After many hours of travel, I finally arrived in Honolulu airport and was reunited with the Bruce to my Vasper. I was given a beautiful fresh flower lei and was driven across the island to Kaneohe where I would be staying for my trip. Once there I marvelled at the feeling of carpet on my toes, changed into much cooler clothes, and was introduced to Quincy, Theresa’s adorable dog.
The first day is kind of a blur since I was jetlagged from not sleeping on the plane and confused that it was still Thursday! It mainly consisted of eating, praising Beezus, and catching up. The next day I got stuck into island life, starting with mimoas on the balcony overlooking the bay. Once we’d decided to actually move and get dressed we went to the nearby botanical gardens and I got to see more of the islands beauty. That night we went to a local bar (Bob’s) with some of Theresa’s friends for what turned into a hilarious night out. A memorable moment was when some random guy came over and attempted to talk to us, upon learning that I was from the UK he chanted LEEDS LEEDS LEEDS at me for about a minute. When I then informed him that I was from Leeds he refused to believe me, and then refused to leave. He eventually left us alone, and joined some girl on the dance floor who was flailing around spectacularly, so everyone was happy! After trying cinnamon whisky, taking bathroom selfies, and dancing it was time to leave but it was a great night.
On my list of things to do was to see a hula performed, and it turns out a mall has shows for free everyday, so on Saturday we headed across the island to shop and see the performance. Aside from one spectacularly creepy male dancer, it was really good and demonstrated the history and evolution of the dance via songs which was so cool. Since we were at the mall I took the opportunity to buy some souvenirs, including some amazing socks which make it look like you’re wearing flip-flops which I later wore with my flip-flops to Theresa’s disapproving look. We had a minor problem getting home as we ran into a Chinese New Year parade and had to wait for it to pass before we could go. As much as I tried to avoid the Chinatown and Chinese food, China seems to follow me around!
Sunday was meant to be hike day, but high winds and lots of rain the day before meant that the carpark was full as everyone flocked to the hike on a decent day. As a result we went for Mexican food, margaritas, and even more shopping in Kailua. I couldn’t complain, it was a great afternoon and the best hike I’ve ever done! In the evening we went to a Bubbly Sunday dinner party at one of Theresa’s friends house and met Noodles and Pono, who are easily 2 of the cutest dogs I’ve ever seen in my life. It was so much fun to eat good food, drink champagne, and chat to people who all spoke English well! Very unlike China!
My first weekend in Hawaii consisted of relaxing and settling in, eating food, and meeting people. It was so much fun, even if the Thursday was ridiculously long.
lifeintheshiz 