Sunday, October 02, 2011

hawaii 2011

I love Hawaii, its one of my favorite places. I've been to many picturesque cities across the world, but there's something about the air, or light, or maybe its all the colors, that really put me in a tranquil state. I'm always happy and relaxed when I'm there. The picture above was taken by Jessica, outside Haleiwa, near the coffee and pineapple fields. The sun was really bright, but there was a light mist in the air, perfect conditions for a rainbow or two.

This was shot a few miles north of Waikiki, near our secret location for finding sea glass! This trip it was just myself and Jessica Wiesel; Andrew was supposed to come, but he had to tend the shop and couldn't make it. We missed his fun presence.

Doesn't Jessica look peaceful? Our rental car was a Mustang convertible, which was absolutely lovely on warm evenings coming back from the shore. Now I want a convertible. Greg really wants a scooter, so maybe we'll get a Mini Cooper. Its kind like a car-scooter. Anyway, we realized people are so nice here because they have such beautiful views filling up their eyeballs. How could you be mad in a place like this? We actually had two of our tires slashed by some hoodlum, but we were still smiling, even with all the inconvenience.

On our last day, we decided to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center, to get a full-on Hawaiian blast to the senses, with a luau and dance show. In the picture above, a roast pig is carried away from the pit (covered with burlap and a green blanket) which is lined with stones, then layers of banana leaves to impart flavor and to keep the pork tender. The neat thing about the center is that they really made an effort to make structures true to how they are made traditionally, in some cases, shipping in huge wooden sculptures from the native islands. We also liked all the little mini workshops in crafts and cooking techniques.

This is the dining hall for the luau, which I found really impressive. The whole area was covered by the upturned boat shape, which felt huge. The food was tasty and interesting - I loved the roast pork, but didn't care for the poi (a kind of light purple condiment made from a sweet potato- like plant called taro, I thought it was bland). All in all it was a fun experiance, especially the fire dancing and feasting. Maybe we'll take Azalea and Max here next time, it would be cute seeing them practice the hula.

2 comments:

Amy F said...

glad you had fun!!

somethingunique said...

Hi Again..omg of all the places in the world i could visit Hawaii is on the very top!! and pineapple fields i would die i eat a pineapple a day i just love them and they are so good for your tummy & taste buds too!
ttfn Lana :)