Went to Kaneohe today for mac nuts and coffee. In comparison to Kailua, Kaneohe is musky, jungly, very very green. I don’t know that I’d like to live there but I love when we drive in. Even in the car you can smell the mossiness. It’s intoxicating.
Driving to Tropical Farm you pass cows, orchid farms, little wooden kiosks selling ice cold coconut, and acres and acres of trees. It takes us about 30 minutes to get there and that’s a long way to drive for coffee but it’s worth it.
When we got home there was a gift from Mary in the mail: a year subscription to Diner Journal. I totally forgot that she told me to keep an eye on the mail so it came as a lovely surprise.
Having dinner with Mary at Marlow and Sons is one of my favorite regular things. It’s funny, the issues they sent have probably been hanging in their restaurant all the way out in Williamsburg. They smell lovely like a catholic school classroom at 5PM. Love Mary! She’s so awesome.
Another awesome thing which I meant to mention yesterday though not on any kind of profound level like Mary is Spoonalicious Hawaiian Fudge for ice cream. It’s really good. It’s not even like fudge it’s more like pudding. Pudding to put on top of ice cream. For lunch the other day I started thinking about it and ended up scooping myself a big bowl of ice cream just to put spoonalicious on it for dessert after my lunch. This is meaningful for two reasons: I’m not that into ice cream and even when I am I’m not into fudge on top of it. So. There you are.
And here’s a picture of the people that take care of the trees and grass around our temporary home.Kinda weird to be Asian with Haoles fixing the yard. They all look like a version of Chris Atkins from the Blue Lagoon.
Despite this gorgeous picture from my three hour walk on the beach, my birthday stunk. The short story is that in the morning I videotaped a birthday ‘installation’ K left for me in the guest bedroom. When I played back the recording I heard something on the tape that sounded like a message from the non terrestrial world. It was most likely a sound I made myself while holding the camera but regardless I was freaked out all day and still feel a little wary of what I taped.
I was so freaked out that I wouldn’t go upstairs all day and ended up going to the beach in my nightgown (with a cardigan) to walk and take pictures. I was too spooked to go up and get my pants or change into proper beach clothes. But you know nightgowns, dresses, bathing suits…who can tell the difference anymore.
I walked and walked and talked to my friend Curtis on the phone while I took pictures. We talked about loved ones, death, relationships, pretty much everything…it was nice even though I was keeping him on the phone because I was kind of lonely. When K came home he watched my recording a few dozen times and decided that I’d made the noise myself.
In the evening we headed to Sassabune which was, until then, a guaranteed spectacular experience in the form of a meal. The food was delicious as usual but because it was a Saturday night and they were busier than any other time we’ve been there the waitstaff was not friendly or pleasant. Sassabune is what you could call the Sushi Nazi. You have to eat everything the way they tell you. They tell you this everytime you call for a reservation: ‘ is this your first time?’ and ‘ you do understand our rules?’ K and I ended up eating way too much and when it came to our last course I was so stuffed that I could only look at the handroll and feel sick to my stomach. I asked if I could take it home and was met with a very chilly response: ‘um, he doesn’t like that (he meaning the chef)’ and ‘he doesn’t like his food to be taken off the premises’.
All I have to say about that is ‘Sheesh’.
So all in all the day was not that great. But it leaves me feeling that as I begin my 36th year on this planet I have alot of contemplating to do.
Today was my last day being 34. And if I’m going by NY time, where I was born, I’m already 35. I was wary of spending my birthday in Hawaii seeing as most of the people dearest to me don’t live here, but it’s turning out alright– like being on a retreat. At least that’s how I’m trying to think of it.
My first trip back to NY was at the end of November. I went home because my best friend and mentor was dying of pancreatic cancer. I was able to spend the last two weeks of her life with her. It’s not easy to bring up or even think about. I felt that the holidays weren’t going to be festive or celebratory in light of this, and they weren’t. They were bittersweet and in a way it seems right that I spend my birthday far away from the city that I love and the comforts of home.
With that said, K has been sweet to me all day. We spent it eating good food and taking it very easy. Tomorrow he’s taking me to my favorite place for dinner: Sassabune. Can’t ask for much more than that.
I hoped we’d be able to go to the beach today because it had been weeks since we’ve gone swimming. Partly because of life issues but mostly because of the heavy rain. K and I ran errands in the morning and decided to see if the sun would come out in the afternoon.
We had some business at Long’s and while we were looking for envelopes we ended up in the Sanrio aisle. K pointed out a couple of cute characters and asked me if I’d like them as Birthday Friends. I quickly said Yes and now have two terribly cute companions highly appropriate for hugging (see photo above). Outside of Long’s we got a whiff of plate lunch and decided to try and find some. I mentioned the Indian truck by the post office and K said it looked shady ( I think that’s the unHawaiian in us). Then I remembered the little tent in the Kailua Shopping Center but when we got there it wasn’t up. So we settled on some Aloha Salads. I had the Ono Isalnd Ahi Salad and K had the Tiger Shrimp salad. My salad reminded me of the furakake at Nico’s. Not quite as good but very good anyway. We got smoothies at Lanikai Juice and we ate our lunch at one of the outdoor tables in the parking lot.
I had a Kailua Monkey from Lanikai Juice which really hit the spot–basically a banana and peanut butter smoothie. It was a fantastic lunch and I enjoyed sitting outside with K despite the cars coming in and out and sitting next to an SUV. It’s funny the spaces people create for themselves. The outdoor tables at Kailua Shopping Center remind me of my old job. I used to work at a museum and the first time I visited it for my interview I thought, how do people exist here. It seemed like an alley way–not an office. But after going there everyday for two years you carve out a space for yourself and your perspective changes, I suppose in order to maintain your sanity. That’s what the outdoor tables are like: you look at them and you think how do people sit out here and eat when there are exhaust fumes everywhere and people walking by to get to their cars. Anyway, despite this I enjoyed it. It was nice to sit outside in the almost sun and eat a great salad.
After lunch we went to the beach to see if it was warm enough to swim. It wasn’t. We walked along the shore instead. At Kailua beach we normally go to one of two spots, both within a few hundred feet of each other. Today we walked way down the beach in the direction of Kalapawai Market. It was strange to see how much of the beach was washed away from the storms. I’m not sure if that’s normal–but the gnarly roots of gigantic trees were all exposed because of the lost sand bed.
We walked more than a mile down the beach. We got to the point where the beach curves and is lined with mostly private residences some of which had no trespassing signs. It was so quiet, smooth, and calm. I told Ken that it must be like living in a clamshell for those people. I thought we were going to go swimming so I didn’t bring my camera but tomorrow on my birthday I’ll go take a walk and update this with some pictures.
After being here for four months we FINALLY made it to the Kailua Farmer’s Market this evening. It was AWESOME. I was so excited. I was so impatient as K tried to find parking in the majorly packed parking lot. I was almost hyperventilating. K said we must be really pitiful if I’m so excited about going to a Farmer’s Market. He said I was never excited about the Union Square Farmer’s Market and it’s at least four or five times bigger than Kailua’s. And my response was does Union Square have this:
or THESE:
There was so much to buy. We ended up buying some vegan poke, organic veggies, a couple of plate dinners, flowers, coffee, taro mochi, apple bananas, lumpia, and chocolate syrup.
I haven’t missed home as much as I did on election night. We tried to find a copy of the NY Times but Foodland only had the Star Bulletin. And while the Times is going for $100 on ebay, the Honolulu Star Bulletin is going for about $5.05. The thing that made me most homesick was this video:
We went hiking to celebrate the day. Until yesterday the book OAHU REVEALED has been a handy guide for us, never steering us wrong. There are entries in the book that encourage visitors to disregard ‘no trespassing’ signs or wiggle through gate openings in an effort to experience secret beaches or hidden trailheads. I’ve pointedly avoided those attractions when looking for things to do. But yesterday we decided to try a hike with an obstructed trailhead to Waihe’e Falls. I liked it because it said it was moderately easy and that the pay off was a ‘refreshing shower under the cascading waters’
There was an ominous feeling emanating from the quiet person-less street leading to the trail. Modest houses all with high fences–most with a ‘Beware of Dog’ sign (on one garage a ‘BAD DOG’ sign). We parked down the street and had to walk past three unleashed dogs loose on their front yards. Of the three dogs one was a rottweiller and the other was a pitbull.
I love dogs. I mean I really love dogs and will go up to most and say hello. But everything in this neighborhood felt geared towards making strangers feel on guard. The rottie and pitbull stopped playing long enough to coolly check us out from afar. I kept reminding myself to take deep breaths and relax. I tried to remember what Ceaser Millan said you should do if confronted by an aggressive dog…I couldn’t remember. As we entered the trail and escaped the clean cut Stepford-on-steroids neighborhood, we noticed big piles of dog poop on the trial. My mind started racing, picturing a giant frothing rottie step out from the the thick woods onto the trail in front of us. There was a mile and a half more to go.
The trail for the first mile or so is almost downright ugly. Lots of gravel and strange abandoned concrete structures. The book says that on this trail is one of the only dike tunnels in Hawaii. K said it was like being in New Otherton (referencing the town that the Others lived in on Lost). I have to agree. I found the odd relics on the trail menacing. I told Ken that I kept expecting to be shot by a resident who would later claim he thought we were bears. That’s what a handful of KEEP OUT, NO TRESPASSING signs will do to you.
There were definitely some pretty things. Like coffee plants and wild orchids along the way. But I mostly remember my own fear and the place smelling kind of bad. I tried to occupy my mind with happy thoughts as we ascended: Barack Obama is our president and the big bowl of ginataan at home in the fridge.
We didn’t make it to the end. I got really winded. And it felt like it was going on forever with no sense of the supposed pay-off at the end. At one point we stopped to put mosquito repellent on and as I put my hand to my leg I killed 2 mosquitoes with my palm that were already perched on my shin. Blech.
I’ve been on break from blogging because my parents arrived about a week ago and today is our first day without them here. It wasn’t easy showing people around Hawaii when I still don’t really know my way around. I think we did alright but it was stressful. It rained 75% of the time they were here so my fallback plan (the beach) was totally down the toilet. We had a couple of days at Kailua and Lanikai Beach which they loved but other than that we improvised moment to moment.
We didn’t end up going to a luau but in my search for the perfect one (apparently Lahaina on Maui) I found an interesting non-luau luau called Feast at Lele. Most notably you’re served courses rather than buffet style and I read one review on Yelp that said the dancers were a bit more engaged and professional. I also found an interesting user generated travel site call Go Planit.
We took them to Chinatown and had lunch at Mabuhay Cafe. I’m not a fan of this place. The atmosphere is comfortable and cozy but the food gave me a stomach ache. The crispy pata was pretty gross. And they don’t serve Lechon. In Chinatown we picked up some glutinous rice flour and my mom and I made ginataan with sago (glutinous rice and tapioca balls with coconut milk). It was delicious.
In Chinatown I wandered into Cindy’s Lei Shop which I found so endearing and interesting. It’s so easy to take something like a lei for granted but the tradition of wearing and sharing them is something I love about Hawaiians. The woman at Cindy’s was very nice to me and showed me different leis even though she knew I wasn’t there to buy one. I particularly loved the dense Christina Leis made of orchid petals. It’s amazing that they range around $20. If we were in NY they would be at least $75.
We introduced them to all the standard treats: shaved ice at Waiolas and malasadas. Strangely the mochi balls at Waiolas were so awful. K didn’t even finish his. They tasted like feet. I’m hoping it was an anomaly because Waiolas is one of my favorite sometimes-treats.
We love Leonard’s malasadas but it’s a production to buy them. There’s always a huge line–a tour bus seems to be unloading everytime we go there. Also the last time we were there we felt so pressured by the lady behind the counter to clarify our order (when we thought we WERE being clear) that we decided to try a less stressful place. It’s like ordering from the malasada-nazi. We picked up some plain malasadas from Agnes Portuguese Bakeshop instead here in Kailua. The place serves breakfast and lunch and seems like a a nice place to meet up or work off of your laptop. I think they have wi-fi. The malasadas were very very yummy but ultimately we prefer the gooey haupia, custard and chocolate fillings from Leonards. So did my parents.
leonard's malasadas--half empty box
My parents are catholic so I had to find a church for them to attend on Sunday. We attended St Anthony of Padua last Sunday and found it quite nice. They asked us if we were visitors and gave us seashell leis. When the mass started we had to stand up and say where we were from.
We only had two days of big touristy style events. One was visiting the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor which was illuminating. We probably should have visited the USS Missouri as well but my mom and I were kind of over it. The most interesting part of the trip for me was the film before the short boat ride to the memorial. The memorial itself is a touching piece of architecture but K had told me that it was a glass bottom structure so that you can see the wreckage of the Arizona. In retrospect it makes sense that it’s not but I was pacing around the memorial trying to find a glass bottom to no avail.
Afterwards we drove into Waikiki to eat the sandwiches that I made us for lunch. We parked ourselves in Kapiolani Park to enjoy a break.
My parents were impressed with Waikiki but my mom has a bad knee so we couldn’t walk around very much. My mom wanted to go home right after the sandwiches but we dragged her around a little bit more — strolling around one of the hotels on the strip. There were little tchotchke shops and a breakfast buffet with a giant aquarium backdrop that we hoped to return to but never did. It looked nice, but that’s probably because I’m a sucker for buffets and aquariums.
On another day we took my parents to the Atlantis submarine adventure at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It was pretty cool but definitely the priciest thing we did. Sarah asked me today if it was a real submarine and it in fact was. You take a boat out to the submarine site and part of the excitement is watching the sub come up from the previous trip. Everything is designed to be very smooth for the 40+ passengers. There’s nothing really jarring or raw about the transition from dock, to boat, to sub. The only thing was that we seemed to be sitting on the wrong side of the sub (starboard). Port side got to see everything first and more abundantly. The guide joked about discount seats but I didn’t really think that was funny. The Atlantis Company has basically created an underwater Disney-style ride. The things you see are almost entirely created by the company–man made reefs, a sunken plane, and a sunken ship. All these were purchased and placed by Atlantis. The fish life surrounding all these objects is plentiful but not anymore spectacular than fish life you would see snorkeling even though the submersible goes down over 100 ft. There was a shark but it was teeny tiny (and K wasn’t convinced that it wasn’t plastic). And there was a sea turtle which I’m fairly certain was real. The tour guide said that the Atlantis ‘structures’ had created 3000 times more fish life in the area–that sounds good, but is it? Either way it was an experience and I’m glad we did it.
I loved Hawaiian Village. I think it’s the Long Islander in me. It’s very mall-like but peaceful and pretty. After the ride we had dinner at the Hilton Benihana. It was yummy and fun for all of us but I did get a stomach ache afterwards.
For dessert we headed over to Bubbie’s for ice cream. It was really hard to find Bubbie’s on University Road. We had to park and wander around and eventually ask someone to direct us. We got 2 pints of ice cream and chocolate covered mochi ice creams. Oh it was really delicious. Much better than the packages of Bubbie’s in the grocery store.
There was one rainy day that we were driving around Honolulu. We passed a convention center that advertised a crafts and Hawaiiana fair. I suggested we stop in and I have to say it was such a bust. Parking and admission was like $25 for all of us. I know everyone was being polite because they knew I was excited about it. But frankly it was a bunch of stuff that mostly looked worthless. I’m sure there were plenty of secret treasures to be found but I’m less than a novice at vintage shopping. There was one table that had interesting toys and knick-knacks like a beautiful head model of a Hawaiian-ish woman but it was over $100. My main complaint about it is that they charge people to come in. Maybe that’s standard but it was pretty misleading.
All in all it was a week of hits and misses. K says from my blog it sounds like a week of misses and misses 😀
On the last day we took them to Boots and Kimos for breakfast; took a dip at Lanikai; and then had lunch at Nico’s. All of this was a huge hit with them. I think that it might have been their favorite day. As we drove them to the airport the most gigantic rainbow appeared and followed us all the way to the departure terminal.
I know I’ve posted very similar photos but it’s just so pretty–late afternoon in Kailua. It came right after I watched Obama on CNN give an address in NY at an Alfred Smith Memorial dinner. He ended his speech with an Al Smith quote:
The American people never carry an umbrella. They prepare to walk in eternal sunshine.
That’s such a nice idea. Maybe he was in Hawaii at the time.
later that day
Aloha shirt recommended by the stylish Sarah Honda: Sig Zane
This morning I woke up missing New York and feeling a little blue. But we got ourselves together mid-morning pulled out our copy of Oahu Revealed and headed to Maunawili Falls for a hike. The trailhead starts at Maunawili Road and Kalewina Road only a handful of miles away from our home. I had a great time but it was definitely a little harder than the previous hikes we had done (Diamondhead and Manoa). The main obstacles are crossing streams on slippery boulders (4 each way) and inclines that are slippery (mud), and a bit steep at times. I said to K at one point ‘my heart is beating so fast I can hear it in my ears’. But I’m also out of shape.
Things I would make sure to have on our next hike:
a good walking stick
good hiking shoes
bug spray
water
knee brace (because I have bad knees)
At the end of the hour long hike is a seimming hole with a waterfall. There were a whole mess of local kids there. Alot of them ran past us up the mountain. Mostly boys with their shorts hanging down total indifferent to their butt cleavage. One of them was carrying a little knapsack with a radio playing inside. They were loud and rambunctious but totally fine. On the way up the mountain I would hear a large ‘boom’ like a bomb. and when we arrived at the water fall i realized it was the kids catapulting themselves off of a cliff and landing canon ball style in the water. it was impressive.
There were many pretty things to see on the way up but it was hard to see them because I was looking down all the time.
It was very satisfying. I wish it was possible to do things like that everyday. The only thing I would change is that I would bring a bathing suit and I wish the swimming hole wasn’t so exclusive. Oh and that I could swim.
I risked my life to take the garbage out today. There was a pterodactyl-like monster guarding the door. I further risked my life to document this strange and rare monster that was as big as my face.
K said he saw a frog so big the other night that he thought it was a statue. When I asked him how he knew it wasn’t, he ominously said that you could just feel it wasn’t 😀
I was procrastinating my writing (as I am now) by randomly searching on google. I found a very interesting video and blog post on how to learn how to swim in 10 days.
from fourhourworkweek.com (excerpt):
My Top 8 Tips for Novices
Here are the principles that made the biggest difference for me:
1) To propel yourself forward with the least effort, focus on shoulder roll and keeping your body horizontal (least resistance), not pulling with your arms or kicking with your legs. This is counter-intuitive but important, as kicking harder is the most universal suggestion for fixing swimming issues.
2) Keep yourself horizontal by keeping your head in line with your spine — you should be looking straight down. Use the same head position as while walking and drive your arm underwater vs. swimming on the surface. See Shinj Takeuchi’s underwater shots at :49 seconds. Notice how little he uses his legs; the small flick serves only to help him turn his hips and drive his next arm forward. This is the technique that allows me to conserve so much energy.
3. In line with the above video of Shinji, think of swimming freestyle as swimming on alternating sides, not on your stomach. From the TI Wikipedia page:
“Actively streamline” the body throughout the stroke cycle through a focus on rhythmically alternating “streamlined right side” and “streamlined left side” positions and consciously keeping the bodyline longer and sleeker than is typical for human swimmers.
For those who have rock climbed or done bouldering, it’s just like moving your hip closer to a wall to get more extension. To test this: stand chest to a wall and reach as high as you can with your right arm. Then turn your right hip so it’s touching the wall and reach again with your right arm: you’ll gain 3-6″. Lengthen your vessel and you travel further on each stroke. It adds up fast.
4. Penetrate the water with your fingers angled down and fully extend your arm well beneath your head. Extend it lower and further than you think you should. This downward water pressure on the arms will bring your legs up and decrease drag. It will almost feel like you’re swimming downhill.
5. Focus on increasing stroke length instead of stroke rate. Attempt to glide further on each downstroke and decrease the number of strokes per lap.
6. Forget about workouts and focus on “practice.” You are training your nervous system to perform counter-intuitive movements well, not training your aerobic system. If you feel strained, you’re not using the proper technique. Stop and review rather than persist through the pain and develop bad habits.
7. Stretch your extended arm and turn your body (not just head) to breathe. Some triathletes will even turn almost to their backs and face skyward to avoid short gasps and oxygen debt (tip from Dave Scott, 6-time Ironman world champion).
8. Experiment with hand swapping as a drill:
It’s difficult to remember all of the mechanical details while swimming. I short-circuited trying to follow half a dozen rules at once. The single drill that forced me to do most other things correctly is described on pg. 91-92 of the TI book: hand swapping. Coach Laughlin’s observations of the Russian Olympic team practice were a revelation to me.
This is the visualization I found most useful: focus on keeping your lead arm fully extended until your other arm comes over and penetrates the water around the extended arm’s forearm. This encourages you to swim on your sides, extends your stroke length, and forces you to engage in what is referred to as “front quadrant” swimming. All good things. This one exercise cut an additional 3-4 strokes off each lap of freestyle.
I’m not sure what it all means but all I can do is doggy paddle or swim without breathing. Some of the suggestions seem very intutitve. So I’m going to try these tips the next time I’m at the beach.
Last year, visiting Hawaii for the first time, I discovered Lanikai Beach. Lanikai is the little town next to Kailua made up of mostly private residences and a stretch of beach that is about as perfect as beaches get.
Like Kailua Beach there are jelly fish issues a couple of months out of the year– you have to be careful of Portuguese man-o-war and box jellyfish. Unlike Kailua, Lanikai doesn’t have a lifeguard so it’s not the best water for beginner swimmers. I’m a beginner and very paranoid about beach safety but I’m crazy about this little town and if I had 8 million dollars I would buy a house there.
secret pathways to the beach
If you take Kawailoa Rd SE from Kailua Beach you’ll hit Lanikai pretty quickly. Within minutes you’ll be in a charming residential neighborhood that despite it’s quaint feeling boasts houses with million dollar price tags. Find a parking spot on the street and then walk to the water using one of the little pathways between houses.
Hawaii is an ongoing revelation for me. I’m a born and raised New Yorker and even though I grew up on Long Island, I’m not one for nature…much less beaches.
We circled the area for a while trying to figure out how to get to the beach, eventually parking on a little patch of grass between houses. We’d read about Lanikai in the book Oahu Revealed and it had documented a handful of the little pathways to use to get to the beach. We found one of them and at first I was like ‘what the heck is this?’ It looked like an alley to nowhere and there were even some garbage cans lining the way. I was very skeptical. But when we emerged on the other side I was taken aback by the dramatic almost cinematic appearance of this stretch of beach that seemed as quiet and gentle as the quantum space beach Jodi Foster visited in the movie Contact.
Lanikai is soft sand, no crowds, rollicking surf and total perfection. In my harried New York mental state, with my ill fitting bathing suit, and distressed hair, I looked at K and said ‘not only does this look like a postcard but I think this is how I would feel if I was IN a postcard’.
That was last year. Now we live five minutes away from this blessed little place.
Three One Nine 