Hello! How are you all doing? I hope you’re starting to warm up a bit – spring is coming, don’t worry! I’m settling back into life in Korealand, sitting at the desk, and getting ready for a new school year and semester, yet again.
But before I get into that, I have to let you in on my secret: I didn’t actually go to Malaysia and Indonesia for vacation. Where did I go? To a beautiful chain of volcanic islands in the Pacific, where my mother had been for four days prior and no idea I was headed…to meet up with my best friend Allie and surprise Mom, with the help of my sneaky stepdad Brent. Yup, I flew to Hawaii for vacation. Now you know my secret, although pretty much everyone knew except you, Mom.
Hawaii was a wonderful choice for a vacation, and this time I really felt like I was on a vacation, instead of just traveling, I had ample beach time in the sun, I did a lot of sightseeing, I ate lots of wonderful American food again, but most importantly, I got to spend time with some really awesome people that I had really missed being with.
So, how did we surprise Mom? Well, I won’t give you all the details, but let’s just say there was a little screaming, some crying, and the best manifestation of surprise I have ever inflicted upon anyone in my life. Success. I spent the first week on the Big Island, with Allie, Mom, and Brent, and then I decided to spend the remainder of my time on Oahu once they all left me. Throughout the trip Allie and I had fun consulting 'The Book,' which was a little notebook I brought from Korea that was stuffed with printed off maps and travel information from Hawaii Lonely Planet PDFs - we used the maps, read about restaurants and coffee shops to go visit, and checked out all of the fun random lists that Lonely Planet has to offer - the top Hawaiian foods to eat, the best places to eat on the island, the best Hawaiian experiences, etc. In honor of 'the book' and Lonely Planet's lists, I'll give you my top ten experiences list from both islands. Oh, and the formatting can't seem to figure itself out, so I apologize for the picture/text alignment. It's not my fault, I promise.
Hawaii (The Big Island’s) Top Ten Experiences, in random order.
1. Spending time with three of some of my favorite people in the world…in the same place at the same time. Locations pictured include: eating fresh grilled fish with vegetables on the condo porch, the beautiful Black Sand Beach, and Hawaii Volcano National Park.
2. Reading James Michener’s Hawaii on the island of Hawaii, while drinking Kona coffee in the town of Kailua-Kona. It doesn’t get much more authentic than that.
3. Stand-up Paddleboarding with my best friend…and two dozen wild dolphins.
4. Swimming the Ironman triathlon course with real Ironmen triathletes - just for practice, of course.
5. Visiting a historical coffee farm and learning about where my lifeblood comes from. It takes a lot of work to turn that bright red cherry into an aromatic, delicious drink.
6. Going running and watching the sunrise over the crest of a volcanic mountain.
7. Eating at fantastic seaside restaurants and satisfying my cravings for American food…after a year and a half. Highlights include a taco salad, a shrimp and spinach pizza, a hot dog, shaved ice, and a sea food salad.
8. Hawaiian ice cream: all varieties of coconut, vanilla, macademia nut, and Kona coffee.
9. Seeing a Hawaiian sea turtle, called honu, at Turtle Beach.
10. Eating fresh mangoes from the Farmer’s Market.
Oahu’s Top Ten Experiences, in random order.
1. Watching the sunrise over the Pacific Ocean during a morning run (or hike, in this picture's case. Diamond Head at sunrise.)
2. Sitting for hours and becoming mesmerized by the waves on the North Shore.
3. Seeking out every type of coconut dessert possible…the winner was Cheesecake Factory’s Chocolate Coconut Cream Cheesecake. Yeah. That’s a real thing.
4. Buying new running shoes after FIVE years and going for early morning runs along the ocean.
5. People watching on Waikiki Beach.
6. Engaging in random chitchat with people…in English!
7. Standing in the bay looking out at Pearl Harbor while imagining the events of what happened there only seventy years earlier.
8.Visiting my first Hawaiian Barnes and Nobles…okay fine, just visiting Barnes and Nobles made the list automatically. You know that.
9.Making my own salad at a grocery store salad bar!
10. Snorkeling in a sunken volcanic crater.Google Haunama Bay if you're curious.
That about wraps up Hawaii in a 'coco'nutshell - on Oahu I started off most of my days with a run, then enjoyed coffee and peanut butter toast with my hostel roommates - most of whom were over the age of 50, none of whom spoke English as their first language.
After breakfast, it was time to either do some sightseeing in downtown Honolulu, or else pack up the beach bag and hit the shores. My guide to beach bumming: alternate laying, sleeping, reading, and people watching. Next, walk yourself down to a little convenient store to find an afternoon snack. or go back to the hostel to make lunch with the fresh vegetables from the Farmer's Market. After this, either return to the beach for more laying, wander around the fancy hotel lobbies and shops that line Waikiki, go find some delicious ice cream to eat, or plop yourself down at an outdoor coffee shop table with a book about Hawaii and read to your heart's content.
If you followed this routine, you were probably ready for dinner in the evening at the hostel, after which you should take a shower to wash off the sand and sunscreen, then commence on an evening walk: first find a sandy spot of shore to watch the sunset with pretty much the entirety of Waikiki Beach, then walk up and down the fancy restaurants and shops while observing various fashion choices, listening to different languages, and window shopping at all the pretty things. Oh, and if you were craving something sweet you could pop into one of the many Honolulu Cookie Company stores and munch on some free samples. I'm pretty sure I visited each one at least once, just to make sure they consistently tasted delicious. To finish off your night, I recommend visiting the Starbucks right around the corner and enjoying some Vanilla Roiboos Tea while writing in your journal about all the wonderful things you'd seen and done that day.
Sounds like paradise? It was. I felt a little guilty for not taking advantage of my time in Asia to do more traveling, but I realized that a taste of the States again was exactly what I needed. All in all, a successful trip all around - now that I've been back for a month or so I think of it as a wonderful dream ago. I still have a playlist saved on my iPod, now titled "Hawaii," and when I listen to it I get terrific images of blue water, soft sand, and green palm trees floating around in my mind. Can't ask for better memories than that! Hope you're all staying warm, miss and love you.
