Upon my arrival in Honolulu on Wednesday afternoon, I was feeling out of sorts. With certain things on my mind, it was debatable whether I would be able to even enjoy this vacation. Seeing my friend when he picked me up at the airport certainly helped. The nice weather helped, too. After checking into my room and putting my things away, I ventured down to the main part of Waikiki. Originally, I wasn’t hungry, but then I talked myself into having lunch at Duke’s. I love their salad bar, but my favorite food of theirs that afternoon was the kalua pork with cabbage. And, oh yes, the Heineken helped, too! That good mood was slowly starting to seep in. A drink at my favorite bar, the Mai Tai Bar at The Royal Hawaiian, couldn’t hurt, either. So off I went. What a coincidence – my Aussie friend (we’d met on my last trip here & rebooked these exact same dates), B., showed up there, too, and it wasn’t even planned! We drank and chatted, but she was having serious jet lag. The two of us went back to our abodes, though she’d suggested we meet at 7:30 p.m. at P.F. Chang’s for dinner. Back in my room, I did nothing. Around 6:40 p.m. I headed to the beach to catch my first sunset of this vacation, scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Gorgeous, as usual. By 7:20 p.m., I hadn’t heard anything from B. and assumed that her jet lag would keep her sleeping for a few more hours. Thus, I decided to grab a loco moco burger at Mahaloha Burger in the food court at The Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center for dinner. They’ve gotten good reviews, along with Maui Tacos, which is also located there. My loco moco burger only came in 2 sizes – 1/3 lb. and 1/2 lb. I went for the 1/3 lb. without fries since it was doubtful that I could finish it. The burger was big, moist, juicy, tasty and had plenty of gravy. But no, I couldn’t finish it. I will return for another attempt, though! The best part is that their 1/3 lb. burgers are only $6.95, which is unheard of in Waikiki! During that time, B. texted me to say that she was on her way to P.F. Chang’s. I met her there at the bar; she ate while I drank. There were several guys at the bar; some striking up small conversations with us. After dinner she mentioned stopping by Nashville Waikiki. Although my ex-roommate used to bartend there, I have to be honest and say that I don’t care for that place. It’s unique ’cause it’s underground, but it’s mostly military men and country music. B. kind of has a thing for military men, which I don’t share. We walked in, took a quick look around, were approached by some guy inviting us to join them on a pub crawl (no, thank you!) and walked out. We ended up back at her favorite spot, RumFire in the Sheraton Waikiki. It’s a nice upscale club with decent to good music, an ok Happy Hour and rather “older” bartenders. When we got to the bar there, we ran into E., who had been sitting near us at the bar at P.F. Chang’s! He was very nice and gave up his seat so that both of us could sit (there was only one empty seat next to him). He was hyped up to dance, so B. and he went out and cut the rug several times. He also bought us several drinks. At some point, he insisted that I dance with him and, once again, I was just drunk enough to do it. E. isn’t a very good dancer, though; he’s enthusiastic, but has no rhythm! As long I kept drinking, I didn’t notice as much! Back at the bar, we ran into yet another guy that had been at the bar at P.F. Chang’s, T. The 4 of us hung out, drinking and sharing conversation. When RumFire closed down, we moved our little party to The Yard House. By then, MY jet lag was starting to kick in. Even so, we managed to close down The Yard House. We then went outside and ran through some sprinklers, for no reason whatsoever. T. was staying at Halekulani, B. was at the Outrigger that Duke’s is in, E. was at the Ala Moana Hotel, with myself at Aqua Palms. We walked T. to his hotel. B. said that E. and I should share a cab, since we were going in the same direction. However, since I knew that E. had a thing for B., I suggested that he walk her to her hotel. I was fine walking back to my hotel; have done it many, many times. In fact, a few blocks into it, some nice Poly guy started a conversation with me and walked me partway to my hotel. That wasn’t half bad for my first day back in Paradise!
There was no sun by the pool on Thursday morning. Around 10:30 a.m., I packed up my beach bag and high tailed it to the beach. I laid there tanning, until the tide rushed in and got my feet wet while I was asleep! After showering up at the hotel, I decided to go to Ward Centre. My lunch hopefuls were either Phuket Thai, Kua’aina Sandwich or Kaka’ako Kitchen. It appeared that Phuket Thai had closed, so I decided to Kua’aina Sandwich. Although they’re famous for their burgers, I hadn’t been impressed with the one I’d had in Haleiwa several years ago. Just to be different, I had the mahi, Ortega chili and cheese sandwich. It didn’t come with anything other than a carrot stick. It was fine; didn’t blow me away. It had been many years since I’d walked through the mall there, so I took a run-though. Most of the stores were boring. I admit to liking island style dresses from Jam’s World, but declined to try anything on since their sale prices were $65+. Another store had infused balsamic vinegars, extra virgin olive oils and Hawaiian style seasonings. The dark chocolate balsamic and the blood orange EVOO impressed me, but I didn’t feel like carrying bottles around. They’ll see me again before the end of my trip, though. I walked down to the mega mall that is Ala Moana Center. I bought the most adorable Hawaiian-style phone case, plus some clothes. I can buy clothes in SF, but they certainly don’t have the selection of summer wear that Hawaii has. I FINALLY made it to the OTHER Mai Tai Bar on the 4th floor of the mall. They have a great Happy Hour from 4-7 with live music. Some guy named Randy Allen opened with “I Belong to You” by Lenny Kravitz, which almost made me a little sad again. He sang a little more upbeat songs after that, though. After 3 drinks and some Firecracker Shrimp (which were too sweet for me), I went back to the hotel. B. had texted that T. and she were having dinner at Roy’s. Roy’s is a chain, albeit an expensive one, that’s all over the U.S. Since I can eat there any time, beings there’s one in San Francisco, I decided to pass and told her to text me when they were through. She texted me a few hours later, but I’d fallen asleep by that time!
My friend picked me up on Friday morning for breakfast at The Highway Inn. They open at 8:30 a.m. and we were the first people there ’cause the doors were still locked when we tried to walk in! I had loco moco, of course! It was very good and very big, also with lots of gravy. He had a spicy sousa (?) omelette with kim chee rice, plus toast with banana butter. The meat in his omelette was sweet and spicy; good. The kim chee rice, on the other hand, was a pass for me. He didn’t like it, either. I should have tried the toast with banana bread, but didn’t. Then he drove me around Kaka’ako and Waikiki, while we chatted about funny things. We were looking for Salt in Kaka’ako when we realized that it’s somewhere in Kaimuki! That’s one of the new up and coming restaurants here that everyone is talking about. When he dropped me off, I hit the pool for my sunbathing time. The card reader to the pool isn’t working half the time, so I actually have to enter the fitness room and go out the sliding doors to get to the pool! No problem, as long as I get some sun! Then it was back to Ala Moana for more shopping and another couple of hours at their Mai Tai Bar for drinks and some Chinoise Chicken, which was better than the Firecracker Shrimp. Rather than hang in Waikiki with all of the tourists that night, I ventured to a local bar near the Convention Center. Home Bar and Grill was packed by 9:00 p.m. – all locals, no tourists (other than me). When I walked in, the ginormous bouncer, smiled, said “hello” and asked “You good?” Yeah, no worries. I bellied up to the bar and stood there drinking until a seat opened up. The bartenders were really nice and friendly, too. They didn’t even take the tips off of the bar until the patrons left. When I left, the bartenders AND the bouncer thanked me and wished me a good night.
Yesterday morning was my Aloha Stadium Swap Meet morning. I was there at 9:00 a.m, finished by 11:20 a.m., but didn’t make it back to the hotel until 1:00 p.m. ’cause there was some accident on the freeway that was holding traffic up. I bought a Hawaiian quilt purse to replace the one that the bozo at Macys stole back in March. I also bought an umbrella, some bacon chips (yeah, you heard me right), some quilting squares for a friend and some jewelry. I’m obsessed with starfish right now. I’d bought a silver starfish pendant a year ago, then misplaced/lost it somewhere. I replaced it alright – bought THREE starfish pendants. Hopefully, I won’t lose all 3 of them at the same time! There was just enough time for me to lay at the pool for an hour before the wind picked up. After my shower, I headed back down to the Mai Tai Bar at The Royal Hawaiian. It was raining, but the outdoor bar was full! I found the last seat, certain guys welcomed me back (ones who hadn’t seen me on Wednesday) and I chatted with the couple next to me. They’ve been dating 5 months, one lives in Boston (or somewhere) and the other lives in Tampa, and they met while judging men’s gymnastics! They’ve already traveled to Taipei together, with Alaska and Jamaica coming up later this year. Interesting little love story, though. I had a ticket to the Spawnbreezie concert at The Crown Bar last night. I swore that it said the show STARTED at 9:00 p.m. So I showed up around 8:25 p.m. to pick up my ticket at Will Call. A huge fundraiser was just ending. Doors didn’t even open until after 9:00 p.m., but the bar staff let me sit there while they cleaned around me, as well as kept checking on me to make sure I was alright. It got crowded, DJs were playing, then I.A. and some other rapper (he wasn’t impressive) started at 11:00 p.m. Spawnbreezie wasn’t even on until midnight. Love that man and his music, though; great concert. What’s more interesting is that I recognized a man standing very close to me. It was Mike, my distant cousin who’s the lead singer for Rebel Souljahz!!! We’ve never met before, but I recognized him from photos. When I asked if he was Mike, he said “yes,” I introduced myself as his cousin from San Francisco, he hugged me and said “Aloha” and said that he was there with his girlfriend and some friends. We didn’t have much other conversation, too crowded with too many people. However, I may see him on Tuesday, as it’s his father’s 77th birthday; my OTHER cousin said that she’d like to find a way for me to attend that birthday party, even though it’s on the other side of the Island. After the concert, it was raining again. I stood outside for awhile with my trusty umbrella, but eventually caught a cab back around 1:30 a.m.
Now that we’re all caught up, it’s pool time this Sunday morning!