Monday, June 29, 2009

Day 4 O'ahu Style!

On the fourth day, instead of just a plain old run around the park, we opted for a run to the entrance of the Diamond Head State Monument and Park (up hill, with backpack) so we could get in on some early morning hiking action. We headed out from the hotel about 6:45 am expecting some cooler weather, but we instead celebrated Sweat Fest 2009. Such an awesome festival.

Why did we run to this park? So we could hike in and to the top of another O'ahu crater, a.k.a the big hill visible from our hotel... you can't be that close and leave it be. So we hiked, Sweat Fest ensued and we made it to the top.
Et voilĂ ! Le top!
Perdy, ain't it?

To the north (that is the direction this photo was taken, you don't actually need to turn to the north - you aren't in Hawaii... sorry, that was mean. If I upset you with by bloggy attitude, I will take you to O'ahu to make amends. Forgiven? Oh good.) anyway, to the north, you can see the park we ran around, ALL the Waikiki hotels and the zoo! (Foresty green area).
Here is the view to the west. Schbddd...blurrbsasd...lblalre... (Use your words.)... OCEAN! (That last bit is a shout out to my Mamz. I sometimes had trouble getting words out when I was a youngin, I needed her extra encouragement. Thanks Mamz! I speak good!)
This is when I fell off the top of Diamond Head. Don't worry, I survived.

We then made our way back to the hotel and waited in anticipation for our VIP pick-up to take us to the "Mini-Coupe" rental place. We were planning on renting a car at the end of the trip but we were itching to get out of Waikiki again, enter the "mini-coupe" - a two seater scooter of sorts. We opted to stick with a standard mini without the bells and whistles - meaning it turned out to be THE BUMPIEST RIDE EVER. Unless maybe your name is Humpty Dumpty, than you win for a more bumpy experience. Regardless of the bumps, we still made it back to Kahala to visit a Hawaiian Whole Foods (We got apple bananas!!!! YUM!!!!) and to Honolulu to cruise around China Town.
Duncan went super fast in this baby... like 20 miles per hour!
SO Fast and scary... we are parked...

But this baby did get us to Ono Hawaiian Foods, shockingly, one of the few places in Honolulu/Waikiki that serves REAL Hawaiian food. Lau lau, chicken long rice, haupia, poke, lomi lomi salmon, kalua pig, poi... they've got it all. And it all is delicious. They even have the amazing Hawaiian purple sweet potatoes. I want them on the mainland.

After feasting Hawaiian-style, we opted to return the coupe in early and begin our search for a sunset catamaran cruise. Which we found, and it was awesome. We rode on the Na Hoku II for a few bucks, which included 90 minutes of cruise time, an open bar, and an incredible experience.
About to push off, we enjoy some Buds in "the net".

We cruised out past Diamond Head (Hey! We hiked that!) - and it got FUN. For most of the time, we were the only two out in the net. Why? Because that is where you get wet.

You can't do something like this in Washington, you would freeze to death, so we savored every second of crazy splashy thrashy time. Eventually, a group of surfer dudes joined us out on the net, and we all enjoyed the splashing together.

We headed back to Waikiki, they took the sails in, turned the motor off and let us jump off the boat while the sun set. It was a great way to finish the day. Betsy and Duncan approved!

**UPDATE**
I can't believe I forgot, because I forced Duncan to - but we went to the Shorebird for din-din that night and Dunc totally sang some kick-ass karaoke, James Taylor style. Oh, and I guess we ate some food... at 50% off!

Thank you to our Mini-Coupe VIP driver that informed us of the pile of coupons sitting in our hotel. The restaurant was good, a cook-your-own meat sort of place. I opted to cook my own pineapple and garlic toast, whatever floats your boat. Most importantly after 9pm every night they host karaoke. Upon hearing this, I immediately told Duncan that he needed to sing, because he is the best singer in the world. No bias. He tried to get me to sing too, but he just makes me look real bad, and I much prefer to listen to him than try to perform myself.

Finally after 3 rotations of the same tourists from Kansas, Wisconsin, and wherever, three songs from the host, and a terrible performance by a group of three girls, Dunc had had enough and couldn't resist the microphone. He destroyed the house with his rendition of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain". Perhaps not destroy, because it is a relatively depressing and slow song, but he did sound great and received multiple compliments from strangers. Including something like - small British man walks over to our table - "I just have to say, I came all the way from England, and you are one of the best singers I have ever heard." You get the idea. Anyway, I was super proud. That is all.

Love you Dunc!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for that incredibly descriptive recap. I would like a mini-coupe (with shocks, though) to ride back and forth to work. Do they export them? If it could have a little "rent me" sign on the side, that would be cool, too....

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  2. "Ahubah -- awwahu --- aowbmah --- ah ah ah"

    "Use your words"

    "ocean"

    YAY for words! AND we were just talking about them (AND by means of them) TODAY!!!! Wheeee!

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