Friday, May 31, 2013
Local Chinese in Manoa
Bellows Beach
Arizona Memorial
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Where to eat in Waikiki
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| We did not eat here |
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| Genki Sushi |
Rachel's Pearl Pick
At the Arizona memorial was a Pick a Pearl station. Rachel's first pick netted zero, but her second pick netted twin pearls!!! A happy pearl girl.
Making the best of the day
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| Mission House Museum |
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| King Kam (s) |
Off the Beaten Path Hawaii
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| Admiral's Barge |
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Diamond Head Hike and Snorkel Day
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| Diamond Head scenic vies |
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| Potluck family and Preston |
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| Walking the plank in snorkeling lagoon |
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| Beautiful blue waters |
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| Snorkel girls |
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| On top of Diamond Head with Waikiki in the background |
The pleasant Hawaiian temperatures have allowed us open
windows and ceiling fans for sleeping comfort.
In the morning we are awakened to the sound of the local tropical
birds. Amusingly enough, this morning we
also heard our host family’s 4 year old son, Preston, loudly declaring he was
not going to school. He had decided to
call in sick and spend the day with the “Pot Luck” family. That’s us, the Pot Luck’s in a variation of
Pletcher created in the 4 year old mind.
Preston is a wonderful addition to our family’s adventures,
and our first one this morning is to hike from the crater to the ridge of
Diamond Head. It is only a .8 mile trek,
but it is quite steep, and switch back heavy.
It is also tourist heavy, and a little game I have always played was to
look for goofy tourist shirts. I got the
kids involved in this one, and Ryan found a tourist wearing a goofy shirt with
Tigger with wings, and some weird logo with the words “Control Bear” But the winner for the day was from a Hispanic
guy wearing the following: “Relax Gringo, I’m here legally” It passed the time on the climb and descent,
and Rachel made the insightful comment, “This is the first hike where we haven’t
complained.” It seems like having
Preston, and his most pleasant demeanor is a good influence on the Pot Lucks.
Near the top of the ridge, there was a walking tunnel,
narrow and dark. My claustrophobic wife
took off on a sprint through that which got smiles from our family, and looks
of annoyance from the opposite direction foot traffic.
We reached the top and were kissed by the sweet Pacific
breeze, and rewarded with the scenic elevated views of the South shore of Hawaii. Very beautiful. The water was so so blue, and ignited our
interest to go snorkeling.
As we headed back down to the base of the crater, the kids
eagerly anticipated the shave ice truck awaiting us at the hike’s finish.
We grabbed some lunch at Subway, and went back to wait for
the Comerfords. I had left my NFCU check
card in the ATM machine at Pearl Harbor, and had the approval for Jed to pick
it up for me. Of course, the ease of the
phone call was not the experience Jed had.
However, after some phone calls, they allowed him to pick it up.
We gathered our crew, and gear, and headed over past Hanauma
Bay to snorkel in the secret spot. It
was a little lagoon that we had to hike to at the base of some volcanic
hills. A very scenic underwater scape
filled with tropical fishes as if in an aquarium comprised the snorkel
experience. The kids also did some
jumps, dives, and flips off a plank which had been set up at the rocky shoreline.
Dylan and Mason also hiked up the towering hill. Dylan in flip flops (aka slippers, Hawaiian)
and Mason in barefeet. A true Hawaiian,
who exclaimed that he was toughening up his feet.
On the way home we stopped for little pucks of mochi ice
cream, which has become a family favorite.
Dylan loves mochi, and I’m not sure how they use rice flour in the ice
cream, but it sure was delicious.
Being Tuesday, we needed to hit the local “Taco Tuesday” at
Wahoo fish tacos. It was a very cool
little local place with some yummy tacos.
Our evening was concluded with an awesome pie baked by Tracy. It was her auntie’s recipe of macadamia crust
and fresh mango. Just listing the
ingredients is testimony to the wonderful dessert. With mango pie and conversation, we capped
off another day of Hawaiian fun.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Polynesian Culture day
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| Birthday luau head bands |
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| Experiencing the Dole whip |
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| Kids with Samoan fire dancers |
Today is Rebecca’s birthday, and we packed it with some
Polynesian fun. Of course, at 0630, our
day started with the call to surf from our host Jed’s deep booming voice. This morning, we would be accompanied by our two
oldest sons. We are two generations of
surfers.
The trade winds are still prevalent, and kicking up a
surface chop, however, the surf is still churning with a decent ground swell,
with clean faces. My shoulders are
aching from a lot of paddling, but Mason and Dylan catch a bunch of fun little
rides. Makes a dad proud.
The entry and departure from the water is a bit of a sketchy
scene, so I am sure to watch the boys closely.
Both must be timed with the incoming swell surge, and either jumping from a rock over the reef, or paddling
in between rocks covered with shallow water.
It works out OK though.
Back at the house, it is time to give Rebecca her
cards. Most of our celebration was done
last night, but it is her official birthday today. We also took some more pictures in honor of
this grand day with her lei.
After breakfast, and a quick clean up, we are off for the
day. First stop is Whole Foods for Reb’s lunch, and the kids and I settle for the
slightly less organic Subway. We pack
the cooler full of our lunch sandwiches, and head off to the scenic route for
the Polynesia Culture Center.
Stopping on base, we hit the tent sale for snorkeling
equipment, which is better than the gear we are using at home. Our intent was to leave it for our hosts, but
the kids are kicking up a lot of resistance.
Even though the cost was right, it still
means we are headed for a lot of snorkeling over the next few days.
Being on Pearl Harbor brought back a lot of memories for me
and my many months deployed here back when I was in the Navy. Truly some fond reminescents.
Departing base, our next stop was the Dole plantation. We had intended to take the challenge of the
world’s largest maze, a landscaped maze
of high bush/shrubs. It takes an average
of 45 minutes, so we soon realized that our time would be limited. We instead opted to sample the soft serve
pineapple treat we called a Dole whip.
We briefly walked around the visitor
complex viewing the many different breeds of pineapple growing there as well as
some really cool trees with multi colored bark.
Back on the highway, we crested the pineapple fields, and
were greeted with a scenic view of the ocean, Kaena Point, and the North
shore.
Being Memorial Day, traffic was less than favorable. It seemed like every family in Hawaii was
making their way to the North shore for the day, and the stop and go traffic
favored the “stop” portion.
The views of the water were incredible though, and we slowly
crept around the island passing the North shore, its famous surf spots, Waimea,
and Turtle cove finally arriving late at the Polynesia Culture Center a bit
late to meet Jed, Hayden and Preston.
I was always a bit averse to the PCC on previous visits to
Hawaii due to the high “tourist factor”
I am truly glad my family got to experience this wonderful event. There are villages set up for 7 of the
Polynesian culture: Hawaii, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Aoteaora, Marquesas
with interactive shows, and displays.
The kids had a blast learning about the cultures in a very fun way. Our eldest teenager was even seemingly
engaged. That is no easy feat. Thanks PCC.
At mid day, there was a Canoe pageant held with each culture
displaying the male and female dances, costumes and rituals of their
islands. Very cool.
Once we had toured all of the villages that we could, it was
time for the Samoan luau. Samoa was one
of the coolest shows, and they displayed fire making, coconut husking, coconut
tree climbing, and some amusing entertainment by the “Chief”
The luau was amazing, lots of dance and pageantry of the
Samoan costumes, rituals, traditions, including some fire dancers.
We dined to our fill on the wonderful sampling of Samoan
fare. The kids kept sneaking up to the
dessert table.
All of the luau diners with May birthdays were asked to
stand for the Happy Birthday song, and presented with a coconut palm frond head
band. We were represented by Rebecca and
Ryan, and she crept out from her usually covert birthday shell. She had adamantly instructed us NOT to tell
anyone at the luau it was her birthday for fear of the excessive attention it
may bring.
After dinner, we made our way to the Pacific theater for the
big show. It was an amazing show with
fire, water, dancers, and a story of “Ha’, the breath of Life.” It was essentially an adaptation of the “circle
of life” with a Polynesian flair. Very
elaborate, ornate, and spectacular with booming drum beats, fire and
choreographed dance exhibition.
Wonderful.
The tired crew made it back into the car, and we drove the
hour back to our house, skirting the windward coastline. Another full day of wonderful experience leaving
our family begging for bedtime.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Another Day in Paradise
A Chinese Happy Birthday song
The expression “another day in paradise” sure takes on a new
meaning as we are becoming more and more immersed into the Hawaiian lifestyle. Dylan keeps saying, “I’m so adjusted,
dude.” I think he is referring to the
time zone change, but it fits for the lifestyle thing as well. I am not so adjusted to the time change as
Dylan, and it has made for some pretty deep naps, and some family irritability
at bed time.
As always, our days begin early, especially with the strong,
dry trade winds which have been blowing constantly. This morning our friends, Jed and the boys,
took us to one of their local water fun spots.
Down around the corner, at the ocean side of Jim Nabors house, ( Yes,
that one, “surprise, surprise, surprise”
aka Gomer Pyle) is a spot called the Wall. As Dylan and I hummed the Pink Floyd version,
we swam around a large rock sea wall, and on the other side was a protected
cove with an 8 foot wall. It was perfect
for the kids to jump off of, and climb back up the escarpment for another
go. It seems like everywhere in Hawaii,
the locals have turned the surroundings into some form of water fun play
ground.
After the wall jumping, the kids searched the wonders of the
tidal pools lining the flat water inside the breakers.
Despite the Oceanside fun we were having, we realized the
time, and had to run. The Comerfords had
another soccer game for Hayden, and we had an 1145 mass to attend. Rebecca had found the local
Catholic Church, and shuffled us off to worship.
Catholic Church, and shuffled us off to worship.
It was less than a mile from the Comerfords house, and we
walked in to the Star of the Sea chapel, greeted by the open air breezes.
Although a largely Asian congregation, we were quite
surprised when the Priest busted into Chinese to greet his flock. The mass was partly in Chinese, and partly in
English. Each reading was alternated between
the two languages. Quite a cool
experience to recite the Lord’s Prayer in English, with Chinese subtitles. In the midst of mass, one of the parishioners
recognized us as out o towners, and asked if we would take the gifts to the
altar. Rachel, Ryan and Rebecca were
happy to lend a hand.
I’m sure that is an experience that will be told over and
over again for decades to come.
Arriving back home, I dropped off the fam, and snuck over to
the local market for Rebecca’s birthday cake, birthday cards, and balloon. She hardly knew of my absence, as I used the cover of going to buy
sunscreen. It waited patiently in the
fridge for a later surprise and dessert.
Mason had stayed home from the soccer game, and took our
family down to Waikiki beach for some fun surf for the boys. They hit those tourist rollers for hours on
longboards, paddling in tired and smiling.
Rachel had a few wave opportunities, and is working on her paddling
strength. Beautiful waters, breezes, and
beaches were ours for the afternoon.
We stopped by the Outrigger Club again to check the lost and
found for Rachel’s rash guard, and were rewarded for our persistence. Not so for my debit card, which may have been
left in the ATM machine yesterday.
Yikes. Put a hold on that one!!
Returning home hungry and tired, Tracy had an awesome meal
made for us. That was followed by some
fun stories of old from adults and kids alike, followed by the surprise Red
Velvet birthday cake. A true surprise!!
So wonderful to hang with our dear friends, and watch our
kids hang out surfing and playing. A
dual generation camaraderie experience.
Almost as our day had started in Chinese, after the English version of
“Happy Birthday”, we continued the family tradition by singing the Panamanian
version, and Mason finalized our day with the Chinese version of “Happy
Birthday to You” A multi cultural
experience at hand.
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| Chinese mass |
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Our first day in Hawaii
Up with Dylan before dawn, asking to go surfing and walk to
the beach at 5 am. I had some airline
schedule bidding to do, but we were out the door at about 0630, with Jed with
boards packed. He took us to Kiko’s just
around the corner from his house, and Dylan could hardly contain his smile as
we got our first glimpse of the “cruddy” Hawaiian chop waves, but for a florida
surfer, absolute fun times. Dylan caught
a lot of waves, as Jed and I waited on the outside for some bigger sets, which
never really came. He had a great time,
other than the big nose crack-off that he had, and that required us to take it
to RV’s surf shop for a $70 ding repair/nose rebuild. Bummer.
We dropped that off on the way to Hayden’s soccer game, over at a giant
soccer complex near Pearl Harbor. We
were all really tired, and Hayden played like a champ. Jed and his family have allowed us to
acclimate into Hawaiian society in just a short time.
The snack after the game for the kids was way different than
our soccer kids. Full on pizza,
sandwiches, chips and “mocha” made from
rice flour and butter. It was a Hawaiian
treat, and very yummy.
Following the game, we went to MWR at Pearl Harbor for
Rebecca’s birthday luau tickets. At home
again, we prepared to depart on a short notice to the Outrigger Canoe
Club. We were able to gain access since
Hayden and Mason are members. They have
been on an outrigger team recenty, and as paddlers we can be their guests at
the exclusive Outrigger Club. They were having a barbeque night which reminded
me of the Shorebird on Waikiki back in the Navy days. The kids had a really fun time in the surf,
as we watched, and waited for our chance
to prepare our own dinners over the grill.
Each of us cooked our own dinner over the massive charcoal
grills which were set up for our use.
The meats were distributed from an ice filled outrigger hull that was
set up for that purpose.
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