Highlights of this trip:
Jim and I spent the month of July in Honolulu. To our friends who live there: apologies for not getting together with you–we had several house guests who had never been to Honolulu, and we were busy playing tour guide along with taking 4:00 am conference calls and contributing to the local economy. We hope to see you during our next visit!
Highlights of this trip:
Several first-time visitors to the islands: We got to show off several tourist highlights (Bishop Museum, Iolani Palace), introduce them to some of Honolulu’s best treats (Chillest shave ice, Leonard’s Malasadas, and Liliha cocoa puffs), and take them to some of our favorite restaurants (Senia, Umi, Doraku, and Fête).
Our repeat visitors: we were delighted to welcome you back! To our friends who “just wanted to sit by the pool and drink,” your capacity for alcohol was impressive. 🙂
Surfing: We even convinced some first-time visitors to try surfing (and some of our repeat visitors continued their lessons as well). A couple of new surfing addicts were added to the community. The waves off Waikiki were terrific all month. Our “surf boys” (aka surf instructors) are the best, and we had a great time surfing with them.
Tsunami Warning: We received a 3 hour advanced warning of a possible tsunami. The house we had rented was high enough to be out of the tsunami danger zone, but we had to rescue our daughter and her friend from the Bishop Museum. Ubers were difficult to come by, and traffic was a mess, but everyone made it safely back to the house in time. Fortunately, no significant tsunami waves manifested themselves and while the tsunami advisory lasted until the following morning, everything was back to normal that day. (This is not to make light of the warning itself, and the science that made it possible to predict the precise time when the first wave would hit is mind-boggling. We are just relieved it turned out to be much less serious than it could have been.)
New Discoveries: these include a new shave ice place, Chillest, in Kaimuki (we were sad to see our old favorite, Uncle Clay’s, close down); the Japanese Cultural Center, which has a small but excellently curated exhibit on the Japanese internment through Hawaiian eyes; Aframe Tokyo for excellent quality Japanese knives; the markets where Aframe Tokyo is located for Asian produce and products; Island Green Mart for Chinese produce and products; and Koa Pancake House in Hawaii Kai, which serves amazingly fluffy pancakes and loco moco with vinha d’alhos, a mouth-watering marinated pork.
I’m including several photos of Hawaiian scenery as well as a couple of surfing videos. Thank you, Honolulu, as always for making us feel like part of your ohana!
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