Windward side of O'ahu

Blogger has not been playing nicely with me for a few days now, so it's taken a long time to post this. Merde!

Last Hawaii post - and about time! We got home over a week ago, after all. Nevermind that Conrad has to return there tomorrow either.

Anyway, one last drive to post on, some more photos to share. I've already covered part of this jaunt in a previous post about food, but tonight it's more beaches, water, mountains, and lush flora.

I'll make these descriptions brief - the fun food stories are in an earlier post, and for the most part, it was driving along, oohing and aahing for several hours on this day.

Kaneohe Bay.

Not the first place we saw poultry (mmmm, poultry) running wild. The sign in the photo below that tells you where.


The peaks overlooking Kualoa from a short distance away.

The islet commonly known as Chinaman's Hat (don't holler at me for that) off of Kualoa.


Kualoa, a popular beach with the locals, for swimming, fishing, and camping.


The rest of these are taken at a point identified on the plaque in the photos. The sea arch was a handsome sight (though seeing the cairns people had erected on it was not to my liking, I confess). Powerful waves against a rugged patch of rocky shore, and a good number of fishermen there. I stood for some while just meditating on the wash of water over the rocky shelves, and Conrad found it similarly soothing when he caught up to me.







That pretty much recaps the recent Hawaii trip. Conrad is back there right now, and I do miss him. Alas, it's back to transcribing notes from card sort sessions for me....

Honolulu scenes

Though we stayed in on Waikiki, a stone's throw from the beach, we were able to see other parts of the city. And not just the Ala Moana shopping center either!

Honolulu is interesting. That's faintly euphemistic. It climbs up several hillsides. Its business core of tall buildings is removed from its tourism core of tall hotels on Waikiki, giving the impression of two city centers from a distance. The architecture in many cases is dated and hasn't translated to modern times well. Traffic is a nightmare - a horrible, tragic incident on the day I arrived snarled up the freeway and the exits into the city, and the resultant time sitting in a cab from the airport took me the better part of an hour (I didn't time it) and cost $50.

But there is lush foliage all over and birds around. The sea and the sunsets over it are well worth some of the less-favourable aspects of the city. And in any case, it IS a big city chockful of tourists. For all its flaws, Honolulu is a rather likeable place.

So then, some scenes from around the city, starting with a morning on Waikiki.


These next several are from the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus - we strolled around and peeked in at the 50m pool. It's a rather concrete campus, as if the planners thought the flora would make up for deficiencies in architecture. Still, we enjoyed poking around. And goodness knows I've seen other campuses with as much concrete! Oh, the bird? A type of cardinal. Not a native species, and kind of a shock to see in Hawaii of all places. The photos of me? I just think I look kind of trim in it. I AM vain, remember?









The Capitol is also unlike any other I've seen. From a distance, it's an odd box shape. However, look more closely. The rounded part you can make out in the first shot is one of the two houses, and the shape is meant to reflect a volcano (or so Conrad said). Unseen from a distance are the reflecting pools surrounding much of the building and adding the notion of an island state to the architecture. Meanwhile, once in the inner courtyard one can see how the "hallways" in the upper levels are open air. The two houses are glassed in, and peeking in from the courtyard, I noted some stunning woodwork inside. Also, look at the columns - palm trees! It's all done a little literally, and it doesn't look great from the end of the block, but it was interesting to wander about.




The older structure here is the Iolani Palace. We didn't pay to get in - maybe another time - but walked around it, admiring it, and heading on from there to the main branch of the Hawaii State Public Library system.

Simpler dining on O'ahu

Second food O'ahu food post, and this time, it's more about the less-refined dining. Heck, you might be surprised.

Well no, you shouldn't be. If it tastes good, I'll put it in my mouth. No naughty comments from you Remley!

On the Friday night we joined Doug and Leifor dinner at a place that gets rave reviews in the guidebooks and from Conrad, but really, it's pretty nondescript: Sidestreet Inn. On to the food!

Ahi tuna belly. Nice, not super.

The sizzling Korean pork. SO. DARN. GOOD.

Blackened ahi tuna.

Pork ribs in a lilkoi (passionfruit) sauce.

All was quite good, and we ate eagerly. Four dishes down, and then we thought we would have a fifth. Whoops. Not as good. Chicken gizzards. Normally I rather like them, but these were kind of tough and chewy and had no flavour other than being fried. The seasoned salt was good, though.

The next day, our shopping day, was where I saw this treat at a Foodland grocery store: spam musubi.Yep, spam. It's very very very popular in Hawaii. Laugh all you will, but Lei told us that it's enjoyed a great deal there. No, I didn't consume the whole thing - it was cheap enough to not worry about wasting it, and I wasn't all that hungry, really. Oh, in the photo? It's wrapped in plastic, not lacquered or anything.


Sunday, and we were driving up the Windward Coast of the island when we happened upon this right at about 11:55 AM. Lunch! We got in line, ordered, and waited.


To wash it down, a coconut.

Ahhhh, very very garlicky shrimp. We reeked of it the rest of the day. It was so worth it!






When we got to Haleiwa, we stopped for a mai tai at a place recommended to us. Fine enough, but we'd had better. Still, nice to stop!

Haleiwa seems to be shave ice central, and we had to try one of those as well.


This, my friends, is the Local Mix (with an unseen amount of sweet red adzuki beans in the center): pineapple, mango, and li hing mui (dried salted plum). And I can assure you, it was good. Conrad and I devoured it in, oh, two minutes, I think....