Aloha!
It's in the high 70s, there are bad flowery shirts everywhere and everyone is saying "Aloha". Yes - we're in Honolulu. We've always wanted to visit Hawaii and so have been looking forward to this part of the trip for a while. It's also good to be back in the good 'ol U S of A. Still takes some beating in my view.
The flight from Auckland went quickly although it was a bumpy ride at times. We gained a day as we crossed the international date line and Hotel Renew is ace, scoring a BJ rating of 4. Everyone is friendly and ready to party in Hawaii. So as Killian says in The Running Man - "Let's go!"
We spent our first day on Sunday exploring the surrounding area in Waikiki beach. The shopping is fantastic and there are plenty of restaurants and cool bars, right on the ocean. The vibe is a lot different than Australia. After watching sunset together on the beach - "just beautiful" as the Yanks would say, we changed into our partying clothes and headed to the Hulu Grill. Whilst being entertained by the local Hawaiian dances (ask Anna to do it when we get back) we enjoyed some cocktails at the bar and got taking to a Canadian guy who gave us a few tips.
After a nice meal and plenty of wine we headed to Rum Fire - a bar/club in the Sheraton where we had a funny night. The DJ was playing a lot of 80s and 90s tunes, Bobby Brown style and a few of the clientele were really getting into it. In particular, an American guy went nuts when Billie Jean came on, pulling all manner of incongruous faces and pulling some aggressive Mick Jagger style moves. At the same time, we got talking to more Canadians. One of the girls said Anna was "beautiful" (obviously a rug muncher) and insisted on taking a few photos. God knows what she is doing with them now .....
After a heavy night, we took Monday at a considered pace, visiting the big Shopping Mall during the day. Anna was very quiet. I quickly found out the reason why - she hadn't "been" for a couple of days. Her once "regular as
Clockwork" digestive system had been impeded and didn't I know it. As she stroked her Ethiopian like belly and wallowed in some self pity ("don't like it being in there, it's sitting on me") I happily played with my IPhone feeling like Father Christmas on Boxing
Day - you know, totally emptied.
Anyway, we headed back out to Tiki's rooftop bar for an aperitif and then the California Pizza Kitchen, which I would heartily recommend with a BJ rating of 3.5. After a little explore and a few vists to different branches of the Honolulu cookie factory (they offer free samples and as Anna told me - "that's your dessert"), we headed back. Oh - we will buy everyone who sends us a message in the next three days through the blog, a box of Honolulu cookies.
Waikiki feels very safe as there are always people around. Its a bit older than we imagined and virtually "poser free". One thing we have noticed are the number of homeless people who take possession of the various benches along the Main Street. These people are not you "run of the mill" drunks, or aggressive in any way - they look like people who have had a run of bad luck. Very sad. As they sleep on their benches, the roads behind them are lit up by Tiffany & Co, Bvlgari and Cartier. Kind of sums up the US in many ways doesn't it?
I struggle to see how anyone (regardless of their level of disposable income) can walk into one of the above shops, buy a two thousand dollar handbag and come out and be some oblivious to their surroundings with these poor b*****s. Furthermore, watching the Chinese going into the Honolulu Cookie Factory and spending $300 on biscuits makes me uneasy. Hey, but that's just me. There are also lots of Japanese tourists about and Hawaii has a healthy populace of Japanese origin. The Japanese are incredibly well mannered.
Today, we visited the US Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbour which was interesting, taking in the memorial and museums. The US pacific fleet got well and truly wiped out here. It is worth a visit although the facilities aren't the best. One of the things I find slightly irritating is how the US "play up" their involvement in WWII and don't really mention the UK. They came in quite late and "done us" over in terms of war loans. Funny - didn't see that mentioned anywhere. The museums did a good job of explaining why the US was so reluctant to get involved though. I took an opportunity to tour a decommissioned submarine used in WWII before we left to head home. The living conditions were so cramped.
So, what was the highlight of my day? Easy. A guy from Ohio was twittering on the bus in the seat behind us about his life philosophy. On and on it went for an hour. His wife's eyes were rolling as he took some poor sod through his life story and how successful he had been.
His mama told him - "your greatest talent is that you can get yourself out of any situation". His final words of unprompted homespun, pyscho-bulls*** advice were - "You gotta learn a new thing everyday and then APPLY it - that's all you gotta do to be successful".
As the bus stopped, he promptly rose from his seat and totally missed the step in front of him, coming down hard on the floor, arse over tit. We couldn't stop laughing.
As I stood over him, wondering how he would get himself out of this "situation", I was so close to saying "and what have your learnt today then? How about - WATCH THE STEP. Now go and APPLY it numbnuts". He wasn't injured and got to his feet rather gingerly and embarrassed. So what's the lesson for us? Shut up on public buses and stop talking sh*t, was the lesson I took.
On that note - I'm off to "learn and apply ..."