North Shore Rainday

Sunday February 6th.  Today is Sunday which means rain and shave ice.  Joe had to work today so our Sunday was short.  I will spare the analysis of shave ice for today and instead extend to anybody who would like to join us the opportunity to come out, have shave ice, and share their examination.  We had breakfast at Kono's in Hale'iwa and watched extreme skiing on the television as the rain fell in the background.  At that moment, I wished for hot mexican mocha and a warm ski lodge.  I'm sure if I were there though I would be wishing to be here, eating shave ice at the beach.

Raspberry Cherry and Cherry Orange

A Place To Sit

Saturday February 5th.  Something that struck me as odd when driving around Honolulu was the vast amount of household objects sitting on the curb outside of houses and apartments.  Mattresses, broken televisions and toilets dot the landscape of each neighborhood.  Bulky Items is the proper term for these eyesores.  The trash people pick all of this up each week in their olde timey trash trucks but the refuse quickly amasses again.  The point of this is perhaps a confession: we've been shopping in the Bulky Item section of the island. The other day we found a chair, an ugly but free chair which we quickly and slyly loaded into the back of the car.

The original chair

This chair you see, I believed to have potential.  Yesterday I went to Kaimuki Dry Goods which, despite its name and the visions of beautiful apothecary jars filled with magical trinkets that it conjured up in my mind, is a fabric store.  They had every fabric that I could ever want, even pizza fabric (that might end up being kitchen curtains, but I really liked the carrots too).  After an hour and a half of trying to decide between three fabrics for the chair cushion I chose a Japanese print by Etsuko Furuya for Echino.

The fabric

The fabric is a thick and sturdy block print which went right along with my plans for the chair.  After picking the fabric, I went over to the hardware store to get some paint.  A few words about driving in Honolulu.  It's terrible.  First, the freeway speed limit is 55 and people really stick to that.  Second, the street names are all very unfamiliar to me and three a's in a row in any noun makes me uncomfortable.  The street signs not are reflective, and I'm not real sure that there is a street sign at each intersection.  Maggie, my GPS unit who I have a dysfunctional relationship with, just cant seem to pull herself together quickly enough to figure out what side of the street my final destination is on.  Sadly, I spend more time talking at Maggie than actual human beings on some days.

The cushion 

The completed chair

I improved the chair.  A little bit of wood filler, some sanding, a can of paint and a beautiful fabric fixed it right up for under $30 and in very little time.  Three more and a table to go, I'll have to keep my eyes open for some more potential tomorrow.

North Shore Gloomday

Sunday January 30th.  This was chocolate day at the Farmers Market which meant that OnoPops was beefing up their chocolate selection.  I really hoped for something like dark chocolate gouda, something that Scoops on Heliotrope would do, but I ended up with mexican chocolate, and Joe got lilikoi 50/50.  I think they might be better than Viva Pops, but there isn't a watermelon cilantro lime pop.  OnoPops does have adorable little characters though, sort of like on the Otter Pops, but more detailed.

OnoPops at the North Shore Farmers Market

I feel as though it appears that we only eat frozen treats, but that truly is not the case.  Someday, I will prove it.  We did get some macadamia nut pesto,  asparagus and rosemary french bread at the market too.  This Sunday was gloomy and rainy.  Too rainy for the beach so we walked around town for a while.  It's strange, you forget that you are in the country, until a brood of chickens walks by.  

This week we decided to give Aoki's a try.  Basically shave ice is a big deal, especially on the North Shore.  Aoki's and Matsumoto's are the two big ones, but then everywhere else has it too.  I would venture that there are at least 15 places to get shave ice.  The rivalry stands between Aoki's and Matsumoto's (and then there is shave ice in town, but that's a whole other thing).  My take on it is this; Matsumoto's is the most popular, they have good shirt designs, lots of flavors and maybe a better location.  I think because of their popularity though, they aren't getting the perfect ice consistency.  (Is anybody still reading this?  I think I'm overly obsessed with shave ice.)  Aoki's makes their ice perfectly, but their flavors lack dimension and definition.  I got watermelon with pineapple, but I wouldn't have been able to tell what either flavor was if I hadn't ordered it.  Why is the pineapple blue?  Matsumoto's has way better flavors.  

Mango with Strawberry Cream and Pineapple with Watermelon.

Manoa Falls

Saturday January 29th.  Lately I've had a homesick feeling, and while I miss San Diego, much of the longing that I've felt has been for Utah.  I never felt at home when we lived there, but now when we go back there is the comfort of home, an embrace of the familiar.  Utah is absolutely beautiful in a way that I never expected to appreciate.  I had been to Park City and Salt Lake as a kid in the winter and those places are fine, but I've found that Southern Utah has me.  I've heard it said that when you go to national parks, you should go to Zion last, because after Zion nothing is ever as good.  I'll believe that.  All of this to say that I wonder if I will ever look back on this time in Hawaii with the same fondness of our time in Utah.  Will I have a deep need to hike these trails and absorb the land like I do in Utah?  I want to, so today we hiked.

This is a video that Joe made of a trip to Utah this time last year.

Manoa Falls Trail is a very easy hike, just a little bit muddy since it has been so rainy.  The trail is short, shady and gains very little elevation.  People run this trail for exercise.  This is a little of what they miss.  

The stream from off the trail head.

Moss growing on a log.

I hijacked a tour and asked the guide about these he said that they are weeds.  Disappointing.

Bamboo Forest.

Sun through the canopy.

Leaf bug.  (I think, anybody know what this is?)

The falls.

I think that this hike is more about the trail then the destination.  The fall is fine, a little lackluster for the amount of rain there has been.  The trail along the way is a tropical rainforest and is what makes the hike worth it.

Also, it's Chinese New Year.  Year of the rabbit, so we headed over to China Town and celebrated a little bit.  

Joe ate meat on a stick.

Somebody must have eaten these fried fish balls.

And these dragons danced so that we would feed them dollars.  

Just a few more photos from this week.

  

North Shore When Is There Going To Be Sun Day

Sunday January 23rd.  North Shore Sunday number three.  On the way out to Hale'iwa we stopped at a used furniture store and picked up a desk.  It needs a little bit of work, but soon it will be perfect, and right now, it's our only piece of furniture.  This week, we went back to Matsumoto's for Shave Ice and both decided to try a new flavor.  Raspberry is for sure my favorite flavor for shave ice.  Melon will not happen again and I'm not real sure about lilikoi either.  At least it isn't slimy like the fruit.  The green apple tasted like a jolly rancher and was a bit intense.

Raspberry, Melon, Lilikoi and Green Apple Lilikoi

1/23/11

We went to the farmers market.  Hawaii's answer to Viva Pops is the Ono Pop.  I would venture to say that Ono copied Viva, but who knows, maybe they both got the idea from someone else.  I haven't had one yet as I do believe that a popsicle and a shave ice is a little bit excessive within the same hour, but next week is chocolate appreciation week at the farmers market so I'm very excited to have my first Ono Pop.  Joe had strawberry goat cheese this week and was very happy with his choice, still ranting about it hours later.  

The new apartment

Some pictures of the new apartment, one illustrating why I can never go back to bed once I've gotten up in the morning.  

North Shore Move In Sunday

Sunday January 16th to Friday January 21st.

On Sunday we moved into our new apartment.  Easiest move ever and it only took two trips in my car.  I love my new home and feel so lucky to have it, but there have been a couple drawbacks.  First, no electricity until Wednesday.  Initially, not having electricity just feels a little bit like camping, but then you begin to realize everything that you are missing.  We couldn't cook, keep food cold, read after dark, or charge anything.  It was a lot like camping but without smores or a cooler.  There was a fire (just candles) and there is still a blow up mattress.  My wish list has turned from luxuries to necessities like a trash can, couch and working refrigerator.    

Being that we moved on a Sunday, once we were finished dropping off our things we headed off to the North Shore.  The weather turned gloomy as we approached.  We had coupons for shave ice at the Volcom store.  Their ice is a fantastic consistency, but their flavors lack authenticity.  

  

Lemon Watermelon and Strawberry Lemon

Hale'iwa

Sharks Cove

As we approached Waimea Bay the traffic got tight.  They waves were huge and there was speculation that the Eddie might happen.  It didn't happen, but people were still parked up and down the coast to get a glimpse of the waves.  As we left to go home, the rain started in and followed us all the way to the dark of our new apartment.  

A collection of photos from the week

Joe took most of these photos so check out his blog to see more and his view of the last week.

Good News Storm

Wednesday January 12th.  As we left the apartment to move the car the sky opened up and pelted us with warm rain.  We left the apartment completely dry and by the time that we got to the car we looked like this.

Joe needs a rain jacket.  We had to go back and change into dry clothes and wring our socks which had reached maximum capacity.  Notice though, happiness.  Why?  We got the apartment that we wanted!  It's a beautiful little apartment in Makiki with hardwood floors and a view of Diamond Head.  

We spent the night lounging by the pool, watching the lightning turn the black sky blue.