An Oahu Weekend

After the Thai and Indonesian massages, I thought I would splurge on a Hawaiian lomi-lomi massage, even though it probably cost as much as all of the others put together. I think I spent more in one week in Hawaii than I did in five weeks in Southeast Asia, but it’s Hawaii. The massage was very nice, I must say!

Another thing on the list that I had missed last time was seeing a friend who I had never met! Mac is someone from the Princeton-writers list with whom I’ve developed an off-list friendship. He’s one of the people who help choose the holiday picture every year! I’m not sure how that happened – maybe because I sent him the Waikiki candidate picture ten years ago? I had met someone from the writer’s list in Indonesia as well; I haven’t looked at the posts on the list much in the past few years because those writers write so much, but I made a friend. Mac and I went to Zippy’s, a classic Hawaiian comfort food restaurant, where I had chili and a milk shake, a combo that I often used to order way, way back. How wonderful to meet him at last!

And then – since it was the first really nice, sunny day – I spent the afternoon on the beach! Nice to read and relax. I ate dinner that night at Roy’s. Sure, Roy’s has other locations now (as opposed to ten years ago), so you don’t have to go to Hawaii to eat there, but the food is good, and when in Rome…

The very top thing that I wanted to do in Hawaii that I hadn’t done last time was take a surfing lesson. I don’t know why I waited until my last day in Honolulu to do this – if I’d gone right away, I could have gone more than once. But would I have? I did have a lot of other things to do. Maybe it’s because I was a tad nervous.... I walked down the beach to my lesson and hung out for a while with the surfer dudes while I waited for my instructor. Kealii was the best surf instructor ever! We had a quick safety talk on the beach and then paddled out. He was on a nearby surfboard, telling me what to do. And with the very first wave I stood up and surfed in, and I continued to ride the waves for the balance of the lesson. Just like that! It helped that the waves were small and predictable, but I like to give credit to Kealii. Another surfer came out to take pictures of me, which he then put on a CD that I clearly had to buy. What fun! Now with the perspective of having gone three times in the Philippines, I do wish I had gone more than once in Waikiki. Of course, Joe was no slouch as an instructor either – and the price was right over there. That settles it – I must seek out more surfing opportunities!



In the afternoon, I hiked to Manoa Falls, another Obama favorite thing to do. And maybe a favorite of everyone in Hawaii that day – it was more crowded than anything I usually hike. On the other hand, had I had a problem, I would have been found quickly, and it was nice to see something other than the beach. I also went to the Foster Botanic Garden, downtown. So many beautiful flowers and trees! Then it was back to the beach, where I took an outrigger canoe ride – that was fun, but not as much fun as surfing! And I sat on the beach one last time. For dinner, I went to California Pizza Kitchen for chicken-tequila fettuccine, another usual that I had longed for. And that was my farewell to Honolulu – that is, my aloha. Until we meet again!