grabbing a map of the place, we head out and after driving around a bit more, end up near the top in front of the Byodo-In temple, where we devour lunch. As I said, I had some lomi lomi salmon, which is small cubes of salmon mixed with chopped tomatoes, onions, and green onions. Basically like pico de gallo, with salmon in it, light and refreshing in comaparison to the kalua pork, which is nice and tender and this time without any cabbage. As I said, I also have some poke, which is basically cubes of raw ahi tuna mixed with garlic, onions, green onions and a special kind of seaweed, marinated in soy sauce. It's freaking delicious. At the end, there's haupia, the buttery coconut concoction that's excellent mostly because it's not too sweet. You can really taste the coconut, the aroma of which is intoxicating.
We finish up, and get out to head to the Byodo-In Temple. A tour bus arrives, pouring a bunch of mostly old tourists to the place. Damn tourists! Now they'll get in my photos. Oh well. Walk up, pay the $2 admission, and cross the bridge to the place.
The Byodo-In Temple was built in 1968 to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. It apparently doesn't use any nails. It's name translates to "Temple of equality - not to discriminate".
I finish crossing the bridge and notice a small building on the side, called the Bell House. It's probably because there's a giant 5 foot, 3 ton brass bell there.
It comes with a giant log of wood hung on strings so you can whack it.
Yes, as you probably guessed, EVERYBODY whacks it. Now I can't get a steady photo of the bell detail.
Gonggggggggggg.
*faints*
You'll want to see a more detailed photo of this bell.
The sound is a deep low tone, a message of deep calm and peace which cleanses the mind of evil and temptation. It creates an atmosphere of tranquility for meditation that travels throughout the grounds and is customarily rung before one enters the temple to spread the eternal teachings of Buddha.
Wow, I sound smart. Only because I'm copying this stuff from a pamphlet that admissions guy gave me. Cause really, there's no way I'd be able to remember all that.
Walking toward the temple, I walk into the side house and peer over the little lake around the place, noticing tons of koi and ducks. Aside from the yammering of all the lame tourists and my loudass shutter bitchslapping silence, it's really quite tranquil up here.
I get to this doorway which says to take off my shoes, so I do, and I walk inside. Hi, Buddha.
The Byodo-In Temple is home to Amida, a giant 18-foot golden Buddha, an original work of art by the Japanese sculptor Masuzo Inui.
Here's the golden Buddha.
Surrounding him in that halo you see are these guys here. There's a ton of em, but I'll just show you a few.
I like his hands. They're so zen.
Spending some time with Buddha and shooting way too many photos, I pick up my shoes and get to the other side where Jason tries to flag me down for something. He points in front of him, so I jog over there and find...
Duck duck duck duck duck duck duck
But wait, what's that behind the duck duck duck duck duck?
Babies!
Fuzzball.
After snapping a bunch more photos, it starts to rain. Hard. Then pour. Like angels in the clouds were having a beerfest, and they all decided to piss on Hawaii. At the same time.
Sweet! Torrents of rain are nature's tourist spray. They scatter and vanish from the scene like the shiesty cockroaches they are.
At this point, you're probably thinking, "Hey, you're a tourist too!"
Like a baby in a blender, you're wrong.
I'm a photographic ninja. Like all photographic ninjas, we work best when shiesty cockroach tourists are assassinated. With rain. It lets us get gems like this:
Byodo-In Temple
HDR!
You totally want to see it large!
After we finish with the temple, we head back to the car and take off. On the way back, we pass by a Kyoto temple where lots of people are buried, and decide to try and find it. After turning down three wrong streets, we finally get to the right street, but there are trespassing signs everywhere. So we park and head down to the temple. It's run down, and abandoned at this point. Jason said that he used to go there when he was a little kid and get his fortune told. Since it was all boarded up, I decide to just take off, and call it a day.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
|
Hanging Eleven (Day 7)
And I'm not sore anymore.
Head to Jimbo's Noodles for some good udon noodles. Curry beef set with a hot udon for me, and curry chicken with cold udon for Jason. Noodles are good, even though I'm not a fan of udon. You can tell they're different than run of the mill udon. The curry is pretty good stuff too.
Immediately after, we head back to White Plains beach for surfing part deux. Walk over to the board rental place and grab a 10 footer for me this time. Much lighter than last time, I can carry the board out to the water with no problems.
Since it's pretty much right after we eat, and I'm still burping up curry and udon, I pass on getting into the water right away. I occupy myself by trying to get some good shots of Jason on the surf. I notice a guy and a girl trying to teach one of their friends how to surf. Cool, maybe I can pick up some pointers from them.
After a while, I decide it's time to get back into the water. Packing my camera away into the car, I notice a sign that's up on a pole nearby. "High Theft Area. Do not leave valuables in vehicle." Hmm.
Back to the sand, I grab the board and jump in the water. I immediately notice that the 10 foot board, as opposed to the 12 foot whale that I rode before, isn't as stable on the water. No matter, it makes it easier to paddle and maneuver, which is I suppose the point of smaller boards.
I paddle a bit out to sea and notice the guy and two girls are out there as well. I'll just paddle on by and watch what they do. Paddle paddle paddle.
Ah, hello ocean waves.
Ah, hello water up my nose.
Mother Nature is buff.
After hopping over a few waves, getting tossed by a few others, I finally make it out to near where all the other surfers are congregating. I watch as a large wave begins to build up in the distance, and other surfers start to turn around and catch it as they pass to the side of me.
The same wave also joins a few others down my nose.
After the wave passes, I wait for the next set. Waves out here come in sets apparently, a few moments pass in between sets when the sea is calm and you can just enjoy bobbing around in the water, seeing the grand view of the island mountains and clouds, and feeling the sun and the wind caress you.
The next set of waves begin to come, and I turn the board around and start paddling to attempt to catch it.
Sploosh. Guess I'll catch the next one.
Attempt paddling again. This time the wave comes up behind me and... it catches! I pop up to my knees, test my balance for a few moments, then pop up again to my feet. I'm standing. I'M STANDING!!! VEGAS BABY! VEGAS!!!
... sploosh. Made it halfway to the shore. On my feet. Rad.
Paddling back out to the same spot, I follow a guy that seems to know what he's doing. Another set of waves come, and I decide to go for it. Turn the board around as fast as I possibly can (to me, it's kind of hard to do) and start paddling like mad. Catch!!! I pop back up on my knees, and then on my feet, and I'm totally surfing! Woooooo!
... sploosh. I decide to call it a surf day at this point, and catch one small wave that takes me back into the shore.
Jason catches a few shots of me heading towards the shore and shows me. Hey neat, I'm on my feet! A bit blurry, but I can tell it's me. I think.
I take a look at the same photo a bit later and notice that Jason was showing me the 500% enlarged one. In the original, I'm but a tiny speck in a canvas of aqua blue. Oh well, it's the best that could be done.
I return my board to the shop, and he charges $5. Man, what a great deal. Afterwards, Jason takes off to the water again and I catch a few more photos of him heading in on his board. We take off after that, making plans to pick up Kristl and head to Casablanca, a Moroccan cuisine restaurant on the other side of the island.
The inside of the restaurant is covered in intricate rugs and patterns, and lit by these tiny colored lamps. It gives it a very alien feel, like you stepped through a portal that took you from Hawaii into Africa. The meals are pre set, meaning each person chooses an entree and you get a set number of other courses that come before and after.
Look at the design of this place. Not exactly Denny's (or Zippy's, in Hawaii)
Table design. Very intricate, no?
We start off with a giant plate of appetizers, a set of six various sauces and mixes of ingredients that you eat with bread. Our server presented this massive plate to us as if it was a gift fit for royalty and not just a meal. Where are the utensils? You eat with your hands, apparently, and it makes for a fun meal where you can literally fight your friends to grab that last bit of eggplant or tomato. Not saying that we did. But we totally could have. Fought. Like children.
Six sauces, ranging from a creamy hummus dip, to a tabbouleh (cucumber) salad, some eggplant concoction, bell peppers and tomatoes, and spiced carrots. Yummmmm. We also were served small bowls of soup, which tasted like a tomato base with some beans in it. Equally yummmm.
Next came the B'stilla, a sort of chicken pie made out of a crusty, flaky outside shell covered in powdered sugar and cinnamon. The inside is made up of ground chicken with ground almonds and egg. Oh it was SO good. And so burning my fingers.
Next, our entrees came. I chose a fish entree, Kristl picked a couscous with chicken and veggies, and Jason went after the cornish hen with preserved lemon and honey. Jason's was no doubt the best flavored, reminding me of Versailles (Cuban restaurant in LA). Kristl's packed a punch of variety, with a bit of chicken in the middle, savory couscous and mixed veggies which included cauliflower and squash. My fresh fish turned out to be Ahi covered under a sauce consisting of bell peppers, tomatoes, and probably 18 million spices. It was exquisitely tender and had the acidic taste of tomatoes mixed with... 18 million spices. Fantastic.
Afterwards, we got a plate of dessert, consisting of what seemed like slices of biscotti cookie and raisins, and this other kind of dessert made with an underlying layer of glazed nuts, and layers of the same crusty stuff as the B'stilla and a tangle of what looked like cheese on top. Only it wasn't cheese. More like sweet, crispy tangles of succulent noodles.
This was followed by a mint, lemon, honey tea, which the server poured from face height. He managed to keep it all in the glasses, and we were treated to this sweet, minty tea.
Another place that I must totally recommend. Bring yourself to Casablanca Moroccan food. If you were given the choice between saving the life of a baby or going to Casablanca for tasty Moroccan food, there better be a really long, awkward pause as you consider those options. One where your friends seriously, seriously doubt your moral compass.
Yes, it really IS that good.
Head to Jimbo's Noodles for some good udon noodles. Curry beef set with a hot udon for me, and curry chicken with cold udon for Jason. Noodles are good, even though I'm not a fan of udon. You can tell they're different than run of the mill udon. The curry is pretty good stuff too.
Immediately after, we head back to White Plains beach for surfing part deux. Walk over to the board rental place and grab a 10 footer for me this time. Much lighter than last time, I can carry the board out to the water with no problems.
Since it's pretty much right after we eat, and I'm still burping up curry and udon, I pass on getting into the water right away. I occupy myself by trying to get some good shots of Jason on the surf. I notice a guy and a girl trying to teach one of their friends how to surf. Cool, maybe I can pick up some pointers from them.
After a while, I decide it's time to get back into the water. Packing my camera away into the car, I notice a sign that's up on a pole nearby. "High Theft Area. Do not leave valuables in vehicle." Hmm.
Back to the sand, I grab the board and jump in the water. I immediately notice that the 10 foot board, as opposed to the 12 foot whale that I rode before, isn't as stable on the water. No matter, it makes it easier to paddle and maneuver, which is I suppose the point of smaller boards.
I paddle a bit out to sea and notice the guy and two girls are out there as well. I'll just paddle on by and watch what they do. Paddle paddle paddle.
Ah, hello ocean waves.
Ah, hello water up my nose.
Mother Nature is buff.
After hopping over a few waves, getting tossed by a few others, I finally make it out to near where all the other surfers are congregating. I watch as a large wave begins to build up in the distance, and other surfers start to turn around and catch it as they pass to the side of me.
The same wave also joins a few others down my nose.
After the wave passes, I wait for the next set. Waves out here come in sets apparently, a few moments pass in between sets when the sea is calm and you can just enjoy bobbing around in the water, seeing the grand view of the island mountains and clouds, and feeling the sun and the wind caress you.
The next set of waves begin to come, and I turn the board around and start paddling to attempt to catch it.
Sploosh. Guess I'll catch the next one.
Attempt paddling again. This time the wave comes up behind me and... it catches! I pop up to my knees, test my balance for a few moments, then pop up again to my feet. I'm standing. I'M STANDING!!! VEGAS BABY! VEGAS!!!
... sploosh. Made it halfway to the shore. On my feet. Rad.
Paddling back out to the same spot, I follow a guy that seems to know what he's doing. Another set of waves come, and I decide to go for it. Turn the board around as fast as I possibly can (to me, it's kind of hard to do) and start paddling like mad. Catch!!! I pop back up on my knees, and then on my feet, and I'm totally surfing! Woooooo!
... sploosh. I decide to call it a surf day at this point, and catch one small wave that takes me back into the shore.
Jason catches a few shots of me heading towards the shore and shows me. Hey neat, I'm on my feet! A bit blurry, but I can tell it's me. I think.
I take a look at the same photo a bit later and notice that Jason was showing me the 500% enlarged one. In the original, I'm but a tiny speck in a canvas of aqua blue. Oh well, it's the best that could be done.
I return my board to the shop, and he charges $5. Man, what a great deal. Afterwards, Jason takes off to the water again and I catch a few more photos of him heading in on his board. We take off after that, making plans to pick up Kristl and head to Casablanca, a Moroccan cuisine restaurant on the other side of the island.
The inside of the restaurant is covered in intricate rugs and patterns, and lit by these tiny colored lamps. It gives it a very alien feel, like you stepped through a portal that took you from Hawaii into Africa. The meals are pre set, meaning each person chooses an entree and you get a set number of other courses that come before and after.
Look at the design of this place. Not exactly Denny's (or Zippy's, in Hawaii)
Table design. Very intricate, no?
We start off with a giant plate of appetizers, a set of six various sauces and mixes of ingredients that you eat with bread. Our server presented this massive plate to us as if it was a gift fit for royalty and not just a meal. Where are the utensils? You eat with your hands, apparently, and it makes for a fun meal where you can literally fight your friends to grab that last bit of eggplant or tomato. Not saying that we did. But we totally could have. Fought. Like children.
Six sauces, ranging from a creamy hummus dip, to a tabbouleh (cucumber) salad, some eggplant concoction, bell peppers and tomatoes, and spiced carrots. Yummmmm. We also were served small bowls of soup, which tasted like a tomato base with some beans in it. Equally yummmm.
Next came the B'stilla, a sort of chicken pie made out of a crusty, flaky outside shell covered in powdered sugar and cinnamon. The inside is made up of ground chicken with ground almonds and egg. Oh it was SO good. And so burning my fingers.
Next, our entrees came. I chose a fish entree, Kristl picked a couscous with chicken and veggies, and Jason went after the cornish hen with preserved lemon and honey. Jason's was no doubt the best flavored, reminding me of Versailles (Cuban restaurant in LA). Kristl's packed a punch of variety, with a bit of chicken in the middle, savory couscous and mixed veggies which included cauliflower and squash. My fresh fish turned out to be Ahi covered under a sauce consisting of bell peppers, tomatoes, and probably 18 million spices. It was exquisitely tender and had the acidic taste of tomatoes mixed with... 18 million spices. Fantastic.
Afterwards, we got a plate of dessert, consisting of what seemed like slices of biscotti cookie and raisins, and this other kind of dessert made with an underlying layer of glazed nuts, and layers of the same crusty stuff as the B'stilla and a tangle of what looked like cheese on top. Only it wasn't cheese. More like sweet, crispy tangles of succulent noodles.
This was followed by a mint, lemon, honey tea, which the server poured from face height. He managed to keep it all in the glasses, and we were treated to this sweet, minty tea.
Another place that I must totally recommend. Bring yourself to Casablanca Moroccan food. If you were given the choice between saving the life of a baby or going to Casablanca for tasty Moroccan food, there better be a really long, awkward pause as you consider those options. One where your friends seriously, seriously doubt your moral compass.
Yes, it really IS that good.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
|
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