Day 10: welcome in Los Angeles!

Today I flew from Honolulu to Los Angeles, the City of Angels. I’d rather say something like Sin City… I left Paradise and landed in a not so friendly city. I don’t like L.A. very much. It is just a two hours drive from San Diego, but the people here are terrible. Maybe it’s because the city is so gigantic. I could have taken a commuter plane between Los Angeles and San Diego, but it would have cost more than 200 Euros just to fly 140 miles… Way to expensive. Moreover, my plane was delayed in Hawaii, so I would have missed the connection anyway. So here I am, stuck for one night in an airport hotel (SAS Radisson). But let’s go back in time, a few hours ago: I’ll tell you what happened during this epic journey.

I woke up early and had breakfast with Bosley the plush gorilla.

At 9.45 AM, I was waiting for the airport shuttle in the lobby, and I was reading my emails in the meantime. Then I saw a message from Delta, announcing me that my flight was delayed (80 minutes…). So I immediately postponed my departure: I would take the next shuttle at 10.45 AM. I had one more hour to spend on the Waikiki beach. Here are some pictures of my sunny Tuesday morning.

On my way to the airport, I saw some car dealers advertising a 46% discount on Hummer SUV’s!! This car is very expensive and literally eats gallons of gas (conversion in European units: 25 liters per 100 km… Not eco-friendly). People here in the US have now difficulties obtaining a loan, so these big expensive cars mostly remain in the showrooms or go on sale… I wish we could buy cars with a 46% discount in Belgium…

The check-in in Honolulu was extremely quick. I am a Delta frequent flyer so I have the Elite silver status. This allows me to check-in with the first class, even though I fly economy (a.k.a. the “cattle” cabin), and I can also bypass the queue for the safety check, which is always very long! That’s really cool because I don’t waste my time waiting in those endless queues.

Honolulu airport is very nice: it’s open-air and there are Chinese gardens next to the duty-free shops.

I have seen many Japanese B 747 on the tarmac.

The flight between Honolulu and Los Angeles (LAX airport) took about 5.5 hours, in a B 767-300, a rather short flight.

They were selling food onboard. I thought I would receive a meal onboard, so I didn’t eat anything at the airport. I was dreaming of a culinary feast onboard the airplane, so I was rather disappointed this time… However, I received three little peanut bags for free!
The view during take-off was cool: we flew close to the Waikiki coast. Sorry guys, no pictures. I was filming during take-off, so you’ll see my little movie when I get back. And I took a picture of the sunset 37000 feet above the ocean.

Landing in Los Angeles is nice, the city is so large that you see lots of tiny lights everywhere. It’s like an ocean of lights.
I slept at the SAS Radisson airport hotel. I arrived there at 11.30 PM. Quite late. I was extremely hungry so I had to order room service (the restaurant was closed at that time). I normally don’t do that, but the tiny expensive sandwich I bought in the airplane wasn’t enough for me… Here a picture of my chickem quesadilla, a Mexican entree.

Day 9: my last day in Honolulu

Today was already my last day in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu (the third biggest island of the state of Hawaii). These were really super cool holidays, and I'm so happy I spent a week here! Next time I'll go to the island of Hawaii and Maui. I've already put that on my to-do list.

This morning I went to walk along Waikiki Beach and take pictures. The sky was blue and the sea had this green-blue color you see on the postcards. I visited the Hilton resort: all the famous hotel chains here have a bunch of nice shops, restaurants and gardens with exotic flowers surrounding their hotel. In one of the Hawaian shirts shops, I met Giuseppe, an Italian from Venice, who has been working in Honolulu for the past 2 years. We started to talk and it was quite fun. He told me that Hawaii is cool for a few months. Then you start to feel that the island is quite small. That's why most Hawaians like to escape to California. I can understand that: it's nice here for holidays, but I prefer California.
The problem here is that that renting or buying a condo or a house is terribly expensive. For example, they are currently building a large tower one block from the beach. All the studios were sold out in only 12 hours: 50 sqm for 500.000 USD!!! Most of the buyers were from Japan.

After that I took the bus to Hanauma Bay, a nice cove (on the East side of the island) as you can see in the pictures. There I took a picture of myself (yes folks, I'm really in Hawaii, no joke)! It's cool to travel alone because you can basically do what you want when you want. But it's hard to get a nice picture of yourself with the background...

In TheBus, you find the following funny rules: it is forbidden to spit, defecate or urinate. I wouldn't even think of doing that in a bus... But you know, freaks are everywhere.

I went back to Waikiki to watch the sunset. A nice one!!!

This evening, I feasted on sushis: as I said before, Hawaii is full of Japanese people. And so there are excellent sushi bars here (^_^). I ate tako (octopus), however it was quite spicy.

Tomorrow, I'll fly to Los Angeles. C U there. Aloha!!! (FYI: Aloha means hello/goodbye)

Day 8: relaxing in Honolulu, part 3

OK, it seems the time has changed in Belgium. So now, on Sunday 29/03, there is a 12 hours time change between Hawaii and Belgium!!! That's a lot.

Today, I've been relaxing at the Beach and wrote my postcards. that's all.
A lazy day under the sun.

Day 7: let's go visit the island of Oahu

When I was doing some shopping Friday night (I was trying to find something made with Koa wood, a special wood only found in Hawaii, very nice but quite expensive :( ), I started to chat with the lady in the shop selling Koa wood boxes. In fact she tried to sell me a box containing chocolates, so I laughed and told her I was coming from Belgium so I didn't need chocolates. That's how we began to talk, and in the end she told me I absolutely had to go in the North of the island to see other landscapes. She gave me her favorite spots in the North: Kahuku and Haleiwa, the places she always visits when she has a day off.

It sounded good. And there is a bus (TheBus 52/55, called the circle line) that goes all around the island. So Saturday morning, I hopped on TheBus in Downtown and went to Kahuku. It took about two hours to arrive there: the road followed closely the coast of Oahu, so the view was awesome (see the pictures). Sometimes, we were driving very close to the Ocean, less than ten meters from the water! The lady sitting in front of me started to talk with me and showed me the places where the film Jurassic Park was filmed. The landscapes were indeed fantastic: on one side of the road, you have the ocean, and on the other side, you have the slopes of the Hawaiian mountains, covered in a dense green forest.

I got off TheBus in Kahuku: there you can find shacks selling the famous Kahuku shrimps, a local must. I walked along the highway to find the perfect place. There are many shacks and trucks selling those shrimps and prawns. I stopped at “Giovanni’s shrimps” to take some pictures of his truck. So many people have signed their name on it, or sketched something. Quite funny! Then I continued about one mile along the road to find Romy’s red shack: I arrived there at 3PM. Since I missed the breakfast (I was still snoring in my bed at 9 AM, I know it’s late but I was tired), I was pretty hungry when I arrived at Romy’s. There, I tried the garlic and butter shrimps, Romy’s favorites, as well as Pani Popo, a Samoan dessert. The shrimps were very good. However, I don’t know if it was because of the terrible wind, or because I was extremely hungry, or because there was a lot of butter and garlic sauce with my shrimps, or because I was peeling the shrimps with my fingers, or I don’t know what… Anyway I ended up with my shirt and short covered with butter and garlic stains. Pretty disgusting, it basically looked like I ate like an awful pig…

After this feast, I hopped on TheBus to Haleiwa, on North Coast of Oahu. It took about an hour to reach this small village. In TheBus, I was sitting next to three Swedish girls working for a Christian association in Hawaii. Apparently, they had been struck by a holy revelation (one of them kept reading her little pink Bible, how cute…). They were talking to the guy sitting in front of me about the flesh and all the temptations, how to resists to these earthly temptations (solution: by reading the Bible, of course), how Jesus Christ was going to come back and save us all (perhaps we will be notified by emails when he will return???), and blah blah blah… At least they didn’t try to convert me; I think they had seen it wouldn’t work with me. However, I have to admit that their English was absolutely perfect.

Haleiwa is a very small town: a paradise for the surfers since the waves here are taller than in Waikiki. I went to the beach to see the surfers, and there I met a Hungarian family. The guy was a contractor and he had been hired to work in Hawaii. So the whole family moved here a few weeks ago. They were looking for a rental, and they asked me if I knew a good deal in the area. Apparently, I looked like the locals… I had to tell them I was only a tourist. Anyway, it was nice talking to them.
After that, I tried the snow cones at Matsumoto’s, Haleiwa’s best. Quite good, because the ice is shaved really thin, not like the snow cones you find in Waikiki. In a nearby surf shop, I bought some stuff and talked with the salesman. I told him I was coming from Belgium. Apparently, it was the first time someone from Belgium had visited his shop. He told me he had, guess what, … Hungarian ancestors. Cool, Haleiwa seems to be invaded by Hungarians :) .

It was 6.30 PM when I took the bus back to Honolulu. After a two hours ride, I was back at my hotel, quite tired. And I had to wash my polo shirt and shorts, since they had suffered from a nasty garlic & butter attack during the afternoon...

Day 6: relaxing in Honolulu, part 2

Yes folks, on Friday 26/03, I mostly didn’t do anything! It’s so cool to be on holidays. Especially when I think about you guys, hardly working in Brussels with such a distgusting weather, while I’m just relaxing here, under the sun… OK, just kidding, I stop here (and don’t punch me when I come back in Belgium (^_^) ).

Let’s talk a little bit about something different: how do you think Hawaiians dress? Do they all wear those Hawaiian flower shirts? The answer is yes. It’s not just a tourist souvenir; Hawaiians do wear these colorful shirts. TheBus drivers have a special one with little prints of TheBus among hibiscus flowers, and the hotel staff, people in the shops, people in the bus and in the streets… many of them wear this kind of shirt. Moreover, most Hawaiians wear flip-flops. So you immediately spot the Europeans, because they walk with classic street shoes, clearly not adapted for this weather…

Then there’s the Hawaiian attitude, just be cool and relax, no stress! In fact Hawaii is a lot like Southern California: people here are very nice, you can talk with them and no one will run away from you. You can start to talk with people in the bus, when you’re queuing in the supermarket, … And when you have a question or you’re lost, just ask and they will answer. It really reminds me of San Diego. I wish it was the same in Belgium…
Anyway, you’ll all have understood that the cool attitude is something I like very much. While on holidays in the US, I just wear a T-shirt (or a polo shirt), a short (with lots of pockets), my flip-flops and my backpack with my camera and an additional zoom lens. That’s all, I like to travel light.

Now some additional pictures of the city Honolulu.

I walked in Waikiki by night. Hereafter some pictures of Duke Kahanamoku, a local hero, with fresh flower lei’s, and the torches along the Beach.

By the way, everything here reminds you that Barack Obama, the actual US president, used to live in Hawaii: you can find the places where he ate, and lot’s of T-shirts with its picture!! By the way, I tried "the chowder house" and it's not so good... :(

Day 5: Pearl Harbor

On Thursday 26/3, I did something more serious: I visited Pearl Harbor (located 40 minutes by car, West of Honolulu). It’s a must to see when you are in Hawaii. Here’s a little historical reminder concerning Pearl Harbor: on December 7, 1941, about 350 Japanese airplanes attacked the US military base of Pearl Harbor, home of the US Pacific fleet. This is known in history books as the “Day of Infamy”: it was a surprise attack, and many US battleships were severely damaged, some were even completely destroyed (as the USS Arizona). More than 2000 US soldiers were killed in the attack (1177 just for the USS Arizona alone!), most of them being trapped in the sinking ships. This marks the beginning of WWII for the USA.

I had booked a shuttle at 6.45 AM (and you all know I’m not a morning person…) so I was there 30 minutes before the opening of the memorial (at 8AM). There are many visitors and the number of tickets is limited (4500/day), so you have to arrive early. Even though I was there early IMO, many people were already there before me, and I had to wait an hour before the tour (my ticket was valid for the 8.45 AM session). The visit is free: you see a movie about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and then you take a boat to the memorial. The USS Arizona still lies in the Pearl Harbor bay, where it sank 67 years ago. The memorial is built like a bridge on top of it. You can still see oil leaking from the wreckage. And some rusty parts of the battleship still emerge from the water. The 1177 bodies were not recovered, so you basically walk over a cemetery when you are in the memorial. The sad part of the story is that all these soldiers were only 19 years old on average… Many people bring flower lei’s at the memorial.

After that, I took a guided tour of the USS Missouri and visited of the USS Bowfin submarine (there’s really no room inside a submarine! Clearly not a dream place for me…).
The USS Missouri served during the WWII famous battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. I walked on the deck where Gen. McArthur accepted the Japanese surrender marking the end of WWII. You can see a copy of the official “Surrender instrument” document signed by the Japanese during their surrender. Other nations signed the document, like the USA, China, Russia, France and Canada. The guy from Canada was so nervous and completely messed up by signing on the wrong line (i.e. he did sign on the line of France) of the document… So they had to manually readjust the text. The USS Missouri was decommissioned then re-commissioned, and served during the operation “Desert storm” in 1991 in Iraq. A very long career… One characteristic of this ship is its deck: entirely made of teak wood. It would cost 5 millions USD to replace this deck
It was special to see in one day two battleships symbolizing the beginning (USS Arizona) and the end (USS Missouri) of WWII.

Day 4: the day I learned how to play the ukulele in Waikiki

First of all, let me introduce Bosley: Bosley is the CEG (Chief Executive Gorilla) of my hotel, the Coconut Waikiki. Bosley is a very nice person and welcomes guests in the hotel lobby! You can chit chat with him at breakfast or after a long day at the beach.

The cool thing here in Waikiki is that you have free activities everywhere. For example, this morning (Wed 25/03) I took a ukulele class (1 hour) in a nearby mall (the ukulele is a small hawaiian guitar). It was my first time playing a string instrument: quite funny. I learned how to play “Mana ‘O Pili”. Well rather I tried to learn how to play it, sing it and understand the meaning of the song in Hawaiian. That’s a lot for just one hour. I was seated next to a retired lady from Montana: she told me she lives in Hawaii half the year because it’s too cold in Montana and she likes Hawaii. What a lucky lady! Anyway, she explained me how to put my fingers correctly on the strings. For the singing part, let’s not talk about it. Believe me, I’m a terrible singer: any frog would be better than me…

After that, I took the bus to Chinatown. The bus, known here as “TheBus”, is quite fantastic. First of all, you can go almost anywhere in the island with TheBus. If you want to travel in the city, the wait time will always be very small (a few minutes max, so NOT like in Belgium)! It only cost two dollars for a ride, and your pass is valid for three hours if you need a connection: so I use it as a return ticket. The other advantages of TheBus are:
- it’s super clean,
- there’re displays and speakers indicating the name of the next stop, with all the important things located to it, so you can’t miss your stop,
- the driver is always nice and helpful, you’re welcomed by a nice “Aloha” when you board TheBus (try this in Belgium and people will look at you like you’re a freak)
- TheBus is equipped with a hydraulic system that lowers the front suspensions of TheBus at each stop so passengers (especially the old ones) can climb more easily
I think we should seriously be inspired by this in Belgium: our transportation system really looks prehistoric compared to TheBus… Another funny thing: all the license plates of all TheBus I’ve seen so far begin by “BUS” followed by three digits.

The Chinatown in Honolulu is like any other Chinatown in the planet: stinky and dirty. I found some nice Chinese and Thai desserts, those I remember eating as a child when I stayed in my grandma’s house in Thailand. I was in Chinatown at around 3 PM and it was very quiet. I should go visit Chinatown in the morning to see the vegetables and fish market. Maybe I’ll do that Saturday. You find lots of Lei shops in Chinatown: the LEI is the famous fresh flower necklace worn by Hawaiians. You can find any combination of flowers: orchids, carnations, roses… for a few bucks.

Hereafter, a picture of Bearemy, a dear friend, dressed as a typical Hawaiian, with the Lei I found in Chinatown.

Day 3: relaxing in Honolulu

I woke up early this morning, I think I’m a little jetlagged. I haven’t done a lot today. Well after all, I’m on vacation, so I don’t specifically have to do something! I walked along Waikiki Beach, then I continued to the Ala Moana Center, a large shopping mall located a few miles from my hotel.

Waikiki Beach was a little bit disappointing. In fact, there is only a little sand strip between the pavement and the water, maybe 20 to 30 meters. So you are almost directly in the water. Don’t expect to walk on a long continuous sandy beach, as its largest portion is a succession of coves… However, I had a very good time watching lifeguards and surfers. These ones are very very handsome guys with a nice tan. I think the import of these species in Belgium should be mandatory, maybe I will to try to order them online for Christmas… Anyway, there I was, standing with both feet in the water, carefully contemplating the glorious and heavenly display of perfect bodies paddling in the water (for scientific purposes, don’t even try to imagine anything else…). I don’t know where my mind was, but it was clearly not focused on the wave that was coming. Yes folks, there are waves, and that’s exactly the reason why people surf here… I let you imagine what happened next: water splashed around me and my short was totally soaked. It took 20 minutes to dry in the sun. Great. Next time, I’ll be more careful.

I’m surprised to see so many Asian people here: Japanese, Koreans, … You see and hear them everywhere! That’s cool, I’m in my environment! I also found a large Japanese supermarket (Shirokiya) where you can buy lots of Japanese products, and also sushis, bento boxes, mochi rice cakes, … and all the other Japanese specialties.

I'm really starting to like Hawaii because it’s mainly a non-smoking State (like California): you don’t see many smokers here. It’s not like in Belgium… For those desperately wanting to smoke, well, they have to go outside and can’t be closer than 20 feet from any building…

And to finish, the sunset on this Tuesday 24 March 2009!!

Day 2: Atlanta-Honolulu

Aloha everybody, here I am in Honolulu!!!

After 9 hours and 20 minutes of flight, I landed in Hawaii. My flight (DL 1273) had a two hours delay: there was an oil leak on the left engine of the plane in Atlanta. So we had to deplane and wait for a new aircraft (a B767-400 ER). During the flight, I was sitting next to a Chinese lady living in NYC. She had to go to Hawaii for the funeral of her brother-in-law, a colonel of the US Army. We have talked a lot, it is nice to have a nice seatmate!

Concerning the flight itself: it was quite bumpy at certain times, and the food was decent (chicken as usual, I bet delta own a whole plant full of chicken ready to be served to passengers). This time, I can proudly announce that I had 27 peanuts in my little peanut bag! Well, the flight was long, so I tried to find a scientific activity (i.e. Determine what is the average number of peanuts found in Delta’s 12 grams peanut bags), besides sleeping or watching the three uninteresting movies (^_^). Hereafter you’ll find some pictures taken during the flight: a view from Atlanta just after take-off, landscapes with snow, and the West coast.

The airport of Honolulu is very cool, with plants everywhere! And I saw a rainbow on my way to the hotel. My room has a nice view on the mountains. I went to see the sunset on Waikiki beach. I didn’t see the wave coming since I was busy taking pictures, so my pants were completely soaked: therefore, Dear Readers, I can officially confirm that the water here is warm. Tomorrow, I’ll wear shorts…

By the way, there is currently a 11 hours time change between Brussels and Honolulu (i.e. when it’s noon in Brussels, it’s only 1AM in Hawaii).

Day 1: Brussels-Atlanta

Today I have flown with Delta on a B767 from Brussels to Atlanta (flight DL 125). The flight was smooth and lasted 9.5 hours. Delta finally slightly changed its meal choice: instead of asking “chicken or pasta” (I heard this question since 2005), flight attendants now ask “chicken with pasta, or omelette”. What an improvement! I took the chicken, well most of the people did, so the poor guys in the back of the plane were forced to eat the remaining omelettes...

We were shown three movies in a row: Quantum of Solace (I already saw it, however it is always pleasant to watch Daniel Craig :) ), Flash of genius (the real story of R. Kearns, inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper), and The day the earth stood still (I fell asleep during that one: it was not a good film at all).
In the meantime, we were stuffed with peanuts (24 peanuts, I counted those in my little bag), a slice of pizza and a total of 7 glasses of beverage…

While filling the customs forms, I read the following statement: “Obscene articles are generally prohibited entry”… I guess custom officers must have had surprises in the past when checking some luggages (^_^). Going through the customs was extremely fast this time: there were only a few people waiting in the queue when I arrived and the officer in my row was nice.

I’m now staying at a Best Western near the Atlanta airport, in Hapeville, since my plane for Honolulu only leaves tomorrow morning. It's located near a IHOP restaurant. The view from my room is very nice, as I have a direct view on the runways: I can watch the planes take off! As you can see on the pictures, the weather here is a lot nicer than in Brussels.
By the way, there is currently a 5 hours time change between Brussels and Atlanta.