eager to fly now
Saturday, 25 December, 2004
more normal tourist things: drove around the island and went to the blowhole, where a lava tube at or below water level has a hole in the top of it too, so waves that come inside it at the right angle, or something, come out the hole in the middle of the rock and it looks like a little geyser, or, yes, a blowhole. i think we drove around most of the island that day; we also had lunch at a little shack where they cook pigs in the ground and plan to do so until the health department comes to shut them down. i had squid in taro leaves and coconut milk thingy, which was quite good; the rest of the group had pig that had been cooked in the ground. there was also poi which was very interesting, and some yummy salmon thingy that shall be discussed on foodblog eventually.
i also had dim sum for the first (and later the second) time ever in chinatown. it was really good. i can’t believe i had never had it before.
the bishop museum, which was part of the geeky section of the trip, was really neat. i was wrong about the scienceness of it; it was mostly a hawaiian/polynesian culture and natural history museum. which was very cool.
oh, and a major part of the geeky section was sitting around reading. i read the last samurai which has nothing to do with the movie and which my pal jeanne recommended; i quite liked it. i read most of wicked, which i also liked but did not get a chance to finish before i left for reno, which is where i am now. but i did not bring it with me because i was too close to the end; instead i brought fingersmith, also recommended by jeanne. i like it; she is good at recommendations.
christmas was relatively unstressful, considering. my stepmom & her husband (not my father; long story that you prolly all know) are having the kitchen and dining room redone so there is no sink, no countertops (just plywood), no stove or oven, and no fridge in the kitchen (though there is one in the garage). fortunately, christmas eve dinner, which is held here, consists of soup cooked in a crock pot and caesar salad with meat grilled on the barbecue. dishes were washed in the bathroom sink, which was a fun adventure, but the whole thing was easier than we could reasonably expect given the utter lack of kitchen appliances.
i did not, alas, get an ipod, though i was not surprised since i did not ask for one. but i might buy one. i am having serious lust. it’s pretty bad.
i get to go home tomorrow. this is good.
(song: “the only living boy in new york,” simon & garfunkel)
Posted by Lauren at 10:05 pm |
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In the catalog under reading; travel/Hawaii; food
the wrinkled hand of fate
Sunday, 19 December, 2004
the first disorienting thing i noticed about being in honolulu was the birds. there were no pigeons at the airport - there were only these doves everywhere. i have since seen maybe ten pigeons, but at least as many of the doves as there would be pigeons in seattle. other birds i haven’t seen yet make strange noises that wake me up in the morning; that is disorienting in a way i have never experienced before. it makes me feel exotic and confused and out of place.
not exotic, on the other hand, is the bug bites. i seem to be irresistable. no one else has been bit at all, but i have bites all over my feet and ankles and one on the back of one calf, and yesterday when waiting for the bus (also supremely non-exotic, which was kind of comforting, really) i absentmindedly scratched my itchy knuckle, and scratched and scratched and scratched, then realized i had no idea why it itched so much, and looked down to see that it was swollen and poofy and couldn’t bend hardly at all. happily, convenience stores abound, and they carry benadryl cream, so i did not die of bizarre finger-related allergies.
i have been doing both normal tourist things and big huge dork semi-tourist things.
normal: went to matsumoto shave ice on the way to a beach to see a surfing tournament; took some pictures of pineapples for my sister.
went to manoa falls (which i can see from the bedroom window), though it seemed to be abnormal to consider this a little walk; on the way back down, we encountered people (tourists) with gear like they were going for a fifteen-mile hike as well as people five minutes from the beginning who wanted to know how much farther.
yesterday went to waikiki and wandered around and did not (could not) distinguish ourselves from the overconsuming masses. yuck.
big huge dork semi-tourism:
bought fresh veggies and fish in chinatown on the first day and had fabulous sashimi and rice and chinese mustard cabbage for dinner. i like the food here.
went to waikiki aquarium where there were mostly children. well, and fish. that was pretty cool. (HUMUHUMUNUKUNUKUAPUA’A!!)
today going to the bishop museum too see half a whale and some other stuff. yay for science.
pictures to come eventually.
(song: “temporary,” aj roach)
Posted by Lauren at 10:21 am |
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In the catalog under travel/Hawaii; food
a nightmare that i could not stand to see
Monday, 6 December, 2004
i remembered an exciting thing to tell, though i am not sure if it is the exciting thing i was trying to remember last week:
i am going to hawaii for a week over winter break.
excitement!
then i am coming back and then going to reno and then coming back from that and sleeping for a while.
(song: “iowa,” dar williams)