Lanikai

Right now I'm living in Lanikai, which is a small neighborhood in the town of Kailua. It's basically one long loop of homes along a lovely, quiet beach. This is the entrance to Lanikai, with the ocean in the back.



This is looking out at Kailua beach. The weather is really strange here, the rain comes and goes quickly and we have a lot of rainbows. So even though it was raining in this picture, people were still out enjoying the beach because the bad weather generally passes within a few minutes.



Entrance of Lanikai.



Along the main street in Lanikai there are a number of public walkways to get to the beach. This one is about a block from my house. I was trying to discreetly take a photo of this couple who had been taking their weddings pictures out at the beach... They probably just thought I was creepy :)



Lanikai beach looking out toward Kailua...



This is the view Lanikai beach is really known for. The two islets out in the distance are called Na Mokulua, which just means "The Two Islands" or "The Twin Islands." Apparently they are used as bird sanctuaries. You can kayak out to them, although I think you're only allowed to go onto one of them. I wouldn't know, because I only see these islands when I'm passed out on the beach being lazy.

The water is gorgeous and aqua and clear...

My House!

This is my apartment, which is a 1-bdrm that is connected to my landlord's house. It's built on the side of a small mountain (which is apparently why I can't get any cell phone reception.) It's a fantastic location, and has a little deck to the side.

This is the living room, which has nice big windows a lovely view...

The view out to one side is this huge orchid tree that has beautiful purple flowers and smells amazing. You can start smelling it as soon as you get to the top of the stairs and onto the lawn!

The view the other way, which is mostly trees and the bright blue ocean in the distance...

The kitchenette area....no oven :( But very nice otherwise.

Here's the view from the street... the green house on the first level is my landlord's office, and you can see the start of the stairs leading up from the driveway. That's my tiny new car out front, which has been quite an adjustment after driving a Jeep for years :) But it's useful because the parking spaces in Hawaii are tiny!

And of course, the infamous stairs...

More stairs...

Aaaaaand more stairs. My legs should be in great shape soon.

Shangri La

On our last morning in Honolulu, we toured the Hawaiian estate of tobacco-heiress Doris Duke, called Shangri La. Her home was completely unique on the island, as designed and built it to reflect an Islamic style, and filled it with Islamic art.

The bedroom wing, which is currently not on display. Apparently she had the entire master bathroom shipped from the Middle East, so hopefully they'll decide to open this part of the home sometime in the future.



The guest house.



The docent told us a story about how Doris Duke owned something like 18 dogs, and each dog was assigned a portion of the yard to guard, and was not allowed to leave its area. The dogs were only allowed in the house once a year or so, when Doris left the island to go back to her other estate in New Jersey. She would have each dog paraded into the courtyard of the home, where she would say goodbye, one at a time. Bizarre.

The garden area, where she would often greet her guests. We were also told a story about how Doris Duke would invite hundreds of people over for parties to watch fireworks, then lock the doors to her home when the guests starting arriving. Only a few guests were allowed in the house for dinner, while the rest were shown to this garden, where they had to remain outside for the duration of the party. I'm not going to lie, I would've been pissed...

View of Diamond Head from her lanai.

Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any photos inside of the actual house, so the most impressive parts aren't shown here.

For more info: http://www.shangrilahawaii.org/

The docent made a point of saying that no AUTHORIZED biography of Duke has been published, but I'm hoping to watch one of the scandalized movies about her life sometime soon...

More Fun in Waikiki

While wandering around Waikiki we kept seeing advertisements for the local Shooting Club. I loved how prim and proper the shooter looks. I got a hand-out about their special rates, and it was only $25 for an hour of shooting practice! Maybe next time I go into town I'll have to try it out... :)

The International Market, where there are a lot of stalls of people selling souvenirs. There was also a psychic reader in there, but when we peeked in, the psychic on duty was a very large grumpy looking man, so we decided it was best to leave our futures unknown for the time being...

I faced my fear of fish at the koi pond. But they still grossed me out.

We snooped around The Royal Hawaiian Hotel a bit.

It had great views of the ocean

I loved how glam this couple was, taking their wedding photos.

Aaaand finally, we celebrated my first week at work by popping open a bottle of the finest Pineapple Champagne. I love pineapple and I love champagne.... but no.

Dole Plantation

When Momma Kate got to the island, almost the first thing we did was go to the Dole Plantation. This was mostly because I had heard about a wonderful frozen treat called "Dole Whip"...



While we were eating lunch, some stray kittens came to beg for food. They definitely found a sucker in me, as I continued to feed them my teriyaki chicken throughout the meal :)




The grey one just kept giving me the squinty-eyes-love-look, while the orange one meowed non-stop, and would pat my leg. I'll admit it, I took more photos of these kittens than of anything else at Dole Plantation.



Then we took a tour of the gardens, led by a little man named Ray. We were accompanid by a huge family group of about 20 people, who liked to repeat every plant name that Ray said.





For example, Ray:"This is called a 'Rainbow Tree."
Group: "Ohhhhh, Rainbow Tree...."



"This is an apple banana tree."
"Ohhh, apple banana tree..."

You get the point.


Momma Kate enjoying the flora.

Lots of hibiscus plants...




Then we took a little train ride out to see the pineapple fields. Not the most exciting ride, I must say.




Then we finally got our Dole Whip, and it was amazing. It's basically a pineapple flavored soft-serve, that's topped with fresh chopped pineapple.
Just a warning, I will be dragging anyone who visits me here to Dole Plantation simply so that I can get Dole Whip again...

First Day in Hawaii!

This was my first full day in Waikiki, when I went in search of the beach. I was pretty sure I'd get lost, but luckily ran into a family carrying inflatable rafts just outside my hotel, and followed them the whole way.

There's a giant statue of Duke Kahanamoku, aka "The Big Kahuna," who introduced surfing to the rest of the world. I thought the old dude in the Gidget movies was The Big Kahuna...who knew? :) Everyday people come and drape the statue with fresh lei.

Then I just wandered around in the lovely weather and looked at all the pretty flowers...