Downtown Waikiki never sleeps as the late night revellers sing their way back to their accommodations and happy people laugh uproariously outside on the streets all through the night. It is a fun place to be on vacation and to share times with your friends. I on the other hand was trying to sleep and get my body into this time zone. I found that my body wanted to start the day at something like 4 am. That is the usual impact of a 5 hour move in time zones. So I read....
Early morning brought some warm sun and brightness into the life of Waikiki. We ventured out onto the streets and walked about until we settled into a balcony at the Weston Hotel overlooking the beach. There offered a huge menu of breakfast items or the buffet which included several salmon dishes, eggs, sausages, bacon, omelettes, French toast, waffles, eggs Benedict etc. Whatever else could be on the menu? We settled on one menu item for Freddi and the vastness of the buffet for me. We enjoyed the breakfast and wandered along the streets for a while. Once the shops opened we walked into the Lik Gallery where I chatted with Rick the sales guy inside. He explained Lik’s technique of making such beautiful prints in large scale and intense colour. His photographs were very impressive and real as we stared into a shot of NY Central Park that felt as if you were there. His web site is pretty impressive and can be accessed at http://www.peterlik.com and some of his photographs are on display there. Nice chat and good experience.
We sauntered along with our Chai Tea from Starbucks and ended up back at the hotel around 10:30. We finished our packing, checked out and headed to the airport. A young lady, Irene, asked if we wanted to share a cab to the airport. We agreed and had a great conversation as she was in Hawaii on business as a Org Dev person working with a crisis in her client site. It was fun talking to her and found out that she is newly married and she and her husband have a hobby photograph business and they publish kids books with their photographs. She is a very charming lady and the whole time was a very good experience with lots of good dialogue.
Once at the airport we found our way to the gate after going through the routine checks and sub-checks. Generally people were in good moods and happy. I guess being on vacation does that. We sat in the open air atrium for a while and boarded when called. The brief flight was without incident and we enjoyed the passion fruit drinks they handed out. Once on land again we found our bags and made our way to the Avis counter and a brand new Impala. Once loaded up we set out for Costco to pick up some necessities and were amazed at how busy the store was. Forgetting that it is Saturday morning/afternoon in a U.S. town and that Costco could well be the centre of the universe for many of these folks, we foolishly expected to be able to navigate the store, select our items, pay and be on our way. No such luck! We abandoned the idea after a short while as there were just too many people and some of the things on our list were not for a family of four. We ventured to Walmart in search of beach chairs (we have purchased them there before) and were stumped their too. So we decided to drive to the Condo check-in spot where we did the check-in without incident but received a bunch of discount coupons/tags or offers. One was for Foodland which we were familiar with so off we went. We found everything there in one place and 20% discount to boot. Groceries, beach chairs, beer, wine .... whatever else does one need? So much for the big box stores.
Once we arrived at our condo at Kamaole Sands in Kehei, we unpacked the car and settled into a unit that is on the outside of the perimeter. Our balcony looks over the next property and our entrance is easily accessible from the parking lot. All was good and once again familiar as we have been here three time before. We spent a couple of hours unpacking, setting up the kitchen, reading, and basically cooling our heals. Then it was time for the late afternoon sunset watch movement to the beach. We walked across the road and selected a spot to sit and watch the sun dip into the ocean. It is always a tranquil time as we sip our cocktails and click our pictures. There is always a collection of families there to do the same thing and yesterday was no exception. We enjoyed trying to take nice photographs and we enjoyed a peaceful time of day. On the trek back to our condo we found a 60 year old man covered in tattoos playing with his electric racing car. It was a remote control vehicle that zoomed around the large park area. In chatting with him I found out that his hobby started in San Francisco with remote control boats and when he retired he sold them and bought this car. It was about 18 inches long and 10 inches across with great suspension and he has had it up to 60 mph on the highway beside his car. He had a young lad running after the car in the park and he drove it around him, up to him, backed it away just as he closed in and set him off on a new chase. It was fun to watch and the young lad was so happy as was his mother as he was entertained for a period. It was another fun encounter with people of the world. It is funny as it would have been so easy to walk on by and not learn about this man.
We decided to go to a rib joint for dinner. We were not let down as the one we selected was indeed a joint with a very nice hostess/waitress. We selected our food, ordered a drink but decided to make our order take out as the place had no redeeming qualities and it would be nice to enjoy our meal with a movie/news/or sports broadcast on TV. It was a nice quiet evening at home and early to be try to regulate our bodies. Tomorrow would be a new day and we would find some time to feel the sun and the beach and to relax like we have never done before.
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