Month: August 2016

As part of attempting to reel in our spending just a tad we’ve been trying to only go out during happy hour. A couple of our friends wanted to meet up at a place in Ala Moana Center so I attempted to work it out so that dinner was on the table when Mike got home and we could go out directly after, just narrowly arriving on time and without the desire to purchase bar food. Except his bus was late and we ended up scarfing down room-temperature dinner and being late anyway. Such is life.

Mike and I had a hell of a time finding The Pizza Lounge/V Lounge/The Lounge HI. Probably because Google doesn’t even know what it’s called (frankly, I’m fuzzy on that as well, and they don’t have a website). After some frantic searching and a few walking U-turns, we walked in to find our friends were already done with this establishment. The place was empty except for us, which is something I haven’t seen in two weeks here. The place was out of half the items on the menu and there was some sort of bizarre collection of trash and recycling bins in the corner near the booths. The waitress was super, super sweet but we peaced out in favor of what’s quickly becoming one of my favorite places to go for happy hour…

… Mai Tai Bar! This place is fantastic. It’s on the top level of Ala Moana Center (a.k.a. the biggest mall ever*) and it’s open air but covered, which is good because the hurricane brought some rain with it. Mai Tai Bar has good mai tais (I mean, you’d hope so) on special for happy hour in addition to some other drinks, beer, and pupu.

* That’s hyperbole. Our friend DID say it’s the largest open-air mall in America, though. So there’s that.

Today was a big day for us: It was the first time we went snorkeling! We drove up to Hale’iwa and rented gear for a really great price at Tropical Rush.

We drove a little farther to Shark’s Cove, which was already pretty packed at 9:30 a.m. We did find a parking spot pretty easily, though, so it was all good. The cove is down a lava rock hill that’s pretty treacherous to navigate in flip-flops while also carrying a beach bag. Once on the shore, we threw on our masks and flippers and attempted to wade into the very, very rocky water until we realized it was actually easier to just start snorkeling right away–in something insanely shallow like a foot of water.

The water was a little bit murky because there were already so many people in it, but it blew my mind how many fish were in the water as soon as I put my face in. I mean, I saw no fish when I was standing and they magically appeared as soon as I dropped in. 

Don’t ask me what fish I saw. I didn’t do well in biology. I saw a LOT of them, though. They weren’t shy, either. They swim right up to/past you and really don’t pay much attention to you. I saw tons of these cute, little purple urchins hiding in all the crevices of the lava rocks. I also found a single seashell despite the heavy traffic. We saw some really big slug-looking thing that I now think may have been a sea cucumber. If you know me, you know that very few things excite me the way hanging out with animals does so I was definitely in my glory.

Once Shark’s Cove was packed with people we checked out all the little shops in the area. We found this place called Happy Hale’iwa that sells the most delicious thing ever: coffee peanut butter. It’s life-changing stuff!

We had a lunch at Luibueno’s Mexican & Latin Cuisine that made me realize everyone who told me there’s no good Mexican food on Oahu is LYING. The tacos were divine and the margaritas were good too. We walked around a lot more and window shopped mostly. Mike bought a kukui nut lei that’s pretty sweet and I picked up the matching bottoms for a bikini top I bought at a shop closer to our condo. We stumbled across Cholo’s and, because you can’t judge a margarita until you’ve tried it, we had a mango margarita with local mangoes.

Our snorkel rental was good all day so we went back to Shark’s Cove in the afternoon. Parking was a bit more challenging, but there were somehow far fewer people in the water. The water was pretty cloudy at that point and I definitely almost ran into people and rocks a few times, but it was still enjoyable. We dropped off our gear, got our first legit Hawaiian shave ice (for free because we rented snorkel equipment!), and I popped into Rainbow Bridge Gift Shop where a very sweet kid taught me a half dozen ways to wear a sarong.

We got some groceries on the way home in order to maximize our time with a rental car. Then we promptly showered and headed to Waikiki Brewing Company to meet another new friend on the island. Their beers aren’t too bad!

We got up at six this morning to get an early jump on the day that ended up being delayed a bit by a post office SNAFU that has resulted in us not receiving our mail for two weeks. Anyhoo…

We ate a hearty breakfast in the condo and headed to Lanikai for the pillbox hike. The hike was not particularly difficult, but it was definitely hot enough that I worked up a serious sweat. We were somehow always within earshot of a group that decided to force their obese nine-year-old to do something outdoorsy and this kid cried, whined, screamed, and generally pitched a fit for the entire hour-long hike. And we heard every second of it. But we still had a great time and the views were unreal.

Prior to our hike, we unknowingly scored a sweet parking spot right next to an entrance to Lanikai Beach, so we grabbed our towels and went to what turned out to be the most amazing beach either of us has ever been on. The water was the perfect temperature, crystal clear, and calm. There weren’t even any rocks in the water. It was exactly what you picture in your mind when you think of those beaches on postcards.

After our active morning of hiking and swimming we rewarded ourselves with lunch at Kalapawai Cafe–complete with Lanikai Brewing Company’s Pillbox Porter because it was too appropriate to pass up. While at the cafe we both got “Da Skinny” special which was Kalua imu-style pork on a taro roll. The sign in the cafe claimed it would “break da mouth” (which is pidgin for food that’s exceptionally delicious) and that was not false advertising. 11/10 would eat again. Even the roll. YOLOHA! We also made friends with a delightful retired military couple who regaled us with tales of their travels. I love everyone here. Our server informed us that Lanikai Brewing actually had a tasting room right down the street so we headed there next.

We made friends at Lanikai Brewing Company and one of the employees showed up with her eight-week-old puppy named Roxy and everyone in the tasting room promptly lost their minds at how cute this dog was.

Continuing our newfound Roxy theme, we visited the Roxy surf shop downtown to discover they unfortunately do not have dog apparel. Sorry, Roxy Marie! We checked out a few more shops before heading back to Honolulu.

A few miles before the condo we stopped at Honolulu Beerworks to try their wares and, as luck would have it, our waitress’ name was Roxy! There was a nice little private patio off to the side where we enjoyed our flight and watched the little lizards run around.

 

 

 

Every Friday night the Honolulu Hilton puts on fireworks. Arriving on a Saturday meant we just missed it our first weekend here. Last weekend we totally forgot about them and *heard* them from our condo, but we couldn’t see them. Tonight, after confirming with a hotel security guard that we could see them from our pool deck, we headed up to enjoy some fireworks only to realize that they were very low and the hotel across the street from us totally obscured them. So next week we’ll see fireworks! But before that…

To celebrate Aloha Friday pau hana we went to The Modern Honolulu’s pool bar, which is apparently open to the public (and is a bit of a secret as it’s not even on their website). Their cocktails were a bit bougie for my taste, but the atmosphere was good.

We put on our adventurous pants and stopped in to what I’m calling our new bargain basement sushi joint–both because the prices are unbelievably low and it’s basically in the basement of our building. Aloha Sushi is so small I can’t even find its website, but we were able to get a delicious 30-piece platter for $20 in about 15 minutes. I want to go there every night. It’s so convenient and inexpensive that I’m beside myself with excitement.

So we ate our sushi and missed the fireworks again and I guess it wasn’t a bad little Friday.

So you probably noticed that days 10 and 11 are absent; that’s because we’re settling into what is our new normal for two months. Monday and Tuesday were as average as can be expected when you’ve uprooted your entire life to work halfway across the globe. My mornings have been spent getting up before the sun to drag myself to the dining room table where I answer emails bleary-eyed and wrapped in a blanket. In no way is that supposed to elicit any feelings of sympathy–I’m merely attempting to explain that as I have gotten used to the time difference, I feel slightly less enthralled by my 5 a.m. start to the day. At least there are pretty sunrises and iced coffee!

Mike’s days at work have been long, as is understandable when one is filling in a temporary position that had been vacant for a bit at an office with an already small staff. I’ve been filling my afternoons with riveting things like doing laundry, walking to Walmart for odds and ends, and attempting to get back into my running routine. Again, don’t even try to feel sorry for me because even when I’m on a conference call at 4:30 a.m., struggling through mile three, or vacuuming, I get to look at this:

But I’m not going to bore you with a daily post when there isn’t anything neat to share. You certainly don’t want to read about how many loads of laundry I did any more than I want to write about it.

Tonight we found the most glorious hole-in-the-wall tavern (Harbor Pub) that has the least expensive happy hour I think we’ll find on Oahu: a mai tai for $3.75? I’m in! We got nachos for dinner because they were also on special for happy hour. YOLOHA!

We ventured down the beach (and got a sweet sunset photo on the way) a little bit for one more bev before bed and found ourselves at Hale Koa’s Barefoot Bar, which claims to have Hawaii’s best mai tai, but I ordered something called Tropical Itch because it had bourbon in it. To my surprise it also came with a back scratcher!

We got back to the condo around 8 p.m. and I got the brilliant idea that because Mike still hadn’t been to the Magic Island Lagoon with me, we should totally go that very minute. The park is open until 10 p.m. so it’s not like we were doing anything kapu. Fortunately the barrier around the lagoon makes the water calm and largely inaccessible to sharks so being in the dark wasn’t really all that dangerous.

We made our way up to the North Shore for the first time today to meet up with a gal Mike went to high school with in Colorado (small world!). We stopped by Kualoa Park because it was on the way and looked interesting. I’m glad we did because we were able to have a good look at Mokoli’i (also known as Chinaman’s Hat) AND we found a couple little chunks of coral washed up on the beach!

We met up with our friends at Roy’s Beach House where we had beer and wings, both of which were delightful and reasonably priced. We hopped in the car again and drove to the Hawaii Polo Club to meet up with some folks who were tailgating.

Polo is so unfamiliar to me, but I was thankfully not alone. Most of the people I talked to admitted that they just go for the tailgate aspect. And it’s on the beach, too, so if you get hot or bored you can go for a dip. It rained quite a bit while we were there, which I was told is uncommon for this time of year in our location, but you know what they say about a rainy day at the beach…

Most of the driving we did was very scenic, but I have to say I’m definitely surprised by how long it takes to get most places. I think it’s because in my mind if you can theoretically drive across the ENTIRE island of Oahu in an hour and a half–it shouldn’t take 45 minutes to get most places. But it does, and it’s okay because the drive is usually pretty enough to distract my East Coast brain as it wonders if we’re there yet and what’s taking so long.

Having been struggling with my mortal sunburn wounds and also a bit of sleep deprivation thanks to my inability to go to bed early enough for a 4:45 a.m. wake-up call… I decided that I’d sleep in as late as possible today. Which wasn’t even really that long because I’d volunteered to help Mike with his work even this morning. Regardless, I think I at least got a solid eight hours and it was heavenly.

We had a very successful morning at Mike’s work event, but we did get a later start on the day than we’d anticipated. We stopped at our neighborhood ABC store for some after-sun lotion and a coverup for my seventh-degree sunburn, which still hurts like whoa and is hella swollen, before packing for our day trip to Kailua Beach/Valley of the Temples.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my darling husband–whom I love more than anyone or anything on this planet bar none–spent approximately half an hour of our day figuring out how to connect his phone to the rental car’s Bluetooth. He did it, but we literally sat idle for 30 minutes of daylight while it happened because it is the most counterintuitive thing either of us has ever seen. Anyway…

Our day at Valley of the Temples started out great–we got a personal escort up the property on a golf cart after the shuttle didn’t have room for us. VIP! This place is probably among the most beautiful locations I’ve ever visited in person. It’s a currently functioning cemetery in addition to being a site for a few churches/temples. Today was actually the Obon festival so admission was free and there was a ton of really cool stuff going on while we were there.

After we’d seen all of the Valley, we hit up Kailua Beach. Every time I think I’ve seen the prettiest thing in nature ever… we go somewhere new on the island and I change my mind. The water was very choppy, but it didn’t have big waves. Everyone was in the water and having a good time and the water itself was a sandy turquoise against the overcast sky. It wasn’t too hot and while there were a fair number of people there–it wasn’t loud at all.

On the way back to the condo we stopped at Dave’s Hawaiian Ice Cream where I got ube (purple sweet potato) ice cream (mild, but good) and then Kailua Town Pub & Grill for yet another mai tai (sweeter than I like, but very drinkable) and some nachos (a smaller-than-usual portion, but they were delicious).

Mike worked from home with me today–he was supposed to get the day off but with his position being an interim one he has a lot to do so he opted to log on from the condo and play catch-up. Once the workday was done he picked up a weekender rental car and we hit up the closest Safeway for a much-needed weekly grocery run that ended up being double what ours normally is on the mainland. Yikes! At least there was a rainbow for us to enjoy from the parking deck (pictured above).

We then headed to a nearby barbecue hosted by one of our new friends where we coincidentally made even more new friends. I cannot stress enough how genuinely friendly everyone is here. I am striving more than ever to emulate that because I think it’s amazing and years of being a quasi-East-Coaster have made me jaded and callous and horrible. I brought my favorite party snack to the barbecue–bacon-wrapped dates, which were a big hit. It’s always a nice ego boost when whatever I bring to a party gets eaten voraciously. It’s the little things, I guess.

When the barbecue was done we hit up our neighborhood ABC store for some meat/cheese munchies. We had charcuterie on the lanai before bed and it was delightful.

Work was a bit stressful for me today so I kept my afternoon low key. Having a comical tan line from months of walking in shorts and a tank top–I decided to scope out Ala Moana Beach proper just beyond the Magic Island.

I spent about an hour on the beach, turning every 15 minutes until I couldn’t stand how bored I was; I opted to not swim today because I didn’t want any bacteria to get into my huge blister from last night. (I may have Googled whether I can go in the ocean today for so long that it had me convinced that flesh-eating bacteria would take my entire foot.) Because I couldn’t swim, I was insanely hot in addition to being bored. So I walked around in my swimming suit, collecting Pokemon (shut it) and watching people surf. I lost track of time a little bit, but I estimate I only walked around for about half an hour.

Despite spending only an hour and a half (maybe an hour and 45, factoring in travel time) in the sun, my hilariously white areas turned excruciatingly red. Apparently Hawaii is six inches from the sun, so I’ll keep that in mind going forward. I mean, in my mind I’m not officially at the beach until I’ve had a sunburn, so on day six: I have arrived. And everything hurts.

We met up with even more new friends at Yard House, where our 25-minute wait for a table turned into an hour. By this point, my sun exposure was hitting me like a ton of bricks and I thought I was going to pass out, which at least saved us beer money as I guzzled something like five glasses of water before and during dinner. I opted for a side of sweet potato fries (delicious, btw), hoping all that potassium and salt would help with my sunburn/nausea and it must have worked because I felt fine when we left the restaurant two and a half hours after we got there. Did I mention there were TWO entire soccer teams there when we arrived? It was a long, but enjoyable, dinner though.

Today’s pau hana adventure started with a walk to Diamondhead. I didn’t actually do the hike because a four-mile walk out there was enough. I hit up some shops on the way back and got a swimsuit coverup and the obligatory tourist sundress in an obnoxious sunset/palm tree pattern. Walking past Waikiki beach makes me all the more excited to go. The water there is painfully turquoise. It looks Photoshopped IRL.

Mike flew to Kauai for work today and when he got home we both decided we weren’t feeling the salmon and zucchini waiting for us in the fridge. We went to Tiki’s Grill & Bar where we started with their “famous” 1944 Mai Tai (it tasted like straight up sour mix to me, but different strokes). We opted for apps for dinner and all three were heaven on a plate: prime rib poke, coconut shrimp, and tuna tartare. Dear lord, just yes. Yes to all the food at Tiki’s. We’ve already had some good food here, but I think this meal was the first to make me close my eyes and have a moment with the first bite.

I made the rookie mistake of thinking I could walk a couple of miles in my podiatrist-approved flip-flops (slippas, as the locals are wont to call them) and I came home from dinner to a blister the size of a quarter on the sole of my foot. Guess I’ll take it easy tomorrow–good thing there’s a beach across the street!