Blue Hawaii
Jun. 1st, 2009 04:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenMade it to Hawaii!! Made it to Princeville!! Made it to our condo!! I say these things separately because on 4 hours of sleep, it was a true adventure: Together with our GPS telling us every inch where we needed to turn (new experience for us - in NJ, it's slower - yes, we brought our GPS), me driving, Matt gripping the Jesus handles every time I said, "Oh, wow!! Look at that tree!!" or "Look at that house!" or "Wow - Chickens are EVERYWHERE!" for fear that I'd careen off the narrow, precarious, dangerous road.
We got about four hours of sleep because our neighbors in San Francisco got home at 2:30 AM and starting banging each other for TWO HOURS! We called the front desk, but heard the guy giggle as he closed the door and they starting up again about 15 minutes later. No, it wasn't a Motel 6, and no the walls aren't paper thin. A solid wood headboard was the issue. In the morning, we set the alarm to go off after we left (and had the radio blasting for about an hour before that). The alarm was scheduled to go off at 7:30, which would then stay on for 30 minutes at maximum volume positioned to touch that wall and vibrate NPR into their room. Then again at 8:15 for another 30 minutes of it. Hopefully, they got less sleep than we did.
We've been here just under 24 hours and have heard "Aloha!" no fewer than 24 times!! Also, yesterday at the condo association's "orientation" (the sales pitch from the sales office), we were asked to repeat some Hawaiian phrases to practice "our Hawaiian". Meh.
BUT!!! The scenery from our condo is spectacular!! Mountains on the left and ocean to the right - we're not next to either of them, but we can see them. In our condo, we have a two bedroom place with a kitchen, two bathrooms, a living room, flat screen TVs in three rooms, a lanai, and a jacuzzi! The space is beautiful (yep, we took pictures). The only drawback is there is no air conditioning in the condo at all. They rely on trade winds, ceiling and floor fans. Last night's sleep was unexpectedly really nice - one of the best night's sleep I've had in a long while. But during the day, the heat is exhausting.
There are these little birds flitting around that are so cute - and look really intelligent. They're black and white and look like mocking birds, but they have yellow around their eyes (looks like yellow at least). We saw in passing another bird that has a little red tuft poking out the top of his head - almost like a red headed woodpecker, but those wouldn't be here I don't think, nor would they be running with other birds out in the open.
And, BOY, there are TONS of chickens EVERYWHERE!! In fact, our buddy who gave us the place for the week warned us about hitting them on the road. There is even a fridge-magnet warning in the condo that reads, "Please do not feed cats and chickens". Strangely, the feral cat population can't seem to keep down the chicken population; we have seen a ton of the cats, too.
We went through a few jungle-y spots yesterday on the way up from the airport after we hit Costco, and the flowery trees are simply breathtaking against the backdrop of the volcanic mountains. The Costco was REALLY interesting. They have a special Asian food section laden with Japanese wares and foods. The fish here is happily very cheap - we picked up swordfish, tuna (dinner last night), Mahi-Mahi, and halibut along with a shrimp platter. We also got fruits and veggies to eat at the condo (because the island lacks restaurants). We're hoping to find local tropical fruits, too.
There is NO nightlife. We will be going to bed by 11PM every night and waking up at 7:00 AM, which is a good thing. Everything - including most gates to the condo property close at 9:00 PM! By 10PM everything's quiet. Very quiet.
The pool is about two buildings away and the beach is a short walk away, but we're going to explore the end of the roadway up here and other beaches. We might do some minor shopping, but just sitting in our white convertible Mustang (!!) driving along the highway will be fun.
Gotta shower and GO!
We got about four hours of sleep because our neighbors in San Francisco got home at 2:30 AM and starting banging each other for TWO HOURS! We called the front desk, but heard the guy giggle as he closed the door and they starting up again about 15 minutes later. No, it wasn't a Motel 6, and no the walls aren't paper thin. A solid wood headboard was the issue. In the morning, we set the alarm to go off after we left (and had the radio blasting for about an hour before that). The alarm was scheduled to go off at 7:30, which would then stay on for 30 minutes at maximum volume positioned to touch that wall and vibrate NPR into their room. Then again at 8:15 for another 30 minutes of it. Hopefully, they got less sleep than we did.
We've been here just under 24 hours and have heard "Aloha!" no fewer than 24 times!! Also, yesterday at the condo association's "orientation" (the sales pitch from the sales office), we were asked to repeat some Hawaiian phrases to practice "our Hawaiian". Meh.
BUT!!! The scenery from our condo is spectacular!! Mountains on the left and ocean to the right - we're not next to either of them, but we can see them. In our condo, we have a two bedroom place with a kitchen, two bathrooms, a living room, flat screen TVs in three rooms, a lanai, and a jacuzzi! The space is beautiful (yep, we took pictures). The only drawback is there is no air conditioning in the condo at all. They rely on trade winds, ceiling and floor fans. Last night's sleep was unexpectedly really nice - one of the best night's sleep I've had in a long while. But during the day, the heat is exhausting.
There are these little birds flitting around that are so cute - and look really intelligent. They're black and white and look like mocking birds, but they have yellow around their eyes (looks like yellow at least). We saw in passing another bird that has a little red tuft poking out the top of his head - almost like a red headed woodpecker, but those wouldn't be here I don't think, nor would they be running with other birds out in the open.
And, BOY, there are TONS of chickens EVERYWHERE!! In fact, our buddy who gave us the place for the week warned us about hitting them on the road. There is even a fridge-magnet warning in the condo that reads, "Please do not feed cats and chickens". Strangely, the feral cat population can't seem to keep down the chicken population; we have seen a ton of the cats, too.
We went through a few jungle-y spots yesterday on the way up from the airport after we hit Costco, and the flowery trees are simply breathtaking against the backdrop of the volcanic mountains. The Costco was REALLY interesting. They have a special Asian food section laden with Japanese wares and foods. The fish here is happily very cheap - we picked up swordfish, tuna (dinner last night), Mahi-Mahi, and halibut along with a shrimp platter. We also got fruits and veggies to eat at the condo (because the island lacks restaurants). We're hoping to find local tropical fruits, too.
There is NO nightlife. We will be going to bed by 11PM every night and waking up at 7:00 AM, which is a good thing. Everything - including most gates to the condo property close at 9:00 PM! By 10PM everything's quiet. Very quiet.
The pool is about two buildings away and the beach is a short walk away, but we're going to explore the end of the roadway up here and other beaches. We might do some minor shopping, but just sitting in our white convertible Mustang (!!) driving along the highway will be fun.
Gotta shower and GO!
