My last day at work was Friday, May 4. It was actually very bittersweet. I met with Dr. McCarthy and received feedback from my 'clinical experience' and also had goodbye's with patients. It was difficult to think that I'm not going to see these patients to the end of their treatment... I really want to know how they are doing and improving (or avoiding their exercises). There is a special patient-therapist bond that you can't really understand until you have gone on rotation. I love it.
Last day with Jami and Dr. McCarthy was very sad. Jami definitely took us under her wing and showed us the true Hawaii and all it's beauty. Dr. McCarthy pushed us to strive both inside and out of the clinic. He offered words of encouragement when I struggled on the swim and hike as well as helpful pointers and advice in the clinic.
The experience has been wonderful overall. It's difficult to think that I have changed in six weeks, but I know that I have. I am connected with nature and want to experience all sorts of travel and outdoors activities. I have really come to value the relationship I have with true friends at home, as well as my relationship with Johnathan. This is the longest amount of time that we haven't seen each other, and it was not easy. I appreciate him more now than I ever could, and my appreciation and love grows every day (I know, it sounds corny, but it's true).
So my bags are packed (sort of). One is zipped and I am not unzipping it for anything in this world. I had to sit on it to make it close. It's a tiny little suitcase, but I sure hope it doesn't weigh over 50 lbs! I also had to mail a few boxes home... but I was smart and did "flat rate boxes". Instead of carrying my textbooks back on the plane, I decided to give myself a break and just mail them back. Good thing I did flat rate box ($8.10 no matter what weight), because the clerk told me that box ALONE would have cost $36 to mail home because it weighed so much!
I didn't do anything too exciting today... I packed, went to the beach and enjoyed the time I had there. It FINALLY wasn't windy and blowing sticky sand all over me. The sand here is really fine and sticks to you even if you are bone dry. And it's difficult to walk on. I look like a mix of a penguin and a soldier because you waddle back and forth, but you also take high steps. It's an interesting process.
Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to wake up early to try and force my body back on east coast time. HAHA. We'll see how that works. I talked to mom today and she still isn't sleeping quite right. People say it's easy to come to Hawaii and it's difficult to leave (for two reasons): 1. obviously you fall in love with the place. 2. time changes really stink and it sure is hard going forward in time.
Haha... I'm going "back to the future". Oh I love that movie. Why can't they play cool movies like that on my plane ride from Phoenix to RDU?
FLIGHT INFORMATION
1. USAirways/America West Flight 125: Honolulu to Phoenix
Departs: 10:55 pm (4:55am NY time) Arrives: 7:54 am (10:54 am NY time)
2. USAirways/America West Flight 41: Phoenix to Raleigh
Departs: 8:45 am (11:45 am NY time) Arrives: 3:48 pm (yay for NY time)
Yes, I know this is a VERY short layover. "Should be fun run through airport yah?"
(Like true Hawai'ian pigeon... no the's or and's and ending the sentence in "yah")
I am so ready to be home. Where crazy animals don't run around at all hours of the day making strange noises, where there is A/C and Johnathan.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Last Days with Mom & Gary
Sunday:
Gary really wanted to see the USS Missouri Battleship. Mom and I were not so excited about another battleship, so we went to the swap meet again. I LOVE THE SWAP MEET! I have been three times, and will probably go back before I leave. It is basically a flea market with all different types of people with all different types of Hawaiian items on great sale! I love it! :)
Tuesday:
Monday night I stayed at the resort with Mom and Gary. Tuesday Dr. McCarthy wasn't feeling well, so we didn't work the half day. We got up early and headed to the Dole Plantation. The store was huge and smelled wonderful! We watched a lady who spoke not-so-good English and tried to decipher what she was saying about the pineapple and how to cut it. After this, we drove up to the Waimea National Audubon (sp?), which is basically a big garden. It reminded me of Busch Gardens the way they had sections... well, minus the rides. We saw tons of plants, and there was a beautiful waterfall at the end of the park. There was this cute little boy that was just dragging back on the hike back to the car and his parents were pleading with him to "come on and hurry up". We kept passing them, then they would pass us when we stopped to look at plants. When we finally passed them again I said "oh no, we're going to catch up! we're going to beat you!!!". Well apparently that's what he needed, because he jumped up and started RUNNING. The little guy was gone, the poor parents rushing to keep up with him.
Well after the garden we headed further up North Shore and drove to the "northern most point" of the island, and continued down the other side just looking around. We then headed back to Haleiwa (hah-leh-ee-vah) for dinner and sunset.
Wednesday morning I sadly had to take Mom and Gary to the airport.
Not too much longer before I come home! Tomorrow (Friday) is my "aloha" day at work... i.e. my last day!
Can't wait until Monday when Johnathan picks me up from the airport :)
Gary really wanted to see the USS Missouri Battleship. Mom and I were not so excited about another battleship, so we went to the swap meet again. I LOVE THE SWAP MEET! I have been three times, and will probably go back before I leave. It is basically a flea market with all different types of people with all different types of Hawaiian items on great sale! I love it! :)
Tuesday:
Monday night I stayed at the resort with Mom and Gary. Tuesday Dr. McCarthy wasn't feeling well, so we didn't work the half day. We got up early and headed to the Dole Plantation. The store was huge and smelled wonderful! We watched a lady who spoke not-so-good English and tried to decipher what she was saying about the pineapple and how to cut it. After this, we drove up to the Waimea National Audubon (sp?), which is basically a big garden. It reminded me of Busch Gardens the way they had sections... well, minus the rides. We saw tons of plants, and there was a beautiful waterfall at the end of the park. There was this cute little boy that was just dragging back on the hike back to the car and his parents were pleading with him to "come on and hurry up". We kept passing them, then they would pass us when we stopped to look at plants. When we finally passed them again I said "oh no, we're going to catch up! we're going to beat you!!!". Well apparently that's what he needed, because he jumped up and started RUNNING. The little guy was gone, the poor parents rushing to keep up with him.
Well after the garden we headed further up North Shore and drove to the "northern most point" of the island, and continued down the other side just looking around. We then headed back to Haleiwa (hah-leh-ee-vah) for dinner and sunset.
Wednesday morning I sadly had to take Mom and Gary to the airport.
Not too much longer before I come home! Tomorrow (Friday) is my "aloha" day at work... i.e. my last day!
Can't wait until Monday when Johnathan picks me up from the airport :)
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Kualoa Ranch
Yesterday Amira and I woke up very early and went to watch the sunrise over the moks for her last day. It was beautiful.
Saturday: What a day! We drove across the island at the crack of dawn to be at the ranch at 9am. We signed up for four activities: Hike, Fish Pond, Horseback and a Jungle Excursion, each lasting a little over an hour.
We climbed aboard into a small little bus with no windows and the tour guide drove us up the mountain. We then "hiked" a very small distance up to a very nice view point... with a great view of everything in the area. As usual, the photos don't encompass the vastness of the view I experienced, but you could see a ton of things including "turtle island"... also known as the Kaneohae Marine Core Base Headquarters and the moks! Also from the hike (not seen in this picture) is “Chinaman’s Hat". It looks like a little Chinese hat sticking up out of the water. It is said that during low tide you can walk out to the island, but be careful: the area is a breeding ground for Hammerhead Sharks!
The tour guide told us an interesting story: Madame Pele sent her sister from Big Island to come and explore the other islands. As her sister made her way over O’ahu there was a giant lizard in her way and would not allow her to pass. In complete anger, the sister gathered up a lightning bolt and crashed it into the lizard, scattering the pieces onto the island below. If you look at the islands today, you are able to make out the head and neck of a lizard, the back which makes up a valley, and the tail which is "Chinaman’s Hat”. There you go.
On the way back and to the next activity (we had the same little tour guide), he pointed out some interesting plants. We were able to see a papaya tree: the fruits grow very close together at the tip-top of the tree. The state tree (?): grows these special nuts that if you can crack open has another nut inside of it. The outside nuts are edible (but act as a laxative), and the inside nuts are polished and made into nut lei necklaces and bracelets. The oil can be used for wicks because it helps them burn longer. The trees are actually called "Candlelight Trees". We also saw paradise bird plants, mango trees, African monkey trees, red ginger, apple banana, plumeria, and so much more. African Monkey trees are obviously not native to Hawaii, but were brought in to protect the military. Kualoa Ranch was taken over by the U.S. Military after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor: they took out farmland to replace it for military aircraft landing strips, they exchanged cattle and livestock for concrete "pillbox" watch towers, and they shut down control of the area. The Ranch struggled to survive after the war, and is still progressing and recovering. Throughout our adventure we were able to see some leftover pillboxes and landing strips.
The second activity was a Fish Pond. I know, it doesn't sound too exciting. But what if I told you I got to see the restaurant that 50 First Dates was filmed in? Or the submarine from LOST? We were supposed to be able to go to another cool viewing spot, but LOST was in filming. Too bad. The pond was over 125 acres and older than 800 years. (The ranch itself is 4,000 acres!!!). Tiny fish swim into the fresh/salt water pond and eat a ton of food, and become too large to swim out thus making a great fishing pond! There are many types of fish in the pond, including “tilapia” and barracuda fish, but the tilapia are basically garbage fish (or rubbish as they say in Hawai’i) and they tend not to eat the fish. We were able to see THE submarine they filmed in LOST... and a view of the pier used in 50 first dates. The guy that did our tour was actually in the first episode of lost.... he was the polar bear.
Third Activity was Horseback Riding. YES: MY MOTHER GOT ON A HORSE. And surprisingly, she actually enjoyed it! And I'm astonished, but she picked the activities and she enjoyed the entire day. Her horse's name was Koa: he was a fattie with short legs. As we were being placed onto the horses and being herded out the gate, mom's horse decided to turn around backwards. She was not very happy about that. Gary's horse was named "Saskatchewan", and my horse had a funny Hawai'ian name, but they called it Dog. So I was saying "good dog" all afternoon to a horse. I felt stupid. The trail was very easy and as you can see in the photo it was a nose to tail trip. Mom said "I felt like my horse was sniffing the other horses butt the whole time". On the way up the mountain we were able to stop and overlook the ocean, and we saw a Whale!!! I tried to take pictures, but it's difficult to do that and try to watch all while you're trying to control a horse. My horse didn't like me very much: the ranchers told me he was a very behaved horse and followed the rules, but oh no not with me. You're not supposed to allow your horses to eat from the trail.... well Dog did it four times. I did everything I was supposed to in order to stop him, but he didn't listen to me. I think he was ultimately just confused because his name was Dog. After we got off the horses, we were getting our picture taken and one of the horses came up and licked mom's boob. It was pretty funny. The horse had done something similar to Gary before we left (he just informed us of this now), so I'm assuming the ranchers keep treats or sugar in their front pocket for the horses.
The last adventure was a "Jungle Expedition". We loaded up into a 6-wheel drive jeep (i think) and drove through streams and up what looked like jagged cliff roads. We saw some "jungle scenes" where lost was filmed, wild boars (quite a lot actually), and this really neat plant that curled up if you touched it.
After the ranch, we drove south to Temple Valley. We were able to go see the Byodo-In Temple. It is a replica of a temple in Japan. The neatest thing about the temple was the fact that a wedding party was being photographed on the grounds. It was a perfect day and an absolutely gorgeous setting. I have some pictures of that, of course! It was a very spiritual and awe-inspiring place. (And of course, I got a post card. I think I get a post card of every place I go... I collect them sort of. Post Cards and Tshirts. <3 )
After the Temple we drove south and reached the eastern most tip of the island, and were able to see a "blow hole". The dragon's nose or "blow hole" effect is essentially ocean water pounding into the lava rock beach below and eventually eroding it up inside over time. This cannot be seen from the viewsteps above. What you can see are the waves violently crashing up into the rocks, and then a gush of "steam" being released like you would see escaping from a dragon's nostril. It is the spray being released from the rocky holes beneath. It was very interesting to watch. There were tons of locals that ignored the "access ramp closed" and were fishing in the mini-bay below.
I think that's all for now... I am probably going to upload pictures tomorrow or sometime, and eventually I will have time when I'm not too exhausted to go in and edit the captions on recent photos! This blog thing is pretty tiring.... I want to make sure I include everything!
Only a week left!!
Saturday: What a day! We drove across the island at the crack of dawn to be at the ranch at 9am. We signed up for four activities: Hike, Fish Pond, Horseback and a Jungle Excursion, each lasting a little over an hour.
We climbed aboard into a small little bus with no windows and the tour guide drove us up the mountain. We then "hiked" a very small distance up to a very nice view point... with a great view of everything in the area. As usual, the photos don't encompass the vastness of the view I experienced, but you could see a ton of things including "turtle island"... also known as the Kaneohae Marine Core Base Headquarters and the moks! Also from the hike (not seen in this picture) is “Chinaman’s Hat". It looks like a little Chinese hat sticking up out of the water. It is said that during low tide you can walk out to the island, but be careful: the area is a breeding ground for Hammerhead Sharks!
The tour guide told us an interesting story: Madame Pele sent her sister from Big Island to come and explore the other islands. As her sister made her way over O’ahu there was a giant lizard in her way and would not allow her to pass. In complete anger, the sister gathered up a lightning bolt and crashed it into the lizard, scattering the pieces onto the island below. If you look at the islands today, you are able to make out the head and neck of a lizard, the back which makes up a valley, and the tail which is "Chinaman’s Hat”. There you go.
On the way back and to the next activity (we had the same little tour guide), he pointed out some interesting plants. We were able to see a papaya tree: the fruits grow very close together at the tip-top of the tree. The state tree (?): grows these special nuts that if you can crack open has another nut inside of it. The outside nuts are edible (but act as a laxative), and the inside nuts are polished and made into nut lei necklaces and bracelets. The oil can be used for wicks because it helps them burn longer. The trees are actually called "Candlelight Trees". We also saw paradise bird plants, mango trees, African monkey trees, red ginger, apple banana, plumeria, and so much more. African Monkey trees are obviously not native to Hawaii, but were brought in to protect the military. Kualoa Ranch was taken over by the U.S. Military after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor: they took out farmland to replace it for military aircraft landing strips, they exchanged cattle and livestock for concrete "pillbox" watch towers, and they shut down control of the area. The Ranch struggled to survive after the war, and is still progressing and recovering. Throughout our adventure we were able to see some leftover pillboxes and landing strips.
The second activity was a Fish Pond. I know, it doesn't sound too exciting. But what if I told you I got to see the restaurant that 50 First Dates was filmed in? Or the submarine from LOST? We were supposed to be able to go to another cool viewing spot, but LOST was in filming. Too bad. The pond was over 125 acres and older than 800 years. (The ranch itself is 4,000 acres!!!). Tiny fish swim into the fresh/salt water pond and eat a ton of food, and become too large to swim out thus making a great fishing pond! There are many types of fish in the pond, including “tilapia” and barracuda fish, but the tilapia are basically garbage fish (or rubbish as they say in Hawai’i) and they tend not to eat the fish. We were able to see THE submarine they filmed in LOST... and a view of the pier used in 50 first dates. The guy that did our tour was actually in the first episode of lost.... he was the polar bear.
Third Activity was Horseback Riding. YES: MY MOTHER GOT ON A HORSE. And surprisingly, she actually enjoyed it! And I'm astonished, but she picked the activities and she enjoyed the entire day. Her horse's name was Koa: he was a fattie with short legs. As we were being placed onto the horses and being herded out the gate, mom's horse decided to turn around backwards. She was not very happy about that. Gary's horse was named "Saskatchewan", and my horse had a funny Hawai'ian name, but they called it Dog. So I was saying "good dog" all afternoon to a horse. I felt stupid. The trail was very easy and as you can see in the photo it was a nose to tail trip. Mom said "I felt like my horse was sniffing the other horses butt the whole time". On the way up the mountain we were able to stop and overlook the ocean, and we saw a Whale!!! I tried to take pictures, but it's difficult to do that and try to watch all while you're trying to control a horse. My horse didn't like me very much: the ranchers told me he was a very behaved horse and followed the rules, but oh no not with me. You're not supposed to allow your horses to eat from the trail.... well Dog did it four times. I did everything I was supposed to in order to stop him, but he didn't listen to me. I think he was ultimately just confused because his name was Dog. After we got off the horses, we were getting our picture taken and one of the horses came up and licked mom's boob. It was pretty funny. The horse had done something similar to Gary before we left (he just informed us of this now), so I'm assuming the ranchers keep treats or sugar in their front pocket for the horses.
The last adventure was a "Jungle Expedition". We loaded up into a 6-wheel drive jeep (i think) and drove through streams and up what looked like jagged cliff roads. We saw some "jungle scenes" where lost was filmed, wild boars (quite a lot actually), and this really neat plant that curled up if you touched it.
After the ranch, we drove south to Temple Valley. We were able to go see the Byodo-In Temple. It is a replica of a temple in Japan. The neatest thing about the temple was the fact that a wedding party was being photographed on the grounds. It was a perfect day and an absolutely gorgeous setting. I have some pictures of that, of course! It was a very spiritual and awe-inspiring place. (And of course, I got a post card. I think I get a post card of every place I go... I collect them sort of. Post Cards and Tshirts. <3 )
After the Temple we drove south and reached the eastern most tip of the island, and were able to see a "blow hole". The dragon's nose or "blow hole" effect is essentially ocean water pounding into the lava rock beach below and eventually eroding it up inside over time. This cannot be seen from the viewsteps above. What you can see are the waves violently crashing up into the rocks, and then a gush of "steam" being released like you would see escaping from a dragon's nostril. It is the spray being released from the rocky holes beneath. It was very interesting to watch. There were tons of locals that ignored the "access ramp closed" and were fishing in the mini-bay below.
I think that's all for now... I am probably going to upload pictures tomorrow or sometime, and eventually I will have time when I'm not too exhausted to go in and edit the captions on recent photos! This blog thing is pretty tiring.... I want to make sure I include everything!
Only a week left!!
Friday, April 27, 2007
North Shore and Luau
Tuesday
Small craft advisory... wind warnings. It was a little breezy. Amira, Jami and I were going to kayak out to the moks (mountain islands), but I decided I'm not that fond of the choppy, unforgiving open sea. They went out there... but I took the warnings to heart and so I decided to take Mom and Gary to North Shore to view the waves... they were apparently supposed to be four times overhead (swells up to 20 feet). So we drove up to the north shore and found the farming in Hawai'i, and sure enough the waves were huge. The photographs don't do them any justice however... because they were so violent and crashing so quickly, it was really unlike anything I have ever seen! Pictures are posted :)
We were able to visit Waimea Bay (not the same as Waimea on Big Island)... and pipeline!!!
Thursday
Dr. McCarthy closed the clinic this morning and took us SURFING!!! It rocked! I am sore on every single bony prominence on the anterior portion of my body... (knees, pelvic bones, pubic bone, and ribs). My delts and triceps are also sore from paddling out. I was able to stand up and catch a few waves! Amira had a waterproof camera, so once she sends those pictures to me I'll post them. Should be sort of entertaining!
After two or so hours of surfing we headed in and I headed up to Ko Olina and then we headed back to Kailua. Gary enjoyed Kailua Beach park, and mom and I got to enjoy a nice relaxing massage from the American Institute of Massage Therapy. It was very relaxing. After the massage, we all headed back to Ko Olina and attended a luau! We had Hawai'ian food, enjoyed a pretty long performance of historic chants and explanations of the royal apparel, as well as a flame thrower performance. There were some very cute little keiki's (children) in little Hula skirts up there dancing... and I even met a lady from Boone, NC! Talk about small world!
Tomorrow we plan to go to Kualoa Ranch for some exploring... I'll write about that later! :)
Small craft advisory... wind warnings. It was a little breezy. Amira, Jami and I were going to kayak out to the moks (mountain islands), but I decided I'm not that fond of the choppy, unforgiving open sea. They went out there... but I took the warnings to heart and so I decided to take Mom and Gary to North Shore to view the waves... they were apparently supposed to be four times overhead (swells up to 20 feet). So we drove up to the north shore and found the farming in Hawai'i, and sure enough the waves were huge. The photographs don't do them any justice however... because they were so violent and crashing so quickly, it was really unlike anything I have ever seen! Pictures are posted :)
We were able to visit Waimea Bay (not the same as Waimea on Big Island)... and pipeline!!!
Thursday
Dr. McCarthy closed the clinic this morning and took us SURFING!!! It rocked! I am sore on every single bony prominence on the anterior portion of my body... (knees, pelvic bones, pubic bone, and ribs). My delts and triceps are also sore from paddling out. I was able to stand up and catch a few waves! Amira had a waterproof camera, so once she sends those pictures to me I'll post them. Should be sort of entertaining!
After two or so hours of surfing we headed in and I headed up to Ko Olina and then we headed back to Kailua. Gary enjoyed Kailua Beach park, and mom and I got to enjoy a nice relaxing massage from the American Institute of Massage Therapy. It was very relaxing. After the massage, we all headed back to Ko Olina and attended a luau! We had Hawai'ian food, enjoyed a pretty long performance of historic chants and explanations of the royal apparel, as well as a flame thrower performance. There were some very cute little keiki's (children) in little Hula skirts up there dancing... and I even met a lady from Boone, NC! Talk about small world!
Tomorrow we plan to go to Kualoa Ranch for some exploring... I'll write about that later! :)
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Tourist
So I've done a lot in the past few days.
Make sure you read the signs before you eat buffet breakfast at a nice hotel. Ours was extremely and painfully overpriced. Needless to say, we walked out with our arms full of fruit and bread.
Thursday morning (after our breakfast lesson) I was able to go to Kane'ohe to an Orthopaedic Surgeon's office to observe his morning patients. I learned a lot, and he asked a lot of questions of course.
After the observation, we picked up Amira and headed to Pearl Harbor. We made it there in perfect timing, we got our free tickets and were able to watch the movie before we headed out. It was very somber to think about how many lives were taken on that day, December 7, 1941. There are some pictures posted of this, but not many. And it's difficult to capture in photos or in descriptions the entire experience. At the end of the Arizona Memorial, there is a huge wall list that displays all of the names of the shipmates lost during the attack. Nice gift shop and memorial museum.
After we finished the ferry ride back from the Arizona Memorial, we noticed there was a submarine memorial and museum as well. Gary and I ventured down into the submarine (pictures included).
After Pearl Harbor, we headed to "Punchbowl", which is a national cemetery. There are thousands of graves, many noted with just the date because some bodies were unrecognizable and there was not DNA technology at the time to determine which body belonged to which name. As you climbed the stairs to the memorial, there were walls of marble with all of the names of lost souls. Again, breathtaking and upsetting at the same time.
After dropping Amira off at University of Hawaii for a meeting, we drove up to the Arboretum to wander through the gardens, but they were closed. So we headed to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner (it was okay, the setting and view was awesome).
Friday was a half day at work, love those half days! They came and picked me up and on the way back to Waikiki we stopped on the Pali Overlook. It was SO WINDY. Like Boone windy x 4. I had to concentrate on standing straight. I took a video of the wind, but I'm not sure you can even hear me talking. Pictures came out pretty good though. There are two big stories behind the Pali overlook.
-Apparently, if you committed a crime on O'ahu you were sentenced to death by being thrown from the Pali Cliff. According to legend, the winds were sometimes strong enough to blow the person back up onto the cliff after being thrown overboard. If this happened, the criminal was said to be "freed by the gods" and the slate was wiped clean.
-King Kamehameha wanted to rule the entire Hawai'ian islands. In his quest of O'ahu, his army stormed up the mountains battling the local O'ahu army. As they made their way up the mountain, they created the path of what is now partially the Pali Highway. As they made it to the cliff, King Kamehameha's army pushed the O'ahu army back with such force that local soldiers fell to their deaths on the sharp cliffs below. After this incident, O'ahu surrendered and King Kamehameha was further in his quest to rule the island chain.
Friday Evening we wanted to eat dinner at Hard Rock, and we decided we could make it there without the GPS. We drove around Waikiki, Honolulu and Diamond Head for an hour, and almost made it (we found out later), but we eventually had to go back to the hotel room because we were so turned around and lost. It is not an easy place to drive.
Saturday morning = Gary's Birthday!
We woke up and went to Iolani Palace, the only palace in the United States. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures inside; it was very beautiful. We did a self guided audio tour (like the one for the submarine) that took us through each room of the palace, explaining everything in the room and the history of the people who lived there. It was a very interesting story. It was built in the late 1800's, and had indoor toilets as well as ELECTRICITY! It was the first palace to have electricity; before Buckingham Palace and the White House! It was a little depressing to hear about how Americans came in and destroyed the palace, turned it into a state building, and de-valued the interior. Since 1969, restoration has been taking place to restore the palace to it's natural beauty. It's shocking to think that Americans take what they want without preserving the history and beauty of a foreign paradise.
Official Website: http://www.iolanipalace.org/
Iolani Palace took up much of our morning, as we wanted to see every nook and cranny there was to offer. Afterwards, we ate lunch at TGIFridays and had the strangest waiter. He kept talking to us, and kept talking to us. Apparently he was from PA and worked in Myrtle Beach, and you'd think that he had never met anyone in Hawai'i from the south. I just wanted him to go away and let us eat; some servers are there too little, and he was there too much... leaning all over the table, putting his hand on our backs, etc.
After lunch we were going to head to the Foster Botanical Garden, but they were closed. So we headed to the time share Mom and Gary have. IT IS VERY NICE!!! I took pictures of the sunset... probably way too many (you know me and pictures).
miss you all :)
Make sure you read the signs before you eat buffet breakfast at a nice hotel. Ours was extremely and painfully overpriced. Needless to say, we walked out with our arms full of fruit and bread.
Thursday morning (after our breakfast lesson) I was able to go to Kane'ohe to an Orthopaedic Surgeon's office to observe his morning patients. I learned a lot, and he asked a lot of questions of course.
After the observation, we picked up Amira and headed to Pearl Harbor. We made it there in perfect timing, we got our free tickets and were able to watch the movie before we headed out. It was very somber to think about how many lives were taken on that day, December 7, 1941. There are some pictures posted of this, but not many. And it's difficult to capture in photos or in descriptions the entire experience. At the end of the Arizona Memorial, there is a huge wall list that displays all of the names of the shipmates lost during the attack. Nice gift shop and memorial museum.
After we finished the ferry ride back from the Arizona Memorial, we noticed there was a submarine memorial and museum as well. Gary and I ventured down into the submarine (pictures included).
After Pearl Harbor, we headed to "Punchbowl", which is a national cemetery. There are thousands of graves, many noted with just the date because some bodies were unrecognizable and there was not DNA technology at the time to determine which body belonged to which name. As you climbed the stairs to the memorial, there were walls of marble with all of the names of lost souls. Again, breathtaking and upsetting at the same time.
After dropping Amira off at University of Hawaii for a meeting, we drove up to the Arboretum to wander through the gardens, but they were closed. So we headed to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner (it was okay, the setting and view was awesome).
Friday was a half day at work, love those half days! They came and picked me up and on the way back to Waikiki we stopped on the Pali Overlook. It was SO WINDY. Like Boone windy x 4. I had to concentrate on standing straight. I took a video of the wind, but I'm not sure you can even hear me talking. Pictures came out pretty good though. There are two big stories behind the Pali overlook.
-Apparently, if you committed a crime on O'ahu you were sentenced to death by being thrown from the Pali Cliff. According to legend, the winds were sometimes strong enough to blow the person back up onto the cliff after being thrown overboard. If this happened, the criminal was said to be "freed by the gods" and the slate was wiped clean.
-King Kamehameha wanted to rule the entire Hawai'ian islands. In his quest of O'ahu, his army stormed up the mountains battling the local O'ahu army. As they made their way up the mountain, they created the path of what is now partially the Pali Highway. As they made it to the cliff, King Kamehameha's army pushed the O'ahu army back with such force that local soldiers fell to their deaths on the sharp cliffs below. After this incident, O'ahu surrendered and King Kamehameha was further in his quest to rule the island chain.
Friday Evening we wanted to eat dinner at Hard Rock, and we decided we could make it there without the GPS. We drove around Waikiki, Honolulu and Diamond Head for an hour, and almost made it (we found out later), but we eventually had to go back to the hotel room because we were so turned around and lost. It is not an easy place to drive.
Saturday morning = Gary's Birthday!
We woke up and went to Iolani Palace, the only palace in the United States. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures inside; it was very beautiful. We did a self guided audio tour (like the one for the submarine) that took us through each room of the palace, explaining everything in the room and the history of the people who lived there. It was a very interesting story. It was built in the late 1800's, and had indoor toilets as well as ELECTRICITY! It was the first palace to have electricity; before Buckingham Palace and the White House! It was a little depressing to hear about how Americans came in and destroyed the palace, turned it into a state building, and de-valued the interior. Since 1969, restoration has been taking place to restore the palace to it's natural beauty. It's shocking to think that Americans take what they want without preserving the history and beauty of a foreign paradise.
Official Website: http://www.iolanipalace.org/
Iolani Palace took up much of our morning, as we wanted to see every nook and cranny there was to offer. Afterwards, we ate lunch at TGIFridays and had the strangest waiter. He kept talking to us, and kept talking to us. Apparently he was from PA and worked in Myrtle Beach, and you'd think that he had never met anyone in Hawai'i from the south. I just wanted him to go away and let us eat; some servers are there too little, and he was there too much... leaning all over the table, putting his hand on our backs, etc.
After lunch we were going to head to the Foster Botanical Garden, but they were closed. So we headed to the time share Mom and Gary have. IT IS VERY NICE!!! I took pictures of the sunset... probably way too many (you know me and pictures).
miss you all :)
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Mary and Gary arrive
Mom and Gary came today... I met them at the airport with lei's that I made by hand (Jami taught me). It was interesting trying to find our way through Waikiki on the one way streets... but we found their hotel (the Marriott?). Gary and I explored the hotel stores as mom rested, then we went for dinner at Duke's and watched the sun set. It was beautiful. Pictures are included.
I am excited that they are here. I can't remember if I wrote this before, but the worst time of day for me here was in the evenings because after about 6pm here everyone on east coast is sleeping and my friends here have split off for dinner with their friends and families. So I'm excited they are here because it will help with evening time fun!
I am excited that they are here. I can't remember if I wrote this before, but the worst time of day for me here was in the evenings because after about 6pm here everyone on east coast is sleeping and my friends here have split off for dinner with their friends and families. So I'm excited they are here because it will help with evening time fun!
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