7/28 - 8/3: Chinatown, Final Road Trip, Resort Life, and Voyage Home

I have been really lazy about updating the last piece of my vacation. I was going to do it the night before I left, but was inundated with packing, so then I was going to do it when I got to Atlanta, but then I was exhausted. Anyway, multiple things happened that prevented me from uploading pictures and updating my trip.

So let's set the wayback machine a week:

Tuesday July 28th

Tuesday I didn't really have much planned, so I asked if we could meet up with Quinn down in Chinatown. I've never had Dim Sum before, and figured this was a chance to get some, and when would I be this close to China again? Sue, Naomi met up with Quinn at work and we went to Mei Sum Chinese Dim Sum. It was quite busy and almost felt like a cafeteria. There was no ambiance in there whatsoever. We sat down and these Chinese ladies rolled carts by. Quinn started pointing at stuff and soon little bowls with 3 dumplings or confections were placed in front of us. The chopsticks provided were big heavy and plastic, not like the small faux-bamboo ones I'm used to using at sushi restaurants. I had tremendous difficulty getting hold of the dumplings as they were kind of slippery. The food also came out so fast I didn't really have a chance to take pictures of how this situation was set up, so I will just steal someone else's picture. The food was good, but I didn't realize we were paying per item. I always thought Dim Sum was kind of an all-you-can-eat thing. I wanted to try more, but with a limited time budget, I didn't really get a chance. Either way, I will find another place with Dim Sum and go, because it was way too cool!

On the way out, Quinn bought our dinner for the evening, which was a dozen Cha Siu Baau, or in Hawai'ian: Manapua. Manapua is slang for the shortened mea'ono-pua'a which means "Pork Cake." It looked remarkably like this. These Manapua were stuffed with savory pork, and the buns were soft and sweet. I had Manapua from 7-11 a few days prior, but it was steamed instead of baked. It's basically the perfect food to eat while drunk because the bread is very spongy and would probably soak up booze very well. The ones we had for dinner were exceptional. I could have eaten a full dozen of these pork Donuts easy. That night I went to bed sated and feeling wonderful.

Wednesday July 29th

Wednesday, I got up early, went to Aloha Stadium to get a bunch of other knick knacks to take home to my friends, and then went on my last Road Trip of my vacation. I headed east on H-1 to H-3 and went through the mountain and past Valley of the Temples that I had been to a few days prior. I went north on Rte 83 where it became the Kamehameha Highway near Kahaluu. Driving up the east coast looking out into Kaneohe Bay was pretty nice, but certainly not as beautiful as the North Shore or West Shores.

Near Waikane I spied Chinaman's hat off the coast and stopped to take a few pictures. This part of the island is where the majority of the rain falls. While most fall on the mountains to the west, it made for quite a dreary day, if such a thing exists in Hawai'i. The dreariness gave way as I approached Ka'a'awa and I was greeted by lush green cliffs and mountains, ranches where horses and cattle fed on the west side of the highway, and beautiful beaches lined the east side. The more north I traveled, the prettier the water became.

As I got to La'ie, shrimp trucks started to be more and more commonplace. La'ie is an interesting place, its a town with a heavy mormon population, such that it's difficult to find caffeinated drinks nearby. BYU also has a campus here. The Polynesian Cultural Center is located here and I didn't really feel the need to stop. Besides, next door was all the Culture I needed. I also spotted these banners on the side of the road. I saw them near Makaha on the west coast but was unable to snap a shot. Apparently there is a separatist movement on the islands (not that I blame them.)

I finally reached Kahuku, which is where I heard all the good Shrimp Trucks are. When I had done research, I had heard about Macky's truck as being from Kahuku, but apparently he was so good they made him move down the road near Hale'iwa. I looked at some reviews of Macky's and a lot of people swear by this other shrimp truck, Giovanni's. So, when I saw it on the side of the road, I decided to sit down for a plate. It wasn't super crowded when I got there, so I was able to get my meal quick and sit down at an empty table... or at least I thought it was empty. Some people were pointing at what would be my crotch under the table, and I started to get paranoid a bit that maybe my fly was down or I was bleeding or something. Turns out, there was a cat sleeping on the other side of the picnic table, completely oblivious to the delicious seafood nearby. A tour bus full of asians stopped and apparently they came from a place where personal space is not a consideration as several families leaned over my garlic shrimp while I was putting it into my mouth, just in order to take a picture of this sleeping cat. What I should have done is whipped out my camera and just gotten up in their face and taken pictures while they were eating. I didn't think of doing that until just now though.

After my early lunch, I moved on around the north tip, and went past Turtle Bay resort, and saw their golf course, which looked like fun. Once you get past the northern tip, the beaches get much better. I also saw this awesome tree on a ranch on the south side of the highway. Turns out this ranch has been used for filming episodes of LOST. I passed by Sunset beach on the way through, which was absolutely packed and gorgeous. There were lots of bikini girls and surfer dudes, so apparently that was the place to be.

I came back down through Waimea Bay and into Hale'iwa. I got turned around a couple times while driving through, and eventually saw Macky's Shrimp Truck again. I stopped there because I just had to have a taste test between the two dueling Shrimp Trucks. I have to give the edge to Macky's, however so slightly. Macky's shrimp are bigger and better, while Giovanni's shrimp, I had to work with the shells quite a bit. Giovanni's garlic/butter sauce was much more plentiful, and covered the rice that went with it. It was a hard decision, but was a very delicious decision to make!

I headed west as far as I could go, because out here is where another good portion of LOST is filmed. I went out to Army Beach, the scene where the plane went down, and to YMCA Camp Erdman, aka the home of The Others. As the camp was being used, I didn't stop to take pictures around the village. The beaches up there were pretty, but it seemed like the water was choppy from the wind. I imagine it is pretty raucous there in the wintertime. More sights from LOST can be found at this website http://www.lostvirtualtour.com/.

Thursday July 30th


Thursday was the day before leaving, so I had to go pick up coffee for the trip home. I couldn't leave for home without taking home some for various friends and family. I got some of the 100% Kona Mountain Thunder, despite its exorbitant price, and I grabbed a ton of small bags for various people. I got a big bag of Kona Sunrise Blend for The Judge's Chambers (Dangit, Waqar, I have to make you a website!)

Thursday evening Sue made her wicked Beef Barley Soup that I haven't had in years and years and enjoyed a LOT. We ate it quite quickly though so that we could sneak over to Ko Olina and crash a resort where they show kids movies Thursday night on the grass near the beach. As we walked into the resort via the beach, I noticed the terrible sound of badly performed music by the band at the outdoor bar, and the $9 Mai Tais posted on the chalkboard. There were a ton of vacationers walking around in bathing suits and towels and it just seemed oddly surreal. Here The Carver Family was all bundled up in fleece and blankets because it was windy after dark, and the rest of everyone is barely dressed because... well because it's Hawai'i, and the weather is beautiful! I also thought it weird because for the past two weeks I'd been exploring the island and didn't really stop to do the straight up touristy things. I didn't go to Waikiki shopping, and I didn't go to Pearl Harbor and wait in excessively long lines in the heat to get on a little ferry out to the Arizona Memorial. I tried to eat the food that locals eat, learn some of the language, and basically observe all the parts about the island I could get my hands on. Then I go to this resort and it was as if I had stepped into Ohio, except with better weather.

I sure am grateful the Carvers live there, because staying with them made the vacation special.


Friday July 31st - Monday August 3rd

Friday came and the end of my two weeks are here. I packed up in the wee hours of Friday morning, then caught some sleep. I got up and we drove to the airport around lunchtime. We had a little impromptu lunch in front of Starbucks.

Without much fanfare, and certainly with a heavy heart, I got on my 747 and headed back to Atlanta. My plane got in around 5am Saturday morning, so I took the MARTA to meet dad. This sucked. It looked as if someone had peed in all the seats, so I had to stand all the way from the airport to his stop at the exact other end of the line...(about 18 stops.)

I got back to Dad's place and mostly slept all day Saturday. Sunday, all of Dad's golf buddies and their wives came over for a small surprise party for dad's birthday. He turns 65 toward the end of the month, but I'll be in school so they had it early since I was there. It was nice to see all these people show up and give him the hard time he deserves.

Monday Morning, I woke up at about 5:45am still suffering from a touch of jet lag, and got things rounded up for my trip home. I left by 8:30, and was home at about 3pm. I spent the afternoon cleaning house and fixing a broken router, and finally last night passed out after a long 2 1/2 weeks away from home. My bed never felt so comfortable.

I've come to the conclusion that the perfect length for a jam-packed holiday vacation is 10 days. 7 days is too short to do anything, and 14 gets to be a little long. I'll admit the last day or so, even in paradise, I was longing to be in my own bed with thecats at my feet.

Still, this vacation was absolutely stellar. I would love to see more of the islands and will likely go back to explore the other ones at some point later.

Thus ends my trip blog!!! I hope you enjoyed reading and checking out the pictures and videos as much as I had fun sharing it with you. Next time, go with me, will ya?! :D