7/18 and 7/19/2009 - Waves, Ho's, and Wieners

I didn't really get a chance to sit down and write my thoughts and recap yesterday because I was absolutely bushed. I got a good opportunity tonight though, since it's a work/school night for my friends here. As a result, this will be a long one. As usual, tons of pics if you click the links below.

Let's start two days ago.

Got up at the crack of 7am, having fully defeated jet lag. I moseyed on downstairs and caught some grub out on the patio, and drank some delicious Kona Coffee. We decided to head on up to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. There was a lot of everything there, mostly jewelry, beads, tiki dolls, hula girl bobbleheads, and beach towels. There were a couple of cool places, including a knife store that the kids seemed extremely interested in. Basically it's a lot like Happy's back in Roanoke, only it is a big setup at Aloha Stadium in the parking lot, and the crowd is much less likely to be spitting tobacco. While there, we scored some Malasadas and a few knick-knacks.

We headed back home so the littles (Nate and Naomi) could catch a nap with Suz, and Quinn, Ben and I headed to Oneula Beach Park, AKA Hau Bush. The wind was really strong, but despite this, Ben paddled out and tried to catch a few waves. I was only adventurous enough to swim about 50 feet out, right past where the sand drops off into coral rock. The waves were about 5' high on the front, which was more than I'd ever really experienced on the east coast in all my trips to Nags Head and the Jersey Shore. The only exception was during Hurricane Dennis, but the sand was flying into my eye so I couldn't even see the waves. After getting my aquasocks full of sand and it felt like I was unable to walk, I decided to forgo wearing them. Mistake! I swam out and got annihilated by a few waves, then trying to get a foothold, I hit coral rock and took a chunk out of one of my toes and sliced up my big toe in a few spots. No big deal, but supposedly coral cuts take longer to heal.

We stopped at the Foodland for lunch, and Quinn scored us some island delights for lunch. First up we had Poke which is cubed Ahi Tuna with various sushi styled sauces and a little onion. We had Hawaiian, Spicy, and Oyster I believe. We threw some of it into little Nori wrappers with a finger full of rice and made little 2" Poke Tacos. I also tried Poi. Now... for those of you who've had Poi before, you know what I'm talking here. This stuff looks NASTY. There's probably a reason there's only 2 pictures of actual Poi when doing a Google Image search for it. It's grayish/purple and looks more like something that comes out of a sick dog's butt. I stuck my fingers in the container and took out a big glop of Poi, and then put my fingers in my mouth. Basically it had no flavor. Very neutral, almost tapioca consistency, but overall, you'll never hear me utter "Hey man, I could really go for a huge bowl of Poi!" Another treat was Li Hing Mui plums which we dropped in a tall glass of Budweiser. The red powder on the plums made the Budweiser tart, and it wasn't a particularly wonderful flavor, but it was OK. I think because I've become quite the beer snob over the years, I just didn't like the beer tasting that way. For desert, we had Mochi which was like this crazy rice confection that felt weird in my mouth. It was almost like a marshmallow, but not as sweet and resilient.

I know I've been rattling off a lot about the food here, but I had told Quinn and Sue I wanted to try all the local type stuff rather than just be in my own comfort zone or pound down Sushi the whole time I'd be here. While I will never be a Hawai'ian I figure I can at least try some of the stuff that is unique to the place.

In the afternoon, Sue went off to work at Ala Moana, and Quinn and I took the kids to Don Ho's for Happy Hour. While that sounds like an exercise in awful parenting, the food specials really made for a good time for everyone. We got to sit and watch the sunset next to a huge yacht with two hot tubs on it. We had surfboard pizzas, Poke, Cheese Fries, and even a Gin and Tonic for Quinn and I. Upstairs we even met a salty sea captain willing to share a tale over a glass of rum.

After dinner, we headed over to Ala Moana to the Apple Store to see Sue, alas she was very busy at work and we couldn't distract her. I got to see my first Rainbow here though, thus justifying all the rainbows on license plates.

We headed back home since the kids were tired, and Quinn and I had a few more cocktails on the patio until Sue came home. We also got in a few rounds of Fluxx. Quinn, by the way, I think you were right... it is a nerd game because it DOES have expansion packs. Check the link.

Today, I woke up at about 8am, and felt kind of rough. I was coughing and had a sore throat, probably from the fan blowing on my face all night long. I slept in since the fam was heading to Church, and finally got showered and cleaned up around 11:15am. Looking outside my room, its almost a sin to waste any daylight here. After a couple cups of coffee and another Poke Lunch, I was feeling much better. The kids were ready for a nap after Church, so pretty much everyone had a lazy Sunday. I camped out on the patio, did some reading and enjoyed the day. When the kids got up, Quinn and I took them down to the park about a half a mile up the road. Just beyond the hill there is the Harbor and the wind comes whipping in here pretty good so it felt wonderful even though it was probably in the mid 80s. I definitely added to my sunburn on my head and neck. The funny thing is.... I don't really care. This place has a wonderful effect on my ability to care about the things that would normally bug, irritate, or worry me.

When we got back, I got a shower and shave in, and the whole family got in the van and we headed off to dinner. On the way there, we were talking in the van about Jorge Garcia's blog: "Dispatches from The Island" and how he spotted the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile up in Kaneohe earlier this week. Not 5 minutes later, as we were on Sand Island getting ready to pull in for dinner, THERES THE FRICKEN WIENERMOBILE!!!! We chased it down and raced it for a little bit, but Quinn edited out the part where he got smoked on his version of the video, so here's what it looked like from my point of view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1z6FyNKABE Note.... The WienerMobile in Hawai'i has a personalized plate that says "WNR MBLE" and though I thought it was spelled "Weinermobile" it is actually Wiener!

We had dinner at
La Mariana Sailing Club where apparently part of "50 First Dates" was shot. I don't remember this from the movie. This place is one of the last true old-school Tiki Bars. It's right on the water where a bunch of boats are moored and are inhabited by locals. The food in there was a little expensive, but good, and who can say no to Mai Tais when you have a band consisting of three blind guys playing Steve Miller, Outkast, and Michael Jackson tunes. If you find yourself in Hawai'i, go there, because it really is a good time.

We came back past the Keikis' bedtime, so they went upstairs while the three of us played Wii for a bit before bed. As I naturally do not fall asleep before midnight, I took the opportunity to get some serious bloggery and photo processing done.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to go get lost over by Diamond Head then head to the east point of the island and up to Kailua and back along the Pali Highway. I have a couple other day trips planned to get lost up north and west without any set plans... We'll just have to see how it goes!

Signing off from the Island,
Scott