I got "lei'd" in Hawai'i
Aloha,
I came back from Hawai'i on Saturday. I will go over the ENTIRE trip just for your reading pleasure. I left my house on Saturday June 4th. Our flight went from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta. I thought that was completely pointless because it was only an hour and a half flight. Anyway, while we were in Atlanta, I swear I saw Aaron Carter. He was rushing through the airport with a big group of people. He was wearing a hoodie to hide his face, but I saw him, even if it were for only a few seconds. I think he knew I knew it was him because when he noticed I was looking at him he looked away and started walking faster. My dad still doesn't believe me, but whatever. Then we took a flight from Atlanta to San Francisco. It was a little cold. On the way there I saw the Grand Canyon and the Snow capped Rockies through the window of the plane. It was really pretty. We took a couple pictures of it. We stayed in San Francisco for maybe an hour and a half then we took the flight to Honolulu. The entire flight process took about 15 hours. Don't think you get greeted with a flower lei when you get off the plane like you do in the movies. You have to pre order the greeting. It costs some money. That night we went straight to our hotel (Hilton Hawaiian Village) in a taxi (which happened to be a mini van) and crashed.
The next day we crashed some more then we went to the Ala Moana Mall via Trolley. The mall is huge and out doors. It has a lot of expensive stores like Fendi, Coach, Burberry (sp?), Louis Vuitton, etc... Some of these stores were in the hotel/village I was staying at too. It really was a village. There were 4 different towers: Ali’i (means royal), Kalia (don’t know what it means, but this is the one I stayed in), Diamond Head (the name of a mountain), and Rainbow (it has a rainbow mural made of ceramic tile along the side of the building. Its said to be the largest in the world). There are a bunch of shops and restaurants so it looks like a little town.
Anyway, on Monday I went to ‘chilax’ by the pool with my mom while my dad and my sister went to the beach. Then we went to dinner.
On Tuesday I went to the Polynesian Culture Center. It’s on the north shore of Oahu (the Island I stayed on) right next to Brigham young University. We were picked up by our tour guide, “Cousin” Jr. and bus driver “Uncle” Benny. “Cousin” Jr. was hilarious. He said that Hawaiian citizens are like one big family; therefore we were cousins while we were there. He showed us all these really cool things on the way there. There is a mountain that they call the Legend of the sleeping giant b/c it looks like a sleeping man. There was also an Island that they call China Man’s hat b/c it looks like a China Man’s hat. There was also a mountain that looked like a turtle.
He told us that 17% of PCC’s staff attends BYU and that the profit helps them pay for school. It was a really cool place. There is a station that represents each major island of Polynesia: Hawai’i, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Aotearoa (New Zealand), and the Marquesas. The people who work in the different stations are all originally from the island that they represent. All the people there were hilarious. (BTW, the guys all walk around with their shirts off. They were gorgeous!!!!) …I learned a lot of things. First I learned that Aloha is really a word of blessing. Tahitians are the ones that dance with the really fast movement of the hips. The Hawaiian hula is slow and uses the hands for expression. Back in the day the hula was used for religious purposes and was mostly done by men…. So yeah. There was a canoe parade where each island was represented by a dance, clothing, and song on a canoe. At the end of the day you get to go to a luau and they greet you with a flower lei and seat you at a table with people you don’t know. There was purple bread on the table. It is made from taro root. It’s sooo good. Taro root also makes poi. That stuff is soooo nasty. It’s one of Hawaiians’ main foods. It’s mashed up like paste and it’s gray. They it with fish (raw salmon), beef (kinda like a jerky), or this salsa type stuff. They did the whole traditional thing with the pig in the fire pit. The guys that lifted the pig were so fine! Anyway…the food was really good and the music was cool. The dance was really good too. After the luau there was a show with more dancing that included fire. In the last part of the show these guys came out and dance around with these fire baton things. They even sat on them in their grass skirts (which I learned is really made from the bark of a tree, not grass) and put the fire in their mouths. It was really cool. I did some shopping. I bought a kukui nut necklace and a puka shell set and a bookmark and a key chain. We were picked up, this time by “Cousin” Kevin. He let us watch this old Elvis movie on the bus that was filmed at PCC called “Paradise Hawaiian Style”. I was too tired to watch the whole thing.
On Wednesday we went on a tour of the entire Island of Oahu. It is so beautiful. Living there is expensive though. A decent house, smaller than mine, could start at half a million. A gallon of milk costs about $8. We went to a bunch of different spots that looked out into the ocean and we went to the Dole Pineapple plantation, some Chinese temple, and the Kualoa Ranch. “Mighty Joe Young”, “Jurassic Park”, and “Along Came Polly” were all filmed at the Kualoa Ranch. “Lost” is also being filmed there. Some Japanese pop star was filming her video while I was there. The place is extremely beautiful.
On Thursday my mom went to the spa for some massage thing while my sister and I went for snorkeling lessons at the pool. My snorkel instructor was really cute. His name was Ka’ai (I think) and he was really nice. He is a native Hawaiian. He has tattoos across his chest from the islands that he has been to. The last one is of the ocean where they put his grandmothers ashes. He told me that every month he paddles out to that spot on a kayak at sunrise and throws her favorite flower in the ocean. It was really sweet. He also told me that I should throw a flower lei into the ocean and if it comes back to shore I will have good luck. He said it’s an ancient Hawaiian superstition but he thinks it’s real. Then I attempted to snorkel at the beach, but it didn’t turn out too great because I was afraid to go out to far for fear of being eaten by a shark. Afterward, I went to the pool for a few hours then I went to dinner at this really nice Chinese restaurant in the hotel. I met these two Chinese people, Theresa and Anthony, who have been working together there for almost 20 years. They were hilarious; they love each other like grandma and grandson but they bicker a lot. It was a fun dining experience.
On Friday we checked out then did some shopping at the international market place. Then we went back to the hotel till about 5, went to Tony Roma’s for dinner, went back to the hotel and got in our limo for the airport. We asked for a taxi and they sent a lime, but a lot of people in Hawai’i use limos as basic transportation. My sister and I thought it was really cool. At the airport we saw David Robinson, basketball legend. We left the airport at 9pm and got to L.A. around 7am Cali time. Then from L.A. we went to Salt Lake City (more beautiful mountains) where these kids form a school in Portland, Oregon came from on a trip to Florida to go to the Bahamas. We got to Florida about 4:30pm. It was funny to watch the kids from Oregon. They were wearing sweatshirts b/c they didn’t expect for Florida to be so hot. It was like 80 degrees. When the got outside the airport they were burning up and immediately took their sweatshirts off. They were like “Aren’t you hot?” I was like “No…I live here. This isn’t hot. This is ‘less cool’. The 90s is hot.”
I got home, called some people, and then went to sleep. I know that this is a very long post but I was so excited I had to tell you everything! I might even have to post more.
I came back from Hawai'i on Saturday. I will go over the ENTIRE trip just for your reading pleasure. I left my house on Saturday June 4th. Our flight went from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta. I thought that was completely pointless because it was only an hour and a half flight. Anyway, while we were in Atlanta, I swear I saw Aaron Carter. He was rushing through the airport with a big group of people. He was wearing a hoodie to hide his face, but I saw him, even if it were for only a few seconds. I think he knew I knew it was him because when he noticed I was looking at him he looked away and started walking faster. My dad still doesn't believe me, but whatever. Then we took a flight from Atlanta to San Francisco. It was a little cold. On the way there I saw the Grand Canyon and the Snow capped Rockies through the window of the plane. It was really pretty. We took a couple pictures of it. We stayed in San Francisco for maybe an hour and a half then we took the flight to Honolulu. The entire flight process took about 15 hours. Don't think you get greeted with a flower lei when you get off the plane like you do in the movies. You have to pre order the greeting. It costs some money. That night we went straight to our hotel (Hilton Hawaiian Village) in a taxi (which happened to be a mini van) and crashed.
The next day we crashed some more then we went to the Ala Moana Mall via Trolley. The mall is huge and out doors. It has a lot of expensive stores like Fendi, Coach, Burberry (sp?), Louis Vuitton, etc... Some of these stores were in the hotel/village I was staying at too. It really was a village. There were 4 different towers: Ali’i (means royal), Kalia (don’t know what it means, but this is the one I stayed in), Diamond Head (the name of a mountain), and Rainbow (it has a rainbow mural made of ceramic tile along the side of the building. Its said to be the largest in the world). There are a bunch of shops and restaurants so it looks like a little town.
Anyway, on Monday I went to ‘chilax’ by the pool with my mom while my dad and my sister went to the beach. Then we went to dinner.
On Tuesday I went to the Polynesian Culture Center. It’s on the north shore of Oahu (the Island I stayed on) right next to Brigham young University. We were picked up by our tour guide, “Cousin” Jr. and bus driver “Uncle” Benny. “Cousin” Jr. was hilarious. He said that Hawaiian citizens are like one big family; therefore we were cousins while we were there. He showed us all these really cool things on the way there. There is a mountain that they call the Legend of the sleeping giant b/c it looks like a sleeping man. There was also an Island that they call China Man’s hat b/c it looks like a China Man’s hat. There was also a mountain that looked like a turtle.
He told us that 17% of PCC’s staff attends BYU and that the profit helps them pay for school. It was a really cool place. There is a station that represents each major island of Polynesia: Hawai’i, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Aotearoa (New Zealand), and the Marquesas. The people who work in the different stations are all originally from the island that they represent. All the people there were hilarious. (BTW, the guys all walk around with their shirts off. They were gorgeous!!!!) …I learned a lot of things. First I learned that Aloha is really a word of blessing. Tahitians are the ones that dance with the really fast movement of the hips. The Hawaiian hula is slow and uses the hands for expression. Back in the day the hula was used for religious purposes and was mostly done by men…. So yeah. There was a canoe parade where each island was represented by a dance, clothing, and song on a canoe. At the end of the day you get to go to a luau and they greet you with a flower lei and seat you at a table with people you don’t know. There was purple bread on the table. It is made from taro root. It’s sooo good. Taro root also makes poi. That stuff is soooo nasty. It’s one of Hawaiians’ main foods. It’s mashed up like paste and it’s gray. They it with fish (raw salmon), beef (kinda like a jerky), or this salsa type stuff. They did the whole traditional thing with the pig in the fire pit. The guys that lifted the pig were so fine! Anyway…the food was really good and the music was cool. The dance was really good too. After the luau there was a show with more dancing that included fire. In the last part of the show these guys came out and dance around with these fire baton things. They even sat on them in their grass skirts (which I learned is really made from the bark of a tree, not grass) and put the fire in their mouths. It was really cool. I did some shopping. I bought a kukui nut necklace and a puka shell set and a bookmark and a key chain. We were picked up, this time by “Cousin” Kevin. He let us watch this old Elvis movie on the bus that was filmed at PCC called “Paradise Hawaiian Style”. I was too tired to watch the whole thing.
On Wednesday we went on a tour of the entire Island of Oahu. It is so beautiful. Living there is expensive though. A decent house, smaller than mine, could start at half a million. A gallon of milk costs about $8. We went to a bunch of different spots that looked out into the ocean and we went to the Dole Pineapple plantation, some Chinese temple, and the Kualoa Ranch. “Mighty Joe Young”, “Jurassic Park”, and “Along Came Polly” were all filmed at the Kualoa Ranch. “Lost” is also being filmed there. Some Japanese pop star was filming her video while I was there. The place is extremely beautiful.
On Thursday my mom went to the spa for some massage thing while my sister and I went for snorkeling lessons at the pool. My snorkel instructor was really cute. His name was Ka’ai (I think) and he was really nice. He is a native Hawaiian. He has tattoos across his chest from the islands that he has been to. The last one is of the ocean where they put his grandmothers ashes. He told me that every month he paddles out to that spot on a kayak at sunrise and throws her favorite flower in the ocean. It was really sweet. He also told me that I should throw a flower lei into the ocean and if it comes back to shore I will have good luck. He said it’s an ancient Hawaiian superstition but he thinks it’s real. Then I attempted to snorkel at the beach, but it didn’t turn out too great because I was afraid to go out to far for fear of being eaten by a shark. Afterward, I went to the pool for a few hours then I went to dinner at this really nice Chinese restaurant in the hotel. I met these two Chinese people, Theresa and Anthony, who have been working together there for almost 20 years. They were hilarious; they love each other like grandma and grandson but they bicker a lot. It was a fun dining experience.
On Friday we checked out then did some shopping at the international market place. Then we went back to the hotel till about 5, went to Tony Roma’s for dinner, went back to the hotel and got in our limo for the airport. We asked for a taxi and they sent a lime, but a lot of people in Hawai’i use limos as basic transportation. My sister and I thought it was really cool. At the airport we saw David Robinson, basketball legend. We left the airport at 9pm and got to L.A. around 7am Cali time. Then from L.A. we went to Salt Lake City (more beautiful mountains) where these kids form a school in Portland, Oregon came from on a trip to Florida to go to the Bahamas. We got to Florida about 4:30pm. It was funny to watch the kids from Oregon. They were wearing sweatshirts b/c they didn’t expect for Florida to be so hot. It was like 80 degrees. When the got outside the airport they were burning up and immediately took their sweatshirts off. They were like “Aren’t you hot?” I was like “No…I live here. This isn’t hot. This is ‘less cool’. The 90s is hot.”
I got home, called some people, and then went to sleep. I know that this is a very long post but I was so excited I had to tell you everything! I might even have to post more.