The Adventures of Sunsette -- Texas Travels, Part II— Apr. 12

[Alliecat]

"Hi everyone!  Still with us?  Our journey's not over yet...
"davidd.... YES!!  It's a hau.  Mum looked at the photos taken along the path and recognized the leaves.  Guess we couldn't stump you after all."

"Next we went to Waikiki.  The last photo above was taken while we waited for a pre-booked discount taxi that never showed up.  After you book for your arrival time, you still have to call them AGAIN when you get there, and THEN they dispatch the taxi!  Through gridlocked traffic?  And they make you wait far from all the other taxis at the smoking area.  Ew!!  A random taxi arrived, cruising for fares.  Mum took that one, and got soaked on the fare.  At this point she was beginning to think we'd run out of cash.  We didn't... whew...
"(And she left the other company a bad review on Tripadvisor " )


"We're in an Airbnb along the Ala Wai canal in Waikiki.  It was a bit of a shock after our luxurious retreat.  According to Mr Airbnb Guy, our little cubbyhole, probably less than 200 square feet, is worth several hundred thousand dollars.  Well, the view is nice from the part of the lanai that doesn't face straight into the neighbouring tower 40 feet away..."



"We hopped on a bike and went holoholo.  This is familiar territory.  Mum has occasionally dreamed she was back in Hawaii, and she said this felt like another one.  Except the traffic was worse."



"Mum used to live here!!  It was on the 7th floor, at the end.  She said coming back was very surreal, and it seemed like all the years in between disappeared.  She didn't go looking for her old landlady, whom she said was crazy..."



"And she used to work here!!!  Many years ago, there was a dolphin cognition research lab here.  Mum found them fascinating and wonderful, but she says if she could've gone back and stolen the dolphins to take them back to the sea, she would have.  It's a junkyard lot now.  That was weird and surreal too."



"Mum's sand souvenir from the beach beside the lab site."



"We were pretty huhu cos she forgot our surfboards."



"At the Outrigger Hotel we saw this restored wa'a that's over 100 years old.  The builders gave them names, and this one is called Kalele.
"I wonder if we could find a we-sized one...?"



"The International Marketplace used to be a really cool warren of souvenir vendors in winding alleys under a fabulous banyan tree.  It was a wonderful place to find cute and kitschy and sometimes great stuff, for really cheap.  A few years ago they all got kicked out when the place was turned into a high-end mall.  BORing!!"



"At least they kept the tree.  There are a few nice statues of historical figures, but the rest is stores you could find in any ritzy shopping district.  Did I mention boring?  There was hardly anyone in the mall and we only went in one art gallery.
"The remaining vendors are now stuck in an alley a couple of blocks down.  We spent more time there.  Mum found out she could've got we-size surfboards way cheaper than in Kona, and the whole crew could've had them.  Auwe!"



"Mum remembered, today!
"A French lady came along and asked to take our picture.  She said we were trop mignon.
"(And we're saving our very favourite photo with these till the very end!)"



"We went to the Waikiki Aquarium.  Mum was also huhu, that she'd wasted time at the boring mall (because Airbnb Guy said it would be cool to see) ... time that could've been spent at the much cooler aquarium, which we saw in a rush."


"A wall of little tanks of different corals."



"Mum thought the nautiluses were really cool when she was here before, and she was happy to see them again."



"The jellyfish made for great photos! We're not sure why they're swimming upside down..."


"Queen Kapiolani, in the park named for her.  She was queen consort of Hawaii from 1874 to 1891.  It's common to see leis on the statues around Hawaii."



"Our last sunset in Honolulu.  It was just a weekend.  Mum wished she'd booked for longer.  We watched the sunset from Kapiolani Park and wished this interesting dream could go on a little longer."



"Nighttime view from our Airbnb."



"Mum will always remember her first arrival in Hawaii.  Landing at night, she saw the 'splashes' of light up all the valleys, and it was as though humanity had splashed up like lava onto the shores of the islands."



"We'll be back... we hope."

"Mahalo for following!  More to come!"