Another tipsy evening at Hula’s… They were showing the Oscars, so I did get in a little bit of dishing celebrities. Also, made the acquaintance of an American fellow who lives in Tokyo… He is visiting Hawaii with his wife and her family… Apparently, the stumbled across Hula’s and thought, “This place looks nice” – not realizing until they’d been there for 45 minutes that it was all guys in the place… But they enjoyed themselves – and had thus returned last evening… It was really nice meeting them all and he was kind enough to give me his email address so we can try to get together when I return to Tokyo later this year… Also, met a nice Kiwi and his girlfriend (i.e. friend who is a girl) and had great fun yakking and dancing with them…
The view from under my umbrella (ella-ella-ella)
Despite the overcast morning, spent most of the afternoon at the beach. Weather behaved until about 330 or so when the clouds returned and it cooled down a bit. Happily, my arrival back at my hotel room coincided with the broadcast of Judge Judy, so that killed an hour before dinner.
Dinner at Ginza Bairin for tonkatsu (my favorite). Very good, though I may have ordered the wrong thing – the Kurobuta pork was really delicious, but it’s also a huge portion and has a big fatty side… I prefer my meat leaner and probably should’ve gotten the tenderloin katsu… But what’re you gonna do? And the pickles I started with were truly the most delicious pickles I’ve ever eaten… And I’ve eaten a lot of pickles, if you know what I mean… Heh…
Tonkatsu
Likely headed back to Hula’s later. It’s funny – doesn’t really get hopping there ’til 930 or 10. I guess I expected evenings to begin earlier here, what with all the mainlanders being two to five hours earlier than home. But I’ll probably try to make an early night of it regardless (yeah, right) since I actually have to do some work stuff in the morning – shouldn’t take too long and then back to the beach.
Well, at this point, the jury is still out on Honolulu… Went to the beach for a bit yesterday – the portion of it closest to my hotel is OK, but quite rocky in the water… And the gay stretch of beach was not the prettiest – beach-wise or patron-wise… However, I did walk down toward the center of Waikiki beach later in the afternoon – it looks nicer, though of course more crowded… Don’t mind crowds so much, so my plan is to head down there later today and stake out a spot… Though right now I’m torn as to whether to try now or wait and see how the weather goes – looks like there’ll be some rain today…
I did have a good burger for a late lunch yesterday at Lulu’s and then a few beers at Hula’s during happy hour… I had every intention of returning for the dancing later, but instead fell asleep at around 9PM – probably just as well. Got a semi-decent night’s sleep sans Ambien… and the bed is quite comfy…
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Aloha!
So, now it’s Sunday and I seem to have found my Honolulu groove… Spent Friday afternoon on Waikiki Beach, under my rented umbrella (worth every penny of the $10-for-two-hours) and frolicking in the water. Of course, I’d be happier if the beach had more in the way of crashing waves, but hey, I’m not complaining…
Went to Hula’s for happy hour and chatted with a nice though rather odd gentleman from Palm Springs, who told me all about his dead partner and their adventures together… He’s been widowed for three years and sounds like he’s still getting over it (as I can very well imagine). Grabbed dinner at a local place recommended by the waitress – Diamond Head Market & Grill. It was rather a long hike, but had a very tasty meal of ahi with sesame, rice and salad… Back to Hula’s later and met some other friendly guys. Hung out, checked out a couple of the other bars (not cute – I’ll be sticking with Hula’s I think…) and called it a night. No dancing for me sadly…
Saturday was low key – slept in, had lunch at (don’t judge) the Cheesecake Factory since it was on my route…
Sadly "meh"...
And let me tell you, they pack them in at that place. People just love it! The guy next to me at the counter was going on and on about how the closest one to him in New Hampshire is all the way in Boston and how he longs for their food… And the menu is like 25 pages long… Anyhow, my chicken salad was fine…
Stocked up on sunblock, but only made a brief visit to the beach… I think I was a little hungover and there were no umbrellas available – sitting in the blazing sun in such a condition did not sound appealing… Wound up watching the “Godfather” back in the hotel room, before heading out to dinner at a place along the beach in one of the big hotels.
Sadly, my fish was mediocre and rather pricey – plus they put me at a very sad Mary-Ann-Singleton-style table right by the entrance. But such is the life of the lone traveler in honeymoon headquarters… But I had a good book.
Back to Hula’s (surprise!) where I ran into a fellow I’d met the night before, so we hung out. Also made friends with a rather adorable local boy and we spent much of the later part of the evening dancing (finally!). Very fun…
Spam musubi and tuna onigiri. Delicious!
Up early-ish today – was at the beach by 11AM, got myself parked under my umbrella… Kind of a crummy day weather-wise with persistent rain… But still warm enough and my umbrella provided protection from both sun and rain… Read, did crosswords, swam, ate spam musubi and tuna onigiri… Why can’t I just spend every day like that?
That’s it for now… I don’t have much in the way of pictures since I haven’t been bringing my camera to the beach (trying to travel light and with few valuables). I suspect the next couple of days will be much the same as the last few – beach, swim, eat, Hula’s… Not feeling much like exploring the island, even though I feel a little guilty about that fact… But what’re you gonna do? I came here to sit on the beach and that’s what I’m doing…
It's a Complete Outrage 