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.
