The flight up to SFO was uneventful, as was the long leg to Oahu, but oh the saddle soreness! Even before half way I begun checking my watch, hoping things would go quicker as there was some lame arse early Victorian film – didn’t care for it whatsoever. The next move was better and worth passing the time.
Funny how the guy next to me pretty much kept to himself (not open/friendly), and when they passed out the snacks he didn’t seem to comprehend mine was my gift to him until after a few tries.
As we arrived it was a mad dash to the car rental counters – I’m no OJ here but I do want the best selection. The gave me a small grandma Oldsmobubble Alero. The lot attendant gave the directions needed and a map to the hotel. She gave me the looooong way albeit safe as there were few turns. Since my check in would likely be premature, stopping at a Honda/Yamaha shop killed some time. As it turns out they get the same stuff we do on the mainland, same with cars.
My room was not ready, and they asked me to return in a ½ hour or so. Walking around the village – as in Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa – it was apparent the shops, restaurants, etc. are geared for big bucks, especially from Japan, or would that be tall yen?
(Now don’t you go thinking the Resort & Spa verbiage to really mean my employer is going to actually to pay for that, eh?)
Collapsing onto the bed in my comfortable room, I clicked on the tube to do some brain dead time – let someone else do the walking, talking whilst I vegetate. After some dead time, my stomach was asking for attention so I walked the strand as far as I could along the Waikiki shoreline. After overshooting my target and with some backtracking, the International Market Place came into view. Following the signs to the food court afforded a view of a variety of pallet pleasers: lots of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Italian, and even Mexican cuisine. I decided to try one of each over the days, starting with a beef gyro, egg rolls, beef-ka-bob (say: there’s Bob again!) and finishing a few days later with deep-fried chicken, chips and refried beans, and shredded beef soft tacos, topped off with the local coconut ice cream on a waffle cone. Burp! (So sorry – excuse me.) The shaved ice had nothing on me, as they use some syrupy squirts on the ice. At one of the spots I asked about the pineapple juice – glad I pressed for an answer, as her idea of fresh was a newly-opened can! A few doors down and a live, in-my-viewing extractor yielded the frothy juice as welcomed refreshment. Ahhh. I decided to have breakfast in the form of freshly-cut pineapple, grown here and packaged, delivered to the convenience stores daily.
Lest it be forgotten by me, I’m here to oversee the installation of GPS antennas which “time” launches from the mainland. We hired an electrical subcontractor to perform the installation, with me acting as the company rep., which worked out well, having done the design for all four sites here on the islands. Everything was going smoothly until early in the morning on my way to work, when the rental car had a rear tire blowout; no immediate danger, other than this freeway does not have a shoulder! And I just passed the best off ramp. So I had to drive a few miles before finding a safe place to pull over and change the tire. Upon returning the car later that day, asking for an upgrade, they gave me two! to an Impala – the right car to travel to and fro.
With the weekend approaching, plans were reviewed to visit the surfing capital of the USA, Haleiwa, of which reportedly yielded big waves and dedicated surfers, and the Dole Plantation site. The latter ended up being a tourist trap, but the beachcombing further north rejuvenated my composure, and thereafter going through the town to look for some grub. I came upon the (supposed) best burger joint in the region, and there’s some truth to that. The place was hopping, and not a table available. It was worth the stop, although I lost a bit of avocado with each consecutive bite to my dining table, the curb. Next door there was a stand setup, and this guy had a BBQ trailer setup with rotissing a contraption with six rows of whole chicken side-by-side, and each row was connected to a common drive chain. Ingenious. That would have be a place to eat for overwhelming, large appetites – perhaps next weekend. Traveling out of town westward afforded many miles of lightly-inhabited beaches with clear, aqua-colored water, up to the end of the pavement near Kaena Point, and the Avis map had a note where beyond this point constitutes a violation of the rental agreement. I could see why as it was best suited for high-clearance vehicles beyond the pavement’s end. That was enough for one day as I settled in my room to watch the Aussie Open on ESPN2.
Early Sunday morning was a trip to the Arizona Memorial, and there was more to it than I expected, in this: It's quite remarkable how so many young men lost their lives, as they were just on the cusp of manhood - sobering - and had mothers, fathers, wives, children, sisters, brothers, nephews and nieces who never saw them again. It was a sobering experience.
At noon I went out to do laundry as it was piling up. The reason for doing it myself is the hotel wanted $6.50 per shirt, and there is no "lot" discount!
In the afternoon while resting in my room, watching the Aussie Open, it all caught up to me and I took a nap; shortly after falling asleep the phone rang: another team member called (he's here to do the other half of the work) and asked me out for dinner with his wife. Shortly after that there was a call from another fellow who invited me to join him for dinner, but I had to pass due to the earlier arrangements.
Wanting something substantial, I ordered a well-prepared steak, although it was odd for the waitress to use her thumb (!) to press/lift a crumb we had both seen on my bread plate, then she ran off before I commented, and I was flush with astonishment...later I told her that was not a good move, to which she replied a new plate could be had - uh: no thanks, as I did avoided the spot – she still didn’t get it.
Last night two other fellows suggested we go out; we went to a Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall spotted on my way to the Laundromat the day before. A picture of a plate they had on the front piqued my intrigue, but it turned out to be pork (had way too much of that, chicken, and some good measure of fish in my youth, which explains why I’m a near 100% beef eater.) I remember they did not cook it completely but everyone said it was fine – mistake! I woke up at 1am and did not get back to sleep until 4 or so – it could have been the coconut cream pie, or the merlot.
More to come next week…if you care...
Funny how the guy next to me pretty much kept to himself (not open/friendly), and when they passed out the snacks he didn’t seem to comprehend mine was my gift to him until after a few tries.
As we arrived it was a mad dash to the car rental counters – I’m no OJ here but I do want the best selection. The gave me a small grandma Oldsmobubble Alero. The lot attendant gave the directions needed and a map to the hotel. She gave me the looooong way albeit safe as there were few turns. Since my check in would likely be premature, stopping at a Honda/Yamaha shop killed some time. As it turns out they get the same stuff we do on the mainland, same with cars.
My room was not ready, and they asked me to return in a ½ hour or so. Walking around the village – as in Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa – it was apparent the shops, restaurants, etc. are geared for big bucks, especially from Japan, or would that be tall yen?
(Now don’t you go thinking the Resort & Spa verbiage to really mean my employer is going to actually to pay for that, eh?)
Collapsing onto the bed in my comfortable room, I clicked on the tube to do some brain dead time – let someone else do the walking, talking whilst I vegetate. After some dead time, my stomach was asking for attention so I walked the strand as far as I could along the Waikiki shoreline. After overshooting my target and with some backtracking, the International Market Place came into view. Following the signs to the food court afforded a view of a variety of pallet pleasers: lots of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Italian, and even Mexican cuisine. I decided to try one of each over the days, starting with a beef gyro, egg rolls, beef-ka-bob (say: there’s Bob again!) and finishing a few days later with deep-fried chicken, chips and refried beans, and shredded beef soft tacos, topped off with the local coconut ice cream on a waffle cone. Burp! (So sorry – excuse me.) The shaved ice had nothing on me, as they use some syrupy squirts on the ice. At one of the spots I asked about the pineapple juice – glad I pressed for an answer, as her idea of fresh was a newly-opened can! A few doors down and a live, in-my-viewing extractor yielded the frothy juice as welcomed refreshment. Ahhh. I decided to have breakfast in the form of freshly-cut pineapple, grown here and packaged, delivered to the convenience stores daily.
Lest it be forgotten by me, I’m here to oversee the installation of GPS antennas which “time” launches from the mainland. We hired an electrical subcontractor to perform the installation, with me acting as the company rep., which worked out well, having done the design for all four sites here on the islands. Everything was going smoothly until early in the morning on my way to work, when the rental car had a rear tire blowout; no immediate danger, other than this freeway does not have a shoulder! And I just passed the best off ramp. So I had to drive a few miles before finding a safe place to pull over and change the tire. Upon returning the car later that day, asking for an upgrade, they gave me two! to an Impala – the right car to travel to and fro.
With the weekend approaching, plans were reviewed to visit the surfing capital of the USA, Haleiwa, of which reportedly yielded big waves and dedicated surfers, and the Dole Plantation site. The latter ended up being a tourist trap, but the beachcombing further north rejuvenated my composure, and thereafter going through the town to look for some grub. I came upon the (supposed) best burger joint in the region, and there’s some truth to that. The place was hopping, and not a table available. It was worth the stop, although I lost a bit of avocado with each consecutive bite to my dining table, the curb. Next door there was a stand setup, and this guy had a BBQ trailer setup with rotissing a contraption with six rows of whole chicken side-by-side, and each row was connected to a common drive chain. Ingenious. That would have be a place to eat for overwhelming, large appetites – perhaps next weekend. Traveling out of town westward afforded many miles of lightly-inhabited beaches with clear, aqua-colored water, up to the end of the pavement near Kaena Point, and the Avis map had a note where beyond this point constitutes a violation of the rental agreement. I could see why as it was best suited for high-clearance vehicles beyond the pavement’s end. That was enough for one day as I settled in my room to watch the Aussie Open on ESPN2.
Early Sunday morning was a trip to the Arizona Memorial, and there was more to it than I expected, in this: It's quite remarkable how so many young men lost their lives, as they were just on the cusp of manhood - sobering - and had mothers, fathers, wives, children, sisters, brothers, nephews and nieces who never saw them again. It was a sobering experience.
At noon I went out to do laundry as it was piling up. The reason for doing it myself is the hotel wanted $6.50 per shirt, and there is no "lot" discount!
In the afternoon while resting in my room, watching the Aussie Open, it all caught up to me and I took a nap; shortly after falling asleep the phone rang: another team member called (he's here to do the other half of the work) and asked me out for dinner with his wife. Shortly after that there was a call from another fellow who invited me to join him for dinner, but I had to pass due to the earlier arrangements.
Wanting something substantial, I ordered a well-prepared steak, although it was odd for the waitress to use her thumb (!) to press/lift a crumb we had both seen on my bread plate, then she ran off before I commented, and I was flush with astonishment...later I told her that was not a good move, to which she replied a new plate could be had - uh: no thanks, as I did avoided the spot – she still didn’t get it.
Last night two other fellows suggested we go out; we went to a Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall spotted on my way to the Laundromat the day before. A picture of a plate they had on the front piqued my intrigue, but it turned out to be pork (had way too much of that, chicken, and some good measure of fish in my youth, which explains why I’m a near 100% beef eater.) I remember they did not cook it completely but everyone said it was fine – mistake! I woke up at 1am and did not get back to sleep until 4 or so – it could have been the coconut cream pie, or the merlot.
More to come next week…if you care...