oahu 0902-06
september 15, 2002
feeling awfully lazy today probably because it's mid-september and it feels like the hottest days of summer here in LA. what i wouldn't give for a nice glass of tropical breeze right now. *sigh*
the first three photos shown here are from our circle island drive. if you are unfamiliar with the circle island drive, it's basically a rather long drive around a certain part of oahu which takes you cutting north through the inland, passing north shore and winding back down on the windward side before cutting through the mountains on one of the mountain passes to head back into the city. i don't think i've ever done it in less than 2.5 hours with all the stops along the way. if you're in a rush, this isn't the drive for you because it's meant to be done at a leisurely pace while taking in all the sights. and mind you, i do it clockwise while a lot of people may like to drive this route counter clockwise. it's really up to you since you see the same shit. :p
there's plenty to see along the way and just staring at the scenery makes one never want to leave. i can't even begin to count how many times i've done this drive and although i swore i wasn't going to do it this time, i ended up wedged in the middle of the back seat for the duration of the ride once again. :p but nonetheless, it's worth the time and effort especially if you've never done it before. these three shots were taken at the park right outside of chinaman's hat. last year when i was here, it was very overcast and windy but this time, it was all sunshine.
i can't even begin to tell you how much there is to see along the way but i'm sure in the next entry, i'll have more photos from the drive to show you what we did. i opted to not pause at too many of the touristy places i.e. polynesian cultural center, but that's really up to you.
one of the stops we DID make was at the north shore country okazuya and bento where we grabbed a bit of grub to tie us over until we got back into the city. it's located in the haleiwa shopping center and if you're not paying attention, you'll definitely pass it. okazuyas basically serve a lot of homestyle cooking delicacies (side dishes) - many of which are just small eats. but you can combine a lot of various items together to make your own bento/lunchbox. okazuyas open extremely early in the morning and close in the early afternoon or until their food runs out. we got there at 11am, so there was still a good amount to choose from. i think everyone had a spam musubi (with furikake inside YUM!) and i also got a deep fried furikake ahi and fishcake as well. both were just incredible. given another opportunity, i'll go there to eat an actual lunch instead of just snackies. fuck, i'm drooling just thinking about the fishcake now. and no, it's not like the damn hardened fishcake you'll find at the 99 ranch market, this is in a class all its own.
north shore country okazuya and bento
haleiwa shopping center
66-197C kamehameha highway
haleiwa, hi 96712
808.637.0055
this is pretty much what you'll see along the way from the car when you're heading down the windward side back towards the city. can't complain about the scenery y'know?
below is a random photo of the hyatt regency in waikiki taken from the atrium looking upwards. speaking of the hyatt, a very nice local reader wrote to me saying that she took a mini-vacation there at the hyatt and the photos she shared with me of her stay was very nice indeed. she got a nice view of the ocean and diamond head that was very very different from my view at my hotel. on a sidenote, it actually surprises me to hear that local folks actually take a vacation in waikiki itself. it's almost like me.....staying at the disneyland hotel for a weekend or something. ;) but hell, if i had a chance, i would love to stay in LA somewhere as a guest and get away from it all.
