Yesterday was a busy day, and a very odd one, with the weather being oddly uncooperative for most of the day. It really didn't rain, but it misted and drizzled on and off for most of the day. But it was still a day for doing something unique and adventurous, which meant exercising in the morning, then getting up and heading to the Prince Lot 33rd Annual Hula Festival at Moanalua Gardens. Luckily we got a ride to the gardens from one of the people at the EWC center, because the trip home was uniquely special in the amount of adventure and superficial chaos that took place. It wasn't exactly on a bus route directly, but in the long run it wasn't that far away. Still it took a walk up hill to a bus stop only to learn we would be waiting an hour for the bus to arrive, and then a walk down hill, across a crowded highway (they did have walkways) and about a 1.5-2 miles to the next bus stop that would take us directly there. It wasn't bad at all, but some of our group of about 10 had health issues and ended up getting cranky with the walking and taking a taxi back. About six of us continued on the grand expedition and then found the bus, waited, and got back home. Admittedly the bus took nearly 2 hours versus the 20 minutes by taxi, but it was worth the stories and the meeting with new people from the conference.
Anyway, the hula festival is the largest non competitive hula event on the islands. It is held in Moanalua Gardens, which is the ancestral home of the Prince Lot who revived the banned hula in the 19th century (he eventually became King Kamehameha V for a short while) on his estates. The event took place on one of the last original hula mounds anywhere in the world. I have pictures of a Chinese house, some koi (including some BIG koi), the blue and white house of King Lot, and admittedly some not very impressive pictures of hula dancers. My iPhone wasn't the best for taking distance shots (it has no zoom) but I eventually learned that Lisa brought her camera, so when I get back to the states, I'll have some better pictures of the best traditional group there who were truly impressive.
Enjoy the pictures for what they are...
In the evening, Lisa and I went to a small Japanese tavern, which is generally a sake bar, but serves excellent sushi, grilled meat, and of course sake. You can even buy a bottle and have them store it for you for up to 2 months. It was probably the most expensive meal there was, but it was great. I was so hungry (I didn't eat dinner the night before) as was Lisa that we actually ordered more food than our initial round of sushi. She had spicy tuna and yellow tail rolls, I had a sushi combo B which was a tuna roll, and about 8 pieces of different sushi. The eel was so good, I actually ordered a second two piece order. We then ordered bowls of rice and chicken teriyaki, which was about the best chicken teriyaki I have ever had, ever. We are certainly going to go back to the restaurant at least once or twice more, as there are a few things I want to try on the menu besides sushi.
Then it was home around 9:00 when I was wide awake. I wanted some tv, went for yogurt with Lisa around 10:15, then watched tv until 12:30. However, the warmth is getting to me a bit as the trade winds seem to have died down this past week and the humidity upped itself. Its not completely unpleasant, but it is quite enjoyable to enter into A/C as when I went to the supermarket this morning to get a newspaper. I am surviving, but waking up with just a sheet and sweaty is getting old.
No comments:
Post a Comment