All It Took Was Gustav: Invasion of Jin Joo and the Pearl Harbor

(How long has it been since my last entry? September 2008. That long...Nonetheless, here is the continuation of the Gustav series).

Breakfast was almost over by the time we got to Rainbow Lanai. Exhausted from the activities the day before, I overslept. On top of that, nobody in our party was in the mood for food that very morning. After a slow morning, we decided to take a drive to Pearl Harbor.

‘Why are going back to the airport? I am not ready to go back!’, I exclaimed.

‘Are you sure this is the right way?’, J asked as we drove towards the airport.

‘Yes! That’s what NeverLost says’, I replied.

Sensing that NeverLost will not get us there, I had my Garmin nüvi 360 switched on to get us there. When we were finally on the correct route, the crossbreed announced,

‘Let’s get something to eat before we get to Pearl Harbor’.

‘Huh? Eat again? Where at?’, I said as my parents chuckled.

‘I saw a few plazas on the way. We could see what they have there’, J said.

We turned around to stop at plazas J mentioned. The first plaza we stopped at had Genki Sushi. It was located in Pearl City along Kamehameha Highway. Instead of going in we ended up asking a candy shop operator where we could find something local and less ‘tourisy’. He told us to drive down the highway and we will come to a shopping center with eating places.

True enough we saw plenty of restaurants located at the shopping center called the Waimalu Shopping Center. Since the selection was aplenty, we pulled up into a parking space and got down to peruse. We stopped at Jackie’s Diner and took a look at the menu to see what they have to offer. Jackie’s Diner serves authentic Hawaiian food. Seeing that I had Hawaiian food the day before, I decided that the party should have something else. As we walked out, I spotted Jin Joo. I was in the mood for something spicyyy….

A row of eating places

More shops

Jin Joo restaurant that caught my eye

The décor was minimal. However, I was more concern about the food. Having the suspicion that the portions would be huge, I decided to order a dish to share with my mom. Dad and J had their individual portions. When the food finally came, I was more than impressed.

The menu in Jin Joo

Jin Joo's Interior

Soup

Appetiser/Side dishes commonly served with the entree

Kimchi Jaegi at the far end (black clay pot)

One of the main dishes

The total cost of food at Jin Joo’s was less than $40 including tips. For four people and huge portions to boot the price was reasonable. We were more than satisfied after filling our tummies with good food. With that we continued our journey to Pearl Harbor.

There was quite a lot to see at Pearl Harbor. We spotted the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center on the way to the parking lot. The visitor center opens daily from 7.30 am to 5.00 pm. The 23 minute documentary film about the attack and the boat trip to the USS Arizona Memorial begins at 8.00 am. Adjacent to the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center is the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park that opens daily from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm with the last tour of the submarine at 4.30 pm.

We made our way to the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park. Dad, J and I loved the outdoors and the sun. We proceeded to walk around in our caps and took pictures. Mom on the other hand preferred to stay in the shade. Lucky for her there were ample tables and chairs as well as concession stand in front of the museum. Our personal opinion; she needs to get out more, be active, let loose and have fun.

Dad in front of the USS Bowfin

J in front of the USS Bowfin

I have always loved the navy. The white, crisp and smart uniform puts a wide smile on my face. I may not be part of the navy but it sure made me happy to pretend to be one.

Me pretending to be part of the navy. Don't I look the part?

Having taken enough pictures, J and I went on the USS Bowfin submarine. We were given a walkman-style cassette player that narrates as we explored the historic WWII submarine. The USS Bowfin was launched on December 7th 1942 and completed nine successful war patrols. The bowfin has also earned both the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Commendation during her wartime service.

Excited as I was when I went into the submarine, one word came to mind; cramped. Walking in the tight confined space made me think what it was like for those living on board. There was certainly a space issue. Exacerbating the less than ideal situation is the hot temperature of the submarine. J and I were not the only visitors on the bowfin. To avoid the feeling of being overcrowded, I moved into another section of the submarine from time to time. I cannot really imagine how up to 80 crew members operated and walked in this submarine. Amazing…

Inside the submarine

A Way Out

Dining Area

Menu for the crew members: Looked like a good selection

Kitchen

Looking below: The pantry to store food

Working Room

Bed

A row of beds

Controls

Pipes

Device used to generate fresh water

Posing in the submarine

Exiting the bowfin, I welcomed the fresh cooling breeze with zeal. We walked around a little more and posed for photographs.

Standing and Saluting

Weapons and Me

After goofing around for sometime on the submarine, J and I decided we had enough for the day. The last place to visit was the museum. Dad and J went into the 10,000 square foot museum to enjoy the impressive collection of submarine-related artifacts such as submarine weapon systems, photographs, paintings, battleflags, original recruiting posters, and detailed submarine models, all illustrating the history of the U.S. Submarine Service. I joined my mom seating in front of the concession stand to enjoy the quiet and cooling surroundings.

Just as the museum and park was about to close, J and dad came out from the museum. It was time to head back to the hotel and the beach!

I donned my zebra print bikini and headed for the beach. Clearly, my 30 year old body needed to go under the knife to sculpt away imperfections….sigh. Deep down, I knew it was only going to go downhill after 30 hence, I decided to have a few photographs taken as remembrance. Perhaps, next year with more discipline on the type of food I eat and a BETTER photographer the pictures will turn out better (I knew better than to have J take these photos…sigh).






The sun was setting, the day was almost over and I did not get a tan. I decided that the next day would be a day dedicated to frolicking by the beach, goofing in the sea and getting a tan.

To be continued…..

All It Took Was Gustav: A Little Hurrying, A Little Calmness, A Little Learning & A Complete Misinterpretation

In an unrecognizable accent, the lady said,

‘You park your car here and then hike up to see the crater’.

‘Hike? I thought it was a drive up according to the brochure’, I responded.

‘How far is the hike?’, J asked the lady.

The Diamond Head is the name of a volcanic tuff cone on Oahu also known as Le’ahi to the Hawaiians. We were about to park the car and experience the panoramic view of the crater when we found out that it was a 1 ½ mile hike up. The area was dry and it truly was a hot day. The party decided against the hiking activity. Instead we stopped at the crater’s lookout.

The crater from above

Leaving the crater

Driving towards the tunnel

In the tunnel

At the crater's lookout

More views

Dad & Mom in the car

Satisfied by the view from the crater lookout, we proceeded to Hanauma Bay. As J drove along the Kalaniana’ole Highway a.k.a. HI-72E, I was captivated by the sea and waves slapping the shores. This only made me want to get to the bay even faster. The GPS though indicated only two miles left of driving did not appease me. Besides, following a slow vehicle on a 50 mph speed limit highway did not help at all.

On the way to Hanauma Bay

View of the ocean

View of a mini island

The ocean

The slow vehicle

We finally reached Hanauma Bay. The bay is a marine embayment formed within a volcanic cone. The waters at the bay looked great for snorkeling hence J and I vowed to return to snorkel sometime later since my parents were not as enthused.

Dad and the bay

Hanauma Bay

After what seemed like a short visit at the bay, we made our way to the Byodo-In Temple. We continued on Kalaniana’ole Highway towards HI-61S. Approximately 12.5 miles after, we took a right turn towards Kamehameway Highway a.k.a HI-83N. We also had the opportunity driving on LikeLike Highway a.k.a HI-63S before finally reaching the temple on the Kahekili Highway.

The Byodo-In Temple is a non-denominational Buddhist temple located at the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park and is a replica of a 900 year old Buddhist place of worship at Uji in Kyoto, Japan.

The Byodo-In Temple

Another picture of the temple

Surrounding the temple are large koi ponds surrounded by lush Japanese gardens.

Koi pond at the temple

Koi in the pond

The golden koi that caught my eye

Within the temple grounds, there is a three ton brass peace bell. It is said that worshippers often sound the bell before entering the temple to purify the mind of evil spirits and temptation. This was exactly what I did prior to entering the temple. The sound of bell echoing through the quiet temple grounds truly brought peace and calmness.

The Peace Bell

The Peace Bell & Me

Sitting before me as I removed my shoes to enter the temple is a nine foot Lotus Buddha covered in gold and lacquer. I ignited a joss stick/incense, place it in the incense burner and meditated for a moment.

The Lotus Buddha

The Top

Lighted the joss stick/incense

(I maybe baptized as a Catholic but I respect and believe in the teachings of Buddha).

Peaceful

Plenty of bamboo

Exiting the temple, I came across peacocks, sparrows and a chicken. My parents, J and I continued to immerse ourselves in the peaceful temple surroundings. About 4.00 in the evening, we continued our drive along the island coast towards the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC).

The PCC is located on 42 acres of land owned by Brigham Young University of Hawaii. Most students enrolled in BYU-Hawaii are performers in PCC. They attend the university on scholarship from their native lands working up to 20 hours/week during school terms and full time during breaks to graduate debt-free. Profits from PCC support the scholarship programs run by BYU-Hawaii.

At PCC

It was 5.00 pm when we reached the Polynesian Cultural Center hence the only activity package worth embarking on was the Ali’i Luau Package. We had ½ hour to get ourselves seated for the Ali’I Luau buffet at Hale Ohana which commenced at 5.30 pm.

In front of the Hale Ohana with the lei....dinner time

As we entered the Hale Ohana, we each had a flower lei greeting. The lei that were made up of fresh orchids looked beautiful but felt uncomfortable around the neck. Nonetheless, we were seated just in time for the Luau. Throughout the evening at the Hale Ohana, we were entertained by Hawaiian music and the center’s ‘Ambassador of Aloha’ emcee.

In the Hale Ohana - At the dinner table

In the Hale Ohana - Polynesian Royalty

In the Hale Ohana - Graceful dancing

In the Hale Ohana - Little kids performing

In the Hale Ohana - Ladies dancing

In the Hale Ohana - More dancing

Additionally, we were educated on the ‘imu’ ceremony. An ‘imu’ is an underground oven that uses a combination of hot coals, stones and layers of leaves and cloth or mats to steam food. For a luau, the ‘imu’ is primarily used to cook the delicious shredded kalua pork which is a staple on any luau menu.

The Imu Ceremony

The Imu Ceremony - Peeling off the leaves

The Imu Ceremony - Carrying off the pig

The Imu Ceremony - Leaves

The Imu Ceremony - The Pig

The best yet, the all-you-can-eat spread serving authentic Hawaiian food all night.

Dinner - Island Fish

Dinner - Barbecue Chicken, Kalua Pig

Dinner - Sweet Potato (purple)

Dessert - Chocolate Macademia cake

Dessert - Guava cake, Coconut cake

Dessert - Haupia (jello like)

After a bursting meal, we left Hale Ohana and took a walk around the villages namely Hawaii, Samoa, Aotearoa (present day New Zealand), Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga and Marquesas before the ‘Horizons’ night show. Hourly performances and cultural learning experiences take place in these villages. As it was late into the evening, the performances were pretty much over leaving the villages with only the presence of visitors wandering around.

Walking into these villages was intriguing as each have its respective activities with labels informing what the activities were. The only problem? The labels were all in Hawaiian with no description in English. That left me wondering and taking wild mischievous interpretations of what the labels meant.

For instance.

My version of Tititorea. J was unaware of my intentions...hahahaha

The tititorea is in actual fact stick games played by the Maoris as demonstrated by the film below. Clearly, I was thinking out of the box and being bad.

The Real Tititorea

We made our way to the Pacific Theater for the Horizons night show passing through souvenir shops and booths. This theater has a 2800 seating capacity and we were excited. Throughout the 90 minute show we were treated to dances and performances from six Polynesian islands i.e. Hawaii, Tonga, Aotearoa, Fiji, Tahiti and Samoa with a cast of over 100 young Polynesians.

Horizons - Beginning of the show

Horizons - Graceful Ladies

Horizons - Tonga

Horizons - Maori (Poi balls)

Horizons - Another dance

Horizons - Samoa (sitting on fire)

Horizons

Of all the dances, the one that captivated J and my dad was the one from Tahiti.

Horizons - Tahitian dancers

Horizons - Tahitian dancers (bride & groom presumably)

I can only understand why and decided to create a hard time for J,

‘So, you like this one huh? A while ago you were falling asleep. Now you are wide awake.’

‘How did they move like that?!! I thought it was their apparel but it’s not!’, J was obviously amazed by the hip movement.

‘You want to ask them after the show?’, I asked.

J looked at me and said, ‘No la!!!!’.

(hahahahahaha……)

Towards the end of the show, I was clearly exhausted and sleepy. Making my way towards the SUV and driving back to the resort, I looked forward to a nice warm shower and plush bed as I am sure everybody else is.

To be continued......