Hawaii, here I come!

[Stinkler26]

Uh, BritneyRocks? I don't think you're allowed to say the B-word, even if it is slightly altered...

Meh, I'll allow it.

You all tan, Thunderhorn?

[BritneyRocks]

i really did mean to say it that way... was going for humor, not like actually being mad about it and saying the real form of the word or mispelling on accident.

[Thunderhorn]

no tan, just not so sickly pale looking any more

we tried to avoid as much of the tourist junk as we could but being in a hotel right on Kalakaua (Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel) we were kinda stuck in it. we did do one really bad tourist thing... we saw an empty stretch of beach and thought the waves looked great (surfing in California you never have to worry about a reef) we got stuck in the middle of shallow water and sharp rocks and left with sliced up knees and feet... a lot like Tom Hanks in Cast Away

one really great place we found is called Side Street Inn located on an alleyway off Piikoi St across from the Ala Moana Center. it's a great place with lots of great food and drinks prepared by real gourmet chefs who left their fancy hotel restaurants to work somewhere they like. if you go and order a drink, ask for an "Audios MF" which the manager, who was our waitress that night (we went 4 times) tried to find a Hawaiian translation without luck so we came up with "Aloha Mainlander" although we never really settled on that name

we also drove around the island to the North Shore and found the famous blue shrimp truck along Kamehameha Hwy where we all tried a taste of Kava and bought some to take home.

...but we never got a chance to taste any poi

[BritneyRocks]

poi is overrated... its a very acquired taste. i dont care for it, and i like a lot of different foods.

and holy crapola! aston waikiki beach hotel! someones got money. thats one of the nicer hotels on the stretch. beachfront and everything.

and its not too touristy to go surfing, thats just natural. taking pictures of everything like the japanese toursits... now THATS touristy. and i kid you not, im sure you can confirm this as well thunderhorn.

hope the coral didnt cut you guys too bad. yer lucky tho, usually if you get cut by coral theres a good chance of infection, especially if any gets stuck in you. but if you havent gotten infected by now, then you should be good. :-)

and theres no translation for Audios MF... hawaiians didnt swear. but we can transliterate it, maybe. mother is makuahine. but as for the F, id have to ask my kumu (teacher) what he thinks it might be.

hawaiians were into gestures more than swearing. heh heh heh

when i turn 21, ill try and remember to go there and get one tho. ;-)

sounds like you had fun. ill have to ask around about side street inn. i know where youre talking about, i just dont spend any time down there.

[Thunderhorn]

i'm sure aston is $$$$ but we didn't pay for it- we won a sweepstakes!

[BritneyRocks]

niiiiiice. thats awesome! hell, i wouldnt mind winning a sweepstakes for a hotel stays here.

[Thunderhorn]

I also bought some flora to bring back to California. I just added my Hawaiian Bamboo Orchid (Arundina grammifolia) to my collection and will start the Macadamia and Kona seeds tomorrow. I can't wait to see them grow!

[BritneyRocks]

oh how cool... hopefully theyll do well with the weather. shouldnt be too bad for a while.

[Thunderhorn]

by the time they're growing and big enough to be outside it'll be warm again... but i'll prolly keep them in pots to take down to socal with me

i already have a few pinapple plants i grew from leftover tops but they only produce tiny tennis-ball sized fruit

i was delighted when i saw the same plant i have in a pot right here next to my computer growing wild as a great big tree on the island! it was mislabled as a rubber tree plant (as are most tropical plants sold here) when i purchased it, but someone told me it's actually a different tree found in Hawaii not the tree found in South America

...also all the hibiscus bushes growing as hedges all over the place! here they are seldomly seen and only as stunted little shrubs... like the tiny one across the street from our house

i'd love to study botany and horticulture there!

[BritneyRocks]

yeah my mom has a small hibiscus bush at home in cali. and its crazy how much more vibrant the colors are here. the yellows are crazy bright, the reds too, and we have some white ones around campus. i dont see those too often out and about. waikiki mainly has yellow and red.

my mom has also tried to plant pineapple tops, but with no success yet. did you get a chance to drive throught the dole plantation area along H2 on yer way up to the north shore? pineapple plants EVERYWHERE!