Hawaii, Day 3

Day 3 dawned with the forecasted cloudy skies. We were beginning to think that we were destined for the first no-beach/no sun Hawaii vacation. So we decided that a trip to the Dole Plantation (yes, that Dole) was in order. Honolulu has a great bus system called "TheBus" and for $2, you can go virtually anywhere on the island. We hopped on for an hour's ride to where pineapple is king. We rode the Pineapple Express, which is a tour of the plantation and walked around the garden before feasting on delicious food, accompanied on K's part by a pineapple float. It was deliciously sweet and the bonus was a take-home cup which actually turned out to be a take-home bank!

Having gone at least part of the way around the island, we decided to make the best of the rainy day and ride the rest of the way around the island - something that would take up a majority of the rest of the afternoon. At times, the bus got extremely crowded with locals - but it was nice to see the real Oahu (not the sanitized tourist version). Plus we got to see some amazing waves on the beaches during the drive.

And hey, we got to tour the island for $2. No kidding.

Hawaii, Day 1 and 2.

Hawaii Day 1 technically consisted of flying all day, for both me and my companion, KS. She from Newark, me from Houston. Both non-stop flights which sounded good when we booked them, but not so great in practice. We arrived to lovely humid weather, for me it was similar to what I had left, for K, it was a huge difference as it was definitely winter in NY.

We took a bus to our hotel which took a very long time, but we were still pretty happy to be there. Our hotel was everything we expected for what we paid, but it did make us incredibly happy. Some lovely old lady gifted us with Hawaiian leis on our way to our room, causing us to giggle ridiculously at a facebook status update of "getting le'd by a little old lady in an elevator".

We ate dinner and pretty much tried to stay up as late as we could but despite our very long flights we were pretty tired. The next morning, it was a battle not to get up at the crack of dawn since our bodies were four and five hours ahead of local time.

We started the day off with a hearty breakfast and stopped by the International Marketplace on the way back to the hotel. When I was younger and in Florida, my mom and I did this "Pick a Pearl" thing and I had fond memories as well as a fun keepsake. Not knowing that it all started in Hawaii, I wanted to do it here as well. K and I spent too much time, and maybe a little too much money, but we had a blast and we have absolutely stunning keepsakes from our trip to Hawaii. If you're going to do it, and I highly suggest you should, go with Pearl Factory, instead of any of the others. They're the original.

We spent our afternoon walking our feet off as we hiked in inner Honolulu to Manoa Falls. The hike wasn't too hard, except for short-legs here because some of the steps up were pretty damn high. My thighs definitely got a workout but it was well worth it. Stunning views, a bit of the rainforest and a lovely waterfall view at the end.







After a dinner of sushi, we watched the sunset on Waikiki beach and crashed a little early. Our adventure had begun!









More to come...

Cooking w/ Friends

About two weeks ago, in one of my rare times in Houston, I cooked with two of my friends. One of whom is my neighbor. PS was already coming over and RM suggested cooking dinner - so we all took a field trip to the awesomest grocery store known to man, aka Central Market for supplies.

The menu item? Homemade butternut squash ravioli. It was a success despite making ENORMOUS ravioli and having too much appetizer (mozzarella cheese and prosciutto all rolled into one tasty treat). But pictures speak louder than words:

















Hungry yet?

Happy List, Week 16

1. Seeing old friends at a company I've worked with for years, and better yet, surprising them.

2. Being able to walk into a show on opening night and not screw anything up.

3. Puffs Plus with Lotion. It's allergy time again... maybe it's time to see an allergist. nevertheless, without PPwL, I would be MORE miserable.

4. Halls Defense w/ Vitamin C. Helps keep the PND cough at bay, and to rest my voice to get it back.

5. St. Louis Blues hockey. We went to a game versus the Sharks - and it was AWESOME! I screamed my head off and paid for it with little to no voice all weekend. We won 3-1, though. Great game!

6. My parents for taking care of me when my allergies got the best of me.

7. My pups for being extra cuddly just when I need them to be.

8. Girl Scout cookies. Because they're just the best. And brings back childhood memories.

9. My UV filter for protecting my lens when it accidentally fell from my hands onto a carpeted floor. It shattered instead of the lens and for that, I am grateful.

10. My dad for letting my borrow his car this weekend for what was supposed to be vacation but turned into work weekend. It made a lot of things a whole lot easier in the long run. Thanks, Dad!

Pictures to come soon, I promise. Tomorrow begins the pre-trip pictures.

Happy List, Week 15

Semi-delayed by lack of computer access on Monday.

1. ABC stores having the necessities and gifts all-in-one. They're absolutely everywhere in Waikiki and Honolulu - and we're thankful for that.

2. Sun, finally. Because we truly though we'd go without during our week in Hawaii.

3. Frisbee - it truly is one of the best beach toys. Especially when used in the ocean. Lots of fun. Diving for the frisbee is way more fun in the water, until it goes up your nose.

4. Rum plus pineapple juice plus grapefruit juice plus orange juice = Royal Grove cocktail. So named after our lodgings. As far as we can tell, we invented it. It's sweet but not too sweet. And damn good.

5. Hawaii's native language: aloha was the only word I knew prior to arrival. My new favorite word: Mahalo. It means thank you and it just rolls off the tongue every so nicely.

6. theBus. You can go pretty much anywhere for $2. No kidding. Plus, you get a free transfer. We actually spent a rainy afternoon circling the entire island for Oahu. For $2. It may have been a little crowded at times, but it was worth it. The buses are nicely equipped, handicap accessible, bike-friendly and have mostly knowledgeable drivers who are used to idiot tourists. Used by locals and tourists alike.

7. Dole Pineapple. In addition to being just damn good fruit, their plantation is way cool.

8. Royal Grove. They don't charge much, they're a little Hawaii kitsch-y, not especially luxurious but it's a nice place to sleep. And recuperate. Added bonus: a fan that sounded like bedsprings and amused us with its precariousness.

9. Hawaiian leis. Because they are beautiful, everpresent, and a random gifting from a lovely hotel resident caused us to be able to say "We got lei'd by a little old woman in an elevator" much to our and many others amuseument.

10. Techrestore.com - for giving my computer a new lease on life: a bigger brain. And doing it super-fast!

That's the list for this week - new posts to come once I've waded through my 1000+ pictures from Hawaii!

Mahalo for reading! :)

Happy List, Week 14

1. Techrestore.com. For a smallish amount of money, I can increase my internal hard drive space by six times. This is fabulous and a very early birthday gift to myself. Last year, a camera. This year, space for all those pictures.

2. For the same cost as a tank of gas, I can double the memory on my computer. I love technology.

3. Time Machine. It's a brilliant invention, thank you, Apple.

4. Apple for replacing my faulty battery for free.

5. My iPhone. It's an excellent substitute for my laptop that is away for upgrade.

There are more things that I am happy about but too lazy to type out on my iPhone, from which I'm posting.

Spring Here/Winter Everywhere Else

It never fails to amuse me that Houston has no seasons. It also never fails to irritate me either.

Yesterday was a very gorgeous day: sunny skies, a healthy breeze and cool, non-humid temperatures. So I decided to take advantage of that and visit the Mercer Arboretum. I hadn't been there in ages and, as I later realized, not with my DSLR. TIme to see what this puppy could do. It does make me want a macro lens, but since I've already bought myself a very early birthday gift, it'll have to wait until next year.

So here's just a smattering of pictures to let you know that it is Spring in Houston...











Happy Spring to all!