Wow, it's been a nutty few months. I had many reasons to worry about my overall well-being for a bit there but things are finally getting sorted out. The lengths I go for stories to tell later in life. Anonymous, guess what, I am still unemployed. But as long as I'm unemployed, there's no reason to stagnate. So I shoved off to the Bay Area in October for my buddy's wedding in San Francisco. It was a great time that continued when much of the same circle of friends traveled to Oahu two weeks later for another wedding. It was an amusing time filled with dancing, eating, diving, surfing, jumping, and sun-burning.
You must try Puka Dog next time you're in Waikiki. Hot dogs with garlic sauce and tropical relish. They've got yummy shave ice as well. I did a great dive with an outfit called Aquazone (tip Erin and John for me if you see 'em, I didn't have any cash on me). We checked out the Kahala Barge wreck and Fantasy Reef. I saw turtles, a shark, octopus, eel, and all sorts of funny lookin' fishies. And finally, I roasted my back in the sun, laying on a surf board for an hour and a half. I just wasn't feelin' the waves and ended up floating around like driftwood. Alas, I will be back Hawaiian waves... you will be surfed.
My friends Dan and Kelly graciously put me up in their guest room in LA while I went to Halloween and election activities. Then I shot back up to the Bay Area again to house-sit and watch my brother's kids while he and his wife were off on a travel adventure of their own. After a few more days of playing Mr. Mom, I've gotta run down to LA for some other wedding activities before the Thanksgiving holiday. Back and forth, forth and back. At least gas prices have come down.
I've got some interesting things in store for 2009. Hopefully, I'll have some more stories to tell.
You must try Puka Dog next time you're in Waikiki. Hot dogs with garlic sauce and tropical relish. They've got yummy shave ice as well. I did a great dive with an outfit called Aquazone (tip Erin and John for me if you see 'em, I didn't have any cash on me). We checked out the Kahala Barge wreck and Fantasy Reef. I saw turtles, a shark, octopus, eel, and all sorts of funny lookin' fishies. And finally, I roasted my back in the sun, laying on a surf board for an hour and a half. I just wasn't feelin' the waves and ended up floating around like driftwood. Alas, I will be back Hawaiian waves... you will be surfed.
My friends Dan and Kelly graciously put me up in their guest room in LA while I went to Halloween and election activities. Then I shot back up to the Bay Area again to house-sit and watch my brother's kids while he and his wife were off on a travel adventure of their own. After a few more days of playing Mr. Mom, I've gotta run down to LA for some other wedding activities before the Thanksgiving holiday. Back and forth, forth and back. At least gas prices have come down.
I've got some interesting things in store for 2009. Hopefully, I'll have some more stories to tell.
Yesterday was just another day at the beach but this morning I decided to get up early and hike up Diamond Head Crater. I zoomed up past the other tourists in my flip flops, triumphantly reaching the top in about 25 minutes. Sweat running from my forehead, I took a last look around Oahu and thought about completing my around the world journey in ten hours. I rushed back down the crater to make it back in time for a shower at my last shared hostel dorm room of the trip. Before I did though, I grabbed a Hawaiian shave ice.
A girl named Kori discovered my short film, Missing Pieces, on the net about a year ago and soon after, she found out about my trip. I'd never met her but she was one of the first donors to feedtony.com. A native Hawaiian, she requested that I treat myself to a shave ice when I made it to Honolulu. So here it is, my last thank you of the trip:
Mahalo Kori!
I'm at the airport waiting for my flight. Five hours til I hit the mainland. Nutty man, nutty.
Been taking it easy in Hawaii. The weather's been great. I've worn shorts and flip flops everyday. I have many thanks to go out to people who have thrown some extra funds my way to help ease the pain of spending real American currency. Let me tell you, it's shocking to hand over the greenbacks after playing with the 'Monopoly money' that is foreign currency for the past ten months. I feel like the cashiers at the ABC store have to pry the bills from my hands sometimes.
First big thanks goes to Erica and Anton for my sunset dinner at Longhi's in the Ala Moana Center. I ate at this restaurant with my friend Manash when I was in Honolulu two years ago for the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival. Back then, I tried the Longhi's Shrimp and Scallops. I'd been dreaming of having it again ever since I left two years ago. This time around I started with an artichoke appetizer. I don't remember the last time I had a whole artichoke but it reminded me of eating them with my parents when I was a kid. Mmm, butter. Anyhoo, it was a nice meal even though I had to dine alone this time.
Yesterday, I went to do the touristy Polynesian Cultural Center museum and Lu'au. Mahalo to my brother Walt for helping to fund the full day of exploring Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Aoteroa, Hawaii, and Marquesas cultures. I saw traditional dances, listened to music, learned how to throw a Tongan spear (my favorite part), and sampled coconut bread cooked in the ground. In the evening I got lei'd on my way to my first luau. There I watched more performances, including one guy's amazing jam session on the ukelele, and feasted on a massive meal of fish, chicken, taro, roast pork, rice, salads, and four types of dessert. I had to fight a food coma on the bus ride back to the hotel.
And today, I did some scuba diving with Dive Oahu, a great dive shop here in Honolulu where Captain Dave and Hector, my dive guide, took really good care of me. This trip came courtesy of Carol and John who've urged me to enjoy these dive opportunities whenever I can. I'm glad I did because this wreck dive down to a ship called Sea Tiger was one of my favorite dives. About 100 feet deep, the ship was a really cool sight. The most thrilling bit was when I turned to point out a spotted ray to my fellow divers and just as I turned back to look at it again, a sea turtle swam right up to me. I flipped around backwards and watched it glide right over me. Later, the guide took us into the ship where we found another turtle hiding out in the dark. Fun stuff.
Exhausted from waking up early and getting on a boat, I checked into the YHA hostel and took an afternoon nap. For dinner, Tristan's cash went towards a Mexican dinner at Senor Frog's. I'd been craving Mexican food for months and I was going to wait til I got back to California but a coupon lured me to this funny joint. I had tortilla soup and chicken enchiladas, oh, and a crazy full stomach afterwards. To ease the pain I went for a post-dinner walk along the beach at sunset.
One more full day to enjoy paradise. I'm back in the Bay Area on Saturday night. I'll be in town for a few days and then I'm running down to LA for a two day film gig. Gotta go where the money is. But no worries, I will be around Cali to see all of my friends and family before some employer slaps the shackles back on my wrists.
Check out Azad's latest photoblog from Iran, Germany, and Spain at LifeGoesOnInTehran.com Wish him a happy birthday, too (because I forgot to!)
Aloha!
Can you believe it? I'm on American soil again. I made it! The flight was a little over 8 hours long. I was a bit miserable. When I landed, I felt as lonely as the day I left. But after making a few phone calls and cracking jokes with customs officials, I was getting into the aloha spirit.
I'm staying at the Aqua Continental at the moment [that's my partial ocean view above]. My first evening back in America consisted of eating Round Table Pizza delivery and watching late night talk shows. [I think it gave me heart burn. American food strikes its first blow to my system. Nice one.]
I saw this thing on Blogger today and I'm not sure what it does but I've got time on my hands so feel free to try it out. I think if you click this button, it'll call my phone or something [UPDATE- Put YOUR number in and it'll call you to ask if you'd like to call my phone. Really weird but it actually works]:
Labels: Hawaii
