Day 6: Iolani Palace and Goodbye

On our last day in Hawaii I went on a run and Clint grabbed some more delicious malasadas for us.  Then we headed to one last must-see, The Iolani Palace, where the royal family of Hawaii used to live.  Since then it was turned into a government office building, but now is restored as a museum.  We got to hear lots of stories about how they re-acquired furniture and artifacts that had been sold off or lost.  We also learned some interesting facts--that the Iolani Palace had electricity before the White House did.  Also, that the same furniture maker that made the furniture in the Iolani Palace still makes the furniture for the White House today.

While stopping at the Iolani Palace I was able to get a few shots of the famous King Kamehameha statute which is across the street from the Iolani Palace. King Kamehameha unified the Hawaiian Islands into one nation.  It was interesting to learn about Hawaiian history while I was there.  Clearly not all Hawaiians were pleased with being annexed by the United States, and many weren't pleased to be made a state either.  There was an interesting hand made billboard of sorts that we drove by many times on the East side of the island that said something of the nature of "Shame on you who celebrate statehood and honor the thieves..."

I had a delightful time in Hawaii and would love to go back some day.  Hooray for the "Aloha spirit!" I only wish we had had more time to relax.  Since we had a sort trip I jammed a lot into the few days we had!  If we come back to the island of O'ahu, I would like to make sure to do a session in the temple as well as a few other things we missed--but perhaps we would see a different island before we see O'ahu again.

And so Hawaii, "A hui hou kakou"  until we meet again....

Day 5: Turtle Beach etc.

After the Byodo-In temple we headed to Giovanni's Shrimp Truck which we heard was a must do.  The shrimp was good, I suppose.  Just tasted like shrimp to me.  I guess you have to be a seafood connoisseur to appreciate it.  Who knows.

I became intrigued by the coconut drinks being sold.

However, I quickly discovered that coconut water is actually really gross. Don't waste your money.

Then we tried to find the turtle beach which we didn't find right away, but we did find this peaceful practically deserted beach that we had a nice time walking along.

And later we did manage to find the turtle beach.  I was surprised at how many turtles there were!  There must of been 80-100 turtles (including the ones floating in the water that were harder to see.)  At least 20 were on the actual beach--but they were rather difficult to photograph because they kept slipping back into the water--and keeping their heads down.  I think they all congregate at this beach because it's actually not a sandy beach but sort of a solid rock that is covered with algae.  You can see that this guy is having a nice algae snack.

After Turtle Beach we attempted to go to Mokuleia Beach which is supposedly where some of lost was filmed.  We weren't sure that we found it.  And we realized the bad news--I left my glasses on the pre-turtle beach.  So that put a kibosh on our plans to hit the Dole Plantation again.  We drove back to look for them--to no avail.  After our fruitless efforts, I was bummed so we didn't hit the nice dinner at Turtle Bay Resort.  We ended up going to Formaggio's--which was closed the day before--and I'm glad we did because it was delicious.  We had a mean steak panini and pizza on the cheap becausec it was happy hour.  Afterwards we went to Wailana Coffee House for dessert, and Clint got a Hawaiian fried ice cream that he still raves about.  Basically it was ice cream in a pie crust ball.  Fortunately, the delicious dinner assuaged my feelings about the drama of the day.

Day 5: Byodo-In Temple and the Temple of The Gods

After Haunama Bay we made it to the Byodo-In Temple which is at the back of a large multi-religion cemetery called Temple of the Gods.  In the cemetery there is a Christian section, some Japanese sections, and I'm not sure how many other sections.  The Byodo-In Temple is a replica of a Buddhist temple in Japan that was built in honor of the 100th anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii.  

 

Here's Clint looking early 90s hip hop in a bamboo grove on the property:

Check out this perfectly raked zen garden:

Day 5: Haunama Bay

 

Of course, we had to hit the ultimate tourist destination: Haunama Bay.  We followed the advice and got their ridiculously early to beat the crowds--and we were sure glad we did.  As it was, there were plenty of people there already.  We tried to go further down the curve of the beach to get to an area that was a little more private, but we mistakenly got in right on top of a part of the reef.  You see that nice blue hole?  So that's why all the people were there.  The problem is that when you're not up above, you can't see these things.  Anyway, the coral comes up quite high in the water, so I keep panicking trying not to touch it (which you're not supposed to do) but kept feeling like I was grounding myself on it like a beached whale.  (Not so comfy on your stomach.)  I kept trying to put my butt in the air like Clint told me, so I could float higher, but then my back started hurting from all that arching.  Then I started having problems with my mask and my breathing...then I got water in my ear past my earplug--so I kind of freaked out and went to the beach.  Clint has decided now that I think I like snorkeling, but I really don't like it--and therefore we should not attempt it on any more vacations.  (Snorkeling on our honey moon was also a bust.)  I say, I liked it two of the four times I've ever done it, so that's 50/50 right?  Granted, one of those times I had on a life jacket and was in a fresh water cenote....so it's pretty different.  Anyway, I did see some bright colored fish--I wish I wrote down descriptions of them so I could attempt to figure out the names.

 

 



There is a giant set of stairs that you must ascend to leave the beach--we decided at the top to take a few pics.  However, it was very bright.  There is a whole series of pictures of me trying to join Clint and being blinded...so eventually I just stole the sunglasses.  Bwahahaha!

Hawaii Day 4: The Windward Side (East)

After Pearl Harbor we headed over the the Windward side.  First stop was the Halona Blowhole and overlook.  We snapped some great pics, but it was a bit windy as you can see...

 

Then we went to Keneke's BBQ.  The food on this part of the island is rather slim pickin's.  Our pork sandwiches weren't great, but I did get some pineapple ice cream (since we weren't able to get any at the Dole Plantation).  This place has a little covered patio where you eat which is covered in scriptural graffiti. Note to any travelers: there is no place to wash your hands after eating a messy sandwich.  We went next door to the 7-11 to get drinks--which apparently the place to get the best SPAM musubi on the island (according to a sign on their door).  I didn't get a pic, but I will show you this nice pic of SPAM flavored macadamia nuts instead.  Those Hawaiians love their spam.

Afterwards we headed to Kailua beach park where we relaxed awhile, then we tried to find Lanikai beach which is supposedly amazing but hidden behind houses.  All I could find is a few little alley ways that went to the ocean--but the houses on either side made it so that there was only like 5 feet of sand that we could access.  I think we didn't really find this true beach.  Does anyone have an insider scoop on this?  Then we attempted to go to the Byodo-In temple, but it was closed for the day. So we headed back to the hotel via this cool road H3 that was on the show Modern Marvels.  The road looks almost suspended in the air as it hugs the steep green mountains, then it plunges into a misty hole and comes out the other side.  The pictures don't do it justice.

Once we got back to Waikiki we had quite the time figuring out where to eat--one places closed, one too busy, one too expensive etc.  We ended up at the Wailana Coffee house which was right near our hotel.  It's a diner where the locals go.  I almost ordered "saimin" because it's mentioned in a short story that I read with my classes, but I didn't.  (I think it's like ramen.)  My food was a bust, but Clint's teri steak was good--and it was a fun local thing to do.



Day 4: Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor was difficult for me to see and parts of the exhibit I really couldn't even look at.  However, it was something we had to see.

Part 3: Dole Plantation and Shark's Cove

After the Manoa Falls hike we grabbed lunch called Teddy's Bigger Burgers which started my obsession with the teri burger.  YUM!  The whole place was done up with retro ads and a cute mural map of Waikiki.  I would have gone back to this place if it was a little closer to our hotel.

Then we hopped in the car and headed to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Along the way we got to see more ecological variety--weird looking evergreen trees. We got there too late for the train tour, but we saw the demo pineapple garden and bought a cute Santa ornament to remind us of our trip.  We wanted pineapple ice cream, but the line was too insane.

Subsequently, we drove to Hale'iwa to get some shave ice at Matsumoto's, and iconic Hawaiian tradition.  I got the adzuki beans to say that I tried them, and they were repulsive.  Also the strawberry flavor in my rainbow was gross.  We both were unimpressed, but at least got a cute pic.

After the shave ice we found Shark's Cove at Pupukea and went snorkeling.  It was a small rocky cove and we had the place mostly to ourselves because it was almost sunset by the time we got there.  Clint gave me pointers on how to swim/snorkel without a life vest and we cruised around and saw a few cute fish.  It was peaceful and romantic moment.  Afterwards we drove back to Honolulu and went to Uncle Bo's for "pupus" (small plates).  I read about Uncle Bo's on a blog I follow--it had a very hip vibe--lights, music, beautiful modern paintings.