Learning to relax

Yesterday, (Thursday) I spent the day relaxing. Tim and I started the day by the Super Pool, hanging out before he went to his conference.

While we were there, we saw this lizard, who evolved to blend in better with the electrical boxes around the resort.


Then, we saw two ducks. We assumed they came down to the pool to catch the early-morning rays and have a swim before a busy day of eating bugs. Funny thing, these ducks don't always walk around the pool. Sometimes they swim from one side to the other.


After Tim left for the conference, I laid by the pool and pinked (I don't tan).

Not much else to report (after all, I'm practicing my relaxing).

Oh, you have to see the shoes I found.















Now, these may look like ordinary flip flops, but check out what they can do:
















They have a little shelf inside for keys, ID, cash whatever. Pretty sweet, huh? There are also flip flops with bottle openers in the bottom, but I figured I'd use these more.

It takes forever to get there

We went to Pearl Harbor today. And it only took 90 minutes on The Bus.

Getting off the bus at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial was a bit of a surprise. The area is sacred. I understand that. I believe that is should be. But it seems...neglected. I just wish the government would allocate a couple hundred million to the memorial and give it a face lift, add some size and give it the proper attention it deserves.

And it's way smaller than I thought it would be.The harbor itself isn't very big at all. There was only one gunship and one submarine (the sub was a museum) in view, which was not what I was expecting. I suppose on my part a little more research would have made things better.

Something that I thought was a bit funny at the memorial: Bags, purses, backpacks, shopping bags, etc. aren't allowed. You have to check them in some lockers across the parking lot. So, when you walk in, a park ranger gives you your ticket and tells you it's going to be about three hours until you can see the movie and take the boat to the Arizona. But, feel free to visit the museum, shop and the submarine next door.

Here's the catch--if you go to the gift shop at the Arizona and walk over to the sub, then try to get back in to see the movie, you have to check your bag. The same bag you just took out of the building. The bag with the deadly postcards and t-shirts.

Well, we're off to try this funny thing called "relaxing." We're not good at it, so it's going to be a stretch. But I'm willing to give it a shot.

One more thing. I wanted to show you this bad photo for one reason. See the haze on the mountains? It's from the volcanoes on the Big Island. The tradewinds aren't blowing today, so the volcano gasses drift over the other islands.

Hilo Hattie and the deal I could pass up

I took a shopping excursion today to the famous Hawaiin store Hilo Hattie. I was going to go to the International Market, but it was raining pretty hard for a while. Side note--as soon as we pulled in to Hilo Hattie, it stopped raining.

On the trolley ride there, I sat next to a lovely woman from Louisana. She was taking a vacation to celebrate her 45th anniversary and brought most, if not all, her family with her. Just about the entire ride (about 20 minutes) she told me about her whole family, including relatives who weren't on the trip.

Hilo Hattie offers a free schuttle trolley around Waikiki to their store. This guy was our driver:

He said his name was Omonopai'hauna Pappaini Jr., but we could call him Mike.

Arriving at the store, we were greeted by extremely friendly employees who gave each of us a necklace--the kind you can get all over this state. They cost about $10 for 1,000. But still, it's fun to get new jewelry.

Once in the store, the jewelry department was having a contest. They give you a key, and if the key opens the golden treasure chest, you get to pick a piece of paper with a prize on it. Much to my amazement, my key opened the treasure chest and my bootie was 50 percent off a pearl. So, I went and got an oyster. The lady behind the counter told me to look for an ugly, hairy one if I wanted a black pearl. Finding an ugly, hairy one, I was then told to "Tap on it three times with this stick, and say 'Alhoa!'"

No, I'm not making this up. And no, I'm not proud that I did it.

But she cracked the sucker open, and beneith all the slime and guts, there was a black pearl. And I have no idea what to do with it.













But I do know what to do with shoes. And shoe shopping is frequently a highlight of my vacations. Now, don't laugh because aesthetically, they're not the most pleasing. But, honestly, they have to be one of the most comfortable pairs of "slippahs" as the Hawaiins call them, that I've ever bought.












Now for the deal I could pass up. I've been looking around for a long-sleeved shirt (because my sunburn is that bad). Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a long-sleeved shirt in a state that rarely sees the 60-degree mark?

Well, I ended up finding one today at one of the shops here at the hotel. I found my size and was holding it up to check it out, when I noticed a few small stains on the shoulder. I showed the lady at the shop and she said, "Oh! Must be the geckos. I'll give it to you for $15."

"Wait, are you telling me that the stain on this shirt has----gecko poop?"

"Yeah, but you can take it up to your room and wipe it off with a wet towel."

"Gecko poop?"

"Yes, it will come right off."

Even I'm not that cheap.

Getting lei'd

I just got back from a lei making lesson. It was a nice, relaxing way to start the day.

Step one:
Break all the stems off the orchids.

Step two:
Put the stems in a pile for someone else to clean up.

Step three:
Take the gigantor needle and thread and poke the string through the orchid.

Step four:
Repeat all the above steps until you get this:

Now, I think I'm going to try to figure out the public bus system here. It's called "The Bus," so finding the right bus shouldn't be a problem.

Suprise of the day--Tim and I were up by 5:30 today (we're getting better; I'm sure we'll fully adjust by the time we leave), so we took a sunrise stroll on Waikiki beach.
The water is incredibly warm and calm in the morning. But the sand is very course. Not as rocky as a Michigan beach, but yowzer! My feet felt raw by the time we were done.

Time zones are evil

One of the most difficult things for me this trip is getting used to the time zone changes. Hawaii is six hours behind Michigan.

With that in mind, Tim and I were wide awake, lights on, reading after going to bed and waking up at 3 a.m. Luckily we fell back asleep, but we were still up in time to go out to breakfast together and get Tim to the conference before 7:30.

We both noticed the fantastic grass around Hawaii. It's golf course grass, but it's not as soft as I was hoping. Minor disappointment, but I'm over it.

Today I took a look at the shopping options in Waikiki. After solid consideration, I decided we don't have enough money, and probably never will, to shop here. About the only thing we can afford is jewelry made of shells.

I walked the entire length of Waikiki Beach today. Twice. I finally saw surfers, people wearing bathing suits they really should reconsider, and, believe it or not, penguins.


And I got sunburned. I really am truly on vacation now.

Aloha!

Good Morning! We made it to Hawaii and have begun to explore. We didn't make it to the hotel last night until about 9 p.m. and it was dark bythe time we got here, so not too much to report.

I will say on our flight to Seattle, we were stuck in the Bermuda Triangle of bad airline passengers. The guy next to me (not Tim) whistled softly to himself for nearly the entire five-hour flight. The guy in front of us got completely wasted and lost all volume control--his favorite topic of conversation was "Maui Wowie." But let's not forget the guys next to Tim and behind us. One snored like a lumberjack. The other had a crack problem. It was really unbelieveable.

However, once we landed, things got considerably better. Probably my favorite thing that happened was that I realized I was dressed too warmly. At night. WOO-HOO! The next best thing that happened (Tim would probably disagree about the order here) was as we were standing in line for a taxi, we noticed a nerd conversation taking place behind us. So, I suggested that we all share a cab. Turns out the guys were going to the same conference as Tim and one of them was the technical co-chair of the conference. Nice contact to make in the first 30 minutes. Then the guy paid for the whole cab ride, so double bonus.

I have to say that the entire cab ride, with Tim and two other engineers talking shop was pretty, um, interesting. They got to the point where I was pretty sure they were speaking in Greek symbols and a language greatly resembling a Calculus textbook and it was everything I could do to not laugh.

Well, that's all I have to report. Here's so photos of where we're staying. This is the walkway to our tower of the hotel.


I saw these guys on my way back from breakfast.