I love the nightlife, I like to boogie....

On Friday, we had no plans. There was an easy day ahead: pancakes and bacon for breakfast, a walk up to the falls, maybe some time in town to get a pedicure, hang out by the water, a grocery run.

Then Julie get's a text from her friend, Janno, to meet up at 4 at Kim's Bar to do some New Years Eve planning. Sounds awesome!

So first things first: let's go check out Akaka Falls. After all, it's only a few miles up the road and is a famous tourist spot. Plus it's supposed to be incredibly beautiful. So, once again, we pile into this small truck and head up the road. You can drive into the parking lot, but then it costs you $5 to park, so we parked outside the gate. It also costs $1 to hike the trail down to see it, unless you live here. So Candance gave them a dollar for me and we began the steps down to the falls.

The walk is paved and it is simply beautiful!! The vegetation is huge and you cross over several streams that are fed by the same water that creates the falls. If you walk around the loop counter clockwise, you go to Kahuna Falls first, then down to Akaka Falls. I recommend this way because otherwise you have to climb all of those stairs back!

On the way there, we stopped at what Julie calls the Avatar Tree. It is a huge banyon tree that you can walk down into if you are very careful. I got far enough down to get in a small crook and take some pictures. I need to move here so I can build a tree house in one of these trees. It would be soooo coool!

The falls were simply breath-taking and there were not many people there so it wasn't crowded.  We paused to take some pictures and to feel the energy. I was amazed at the amount of power this waterfall produced. I wanted to just soak it all up!

Candance thought that I would also enjoy another powerful place down the road where the river/creek meets the ocean. She took me down to KoleKole Beach park. This looks like a neat place to camp. There were a few people there, but mostly there were some surfers out in the ocean surfing the break into the river. Of course, they did not get that close because they would be seriously injured, but it was amazing to watch them in water that was so powerful. The tide was coming in and tonight was to be a full moon so the tides were at optimum power. We stayed for a few minutes to watch the surfers--long enough to see one make it back in, and then decided that we needed showers and such to head into town. We had plans to meet some friends at 4 and I wanted a pedicure before we went.

Now, as far as anything I know about Hawaii, I know from other people who have been here and things that I read or see on TV. Some places don't like tourists--or anyone who does not live here or is white. There is no doubt that with my blonde hair, light skin and southern accent, I am considered a "haole," a derogatory term coined for foreigners. As a side note, haole means "no breath" because a common polynesian greeting is touching foreheads and noses and you breathe the same breath. White people like to shake hands. The idea of coming that close to someone's face often makes us a little nervous. Haole's were also known as foreigners who came to Hawaii to exploit the resources and take over the government--as in no appreciation for beautiful and connections with nature--only greed.

Our plans were to meet up at 4 at Kim's bar, a locals bar on the airport side of Hilo. Now anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE to hug, so as we entered this bar and got a few looks from the locals, we were lucky to be greeted by friends, all of whom got up out of their seats to greet us with hugs and kisses. I love this island.

Anyway, Kim's is is the sort of local bar that looks like it was built sometime in 1975 and hasn't really changed. Nothing is on tap and I kind of set the waitress off her game when I asked what kind of beer they had. "Do you want me to read you a list?" I was lost--but then she told me they had a Newcastle and I went with it. Most were drinking Heinekens and I just couldn't handle that. It's tough to be a southern beer snob in a local bar in Hilo. But I tipped her for every $4 beer I drank and I think she was ok after that.

Kim's is also a Karaoke bar and to hear several local construction workers sing "Shake you Down" by Aaron Neville is a hoot! I was laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. Until it was my time to sing.

Unfortunately, I sing quite well with a radio (in my mind) but not so well solo. I did a very horrid version of Love Shack that I hammed up so that it was more funny than anything else and then luckily, Julie took the lead on Landslide and my back up vocals rounded it out. I had had too much beer, but I also had a very good time.

We ended our evening out at the iconic restaurant Ken's Pancake House--which is the one restaurant I seem to come back to in Hilo. It's your average diner/pancake house open all night. The food is pretty good--breakfast is the best and they are famous for their "Sumo" which, depending on what part of the menu you are reading, is a HUGE amount of food. From what I understand, if you can eat it all, it's free--but don't quote me on that. My advise is to drink a great deal at Kim's, sing your head off, then go eat at Ken's. It like being in college again.

Quote of the day comes from Julie as we are standing outside Kim's bar: "I did not come here to watch you die!"

To KONA!!

Thursday morning, we got up a little early and left for Kona, the other side of the island. This is where most of the tourists go because the weather is usually sunnier and there are more beaches for water play. J&C had an appointment at Kona Bay Books to hang some signage there that Julie designed and we needed to make a Costco run too. Plus, we planned to partake in some snorkeling.

Now, last week or so, J&C's engine light started blinking in their car on the way to Kona, and it being the holidays, it has been difficult to find someone to look at it and fix it. So, they borrowed a truck from their friend Melissa to drive around in while they get the car fixed. Now if you can imagine the three of us piled into this vehicle--well, it's a bit cramped. And to make this trip a little more adventurous, let's take Saddle Road.

Now I have heard stories about Saddle Road.Terrible stories. Stories filled with terror on late, dark nights where you can't see anything. Stories of car sickness from the hills and curves. Now, if you know me, you know I am usually up for any adventure, so I was not really worried about the trip at all.

As we are traveling up the road, there is plenty of room on either side of us and there are passing lanes too so the ride was pretty smooth. We come around and curve and there is a beautiful view of Mauna Kea in front of us. The ride reminding me of traveling on the island of Tinos in Greece. The radio was playing great music, we were singing along, taking in the view, looking out for goats. It was quite nice.

Then about halfway  through, the road suddenly became narrower....and curvier, and scarier because we were headed downhill in a truck where two out of three of us were buckled in and the brakes shook when you applied them. My head started to swim. I have been known to get car sick, but only when I sit in the back and can't see where we are going. I was dizzy in the front seat. We topped a hill and could see the ocean from the other side, and I was relieved thinking we had made it. Nope. Got another 30 miles into Kona. We had to stop on the side of the road to breathe--or for Candance's sake, smoke, and put our heads back on so that we could make it into Kona.

Down in Kona, we stopped over at Kona Bay Books, the largest used book store in the Hawaiian chain boasting 2 miles of used books, music and cd's to hang the new vinyl signage that Julie made. I browsed the stacks while the girls talked business and found their Huna/Hawaiian section--and bought $40 worth of books. We then went to Killer Tacos for some lunch and Melissa, our KBB associate, told us about a great beach to go to that would be great for snorkeling. It was more of a local beach, laid back and easy. We made our way into the chilly water, but the tide was coming in and it was a bit rough for snorkeling and swimming, so we waded out awhile and then hit the beach to sunbathe. All in all, it was a lovely afternoon.

Candance went with Melissa back up to the bookstore to help install the vinyl on the door and Julie and I headed over to Costco to do our shopping. Julie and I decided we'd take the other way back to Honomu, through Weimea, since it was just as long/short as Saddle Road, and there is a Dairy Queen on the way. Besides, the full moon was just amazing over the Pacific Ocean on the way home.

Boxing Day: Still a little slow....

Boxing Day here on the island is just as exciting as Christmas Day...except more stuff is open.

We started the day downtown at the farmers market. On the way in, we stopped to say hello to Janno, the owner of Sun and Sea, a diving shop downtown. If the locals are as nice as she is, this place is going to be awesome!

We next headed down a few blocks to the farmers market. There was a neat assortment of fruits and veggies to choose from but we didn't buy much. There is also a section of the farmers market that sells arts and crafts. Nothing screamed at me to take it home, so I didn't pick up any goodies. We did buy some chicken tamales at a stand--a steal at 5 or $10 that would be supper later tonight. The fresh coconut water was also wonderful and 3 chocolate croissants at the bakery stand would be breakfast in the morning.

It was about lunch time when we finished, so we headed over to Pineapples, a restaurant co-owned by Pam, a friend of Julie and Candance's. I had the fresh catch sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries and it was Devine! I also have to make a small comment that the mixed drinks were fabulous as well. Too fabulous--almost!

Afterwards, J&C took me on a little walking tour of Hilo, mainly because we needed to go by the post office. The justice building in Hilo stands out because it's...well...too formal for this town. I did notice that they had decorated a Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the park across the street. If it wasn't for those little things here and there, you wouldn't know it was Christmas time.

As we headed back, J&C took me up through the scenic route though the rain forest and a beautiful waterfall. I got some cool pictures of the waterfall and a the cliffs.

Back at the shack in Honomu (it's not really a shack, but it rhymes well) we took off our slippers (flip-flops to you back home) and slothed some more on the couch. Tomorrow we are headed to Kona to run some errands an take some time-out on the beach. So far, it's a low key kinda vacation, but I am loving it! I am looking forward to making some friends here.

I wanna go back to the islands....

It's good to be back on the big island. Last time, my stay was only 3 days and that is not nearly long enough. This time I will stay about 10 days. It helps when your best friends move 6000 miles so that you can have a free place to stay :-)


Getting here is a hassle, though. With flights from the east coast, I travel about 18 hours. I had a leg from RDU to JFK, then into Honolulu and lastly into Hilo. My Christmas Eve was 29 hours long! I know I have nothing on the big guy in the red suit, but I feel his pain!

Most of the time when I get together with my friends Julie and Candance for the holidays, we have a sloths-fest. Mostly we lay around all day watching Netflix, eating and napping. This holiday hasn't proved to be much different-- but I am NOT complaining! The only request that I had was that we spend some time on a beach Christmas Day, and my Christmas wish came true!

But first, I crashed for about 12 hours. Candance and Julie were convinced that I would be up about 4 am on Christmas Day, but the only thing that woke me up that morning was a call from my sister at 5:45am local time to wish me a Merry Christmas. I got up and drank some coffee for about an hour, then headed back to bed for another 2.

We finally headed out Christmas Day around 1030 to Richardson's Beach. It is a neat spot down in Hilo with black sand and lava rocks. We walked out about as far as you can on the sand and then braved the lava in our flip flops to get a view of the ocean on the other side. We found a pool with four sea turtles just hanging out in there enjoying the low tide. We sat down and watched them and the ocean move in and out. Candance decided that the water wasn't too cool and waded in up to her waist, but the current was a bit too strong, so no real swimming. The sun was out so we were able to get a little bit of sun for awhile.

Breakfast of papaya and sugar cake had worn off, so it was time for lunch. Not much was open on Christmas Day, but we did find a neat little restaurant we passed on the way in called Verna's. This is known as a local fast food joint with pick-up windows and one picnic table to eat at. We decided to get it to go and head over to picnic at Coconut Island instead. One of Verna's specialties is the teriyaki burger, so we all tried it and the famous macaroni salad. It was fantastic! And Coconut Island is also a neat little park with great views of Hilo Bay and downtown Hilo.

We headed back up the hill to Honomu to finish Christmas with some slothing and hulihuli chicken. I was able to stay awake until 10 while we rented movies on the Apple TV.

So, not too much excitement on the first day here, but the great thing about Hawaiian life is that no one really seems to be in a hurry to do much. Plus I think we all needed some down time. I know I did.

Hong Kong: a bit of the western world shines through

One of the interesting things about Hong Kong is that even though it is part of China, you don’t need a Chinese approved visa to get in. It’s almost as though it is still part of Great Britain. It even feels like it.

The ride into town

As we flew into Hong Kong, I was surprised about how much it reminded me of flying into Hawaii. It was tropical! The green mountains set back and the turquoise blue water gleaming in the sun made me wish that I had brought my swim suit. I guess the good news is that we really never had any time on the beach anyway.

We met our new tour guide, Benny, at the airport and boarded our new tour bus. He was to take us to our new hotel which was actually a hostel--the Y-Loft at Youth Square. It was pretty much like living in a dorm room with a private bath. BUT, it was clean and they had internet and washers and dryers! Plus, it was right across the street from a shopping center with a McDonalds and a grocery store. 

Benny gave us about 2 hours worth of free time when we got to our place. I needed some alone time, so I headed out to find the washers and some food. This may sound rather sad, but I actually ate at the McDonalds! But for the record, I was starving and was not up for exploring other food options. I then headed back to the hostel and exchanged a few Hong Kong dollars for some wash tokens so that I could finish drying what I had attempted to wash the night before. I found that there was free internet near the laundry and I was finally able to access Facebook!! Ah, finally a little democracy in China.

Benny met us down by the elevators and showed us that we were right around the corner from the train station. We hopped aboard and headed into Kowloon to eat dinner. Honestly, the restaurant was not very memorable--the food so far is not as good as it is in the other 3 cities I have visited. Hmmmm.

Benny thought we could use some more shopping, so he took us down to the Temple Street Night Market for some shopping. It was pretty much like the Bazaar in Shanghai--but on the street and set up in tents. If you need some cheap chinese souvenirs or a case for your iPhone, this is the place to be!!

At 8 pm every night, Hong Kong puts on a light show for you. You can meet down at Victoria Harbor called the Symphony of Lights. I must say, it is amazing!! But at 8:15, after a LONG day, we were exhausted and ready for bed. Benny walked us back down to the ferry landings and we hopped a ferry back across the channel to Hong Kong Island. 

On the way back, I finally got to know some of the other people in my tour group from Connecticut. They invited me to come hang out for awhile and I wish I had gotten to know them before then!

Connecticut Peeps!

Shanghai: It's still raining...

The wonderful day in Shanghai continued with a trip to the Bund, a financial district and architectural area to visit. Normally, tourists would spend some time walking up the streets but since it was raining, we sort of got dropped off for a few minutes to enjoy the view and take a few pictures. 

By the end of the trip to the Bund, I was ready to end the day. I was tired and wet and cranky. However, our day was not anywhere nearly over. We headed to the Yuyuan bazaar in Shanghai to do some shopping and to visit the Yu Gardens. These were supposed to be the gardens of peace and happiness and all I wanted was a dry place to rest. We walked though the gardens admiring the beauty..in the rain.  Personally, I was ready to shop.

We then walked over to the Yuyuan Bazaar. Finally, a place where you can buy cheap Chinese made objects and you get them cheaply because you bargain with the merchants. This was also a place (if you knew where to look) to buy cheap knock-offs of extremely expensive bags. Now, this is not my thing, but I ended up with a group that wanted to check it out, so we headed down a main street to an alley where there were flats where people lived. Then we went through a gate, around a corner and into an extremely small room filled with purses and wallets. No pictures were allowed, of course because who wants to end up in a Chinese prison? After about 10 minutes of browsing and bargaining, I was ready to leave. The people in my group were still trying to decide on a purchase, so I headed out with one of the young boys in my group. We went back out to the main gate to wait on the rest of our people. After standing there for maybe 5 minutes, a young man waved us to come over to the gate. We shook our heads no--we were not interested in going back in. Then he asked us to move. It seems that two incredibly white people standing outside a local apartment complex was suspicious and we would call attention to the police--who patrolled regularly. So we moved a block up to the bazaar to wait instead. When a few others emerged from the gated area and I knew that the young boy with me was safe with someone else, I took off for the shops. It was time to get some things to bring home.

Of course, our day did not end with shopping. The tour group had set us up to see an acrobat show. We were all so tired and punchy that it was hard to be entertained, but I must say it was pretty decent. 

Shaghai Part one: it's raining...a lot...

It's a lovely Tuesday evening, here in Shanghai where the weather is...well...wet.

Since we had to wake at an insane hour yesterday, we were lucky enough to sleep in today and did not leave our lovely hotel until 8:30am. We are staying at the Jian Gong Jin Jiang Hotel in Shanghai. It is situated right across the street from a lovely park. It is probably the best hotel we have stayed in so far--at least the bed is not quite as hard as the others! But I think I was so exhausted, that it didn't really matter.

First up on today's schedule was the silk factory. I wish I could tell you which one it was, but it was all a blur. There was a small museum attached to it (obviously set up for tourists) and a place to buy all the silk products you could possibly want. There was a beautiful comforter cover that I liked but I could not imagine how I was going to get it home. After shopping for about an hour in the store, I came away with a few beautiful prizes for some friends and a silk scarf for myself.

Next we visited the beautiful Jade Buddha temple in Shanghai. This place was amazing. It is situated right in the middle of the town (like I guess everything is) and is definitely a place where people come to pay homage to the Buddha and pray. I felt like I was invading someone’s space--because the place is small and we were in all the places the worshipers wanted to be. We were told that we could take several pictures of some of the Buddhas, but no pictures were allowed of the Jade Buddha. If we wanted, there would be postcards for purchase. Well, of course one of us had to test this. 

One of the teachers on our trip decided she would take a picture of the Buddha on the sly. As we were in the main viewing area, she held up her camera discreetly and snapped a shot. Later, when she went to view the picture on her camera, the camera froze. She tried turning it off and on and it still didn’t work. It was only after she deleted the picture and removed the data card that her camera would word. So, for future reference, don’t  “dis” the Buddha!!

Next up was the Nanjing District which was upscale shopping at it's finest. This is apparently where all the rich people come to shop. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain. The first thing we did was find a noodle place to eat some lunch. Our city tour guide, Leo, recommended the Aijsen Ramen Noodle restaurant...which is Japanese and a chain---but fantastic noodles! I had this big bowl of noodles with pork which was amazing! 

Diane and I decided to do a little exploring so we moseyed on down Nanjing Road to check out the shops. It was still raining so we did not go far (plus we did not have a lot of time.) We finally decided that maybe a coffee shop would be a great place to sit and watch the people. We couldn't find one, but we did find the Hagaan Das! We met some more from our tour group that had the same idea and we sat and had what I would call "happiness in a cup" which was vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over it. OH MY GODDESS it certainly hit the spot on this rainy day!

We finished up our coffee and ice cream just in time to get on the bus. Unfortunately, one of us got lost. The bus left for our next adventure but our wonderful tour guide stayed behind to find our missing students and would meet us at Yuyuan Gardens.