Hawaii: Honolulu

Post 2
Subject: Hawaii: Honolulu
Honolulu was a completely different experience. It felt more like I was in Hawaii. It was really tourist oriented. The city was huge and there was something to do everywhere you looked. It was awesome. The first day there, I got a huge taste of almost the entire island. I started out going to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was actually really neat. I thought it was going to be lame and boring, but it was so cool! Some of the performers had us laughing the whole time we were there. The things they showed us and that we learned were really cool. We were supposed to be there the whole day, but I spent the second half of the day with some of our old family friends from Dad’s Army days. Mrs. Snodgrass picked me up and took me on a tour of the island back to Honolulu. She took me to the North Shore beaches where all the famous surfing competitions are held. The waves were huge! She then made me try the local snow cones in a small town close to those beaches, and then treated me to shrimp from an RV. Not kidding. It was the best shrimp I have ever eaten, and is was from the shadiest place on earth! After the shrimp, we headed back to the city, passing the Dole Pineapple plant. She took me to Pearl Harbor. We did not tour the ship, but she drove me around to a little secret spot where I was able to get a really good picture of the memorial. Then we headed to the NEX, the Navy’s store for active duty. (It was closer than the PX) We met up with the rest of the family there. Their son Andrew was already with us, but we met David and Danielle there. They were all so nice and so happy to see me after so many years. I had never met their kids before, but my parents left a lot of my baby stuff for Danielle when we left Germany, so I felt a connection there! She is so sweet!

After our shopping trip in the ever-fabulous, NEX (Not kidding, it was nicer than the malls in Tyler and College Station.) They took me to dinner on Waikiki Beach at the Cheesecake Factory. I LOVE the Cheesecake Factory! Mr. Snodgrass practically chastised me, and told me not to even think of trying to pay for anything, because my parents had fed them more times than they could count. I am a college kid… I did not protest. While we waited for our table, Danielle and I took a walk on the beach. Waikiki is really nice and has lots of famous hotels. There were lots of nice stores around too. Honolulu is so beautiful!

We all decided that we had to check out the night life in Honolulu. We were told of the best place in town and started to look for a public bus to take us there. While we were waiting for the public bus, a party bus pulled up next to us. They asked if we were headed to the Zanza Bar… which is exactly where we were headed. I hesitated, and the other girls screamed YES! They told us to hop in! The bus was empty, so I thought it was a little weird. I asked what it was for; being the only one worried about jumping on a bus with people we didn’t know. They were radio station DJs, and their station was promoting the club and giving free rides to and from. When we got off the party bus at the club, another promoter told us we were VIP and cut us to the front of the LONG line, and let us in free. There was a $15 cover. How did we get that lucky?! This was the nicest club I had ever been in! The bathroom even had an attendant. The woman practically washed my hands for me. That was a little weird… and I didn’t have any cash to tip her. Oh well… I didn’t ask her to wash my hands! I played Mother Goose again making sure the intoxicated ones made it back home. Haha! We found a Jack-in-the-Box across the street, and everyone satisfied their midnight munchies.

My second day was much more relaxed in Honolulu. I was supposed to go snorkeling, but they changed the time of the trip, and I didn’t know until it was too late. After I got over being extremely pissed, I decided to make the most of having free time. I went with my roommate to Waikiki beach, found a McDonald’s with free Wi-Fi, and caught up on my Facebook and other email accounts. I had some WONDERFUL sushi for lunch, and met some more friends at the beach, until it was time to go back to the ship.

The disembarkation was the hardest for us I think. We all stood out on the deck and watched Hawaii get smaller and smaller. Goodbye America. There were grumbles in the crowd when we pointed out that it was going to take 11 days to get to Japan. That is a long time to not see land, but we are on day three right now and everyone is still alive. AND… I still have not gotten sea sick! Knock on wood!