Happy Friday.
Finally a weekend to relax. I know that sounds kind of retarded considering I was in Hawaii (on the island of Oahu) last week, but you have
no idea.
In a nutshell... with photos from the collaborative efforts of me and my wonderful co-workers.
We stayed at the
Moana Surfrider Hotel (A Westin Hotel) on Waikiki Beach. It's actually the first hotel establishment (1901) on Waikiki and is on the
National Register of Historic Places.
Behind the hotel is Waikiki Beach!
From the outside, it looks like a mansion.
From our balcony view to the right is the city.
And to the left is Waikiki Beach.
Inside the hotel elevators with Mel.
This meal cost me nothing but hard dedicated work.
My boss.
Breakfast the very next morning on the veranda. That's James.
And here's the rest of the gang.
My gorgeous co-worker, Lakeisha.
Off to the beaches.
This was the same day we snorkeled out towards the ocean and I swam above a shark without even knowing it. My boss grabbed me and told me to stay calm and that there was a shark right below me. I looked down and saw how big it was. And yes, it was big. I freaked out and hugged my boss. Mel, my boss, and I swam to shore safe. There is a longer version to this story. But I freak myself out everytime I think about it. I'm waiting for my boss to develop the underwater photos so I can share with you the horror. He thought it was funny. I obviously want to smack him across the face.
We saw a
monk seal hanging out outside our hotel on the beach. The monk seal is an endangered specie with only an estimated 1,200 remaining in the world. How cool is that?!
Lily and I.
My Melody.
On our hike up to the tippy top of
Diamond Head Crater the very next morning.
We woke up early in the morning to do this hike so we could watch the sunrise. Apparently crowds of people beat us to it.
Japanese tourist everywhere!
More Japanese tourist and Honolulu in the background.
Waikiki Beach in the morning.
This.
Is.
Love.
Getting ready for the 16 mile hike... ON OUR VACATION! My boss and James behind me.
View above the trees.
Manoa Falls.
That's me tempted to take my clothes off and dip into the pool of cold mountain water. It gets really hot in the jungle.
Boss man and James surrounded in bamboo trees.
We ran into this random man in the jungle. He probably lives somewhere in the trees. He says his name is Harold. But it's probably Mohipupunakoki.
View of a valley during our hike.
We attended a luau in Paradise Cove - which is somewhere I can't tell you because I really don't know my ways around the island and that is why you pay good money for internet to do the research.
Honestly, I prefer the luau in Maui (Lahaina) over this one because it really wasn't that great. The Maui luau wasn't all that great either which says a lot about how god awful this one was. However, if you do drink enough mai-tai's with your friends/co-workers, it's not so bad.
The pig.
And of course, the guy with the flaming batons at each end of the stick. This was kind of cool. It's like a raver with glowsticks, but on steroids.
It began to rain on our way to Pearl Harbor. It really sets the mood for whats to come.
Mel not happy with the rain and traffic.
...which makes for good PICTURE TIME!
The USS Arizona memorial. Unfortunately we did not make it to the last ferry to see the actual sunken battleship. But we did visit the visitor's center and enlightened ourselves with some good ol' US history... ON OUR VACATION!
I sat on this bench when I took this photo overlooking the harbor and thought to myself, "Holy shit, Japanese fighter planes hovered across these skies and totally pwned the US... I really miss playing TF2 with Leo... I would so want to be a soldier right now."
Sunset at the famous North Shore. The waves were calmer that day.
A closer look at the sunset. This is love.
Eating Mexican food for dinner at North Shore with the gang. On the right is me pouring Splenda into my ice tea. That was probably my 6th packet. I never use less than that.
Back in Waikiki there was some drinking.
And then some drunk karaoke.
And where there is drunk karaoke, there is drunk people. I do not know what is wrong with my face in that photo.
What I do know is, we had one hell of a time.
But Hawaii is for lovers.
And my lover was back home.
So I left.
Labels: Good People, Photos, The Job, Vacation
The park's recreation is also a plus. They have an International Swim Center that includes one diving pool, a huge lap pool, and a shallow kiddy pool. People who have participated in the olympics have practiced here. There are volleyball courts and basketball courts that are open til 3am. They have bowling greens (whatever that is), a humongous new library, playgrounds for the kiddies, a big barbeque area, people taking tai chi lessons on the grass, and tennis courts. There's heaps of things you can do in this 52 acre park. It's a great place to take a walk and hang out with the kiddies.
