Are We There Yet?

April 12-13, 2024

We left Hawaii. Our Lyft driver was a friendly Native Hawaiian named Kata. He is a rugby player and coach. We talked about sports and mentioned we were from Alaska. Naturally the conversation turned to snow. Kata wanted to know how much we got, how you walked on it, etc. He said it was too bad Alaskans couldn’t do sports in the winter. I said we have lots of winter sports, especially skiing. He said he meant “outdoor sports.” We said skiing is an outdoor sport. He said he meant sports you do on the grass, like rugby. Oh.

I hope he gets to go somewhere with a lot of snow some day. I think he will like it.

So we got to the airport and check-in and boarding went well. People are far less pushy about boarding in Hawaii. But still, after showing up three hours early, to allow for (non-existent) traffic and (non-existent) TSA lines, is how a 9-hour flight becomes a 12+ hour flight. It’s just something to be endured.

They kept us fed and watered, and we were given pillows and blankies and iPads full of movies. I finally got to see the Barbie movie. It was quite funny.

Comfy seats with mattress pads, comforters and pillows were waiting for us.

Ken enjoys a pre-flight Hawaiian Airlines Signature Mai Tai.

The Japanese-style meal was yummy, though the fried lotus root was like eating cardboard.

Best part of the meal: an origami salt and pepper holder/Aloha shirt.

The rest of the trip went smoothly. The walk from our gate to the immigration checkpoint was quite long, but after so much sitting, it was a good opportunity to stretch. 

We took a taxi to our hotel. Almost the whole ride was either underground or in a channelized, walled-off roadway. Not interesting, but over with quickly.

The hotel seems quiet tonight. Our bed beckons.

Today’s fabric is the Kū Mākou print designed for the Hawaiian Airlines uniforms in 2016. Kū Mākou means “We stand together.”

This photo comes from Hawaiian Airlines MEC (association of flight attendants).

If You Only Have One Day in Honolulu . . .

.  .  .  Don’t go on a rainy day.

Rainy Kapolei, Oahu

We are in a place called Kapolei. It was supposed to be near the airport, but really — not so much. It took 30 minutes of driving, mostly on freeways, to get here. 

Our hotel is part of a huge shopping mall. It is a welcome refuge, sandwiched between a 6-hour flight and a 9-hour flight.

Here is Ken with his happy-to-be-starting-a-new-adventure face.

We hadn’t taken off yet, but we had already been given POG Mimosas. (POG = Passionfruit-Orange-Guava juice). Glad to be leaving Anchorage, where April snow showers bring May mud puddles.

I just loved these unusual (to me, anyway) “corduroy” clouds. Guess what song has been playing in my head ever since. “Both Sides Now.” Listen Here if you were born yesterday and don’t know the song.

We have been dealing with a lot of tech to get ready for this trip. To get our immigration paperwork done, we had to battle with an app that was frustrating. (No, we are not immigrating.) To check in for today’s flight we had an unsuccessful skirmish with another app that was supposed to scan our passports. We checked in to our hotel and got a digital key. That wasn’t too bad, but, by bypassing the front desk, we didn’t get the (needed) bottles of water they used to give us. Will somebody please remind me not to do this type of check-in again?

And then the AirTags. I once loved our AirTags. They were fabulous. But when we were getting ready for this trip, we found that 4 out of 6 didn’t work at all. We tried new batteries. Nada. We Googled how to get them to work. Apple says to take the battery out and put it back in 5 times. The first four times it will play a sound. On the fifth time it will play a different sound and you are good to go. Nope. Somebody on YouTube said to take the battery out and put it in 5 to 8 times to get the different sound. That actually worked, on the 8th time, after about 30 minutes, for two of the batteries. I also found out that many of the batteries are now coated with a bitter coating to prevent kids from eating them. That’s relevant because the coating can interfere with the functioning of the battery in the AirTag. So, we either have three dead AirTags, or we need to find some uncoated batteries. If you have any suggestions, please put them in a comment.

What would FDR do?

Technology. You gotta love it!

Today’s fabric is Microfiber.

Microfiber is considered a “hi-tech fabric.” (There are many other types of fabric that are considered hi-tech.) This is a cloth for cleaning eyeglasses. 

I tried to sew microfiber once with my sewing machine. I was not successful. I believe there are special sewing machine needles available that will work. I then tried to sew the microfiber by hand. It was very difficult to get the needle to pierce the fabric. I was not pleased with the end result. Kind of like some of my other interfaces with Technology.

A Sheltered Bay - October 13

Honolulu means “sheltered bay” or “calm port,” according to Wikipedia. That is somewhat ironic, given what happened at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. But today, we were delighted to be here.

Our friends, John and Becky, were kind enough to play tour guide for us. They picked us up at the cruise terminal and whisked us off to the North Shore of O’ahu, a part of the island where we have not spent much time. 

There are only three roads over the mountains to the North Shore. We took the route that afforded us a stop at Nu’uanu Pali Lookout. This was the site of the Battle of Nu’uanu, in 1795. This battle resulted in the conquest of O’ahu by King Kamehameha I. The defenders of O’ahu were caught between Kamehameha’s army and a 1,000-foot cliff. Around 800 defending warriors either jumped or were forced off the cliff by the invaders. It is a spectacular and fearsome place.

View of the North Shore with golf course on valley floor, near right

This is a view of the Pali cliffs from the valley on the north side of the mountains.

The drive over the mountains was striking. The landscape was verdant, rich, and exotic. There was so much green. In places the rainforest looked like an impenetrable jungle.

Our next stop was a beach where we could view an islet known as Chinaman’s Hat. Alternatively, it is known as Mokoli’i or Little Lizard. The name “Chinaman’s Hat” is falling out of favor because it disregards the local Hawaiian legend about an evil lizard killed by a goddess, and because it is viewed as offensive to people of Chinese ancestry. 

I am trying to make my hat look like the Chinaman’s Hat rock by tilting my head at a matching angle.

We continued our drive to a small shop called “Ken’s Fresh Fish” - a favorite stop of Becky and John. It was fantastic, though they only sell takeout. We took our goodies to a nearby beach and admired the view while we ate Ahi Katsu and Coconut Shrimp. Heavenly.

After lunch we drove out to the end of Laie Point for some more stunning views.

If you look closely you may be able to see some small cairns left by people who have swum or paddled or kayaked out to this unusual rock.

Those steep, green slopes. Those breaking waves. Gorgeous!

Before heading back over the mountains to Honolulu we stopped at the municipal golf course. It was fabulous. It felt like being in a retro botanical garden.

Becky and John were wonderful hosts and we appreciated that they shared some of their favorite O’ahu spots with us. This is such a special place to live - and to visit.

Back onboard, we were able to see an outstanding show by the students of Hālau Lilia Makanoe, a hula school. The dancers ranged from 6 years old to teenagers. They must have spent many hours learning their dances. They were all very polished and professional, while remaining true to the traditional style of hula dancing. What a delightful treat that was!

Finally, it was time to leave our sheltered bay. Aloha and Shabbat Shalom.

Aloha, sheltered harbor! I hope to be back soon.

Today’s fabric is Green Black Tribal Hawaiian Print, by BDine Creations.