Tag: kailua

Dear Jade…..

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Around Thanksgiving was the last time I sat down and gathered my thoughts for writing a post.  I’ve found, since coming to Hawaii, that very fundamental things can change over a few weeks time. K and I have grown accustomed to packing up and leaving places we love only to return three months later.  

This past season has been the best for me here in Hawaii.  Sometimes it hovers around one of the best times of my life in general.  I think there will always be parts of NY that I can’t negotiate leaving behind.  No matter how ideal the circumstances, I long for how I feel when I’m with friends eating Korean fried chicken in dark places, downing bottles of soju, and arguing about politics or tv shows.  Or walking miles around the city with Kat or Eleanor for hours and hours on a weekday afternoon, coming up with unnecessary errands just for an excuse to walk and talk a little longer.  I accept that I don’t have that here–and it’s totally ok because I don’t believe that I exist in both places anymore. Hawaii has won me over for the meantime.  I love it here.  I love being here with K.
I love K.

This year is almost a completely different Hawaii from last year.  Due in large part to finding this house.  Sometimes I walk up to the front door and I already anticipate missing it someday.  Every time we come home my heart surges a little bit and I say to myself I love this place.  Corny!

I also never anticipated how much a car would change every aspect of my life. The first day that I had it (and K was working), I was so confused.  Even though I had nowhere to go, I kept thinking I had to DRIVE somewhere.  I made a special trip to get gas even though I had almost a full tank.  Kat explained to me that that wasn’t how it worked. That you buy gas when you’re already out doing things so as not to WASTE gas GETTING gas.  These are the sorts of things I didn’t know.  I wondered if it was foolish to have a whole separate car for me at all.  That feeling dissipated very quickly.

And with that went the era of blogging about frogs at the front door, or giant spiders, or pictures of empty jello cups.  I no longer do yoga everyday (or hula) and I haven’t written a poem since the summertime.

Which is all ok.  In fact its better.

If I can find a new way to write about all of it maybe I’ll be able to explain why.

Over and out!
Nancy

the home downstairs

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The family that owns the house we’re living in, lives on the property too. All the units connect but we hardly ever see or hear each other. Downstairs in our house is a staircase that has a little post-it note sign: Please Do Not Open.

This door leads directly into our neighbors apartment. For the first time the other night, we got to see what lies on the other side. B and C had us over for dinner with some friends and neighbors.

I love this family. There’s something so easy and warm about them. The house, in a way, is an embodiment of their spirit.

One of our neighbor’s who came to the dinner also has left a strong impression on me. She is a huge personality and exudes a joyfulness that is so magnetic. She was a firefighter for 18 years. I love her stories. I could listen to them for hours.


Slow burn

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We had friends in from out of town recently. Last year only a couple of people came to visit. This year there’s a steady march of people coming in from NY.

My friends, at our suggestion, came into Kailua one afternoon and because of a combination of unfortunate circumstances lost their wallet, iphone, license, money, and credit cards. We felt terrible for them.

They believed that they were bamboozled by locals that had the stereotypical signs of being crystal meth addicts. I have no reason to disbelieve them–they’re very reasonable, level-headed people. I’ve been thinking about it alot because it’s so different from our experience of Kailua. Would I feel the same way about this place if I hadn’t had the opportunity to slowly develop a love for it?

Their misfortune left me a little sad about Kailua but more sad that they would leave associating it with unhappy things. My friend encouraged us to get a guard dog in our new place. His wife added that we might consider a pitbull.

On the flip side we went to a dinner party the other night for a writer that was also visiting from out of town. He and his family had spent his two year sabbatical on Oahu. After his sabbatical ended they came back a couple of months later. This visit is their second vacation here in less than six months.

I asked K if he thought we would be like them after this year is done– coming back to Hawaii every few months because we miss it so much. He answered that he thought we’d probably be busy trying to establish a real home for ourselves in NY.

In the meantime, Kailua continues to be a revelation to me. I’m pretty certain that wherever we go and whatever happens to us I’ll always see this time as key in shaping my idea of home.   Despite bouncing from place to place, I feel a sense of belonging here that I haven’t felt anywhere else.


Settling Down in Kailua: Part 2 Conveniences and Treats

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In my short term assessment, Kailua is like a resort town for locals. It doesn’t feel like there are alot of tourists here even though the beach is easy to access golden, quiet, and clean. Maybe it’s that tourists conduct themselves differently here. It’s one of the prettiest and most relaxing beaches I’ve ever been to. We’ve been here for over 3 weeks now and I’ve come to the conclusion that if you can’t find comfort here you’re probably a little crazy.

what to know/ bring to Kailua Beach

  • sunblock– nothing beats Le Roche Posay Anthelios spf 50 any formulation
  • tan enhancer– Maui Babe browning lotion
  • flip flops – reef flip flops can be pretty and you feel like you’re walking on marshmallows (minus being sticky)
  • lip balm/sun block– Epicuren lip balm spf 8

note: if you’re not used to the sun you should have a bottle of water with you.

In NY we order takeout or eat out 97% of our meals. In Kailua we’ve cooked every dinner except for one. It’s a refreshing change. One of my favorite things to do here is make breakfast: taro pancakes, bacon and a fried egg. I love breakfast.

how to fry an egg: http://www.ehow.com/how_2637_fry-egg.html

When we were in Shanghai and didn’t have a kitchen I ordered the same thing every morning from Hua Ting Hotel room service: blueberry pancakes, hashbrowns, bacon, congee and a salted egg. Same goes for our four months in Vancouver’s Sutton Place Hotel: pancakes, hash browns, eggs with ketchup and tabasco.

The difference here is that we have a large kitchen with tons of counter space, a dishwasher and a ceramic top stove. I’ve discovered that recipes, like maps aren’t so confounding. If you take the time and patiently do what each step tells you to do, almost anyone can roast a chicken!

favorite recipe: zuni roast chicken: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4401342

These are the things that I haven’t managed to get used to: Hawaii bugs and geckos; how dark evenings are; how quiet it is; and finally people who don’t lock their cars and houses. Pretty much as soon as it gets dark, I lock all the doors and turn on every porch and lanai light. It’s very interesting how menacing a bird landing in a palm tree can sound.

good cheap white wine brands available at Kailua’s Foodland

  1. Coppola
  2. Kendall Jackson
  3. Ecco Domani

Part 3: Kailua: Its little sister Lankai

Settling Down in Kailua Part 1: Renting and Car Buying 101

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Today is our fifth day in Kailua. Somehow it feels like we’ve been here for ages. I think much of our ability to adjust has to do with the place we’re living in–a beautiful breezy 2 bedroom directly across from Kailua Beach. We have a backyard, a front yard, and high sloping ceilings that could make anyone forget about a Manhattan alcove studio–no matter how central its location. The rent isn’t cheap but for two people trying to make Hawaii a real home (even temporarily) it was a no-brainer.

We found our place as most people do–through craigslist. It was the first place we saw (and liked) but were wary of the cost as well as this kind of retirement vibe. But the minute you walk out of the house, Kailua Beach stretches out in front of you quiet and golden, and with respect to Susan Sontag it’s so beautiful it looks like a tv show.

Hawaii is an easy place to find a new home. There are hardly any credit or reference checks. Mostly people want to meet you and see how it feels when they talk to you–which I find refreshing and very easy to adjust to.

From what I’ve seen, read, and heard this is the my order of Oahu neighborhoods I would live in:

  • Kailua/Lanikai
  • Diamondhead
  • the North Shore
  • Ala Moana for convenience
  • Waikiki if you need to be around alot of activity (bars, mainstream shopping)
  • and Chinatown which is not very pretty or close to the beach but seems more affordable and has alot of less touristy nightlife

We had settled on a home and next had to find a used car–a first for both of us. K had been combing through craigslist looking for a Toyota Corolla until my dad said we should buy a used car from a dealer because it would be certified and have a dealer’s warranty. A mechanic I spoke to over the course of this search recommended otherwise because a private owner would likely charge less and would be up front about any problems. We focused on finding a Mazda 6 or a Corolla. My dad said that if we were looking at spending 10k-15k that we should also consider the Nissan Versa.

We visited a Servco (a certified used car franchise) near the airport and pulled up a carfax that said that the Corolla we were considering from them with 5k+ miles may have had its odometer tampered with and the actual mileage was closer to 25k. Some dealers will pull up car histories for you but in my opinion it’s worth it to purchase the 10 pack of carfax reports ($30). Another very helpful tip was to identify a good mechanic that could do a once over on the car before you buy it. It seems to be standard practice for the dealer to bring the car to a mechanic of your choosing and pick it up.

Mechanics in Oahu with preliminary good reviews

  • A1 Auto repair
  • McCully Auto Repair

We spent 2 hours at New City Nissan, recommended by McCully Auto Repair. They were very nice but had no real options in terms of used cars in our price range and they were the Honolulu version of a car salesman stereotypes (ie they would not let us leave). They did however offer upfront to bring any of the cars to a mechanic. The place we ultimately purchased from, Servco Subaru actually discouraged it saying they’d had their own mechanic look at it and it was fine (which I find funny and weird). The highlight of New City Nissan was test driving the Versa– a compact cheap little car (14k-19k). Test driving it was like sitting in a little chocolate box. The SL is bluetooth enabled, has an iPod jack, and a seat jack. Very cute and sturdy.

Our salesman, Brian, as we waited for his manager’s offer, made some recommendations in terms of restaurants in Oahu. He said Nico’s for seafood and Pyramid for Indian cuisine. We’ve yet to try either. I think our time at New City basically plumped us up for the kill at Servco Subaru a licensed used Toyota dealer. In their tiny parking lot was a charcoal gray 2006 Toyota Corolla with dark interior, sun roof, and 30,000 clocked miles. We were so tired and happy to find a Corolla in such fine condition that we skipped the mechanic check. Which was a gamble that turned out alright.

Kailua restaurants:

  • Boots and Kimo’s-an Aloha Rag staff member blogged about their macadamia nut pancakes, allegedly the best in the world.
  • Buzz’s Steakhouse– great terrayaki burgers. cash only. no flip flops after 5PM.
  • Lucy’s Bar and Grill– the fish of the day plus crab dynamite reminds me of my favorite dish from Soho’s Aquagrill.
  • Champa Thai– haven’t been yet. recommended by two people.

note- someone that grew up in Kailua swears by the watermelon shaved ice w/ snowcap at Island Snow. IMO, it’s pretty good but Waiolas shaved ice with extra mochi is about the greatest thing one can eat.

Part 2: Conveniences in Kailua