Just barely missed the hurricane!
What up my NorCal pals! Miss me much? No? Well too bad, 'cause I'm baaaaaa~ck! I'll leave the detailed report to Jae, but I shall chronicle some of the more important bits in a segment I like to call:
Island adventures in the land of the sunburned skin!
Jae and I shortly after landing in Honolulu on Oahu (image edited slightly due to excessive grease).
Taken on the bus ride to our hotel. Yeah, that'd be a "k" in the middle of that there word.
The hotel we were at was beautiful. The lounging area had a waterfall and various rock-and-flora structures/arrangements.
At certain times throughout the day there would be someone performing relaxing island tunes on the ukulele and vocals. This guy did a wonderful rendition of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Over The Rainbow/Wonderful World" medley.
Some more of the lounge area. You could order drinks and food there, but we mostly read and enjoyed the atmosphere if we went down there. When I took this picture we were waiting to meet up with Cindy for our big Oahu outing :3
Koi in a fountain at the Ala Moana mall. Pretty, but stinky. The koi fountain, not the mall. The mall was pretty too, though.
Jae enjoying her Haleakala Snow and The Supreme Patissier Cindy. We stopped by a Dave's Ice Cream first thing when we got to the mall, which was quite the delicious treat.
One of many arm-length shots taken throughout the trip; one of the few that came out decently. And it aaallllways seemed like just after we finally got a good shot, someone would come up and offer to take a picture for us. Oh, timing.
An R2-D2 mailbox. How cool is that?? (by the way, I found this gem while checking up the correct "spelling" for R2-D2)
The King's Village at Waikiki. It looked like a little slice of Disneyland out in the middle of the tropics.
A bike rack shaped like a bicycle. Madness!
Some shots of the galleria in... Waikiki? Taken from a balcony at some ridiculously expensive store, in which there were articles of clothing that were valued higher than certain exorbitantly-priced electronic home entertainment devices. I believe Jae's exact wording was "Holy crap, that skirt costs more than a PS3!" What was worse was that we found ourselves trapped in the store, and we were freaking out 'cause we were scared of touching such posh retail items with our dirty peasant hands.
Jae clutching to the balcony railing, wondering if she should jump in a desperate bid for freedom.
Cindy feigning placidity as her mind reels at the bleak, heart-rending despair understood best by the creature that realizes it is hopelessly trapped.
View from the hotel balcony.
I love banyan trees. They're sssooooo pretty! The three of us agreed that they would be tons of fun to climb and swing from... if we could manage to do it without getting chased off by the Waikiki gestapo. But lookit the pretty little birds at the foot of the tree!
A restaurant in the International Marketplace shrouded by trees and one of the ubiquitous ABC stores.
Apparently every evening at 6:30 or so the King's Royal Guard marches through the King's Village performing with a Polynesian-sounding chant and rifle routine. There were parts of the routine where they slammed the butts of the guns on the ground, and all I can say is... I really hope those boots of theirs are steel-toed, 'cause I'd imagine that not every performance goes as perfectly as this one did...
Taken inside a shopping center in... Waikiki? Dude, the interior design of these places is gorgeous. Indoor waterfalls! Magnificent!!
Can you spot two muffins hiding in this picture?
The dual towers of the hotel we were staying at on Oahu. Shiney, ain't they?
JELLEHFISHES at the aquarium in Waikiki.
There were decorated cut boulders out front of the aquarium which I thought were quite snazzy. I especially liked the swirl-pattern one here. And look! The trolley that shuttles people back and forth between Waikiki and Ala Moana! (Just between us, I like the ones in San Francisco better... waaaaaay cheaper!)
A cute ladies' room sign. Why am I so obsessed with these?
View from the balcony of our room on Maui. Yes, that's part of the hotel grounds.
Inside one of the hotel shopping areas.
This lil' guy's name was R2-D2 (wonder if he's acquainted with the abovementioned mailbox?). He and an assortment of other tropical birds were chillin' out in the courtyard area of the hotel during the day, and whenever we passed through there we could hear him chattering endlessly about borogroves and slithy toves in his blithe little avian way.
These adorable bugs were chillin' in their own private stomping grounds in the courtyard, too. Upon learning that the hotel hosted a family of gorram penguins we promptly freaked the eff out. Yeah, they were cute as hell.
This dapper young chap is Popeye. The little imp would turn toward you, and as soon as you lined your camera up for a shot would turn away. Oh what silly reindeer games!
Some shots of the courtyard and various random... stuff that was in it. Not much to say about it other than DAYUM the place was nice. Therefore I'll let you view them at your leisure with your own choice of montage music.
The hotel district's private beach strip. It's like a damn postcard.
Jae and I at the beach, pre-getting tossed around by the waves like a sack of grain in a miller's caravan to town on a fair valley morn.
A really neat bicycle we saw in a shop at the Lahaina Cannery mall. I'd type up a full description, but I think the store owners did a fine job of it themselves:
'Cause everyone loves pirates. I had to snap this one quickly 'cause the five behind the counter was kinda looking at me suspiciously (more on fives in Jae's journal).
Annnnd... well, that's the last of what I have. The last two days we were there Jae or I was either sick or blind. Uh, more on that in Jae's journal, too.
Island adventures in the land of the sunburned skin!
Jae and I shortly after landing in Honolulu on Oahu (image edited slightly due to excessive grease).
Taken on the bus ride to our hotel. Yeah, that'd be a "k" in the middle of that there word.
The hotel we were at was beautiful. The lounging area had a waterfall and various rock-and-flora structures/arrangements.
At certain times throughout the day there would be someone performing relaxing island tunes on the ukulele and vocals. This guy did a wonderful rendition of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Over The Rainbow/Wonderful World" medley.
Some more of the lounge area. You could order drinks and food there, but we mostly read and enjoyed the atmosphere if we went down there. When I took this picture we were waiting to meet up with Cindy for our big Oahu outing :3
Koi in a fountain at the Ala Moana mall. Pretty, but stinky. The koi fountain, not the mall. The mall was pretty too, though.
Jae enjoying her Haleakala Snow and The Supreme Patissier Cindy. We stopped by a Dave's Ice Cream first thing when we got to the mall, which was quite the delicious treat.
One of many arm-length shots taken throughout the trip; one of the few that came out decently. And it aaallllways seemed like just after we finally got a good shot, someone would come up and offer to take a picture for us. Oh, timing.
An R2-D2 mailbox. How cool is that?? (by the way, I found this gem while checking up the correct "spelling" for R2-D2)
The King's Village at Waikiki. It looked like a little slice of Disneyland out in the middle of the tropics.
A bike rack shaped like a bicycle. Madness!
Some shots of the galleria in... Waikiki? Taken from a balcony at some ridiculously expensive store, in which there were articles of clothing that were valued higher than certain exorbitantly-priced electronic home entertainment devices. I believe Jae's exact wording was "Holy crap, that skirt costs more than a PS3!" What was worse was that we found ourselves trapped in the store, and we were freaking out 'cause we were scared of touching such posh retail items with our dirty peasant hands.
Jae clutching to the balcony railing, wondering if she should jump in a desperate bid for freedom.
Cindy feigning placidity as her mind reels at the bleak, heart-rending despair understood best by the creature that realizes it is hopelessly trapped.
View from the hotel balcony.
I love banyan trees. They're sssooooo pretty! The three of us agreed that they would be tons of fun to climb and swing from... if we could manage to do it without getting chased off by the Waikiki gestapo. But lookit the pretty little birds at the foot of the tree!
A restaurant in the International Marketplace shrouded by trees and one of the ubiquitous ABC stores.
Apparently every evening at 6:30 or so the King's Royal Guard marches through the King's Village performing with a Polynesian-sounding chant and rifle routine. There were parts of the routine where they slammed the butts of the guns on the ground, and all I can say is... I really hope those boots of theirs are steel-toed, 'cause I'd imagine that not every performance goes as perfectly as this one did...
Taken inside a shopping center in... Waikiki? Dude, the interior design of these places is gorgeous. Indoor waterfalls! Magnificent!!
Can you spot two muffins hiding in this picture?
The dual towers of the hotel we were staying at on Oahu. Shiney, ain't they?
JELLEHFISHES at the aquarium in Waikiki.
There were decorated cut boulders out front of the aquarium which I thought were quite snazzy. I especially liked the swirl-pattern one here. And look! The trolley that shuttles people back and forth between Waikiki and Ala Moana! (Just between us, I like the ones in San Francisco better... waaaaaay cheaper!)
A cute ladies' room sign. Why am I so obsessed with these?
View from the balcony of our room on Maui. Yes, that's part of the hotel grounds.
Inside one of the hotel shopping areas.
This lil' guy's name was R2-D2 (wonder if he's acquainted with the abovementioned mailbox?). He and an assortment of other tropical birds were chillin' out in the courtyard area of the hotel during the day, and whenever we passed through there we could hear him chattering endlessly about borogroves and slithy toves in his blithe little avian way.
These adorable bugs were chillin' in their own private stomping grounds in the courtyard, too. Upon learning that the hotel hosted a family of gorram penguins we promptly freaked the eff out. Yeah, they were cute as hell.
This dapper young chap is Popeye. The little imp would turn toward you, and as soon as you lined your camera up for a shot would turn away. Oh what silly reindeer games!
Some shots of the courtyard and various random... stuff that was in it. Not much to say about it other than DAYUM the place was nice. Therefore I'll let you view them at your leisure with your own choice of montage music.
The hotel district's private beach strip. It's like a damn postcard.
Jae and I at the beach, pre-getting tossed around by the waves like a sack of grain in a miller's caravan to town on a fair valley morn.
A really neat bicycle we saw in a shop at the Lahaina Cannery mall. I'd type up a full description, but I think the store owners did a fine job of it themselves:
'Cause everyone loves pirates. I had to snap this one quickly 'cause the five behind the counter was kinda looking at me suspiciously (more on fives in Jae's journal).
Annnnd... well, that's the last of what I have. The last two days we were there Jae or I was either sick or blind. Uh, more on that in Jae's journal, too.