« Greetings from the land of | Main | The next day was the »
August 07, 2004
The dinner plan was to
The dinner plan was to hit-up Outback Steakhouse where Ray works and eat with some friends. I think it was partially Ray wanting to show off his “second family” and I’ll admit, it was pretty good. We also met Jon, the guy Ray is staying with, “Moo” or Amanda, the cooler than hell Aussie whose Survivor and Amazing Race fetish is stellar, and lastly but not least, the oft-mentioned Meg of Ray’s last summer at camp.
There was plenty to talk about, including the fact that Meg will be in Seville, Spain in the fall to take courses. This harkens back to “James and Tim’s European Vacation” and our wandering of Seville for a few days (highlights: the most romantic dinner we’ve had with another guy, American girls who want to hang out attempt to entice us with a BOX of wine, and the Plaza de Espana).
That night came to a close a bit early, as the team had to be up and ready to get to Pearl Harbor bright and early the next morning. This time the mission was a success, we were around 40th in the line and had tickets on the first boat across to the Arizona Memorial.
The Arizona is an experience that is integral to Oahu, and to a larger extent Hawai’i. The small oil slick coming from the leaking oil chambers, the rusted ship, the wall of names, the site of the U.S. Entrance to World War II, and nearby, the ship where World War II was ended. It is quite amazing.
After that, we attempted to hit up a breakfast place that, get this, is open from 11pm to 2pm. No dinner here. God, how I crave a restaurant like this in Lincoln. For all hour food you have three choices: McDonald’s (see Super Size Me for my thoughts on the Golden Arches), The Hi-Way Diner (don’t touch the chicken if you like your bowel movements to be solid), and of course Perkins, which is a watered-down Village Inn. Funny thing though, although most of the McDonald’s in Lincoln are 24 hours, the ones we tried on Waikiki late one night were closed.
After finally getting some food, Ray got done with church and headed over for some afternoon surfing. The waves weren’t too big, but they were doable. The water was crowded though and it made it a bit harder. Not to mention the 12 ft. surfboards we were using. It was sort of hard to get around, but I caught a few waves and got up before biffing pretty hardcore into the sea. My back began to tighten up – which I think was a combination of the weird angle I had to use to get around in the water and the amount of sitting done over recent days. I got out in order to let Mom get in, as she had been faithfully guarding the stuff on the beach. I chilled out, answered Ray’s phone on the beach. Ray had to head off to play drums, and we ended up chowing down at a fish joint called Tiki’s. It came highly recommended, but turned out to just be ok – though the fresh fish was phenomenal. Ray came over to chill out for a while and that was that, one more day in Hawai’i down.
The plan for the next day was to go to a waterfall in the jungle before heading up to the north shore for some snorkeling. This new objective introduced us to the rest of the Aussies, and three carloads of us were off to a lookout point for a great view.
At the point, it was pretty windy, almost bordering on chilly for the guys, and definitely a bit cool for the female folk. In the mean time, some wild chickens got chased around by Josh. I’ve learned better than such things, knowing attacking one chicken can me an a whole flock of them will fill your view while trying to kill you. Dad’s comment: “That’s odd, normally he’s choking the chicken.”
That said, it was time to go to the rainforest and look for a waterfall.
REALLY STUPID MOMENT NUMBER 2: If you’ve seen American Pie 2, you’re familiar with the Rule of Three. For those who don’t know, guys will generally multiply the number of girls that they have slept with by three, while girls divide by three (rounding down). Ray does this too, if he tells you how much of something it would take to fill him up, divide it by three for the correct proportion, if he tells you how long a hike is, multiply by three to get the correct number.
Needless to say, the 15 minute hike was actually about 45. But let’s make sure we have all of the elements right. Firstly, most people were dressed for the beach first, and the quote “15 minute walk”, not a 45 minute jungle hike through very muddy trails. Secondly, differing speeds in Hikers can make a difference, and thirdly, if the trail actually wants you to walk along rocks up a stream, why do you cut a path the other way? Finally, remember that tropical depression, here comes the rain from it.
Needless to say, the forward group of younger kids took the cut path, not the rocks. This path was muddy and had some of the more entertaining challenges on the path as far as big rocks to climb over and tree branches to swing over. In the mean time, it was a dead end. Now, not realizing where the slower people in the group were, we headed back to the main path and sent a scout backwards before realizing they were just around the bend at the waterfall. Wheeeeee. Ultimately everyone got there, and heaven opened up on us. The only thing I forgot was Herbal Essences for that delightful waterfall showering experience. Everyone jumped in a few times, and then headed back, soaked clothes and all. I’ve had showers that were drier than that rainforest.
To make it more fun, Moo left her camera which got soaked (fortunately it was off, and hopefully with a power off for a few days it should dry out nicely) and everyone was soaked to the bone. Ray’s flip flops (formerly of the James Stevenson collection) were destroyed in the mud. Moving across rocks in streams is actually one of my favorite activities (FLASHBACK: Check out “James and Tim’s European Adventure – Andorra Edition for more on mountains and streams). In the end, we all had an awesome time, even though we were really wet.
At the top of the hill where we parked, an old movie ticket stub bled orange everywhere in my wallet, Dad was wearing a leaf has a hat for a little rain protection, and there was no way we were going to make it to the snorkeling place and still be back in time for the Luau (or for some of the guys to get to work).
We got back to the hotel, got dry and got ready to go the Luau. The problem with this is that while the tickets say the show will be canceled. It was coming down HARD and no cancellation. In addition to that, we were in the front outside of the roof, and had been told our tablets would be moved back under cover in case of rain… not so much.
Just to add a little insult to injury, as we walked in, they asked Mom how many people were under 21, she quickly blurted out 4, to my dismay. My ticket was reduced to being worth a virgin drink. Meanwhile we saw out in the rain while eating from a plate with a puddle in it. The appetizer of seaweed and raw salmon was oddly appropriate given the water on our plates. It’s pretty funny when the waiter tells you to eat quickly so your food isn’t soaked, so much for enjoying and savoring what could have been the best meal we had on the island.
After some major complaining to the manager, a refund was issued. We watched the dance show, which had some ok dances, a great fire dance, and was hosted by a genuine one hit wonder. This guy apparently was behind the Billboard Top 10 hit “Nothing is Going to Change My love for you.” Now he’s a singer at cheesy luaus at nights while teaching elementary students by day. I like the song though, so I suppose that made it kind of cool. I’m sure someday he’ll show up on VH1’s “I love 1992 7” and a panel of celebrities will make fun of him. Isn’t it impressive how VH1 is making a ton of money by just running shows that comment on everything else?
After that, Josh, Ray and I went for a stroll around Waikiki. Even though it was only 10 o’clock, there were already plenty of hookers on the street, and guys offering to sell us “herb”. Meanwhile, Ray was triple dog dared to go up to a woman and her teenage daughter and hit on BOTH of them. Other than that, we witnessed a butt slapping contest between a group of girls (hot), Josh tried to convince us to check out the local porn shop (not so hot) and we got thrown out of a park (definitely hot).
All in all, we got into a deep conversation about women and eventually later motives while lying half asleep on couches in the lobby waiting for Ray’s ride to show up. Not a bad evening overall, free food, a great hike, and fun conversation while walking by prostitutes. Also another plug for the European Adventure – check out the Lisbon entry for a little fun about hookers in the Red Light District at three in the morning.
--------
Posted by badwillhunting at August 7, 2004 04:33 PM