More of Hawaii

Ok, here is the second installment.

I forgot to include that on Monday evening, we went for a drive.  The weather was pretty windy but we wanted to go see Hanauma Bay.  We figured it was bad weather to snorkel but we wanted to look.  It was really beautiful.  Next time I’m back hanging out in Hawaii, I’ll go snorkeling there.

(try not to be too jealous of my extreme supermodel talents)

Tuesday (3/2/2010)

This was the day we planned to hit the north side of the island.  So we took a meandering way up there.

First priority was to see Leonard’s bakery (on the east end of Waikiki).  I had read several places that said you have to go to Leonard’s, so we did.  I also read that you had to have a malasada, so we did.  Malasadas are a Portuguese doughnut, kinda.  Really soft.  Pretty darn good.

(stock picture, not ours.  We didn’t eat THAT many)

Anyway, Leonard’s was a small bakery that looked like it hadn’t been updated since it was built in 1950 something.  I thought it was a hole in the wall kinda place that only the locals knew about.  I was wrong.  We placed our order and while we waited for our hot malasadas, a man came in and said a tour bus was coming so we would want to get our orders.  Sure enough, a few minutes later, a tour bus came in with about 40-50 of our closest Japanese friends.  We decided to take our fine breakfast treat and leave. (oh, hey, they have a website http://leonardshawaii.com/)

Then we made our way up the coast of Oahu.

Here I am with Chinaman’s Hat or Mokoli’i Island.  That’s all I have to say about that.

We stopped at the park/beach to look around.  Kind of a windy morning (check out the trees).  It got much better once we made our way up the island.

We drove up north (on the Kamehameha Highway) to  Waimea Bay where there were good northshore waves.  All the beaches on the northshore are pretty crazy in the winter.  Big waves, strong undertow.  We saw some locals do a little surfing then moved on.  Stopped in the surf town of Haleiwa and walked around a bit. We stopped at a roadside stand that sold fresh cut pineapple, mango, guava, and coconut.  But the best part were fried bananas (they were a banana wrapped in a thin egg roll wrapper and deep fried right there and they were soooooo good).

Then headed back toward Laie.  It was lunch time, so we needed some lunch but weren’t sure where to go.  Our goal was to eat at places that were not available on the mainland.  We found a small cafe that was rated well on Google maps (thanks google).  The Hukilau Cafe.  It was small (4-5 tables) but there were locals eating there, so that is always a good sign.  The server was awesome, talked to us like we were friends.  We noticed a sign on the wall with a plaque that said that Hukilau Cafe was chosen as the place to get the best burger in Hawaii.  So Cam ordered the “Moco Loco” which was the dish they won the award for.

Moco loco was 2 scoops of rice, two hamburger patties and 2 fried eggs, all bathed in brown gravy.  And of course, served with macaroni salad (every lunch is served with rice and macaroni salad in Hawaii).

 

Then we went to see the Laie Hawaii LDS Temple.

Unfortunately it is undergoing renovations right now, so we couldn’t go in, but it was awesome to see anyhow.

As we came on to the temple grounds a Polynesian sister missionary came up to us to welcome us and asked where we were we were from.   Then as soon as we said Boise, ID, she turned around and yelled across the grounds to where her companion was standing “Sister Cutler, your Idaho cousins are here (in Hawaii, everyone is a cousin).  So Sister Cutler came over and we chatted for a few minutes.  Cam says “Are you related to Trent Cutler?” and she says “that’s my brother”.  It is a small world.

From there we headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  A huge place with little village that are devoted to each of the major Polynesian islands.  At each of the villages you can learn about the culture, try out some of the local crafts, etc.  It was a cool experience.  We saw a Samoan guy hop up a coconut tree to get a coconut.  Then saw how coconut milk is made and strained using the husk of the coconut.  Tried our hand at Poi balls in New Zealand and did some chanting in the Fijian village.

(in the Fiji village)

We also went to a huge Luau there and had lots of traditional food.  Taro poi ( poi is mashed up starch that is kinda runny-think elmers glue), poke (raw fish marinated), lomilomi salmon (salmon broken into small pieces, which are then mixed with tomatoes, onions), pipi kaula (seasoned beef jerky, similar to salt beef), taro rolls ( they were purple), kalua pua’a (roast pork—the pig cooked on a spit in a pit in the ground covered with banana leaves), teriyaki chicken, chicken long rice (tasted like chicken noodle soup), Dark purple Hawaiian sweet potatoes. Cam tried everything.  I couldn’t bring myself to try the raw fish.  I tried everything else.

(the luau)

At the luau there was good entertainment.

Then we saw the show that they put on in the evening.  It was really awesome.  Cam videoed a bunch of it to show the kids.  A favorite is the fire stick dancers.  Amazing.

Probably the coolest thing about the PCC is that A LOT of college kids work there.  The are paid and get scholarship to attend the university.  One of the older gentlemen in the Fiji village told us how the PCC not only educates the  rest of the world about their culture but the kids too.  He said many of the kids that come to work there are from the city and don’t know the songs, and traditions of there family/people.  Therefore, while they work there, they are able to learn those things so that the island culture is not lost on the next generation.

 

 

(Banana trees were everywhere on the 2 islands but do you know how much bananas cost in the store in Hawaii—1.59/lb!!)

Wednesday (3/3/2010)

We had our flight to Kauai on wed so we only had a few hours before we had to be at the airport.  We headed to the Swapmeet.  We were told that this is the place to go for souvenirs.  It is at the Aloha stadium parking lot and circles the whole stadium.  It was huge.  We walked around about 1/3 of it then had to leave.  We did find a few things there though.

Next installment:  Kauai-The garden isle

A little bit of vitamin D…

(Blogger’s note:  because this is taking me forever to post, I’ll just have to do a little bit  at a time.  It maybe posted in several different posts.)

Since we have been back from vacation, everyone wants to see pictures.  We’ll sorry folks, I had to come back to reality from my vacation which means, schedules, kids, diapers, house, church, work, cleaning, etc.  So I am going to do my best to get them posted today so you all can see about Hawaii. ( I am going to write a lot, because I need the jot down the details so that I’ll remember too.)

First of all, Saturday (2/27/2010), we spent a little bit of extra time in San Francisco, because of the Tsunami that was headed for Hawaii.  After putting extra fuel on the plane (so we could fly all the way to Hawaii and back, if needed) we got to go.  While in the air, we were told that the Tsunami was a non-event.  The waves ended up being about 4 feet higher than normal, which was not a problem.  So the vacation was still a go!!

We landed, retrieved our bags and went to the car rental place to pick up our reserved car and… they were closed.  No sign, no call to let us know. They just weren’t there.  Everyone else was open, so we ended up getting a car from a different company, and wasting a little more time.

So FINALLY, we got to the hotel and all was well there.  We were exhausted so we grabbed some quick dinner and hit the hay.

Here is the picture I took of our first day there—view from our room, right before Zzzzzzzzz.

It’s a canal that ran right behind our hotel and a popular running/walking path.

The next day was Sunday (2/28/2010).  We attended church at the Honolulu tabernacle, that was built right before WWII.  Cam’s dad told us that the building was built before the war and many thought it was way too big for the time.  Most of the members of the church that were in Hawaii, lived on the north side, Laie, rather than in Honolulu.  But after the war started, it was the main building that the soldiers attended since it was close to their bases.  Cam’s grandfather attended there during the war.

Here is just a tidbit I found out about it.

The tabernacle was dedicated Sunday, Aug. 17, 1941, less than four months before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. In his dedicatory prayer, President David O. McKay, then-second counselor in the First Presidency, blessed the edifice that no missile would strike it in any war.

It was noted that during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack: "There was extensive bombing all around the area, and there's a large light on the tabernacle. At that time it was the second tallest steeple in Honolulu, yet the building was never targeted or damaged in any way."

Pretty cool.

It is a beautiful building with a large reflecting pool in the front. 

We then spent the rest of the day at Pearl Harbor.

We got to see the Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri and the USS Bowfin Submarine.  We spent 6 hours there looking at everything.  I’m sure Cam could have spent even more time.

The USS Bowfin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bowfin)

There was also a really neat memorial just outside of the sub (you can see some random guy looking at a plaque in the pic above).  It has a plaque for the 52 subs that were lost in WWII, a list of the men on board and how they were lost.  (many say lost at sea)

 

 

 

 

 

It was windy, that’s why I look funny

 

I thought this was funny.  It is the instructions for the old school CPR.  Put the person face down, push on their back, pull up their arms and lift by armpits or something.

Proof that we were there together.

 

Cam took pics of all the pieces.  He loved it.

 

The memorial of the USS Arizona

In the inside, is a HUGE shrine to of all those that died (1,102), when the ship sunk.  I did learn that there were a few survivors too (only 75). 

"To the Memory of the Gallant Men Here Entombed and their shipmates who gave their lives in action on December 7, 1941, on the U.S.S. Arizona"

Service members who were assigned to the Arizona at any time during its service history are permitted to have their ashes scattered in the waters above the memorial. Service members who were actually aboard the Arizona on December 7, 1941, and survived the attack, are permitted to have their ashes entombed within the remains of the ship itself (from wikipedia) 

On our tour, they told us how they had a dive team that would place the ashes of the service members who survived the attack entombed with in the Arizona.  It is considered a military cemetery.  There is still a lot of oil on board and there is a small leak that you can see on the surface.  Considered the tears of the Arizona.  The survivors say it will continue until the last survivor is buried there.

There was also the ashes of a baby girl on board that was supposed to be sprinkled in to the harbor that day.  So she has been buried along with the other servicemen inside the ship.

It is really an amazing place.  Truly a feeling of respect and humility.

The USS Missouri

Now I know why it is nicknamed the “Mighty Mo’”  It’s really huge, and they don’t even let you see a few of the decks that are below water.  Really an awesome boat.  Cam was in military nerd heaven :)

The plaque that shows the spot of formal surrender of the Japanese to end WWII.

We took this picture to show the kids.  The three high bunk beds.  There was a large room filled with these beds.  You got a small locker and the storage space under your mattress to keep your stuff (see on the right side the bunk propped up)

I have always felt a lot of respect for the military, but this was really an amazing day to see so much history.

Monday (3/1/2010) we headed out first thing to hike Diamond Head.

It’s a hike up a crater build by volcanic activity.  Not too crazy of a hike, 3/4 mile up a trail, then up 50 steep steps then another 99 steps to get to the top.  I was glad that I had been doing some cardio conditioning before I hit those stairs.

The 99 stairs (and some random person coming out of the tunnel)

View from the top, looking out across where we hiked to get there.  Also show the rim of the volcano.

Us, at the top.  Pretty cool, huh!

We then spent the rest of the day touring Honolulu and nearby areas on scooters!!! It was fun.  Once I figured out how to turn it without almost dying, it was really neat.

And this is how we found out where we were going most of the time we were in Hawaii.  Google maps saved us!

We rode the scooters up in the hills to see the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl National Cemetery)   

Its a really amazing cemetery, the feeling of it reminded me of Arlington Cemetery.

Each of the above pillar/walls have names engraved on all 4 sides.

All the grass is filled with headstones.

 

Looking out from the top where the large monument is.

It says “The Solemn Pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom”, a quote from a letter President Lincoln wrote to a mother who was thought to have lost her 5 sons in the civil war.

 

There were many of these mosaics that pay tribute to the battles fought throughout the pacific.

Again, a very humbling place to be.

We also visited the Bishop’s museum/Hawaiʻi State Museum of Natural and Cultural History  (mostly b/c it was free with the passes we had).  It was a neat museum, but at this point, we were kinda tired of sight seeing so we didn’t stay too long.

Then hopped back on the scooters and cruised through downtown Honolulu.  We nearly got brushed off by several city buses, but survived.  I had a good time, Cam couldn’t stop smiling—not that it was a motorcycle, but the closest that he would come to one while we were on vacation.  Also, he was really impressed that I drove my own scooter, heck, I was impressed!