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Hawai’i: Day eight

Finally, I’ve gotten around to writing about our last day in Hawai’i.  We were bummed to leave, but also kinda ready (the humidity makes you feel sticky all the time.  The copious amounts of sunscreen didn’t help either).

Our last day there was the day of my presentation at the conference!  I was a bit nervous, but mostly excited about meeting people, presenting my ideas, fielding questions, and hearing the other presentations in my session.  My presentation went really well; there were several questions afterward, and one of the women (who was also presenting) had also played World of Warcraft, so we had loads to talk about afterward.  Her presentation was on gender roles in TV and movies, particularly the way they are portrayed in ancient dramas (Rome, 300, Game of Thrones, etc.).  It was really interesting.  She lives in Sweden, and invited me to come speak at her university so we’re staying in touch.

SO GOOD

SO GOOD

Afterward I felt free as a bird and really excited to get some pork laulau, which I’d been craving all week.  We went to Ono Hawai’ian Foods on Kapahulu near Waikiki on uncle Bobby’s recommendation, and it turned out to be the same place I went with my cousin Leah the last time I was in town for the same conference.  Boyfriend tried poi for the first time and actually liked it (shock).  I was still riding high on being finished with my presentation (even though it was the last day of our trip), so we drove to Dave’s Ice Cream for another helping of azuki bean ice cream.  They had a dark/bright purple ice cream that was imo flavored (Japanese [Okinawan] purple sweet potato) which was bonkers.

how does this sign help? all it does is freak people out.

found this sign at the Pali Lookout. how does this help? all it does is freak people out.

We headed back to Lanikai side to have one last ocean experience before we left the next day.  On our way, I realized that we’d been driving past the Pali Lookout but hadn’t yet gone up.  So we took a quick detour to enjoy the view and almost got blown right off the mountain.  There were loads of tourists from all over, but my favorite was a German woman feeding wild chickens that had come out of the forest right next to the parking lot while her husband smiled and told her to get in the car.

We brought Boyfriend’s nice camera to the beach, and I brought my ukulele.  He took a few photos, and we swam around a bit enjoying the water and watching people kayak around.  When we went back in, a guy had a bucket with a couple fish, and encouraged us to take a photo of them in rapid pidgin.  He said one of them was a barracuda, cool!

it stared at us with its dead, beady eye

it stared at us with its dead, beady eye

We were sad to leave Bob and Nancy (and Bella, *sniffle*), but it was so nice to spend so much time with them that it was hard to be too broken up.  Boyfriend and I woke up at 330am to drive across the island and arrive at the airport by 5 so I could be on a plane by 620am.  On the drive back, boyfriend apparently stopped and took a bunch of photos of the sunrise over the ocean near Lanikai.  I’m jealous I couldn’t see it with him, the photos are incredible.  I ended up taking a later flight anyway, and got a $400 voucher in exchange, woot!  Continental owes me that for that time they botched my trip to the east coast to visit Boyfriend a few years back (I’m still a little broken up about that, lol).

I’m so glad Boyfriend and I had this trip together.  After more than five years we’re still excited to see each other and spend time together.  I’m looking forward to spending that voucher on another fun trip with him 🙂

playing some Jamaica Farewell to the mokes on my ukulele

playing some Jamaica Farewell to the mokes on my ukulele

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family, goodness, manfolk

Hawai’i: Day three

this guy was hanging out on the cottage stairs this morning

this guy was hanging out on the cottage stairs this morning

Today we woke up around 8 and made eggs and toast with some honey from the big island that Nancy was nice enough to give us, and took it over to the house to eat with her and Bobby.  Nancy made an amazing mango, papaya, banana fruit salad, which is saying something considering the fact that I hate fruit salad.  We decided to go on a hike today, and almost went on one recommended by Sister, but were diverted by Nancy’s recommendation to do the Pillbox hike right up the hill.  We walked all the way to the turnoff of the main road before we decided we needed water and sunscreen, so Boyfriend went back to the cottage while I went on to Kalapawai Market, and we met back at the base of the trail head.

It was a pretty good hike for us since we’re not very athletic recently, but it was definitely worth it: the view was incredible.

view from below the first pillbox, which was a gunnery station during WWII

view from just below the first pillbox, which was a gunnery station during WWII

wtf is this?

wtf is this?

On our way back home we walked by a tree with some fruit I’d never seen before.  Boyfriend suggested that it might be a guava tree.  I forgot to ask Bobby and Nancy what it was.

Back at the cottage, we changed into our suits and rinsed off at the outside shower to get all the sweat and dust off.  We were starving and wanted to try the “beach burgers” from the Kalapawai market, which Nancy apparently loves so she came with us and bought lunch for us.  We sat and chatted about Cambodian art history and American politics before heading back home with a burger to go for Bobby.

hit the spot

hit the spot

We were going to visit Tutu (grandmother in Hawai’ian), who I haven’t seen since we had a family reunion here over a decade ago.  She’s aged a great deal since then, and Dad thinks she won’t remember me.  Bobby got caught up with work stuff (he’s in real-estate), so we decided to go see her tomorrow morning instead.

With our afternoon freed up, I looked through the other lectures being offered at the social sciences conference I’ll be speaking at, then decided to help Nancy with whatever we could.  She was doing taxes while Bobby took a nap, and asked us to take Bella for a walk.  Nancy recommended that I do what she does: keep Bella on my left side and give her a little yank if she pulls on the leash.  Bella did very well most of the time, and when she pulled too much and ignored my little yanks, I had us stop, told her to sit (which she did immediately, good dog), and just ignored her for a few seconds before rewarding her with affection, and then letting her know we could walk again.  We took her down a couple of paths the beach, but it was crowded and the tide was all the way in, and Bella got overexcited and was a bit intimidated by the water, so we went back to the house the long way to give her a chance to explore and get some exercise.

so good blehhhh

so good blehhhh

Boyfriend and I helped make some salad to go with the AMAZING lamb shanks she made yesterday in a giant red Le Cruset pot in the oven.  We had them with potatoes, it was like a medieval meal, and the meat fell right off the bone.  It might be the best lamb I’ve ever had, so tender and delicious, mmmmm.

Last night after dinner we watched the first episode of Sherlock, and tonight Nancy suggested that we watch a second one.  Boyfriend and I of course said yes, but couldn’t make it through it.  We were totally wiped out from the hike and still had to shower before bed.

Tomorrow we’re taking a day-trip to Haleiwa with Bobby and Nanners, where Bobby says there are shops and shave ice to be had.  We were gonna do that today, but Bobby had to work.  It seems like whenever we make plans, they get put off due to a combination of Bobby’s work and our flexibility, which actually works out great.  I don’t want him to feel pressured to take care of us, and we don’t really care what we do with our time, as long as we’re experiencing island life and getting lots of family time.

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Hawai’i: Day two

Nancy is the best, super smart and fun

Nancy is the best, super smart and fun

We woke up today around 8am to the sound of a dog racing around upstairs.  Once the confusion faded, I padded upstairs to find Bella waiting for me; she barked just before I came into view, and gave me an excellent good-morning freak out.  Turns out Bobby had intentionally let her into the cottage, knowing she wouldn’t go downstairs (where the bedrooms are), and figured that would be a good way to wake us up.  Bobby is nothing if not a trouble-maker, so this surprised no one (although he did receive a gentle reprimand from Nancy, bless her heart).

Boyfriend and I went with him and Bella on a walk down to the beach.  His emphysema is slightly better, but he had to stop at the top of the driveway on our way out to catch his breath before we went on, and he kept our pace a bit slow.  It’s so nice to see him and Nancy.  I’m looking forward to seeing loads of them throughout the trip.

Once we got back from the walk, Nancy said, “We have to hurry if we want to get to the farmer’s market!”  We headed out and meandered around the stalls set up in the Lanikai Elementary School parking lot.  The very first stall we encountered had a couple dozen types of salt, which made Boyfriends eyes bug out of his head because I just got him a book called Salted so he’s kind of obsessed with salt right now.  We ended up getting two kinds: Boyfriend wants to use the red one for steak when we get back, and the spicy black one for seafood (I’m thinking salmon).  I got a Belgian waffle with pumpkin spice paste and whipped cream and cinnamon, so fucking good.  Boyfriend got a large breakfast burrito, along with Bobby and Nancy, and we all sat down next to the spot where the musicians had set up (bunch a’ hippies).

salts from Salty Wahine

salts from Salty Wahine

We headed home, and Nancy recommended Waimanalo for a beachy place to relax, and a little restaurant just down the road from the beach, called Home Sweet Waimanalo, for lunch.  The beach was, of course, beautiful.  On the way we saw four wild pigs!  They were black and hairy, and looked big enough to eat, so I pulled over with every intention of grabbing one and stashing it in the car.  Boyfriend thought they were too cute to eat (he’s probably right).  They all ran into the underbrush once we pulled over, and came back out as we left (clever bastards).

The beach wasn’t too crowded, and we had fun getting smashed by waves for a while, then laid out and dried off.  We got fish tacos and a beet salad with hibiscus mint iced tea for lunch, all delicious.  I texted Bobby and Nancy to let them know we were on our way back, and they said not to hurry since Bobby had to deliver some paperwork or some such.  So we stopped by a little Hawai’ian ice cream shop with every intention of getting the Kona coffee flavor, but I had to try their azuki bean ice cream and omfg it was amazing.  It might be some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had.  Usually I get accustomed to the flavor and get a little tired of it by the end of the cone, but this one was amazing.

azuki bean ice cream, yum!

azuki bean ice cream, yum!

Then we stopped in a shop next door and I FINALLY found the type of li hing mui-covered stuff I’ve been looking for going on seven or so years now: turns out it was some kind of ginger (I don’t like ginger, I wonder if my taste has changed that much since I had it last).  I haven’t broken the bag open yet for fear that it might actually be awful, and not as good as I remember it (how could it be, though?).  Tomorrow I’ll break into it and we’ll see.

The four of us grabbed dinner at some golf club (totally overpriced, and the waitress was annoying and flirted with Bobby the whole damn time), but the conversation was good.  Boyfriend says he enjoyed watching Nancy and I hating the waitress while Bobby grinned and enjoyed the attention.

We chatted earlier with Nancy about the Danish TV shows she’s been watching on Netflix, and we mentioned Sherlock, the series from the BBC.  When we came back home we all settled in and watched the first episode, which they enjoyed very much.  Bella came in midway through and wanted to play, and made it halfway onto my lap before getting shut down by her folks.  I find her enthusiasm infectious.  It’s gonna be tough to train my future dog properly if all I’ll want to do is play with it and watch it be hilarious.  Bella rolled around on the ground for a while today while Boyfriend and I were on our laptops at the house, waiting to put more time on the roast in the oven.  She looked like she was having an awesome time chewing on some toy and thrashing around, then sprinting back and forth for no reason.  I wish I was a golden retriever sometimes.  This afternoon was one of those times.

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