it was fun Hawaii!

Right now I'm at this coffee shop in Honolulu a few blocks from our ship, called Bad Ass Coffee, using their free internet until I have to be back on the ship in an hour or so. We're shipping off to Japan tonight, but won't get there for 11 days or so. Heard we're going to bump into more rocky waters, being winter in the middle of the Pacific and all. The closer we get to Japan the colder it will get too, unfortunately. My poor efforts of keeping a consistent tan will fade away until we get to Viet Nam probably.

Honolulu was a lot different from Hilo. Honolulu was more like Boston with palm trees haha and Hilo was a strip of plazas and beaches, very small compared to Honolulu. Honolulu was a breath of fresh air and very, very beautiful... especially along the coast. I saw the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen and the water was a turquoise color, something I've never seen before!!! Gorgeous. The very first thing I did when we ported in Honolulu was venture downtown where I bought fresh mango and a lei (which I'm laying out to dry to bring back home). I was a little disappointed though with Honolulu, because the activities that I did this time around weren't as exhilerating, I guess you could say, like they were in Hilo. The first day I went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a class field trip and wasn't too impressed, to tell you the truth. The tour was supposed to last from 10:30am-10:30pm, but once I got there I realized that going around the place only took about a couple solid hours, nothing more. A group of us ended up catching a bus back to our ship, because we had seen everything there was to see and didn't want to stick around any longer. What I saw though while I was there was interesting though... pretty much what the center is are small villages dedicated to the different Polynesian cultures (Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand, Figi and Tahiti). In each different villages there were people from those individual countries who put on shows, dances and comedy routines it seemed like. It was all pretty entertaining and where the center was located was absolutely beautiful... lots of palm trees and vegetation, which I took tons of pictures of lol. After a long bus ride adventure back to the ship I met up with a few others and went into Wakiki to grab dinner at Rainbow Drive-In, which had some of the best tasting food I've had so far on this trip!!! It was just a hole in the wall, but had the traditional Hawaiian food that I had been waiting to try. Also went to my first Cold Stone after and had the BEST ice cream I've ever had haha, Birthday Cake Remix to be exact ;) It was a fun way to end a long day.

Today I was a little disappointed again when I thought I was going hiking on Diamond Head crater and turned into pretty much just being a bus tour around the island. It was such a beautiful day and I really wanted to soak up some sun and work up a sweat, but ended up being in a bus most of the morning/afternoon. Instead of hiking our tour guide brought us to several look-out points around the island where the most beautiful views can be seen. So, not a complete failure, got some really sick pictures (one being the one I posted in this entry). Pretty breathtaking views, just wish I could have actually walked along some of the beaches and laid out to tan or something!!! Oh well. I learned a lot from my stay in Hawaii that I can carry along with me into other ports, like not choosing to do as much touristy things. My very first day in Hilo is what I hope I'll be able to experience in other ports on my trip, because it was impulsive, random and adventurous! And not planned with no flexibility. I wish I could have had the chance to bum on the beach, but there will be plenty of other beaches I can lay on... I have high hopes to come back TAN!!! Haha :P