Hawaii Followup
My trip to Hawaii a few weeks was terribly short… Took off Saturday 8am, landed at noon. Saturday night I went to a birthday party at with an old friend that now lives in Hawaii, hi Heidi! It’s interesting that Heidi had friended me on Facebook after 10 years at exactly that moment. Just the next morning, I was on my way to fly to her in Honolulu!
Dinner Saturday night was fun.
Ala Moana park at sunset
Just a few moments before I took this, a surfer passed by that tiny gap in the break below the sun. It would have been a perfect picture. I get to keep that image in my mind. All you get is this awesome photo.
Long boats near Ala Moana park
Sunday was work. Man it was hot, humid, and sunny in Honolulu! Sunday night,
Monday night we hiked at night partway up to MÄnoa Falls. It was pretty rad! Walking along, I saw a fallen flower at my feet, oo pretty. then I scanned with my flashlight to find a few more next to me… and a whole lot more! Wow, I walked right into this thing! Another spot, I was walking along and saw “something big” away to my right. I scanned with my flashlight and saw a wall of sorts about 50 yards away. And then I scanned up with the flashlight… hmm, it’s big… it’s flat… it has vines on it… scan up some more, it’s really big, and bumpy or something, 30 feet wide and scan up some more, 40 feet tall, 50, 60, what is it, 80 feet tall with branches at the top! It’s a 100 ft tall wall of a tree with multiple trunks completely covered with vines!
Hiking toward Manoa Falls at night
At the mention of me going hiking at night, my host told me that was a terrible idea, I’d get killed, fall off a cliff, get mugged, or worse. I asked him what I should do instead to see Honolulu, and after 3 times of prodding, the best he could come up with was “Sit down and have a drink at a bar in Waikiki. That’s the real Hawaii.” Needless to say, I went hiking instead.
Greetings from Honolulu. That's Diamondhead behind me :-)
How I spent my Valentines Day. University of Hawaii beat Nevada in overtime. A good, tight game, if you like basketball.
On Monday and Tuesday I trained our clients staff how to put together the rig. It was fun from a teaching perspective, though awfully awfully hot in that parking lot.
My last meal was at this Japanese restaurant with my client, finishing with a tasty toast ice cream thing covered in honey, cinnamon and sugar :-)
There wasn’t enough time to do what I wanted to, but there never is.
I realize how acclimated I am when you say Honolulu is hot and humid… :-) My aunt there claims that Guam is way worse!
So glad you hiked! On Guam, we call it boonie stomping. (“Boonies” meaning jungle, from the Tagalog word “bundok” which means “forest” I think.) I’ve grown fond of the Chamorro custom/tradition/obligation to “ask permission” from the jungle spirits before I head into their realm. Don’t know why, but it works for me. Keeps away the Totamona (evil ghost spirit). Somehow that seems more of a threat than walking off a cliff, but maybe I’m just islanded out by now…
As for your tree, maybe it was one of those cool banyan/ficus wonders? I became obsessed with them in Florida and recently saw a sweet one on Saipan…