It rained every day when we were in Hawaii last January and February. We still made sure to get in the water EVERY DAY.

Loved this view of the neighbor’s home and yard (with the Pali in the background). They had about seven well fed and happy cats (not shown here).

Waimanalo…I am coming back again (don’t know when but) I am coming back again.

BURMA

NEPAL

THAILAND

The last week or so in Hawaii went really fast so I didn’t have time (or the inclination) to get on my computer to finish the section of my blog. So, here it is, 2 weeks after returning to CA and I’m putting in the final touches. It’s important to include them because it already feels like a whirwind time and a blur. This blog helps to parse it out into the many little inanities and adventures that made it a wonderful 2 months.

So, we’ll go back to that last week…we had the Waikiki place through 1/31 and then moved to Kailua to the Treetop studio. But in the meantime, Judy and Lee came for a visit partying ensued. Friday night was dinner at Kiawe grill when we all experienced the sublime pleasure of a huge Korean BBQ meal for 2 for only $9.  There was choke traffic on Beretania, especially around Bishop, where it crawled. I got out and went to meet Carolann and Corky at the historical Hawaii Theater to see Ladysmith Black Mombazo.

They are delightful to see and hear–their songs a sort of wavelike drone. After the show, I stayed with Corky while CA got the car and then went on to meet the gang over at Cafe Che Pastas where they were in the final stages of a gig. There was talk about shots but we all left before that could put us under the table (as it certainly would have).

Saturday, I surfed Diamond Head first thing in the morning. Not the worst session but certainly not the best. That evening was a party at Podolske’s. Fun! Kayaking in Hawaii Kai, great food, and kanikapila. They got an electric piano for Lee and I sort of went off with come Carole King songs–mostly because I wanted to pick up the pace of the music 😛

Sunday we went up to Malaekahana with Judy and Lee. Body surfed up there for an hour and a half. It was BEAUTIFUL, clear water and BIG waves. Fun! Judy was fearless–taking those big waves. Lee didn’t want to lose his contacts so was wearing a snorkel mask (which promptly got ripped off his face) and then some goggles (also ripped off by the strong surf)! After shining sunshine, it clouded up and started to rain.

We headed up to the North Shore to have mahi sandwiches at Kua Aina and then to the Coffee Gallery for a revel bar (that place was choke with Japanese tourists). Then onward to Honolulu for a great dinner with Azeema and Steve.

The next day we moved to Kailua. Had lunch at Boston’s, a quick swim at Kailua, Drove to the Osorios to sell our car and then had dinner with Lee and Judy at a place called Asian Fusion on Waialae (great cha gio, the rest was only okay).  Tuesday we finally had a lazy day.

Wednesday we had dinner at Helena’s with Mitch’s buddy Richie, who was here for a conference from NY. The restaurant has the best Hawaiian food and is one of the great holes-in-the-wall out in Kalihi, a local neighborhood west of downtown. I worked  in Kalihi in 1989-1991 at Hawaiian Graphics, which is no longer there). The funniest thing was getting out of the car and Richie saying, “Hey, I saw this place on TV!” Turns out it was on a show called “Man vs. Food.” I have no idea what they had but we broke da mout’ on pipikaula, luau chicken, lau lau, steamed butterfish with watercress, lomi salmon, kahlua pork, two scoops rice, and poi (of course).  Ugh, roll us home!

Wednesday, the waves were also HUGE on the North Shore and they were close to having the Eddie Aikau surf competition which, like Mavericks in northern CA, only occurs when the waves are monsters.

Turns out, they weren’t big enough—need to be consistently over 25 feet. The good news is that the high surf made waves (so to speak) on the other shores of O’ahu too, so Diamond Head on Thursday was messy but fun and breaking all over the place. I caught a few waves and saw this massive turtle head peek up about 10 feet ahead of me. Woah!

The weather’s been great and I’m still being a maniac and making sure that we surf or boogie board or snorkel or hike every day. I only just realized that my attitude is—I can sleep in San Francisco. If there’s light out here we should be outside!!! Needless to say, we’re exhausted.

Friday night we had Steve, Azeema, Sue, Rob, Liz and Susie over for margaritas, which became mangoritas after Liz showed up with frozen fruit. Yummy! Mitch really knows how to mix those puppies. Yum!

Yesterday, we tried to replay last weekend’s fun by driving around the southeastern part of the Island, past Hanauma Bay, Sandies, and Makapuu to Baby Maks. I love it there—it’s so haunting and majestic and captivating with the bright aqua water and 2000 foot Koolaus looming right over the beach. We snorkeled there again but the water was murky and rough so didn’t see a lot of fish. Did follow a turtle around for a while, though. That was really cool. Ate at the inimitable Sweet Home Waimanalo, which has the best plate lunches (get the lemon chicken and corn bread—actually get anything there—it’s all good)!

The high surf wrap persisted to Waimanalo beach where the shore break was pretty big and fun. We played like kids there, even after the bust –a-gut lunch. Yes, I’ll be returning to CA with a couple of extra lbs. on my butt)!

Last night we had a great time back of Palolo with the Osorios and their friends. Good food and nice folks. Re-learned how to play cribbage, which I always liked when I played it twenty years ago. And some lovely singing to guitars, ukes, and a harmonica. Lots of fun but we had to wake up at 6:15 to get ready for a trip up north.

My old friend Mary Woollen picked us up and we drove over the Pali and northwest from Kaneohe to Malaekahana. The Koolaus were glowing in the morning sunlight and we could see way up the coast. I hate waking up that early on a weekend, but the view was worth it. The water was murky but the waves were fun and we body surfed for about two hours up there.

No, we’re not having any fun at all.

Our last day at visiting professor housing in Manoa was on Tuesday. I got my wonderful Makiki hike in. It’s the Maunalaha-Kanealole trail. And it was a really MUGGY day so I was pretty wet by the time I got finished.

It’s pretty cool that the loop is basically shaped like a taro leaf. I didn’t see any of the dreaded miconia but will continue to scrub my boots just in case I carry any by mistake. There’s an incredible blanket of morning glory draping the trees in green.

Wednesday, we loaded up the car and drove to the oral surgeon’s office where they knocked me out and pulled my tooth. I don’t remember anything, which is how it should be.

Mitch picked me up and we went to Banyan to meet Rina and see/move in to our new home.

After getting all of our stuff (considerably more than we had when we arrived) to our new digs, we walked down to Walls and took a much deserved dip.

So, we’d been told it was a mauka (mountain) view but that wasn’t altogether true. We’re in the Mauka Tower with a makai (ocean) view but we don’t have much of an ocean view at all–just a sliver and a postage stamp of water to see between the buildings. But it is just enough to get an idea of how the surf is on any given day so it’s not too bad…

Besides, we’re only 4 blocks from Walls, which is FUN boogie boarding!

Waikiki is rife with happy tourists and all type of characters, so I’m sure it’ll be entertaining. We’re on the 21st floor so taking the elevator provides no lack of opportunity for Mitch to play wise guy and kibbitz.

Had to go to Costco on Saturday. They really sell everything there.

Kiawe Grill is the bestest of all the Korean BBQ places I know of. They give you a plate of food that’s bigger than your head, almost a pound of won bok kim chee, diakon kim chee, and mac salad, and it’s only $9 (feeds 2). My idea of heaven.

Mitch is getting over his sinus infection…much better! We went to Waikiki pau hana. I dropped him off at Kaimana and headed for Diamond Head Cliffs. This was a great day because not only did I catch a wave but I rode it all the way in!

Lincoln Hall is turning out to be a great place to stay (thanks Kuhio) but it’s kind of idyllic to be living on a college campus. The view from our window is a show of the light on the Koolaus back of Manoa Valley.

Hiking that wonderful Makiki loop as much as possible. It’s great to be able to go pau hana. It’s taking a while to get back into it, though. The first 30 minutes are all steep uphill. Then it goes up and down a bit. I love that jungle.

So, I’ve been doing a drawing (of sorts) a day since arriving in Hawaii. Here are a couple more days cataloged.

Okay, so this one isn’t much. It was my first day back working so I’m cutting myself some slack. Working on PST was difficult at first but we got used to it.

So the deal is that my back molar started to hurt about a week before I left for this trip.

And by day 4, it could not be ignored. After a visit to both a dentist and endodontist, it was determined that ‘dat buggah gotta go!’