Hawaii Holiday Summer 2007

Hi'a everyone! It's a Live Journal post ^_^. I feel bad it has taken me so long to post this entry about the holiday to Hawaii. I wrote it in little pieces. I'm glad to have it here at last though. Live Journal is lovely for making records of events in life. I'm happy I've been able to maintain my journal is long (: I hope everyone here in Live Journal land is well. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch much this summer, shame on me! In truth though it's been a pretty quiet summer since the holiday. Lots of love to all my Live Journal friends *big hug!* I'm putting the actual entry under a LJ cut it's a little long.

 <lj-cut text=“Holiday to Hawaii”> Hi'a everyone, I can't believe it's taken such a long time to post about the holiday in Hawaii, but at last it is going to go on record. I'm so happy I have a Live Journal to put such memories in. Hawaii was lovely, the local people call it paradise and they are right in thinking so. It's just so beautiful. The change in the plant life was pretty mind blowing. I expected it since Oregon has such a different climate to Hawaii, but going from seeing large conifers to slender and tall palm trees never failed to amaze me. Even the blades of grass were wider and somewhat shorter. The temperature was great, always warm. I'm not a very good judge of temperature, but to hazard a guess I would say it was at various points of the day and evening 75 to 90 degrees. I never felt chilly during our whole visit, which was really comforting and when we went to Germaine's Luau in the evening I couldn't help but remember that, had this taken place in Oregon at that time in the evening, even in summer we would at least have a jacket on. It was even wonderful when it rained! I like rain but unfortunately it pretty cold when it rains here in Oregon, so it's not all the comfortable to be out in. When we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, during one of the displays the heavens opened up on us. It rained heavily for a few minutes, but it felt really nice ^_^. The humidity was surprising when we first arrived but, I felt myself getting used to it pretty quickly, and it had been quite chilly that day so it was quite refreshing. The beaches were gorgeous. I'm very lucky to live in Oregon where we also have lovely beaches, but I've experienced nothing like them. The water was a beautiful aqua color and was so clear you could see the occasional fish that wandered into the shallow water. I saw a big blue one once, however I didn't see it as clearly as I would have liked. I didn't have my glasses and since the water is very salty it was difficult to go under water with eyes open. Nevertheless however, I saw a fish ^_^! Georgie also got to see some sea life she found a sea slug!  It was sort of flat and globby, like when pancake batter first gets put into a frying pan. It was deep brown with bright red marking along its sides.  And when it swam it flowed like a piece of silk in a breeze. I thought it was really cute. I kind have a thing for strange looking creatures and thinking they are cute^_^. I cupped the water around the sea slug in my hands and felt it swimming; it was a very cool experience! The water was a lovely warm temperature, nothing like the seaside here in Oregon. It was just as comfortable to swim in as the North Sea. The only thing that made the swimming a little uncomfortable was the salt in the ocean. The amount of salt made my eyes sting more then when I swam in the North Sea. I had such lovely time swimming though I could have stayed in there forever bobbing with the waves. Diving into a wave was very cool too, the water just surged over my body, and I loved the closeness with nature.

The people in Hawaii were great they were really friendly and happy. I've never been to Disney Land, but from what I've heard sometimes the cheeriness is some what forced. I never got that feeling from the people of Hawaii. Even the tour guides, whose jobs might get quite repetitive, seemed happy doing their job ^_^. The tour guides on the coaches had funny presentations and lots of really fascinating information to give. All the Hawaiians seem very proud to be Hawaiians, which is really cool.

I really fell in love with Hawaii's culture while I was there it's terrific! Whenever I travel somewhere I try and learn as much about the native culture as I possibly can. He he I'm a big geek! I got one of the traditional necklaces made out a special kind of Hawaiian nut; unfortunately their name escapes me right now. I also got some lovely tikki masks from the gift shop in our hotel. I just adored them and had to get them to decorate my room with. One is an oval shape with a pineapple carving in the brow and it has a cute little nose. The other is a really pretty mellow green color and is long and slender in the face. It’s a feminine sort of face with a beautiful little mosaic of a turtle on the brow. I really like them and they make me think of Hawaii every time I see them. I learned a bit about Hawaii history while I was there, and before hand. I had no idea that before European contact the Hawaiians used a feudal method to manage their land and social system. I find it really interesting how that particular social pattern appears so often in human history!

            The food in Hawaii was very good too. I really love to eat fish and mum had told me that many of her friends at work said Hawaii’s fish was delicious. Boy, were they right, it was lovely! The first night we were there we stopped in at Tikki’s Bar and Grill and I had the nicest fish dish since fish and chips in England! I ordered Mahi Mahi with a yummy macadamia nut sauce; oh it was creamy and light, just great. I also had a couple pina coldas, which were excellent, sweet and yet also creamy. A couple other nights we went to a Luau. At the Luau there was a buffet of traditional Hawaiian foods like poi, lomi Salmon, long rice, and mahi mahi. The poi is pretty bland and kind of paste-like. However one of the tour guides explained it was to combat the strong saltiness of the fish, which before the advent of the refrigerator helped the fish keep. This made a lot of sense. I can only imagine that the salt would have been over whelming otherwise. The long rice was very different it looks like transparent noodles and is cooked with chicken and tastes like chicken noodle soup. At first we were all afraid to try it because it looked so strange. Finally I said you know what I’m going to do it! I got some and took a bite it was pretty good and I finished the little portion I had. Yay for exploration huh? I like to think I’m pretty open to trying new foods. However, if I decide I don’t like it I’ll try not to ever eat it again. The most exciting piece of food had to be the roasted pig. I usually steer away from eating pork because it can cause me gall bladder problems; in this case I went ahead on it. It was lovely, the tastiest pork I ever had! The whole pig had been cooked in a traditional oven under ground for eight hours. It was so tender and juicy that the meat had fallen away from the bone. You could still see the head when they dug it from the oven. Georgie didn’t like that much. I guess being a history person and growing up in the country has toughened me because I was okay with it.

            Another thing that made the Luaus so fun was that while we were eating a show usually consisted of a song and traditional dance, which was fun to watch. Even better was the fact that they had a performance for all the Polynesian nations! The Maori Kapa Haka made my heart beat fast it was so cool. The Polynesian drums do the same thing to me; they are great and have a unique sound to them.

            Lastly I just have to say that one of the nicest things about Hawaii was its welcoming nature. Ohana (family) is something the Hawaiian’s take to heart and even as a visitor you feel like the people are happy to have you and that there’s a place for you. The laid back attitude that is felt all over, a sort of Hang Loose spirit. Makes me realize why so many people like to go there on holiday. It’s a good place to relax. I would definitely like to go to Hawaii again someday, but I’d like to go to a less developed place on the Islands. Wikki was very comfortable, but so many skyscraper hotels lined the beach. It would be nice to get away from them and onto more untouched beaches and forested mountains. I would definitely recommend Hawaii for a lovely sunny holiday. You really do feel away from in there. I imagine it would make a lovely romantic holiday for a couple. I can see why so many people like to go there for their honeymoon. I feel so lucky I was able to go, and months later I still have my suntan! ^_^</lj-cut>