It's early here in Hawaii, not quite 6 am, when I started this blog. I managed to sleep in until 5 or so, which means I got about 7.5 hours of sleep. I forced myself to stay awake until 9:45 last night (and it was tough not falling asleep around 7:30 or so) so I am on the way to getting adjusted to the time difference out here. Hopefully by Sunday or Monday morning I should be most of the way there. I remember when I was here in 2010 I tended to get up every morning around 6:30 and be asleep by 11.
Yesterday was travel day. Got up at 4am, left the house by 4:45am, and Allyssa drove me to the airport. Checked in by 5:45 and then got to the gate only to find my plane was delayed by 10 minutes, then 30 minutes, finally 45 minutes. Seems they had an emergency medical condition on the overnight flight and the pilot overheated the brakes and they had to cool down before they could fly again. However, we made up the lost time, all but 10 minutes of it, so we arrived in LAX approximately about the time we were supposed to land. Then things went all pear shaped.
LAX, you know for being one of the largest and busiest airports in the world, it certainly isn't meant to handle the crowds it does. It's far too small, it's gates were meant for smaller aircraft, and the waiting areas can't seat even 1/2 the people on a 150 person plane. Anyway, the plane before mine was stuck at the gate, due to mechanical difficulties. When it eventually pushed back, almost 45 minutes after it was supposed to have left for Kona, we had to wait another 20 minutes for our plane to arrive at the gate. Then as we were getting ready to push back, a Delta airlines plane broke down in the space between the terminals, so we had to wait until a tow tug pulled it to its gate and we could exit. That meant we were about 90 minutes late. And this time, there was no making up lost time, so instead of arriving at 1:30 pm, we arrived around 3:00 pm.
With all the delays, I did manage to finish off a 550 page fantasy novel and read a 250 page book on the History and Culture of Japan. I need to stop by a bookstore and get more reading materials. I even managed to do an hour's work on a non-academic project I have to finish by the middle of August.
I got my luggage, took a taxi cab ride and got stuck in early Honolulu traffic, and $40 later, I checked into the Ramada Plaza Waikiki. Its not bad, recently updated, with a king size bed and right across the street from the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It's at the Ala Moana end of Waikiki, but its not bad. I grabbed a quick shower, changed out of the clothes I had been wearing for 12+ hours, and went go see where I was with some walking. Four miles and two and a half hours later I was back at my hotel.
What did I do? I basically wandered down the main drag in Waikiki. Walked past the Hilton Hawaiian Village, passed Fr. DeRussy museum, and into Waikiki. Stopped at a Crazy Shirts store and bought two new t-shirts, then wandered around the touristy section of Waikiki. Stopped by the Moana Surfrider and had a beer at the Banyan Tree bar (I spent a lot of time there in 2010 while Lisa was sunning on the nearby beach), then walked to the Honolulu Zoo end of the main drag, before walking back and looking for a Ganesh statue. Thanks Lisa for that request. No success right now, even in the Duke St. trader's alley where we found one the last time.
By this time I was getting hungry, but I wasn't sure what to do. I hate eating alone, but at some point I had to get some food in me since I had last eaten at 1pm California time on the airplane to Hawaii (one of the benefits of first class was that I got a decent meal). Eventually after debating and wandering through the Hilton Hawaiian Village complex (and I mean complex) I chose to stop at one of the numerous ABC Stores (think of a super glorious Walmart style convience store). Got a beer, some soft drinks, a bag of chips, a mochi (a sweet Japanese dessert) and a sandwich sampler (three 1/2 sandwiches) all for the delightful $18 dollars! God I forgot how expensive things were here. Anyway, I found a way to eventually cross the street and then went back to my hotel, settled down with my "gourmet" meal, and watched some tv until bedtime.
This morning it is up at 5 am, and a slow start out of bed. Reading my iPhone to catch up on news (wow, you miss a lot when you are asleep), then sit at my computer typing out my blog entry. I am not quite sure what today will entail, but it will be slower than usual. I mean even throw on my swim trunks and go across the way to the Hilton Hawaiian Village and use their beach for a bit. Who knows...but I probably should go into the ocean at some point more than I did in 2010. I am down the street from the Ala Moana mall, so I will probably head off there too at some point to pick up a few sundries I need for the dorm stay starting Sunday afternoon.
Tomorrow is the Hula festival, but today? Today is a mystery.
I'll post some pictures in the next post to go along with all this blah, blah.
Aloha!
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