North Shore Sunday Flora and Fauna

Sunday April 10th.  A weekend in photos.

I love these robots.  These robots love love.

We went to a Filipino place for dinner.  I try to be culturally sensitive, but really guys, you need to reevaluate your desert options.  

Joe was grossed out so he drew instead.

While we were in the North Shore this week we saw some neat plants.

We also saw some peacocks who were all dressed up with their best hats on.

And you know what, they are a little bit scary.  They are big, loud, and they have backwards knees.

And they can fly. 

But I had to get close enough to take a picture.

We went to see a waterfall.

Which Joe went for a swim in.

And on the way back to the car we saw a cow duck with stubby legs.

When we went to get pie we saw these dogs.

And of course we got shave ice.  Raspberry, watermelon with lime and raspberry, lilikoi, with watermelon.

Everyday around 6:15 the light turns golden.  This is a rainbow over a pineapple field.  

The Neighborhood At Night

Monday April 4th.  The view from our front door, with a little extra fun.

Never Made It To The North Shore

Tuesday March 29th - Sunday April 3rd.  I haven't written anything this week because I thought that nothing happened, but then I looked through the memory card on my camera and it seems like plenty did happen.  On Tuesday I went hiking...

...in the rain...

...with this kid

It was sunny when we started hiking, but as soon as we got to the waterfall the weather changed.  This is a very muddy and slippery trail when its wet, but we made it without incident.  The rain makes everything look so clean.  

Through my bedroom window

Cinnamon rolls

On Saturday I made cinnamon rolls, but I left them proof a little bit too long and they got huge.  No problem though, I just had to punch them down a little bit and then they were fine.  On Sunday Joe had to write a paper before we went to the beach so I tried my best to keep myself busy.  I cleaned the apartment, ate cinnamon rolls and watched a movie.  By the time afternoon came around it was clear that we weren't going to be making it to the beach, so, we jumped.

because we have a lot of energy

because we needed to fluff the feather bed

because one of us takes this very seriously

because the people who live below us didn't complain

because we ate too many cinnamon rolls

because we don't have a real bed yet

and because we have great white walls

But jumping takes a lot out of you

All of that jumping made us hot and because we weren't going to make it to the North Shore we went over to Shimazu Store for some frozen treats.    

Cherry, watermelon and mojito, raspberry, watermelon

North Shore Slow Sunday

Sunday March 27th.  This week we had a guest join us for North Shore Sunday.  Josh is a colleague from LA who is out here working for a little while.  He needed to get out of Waikiki  so we brought him along with us to Waimea Bay and then to Ted's for plate lunch.

A perfect place to camp out for the day on the cliffs by Waimea

Lemmings, or the re-creation of the battle of Nu'uanu (Josh is the one that looks like a ninja)

I had watermelon shaved ice alone.  Yep, thats right, shaved, not good enough to be shave

Been Here Before

Thursday March 24th - Saturday March 26th.  Two years ago we came to Oahu, not knowing that we would someday be living here.  Though there is so much to do, especially if you are a tourist, we skipped a lot of it to spend whole days lounging on the beach.  When we lived in Utah, nowhere near the coast, we swore that we would spend all of our time at the beach when we moved back to San Diego but I'm sure that in the last three months of living in Hawaii we've spent more time on the sand then in the last three years in San Diego.  In all the years that I lived in San Diego, I don't think that I ever owned a beach chair and now there is a matching set in the trunk of our car at all times, complete with beach towels and reading material.  Today I was looking through some old pictures and came across these ones from two years ago, both taken at Diamond Head.  Perhaps I will share more as we revisit some other spots.

Today, we went back to Diamond Head.  I left my globe in San Diego but from up here looking South I'm pretty sure that if you had a super power of the best eyesight ever and could see for thousands of miles, Antarctica would be the thing that you saw from here. 

This week, we had shave ice from Shimazu Store (peach, watermelon, raspberry and cherry, cream soda), visited the cat house at the Hawaiian Humane Society which is a beautiful place, visited some seedy convenience stores, did a little baking and did a little hiking.  We are now taking applications for friends, so, if you live within fifty miles, like to hike, enjoy shave ice, and preferably have a sail boat or kayak, lets hang out.  Also, we are opening up our futon to guests as of now so if you are already a friend or family member, please come and visit.

Work on North Shore Sunday

Sunday March 20th.  We both worked a lot this week, and most of the hours were accumulated Thursday through Sunday making for a not too eventful week.  We did manage to fit in some fun though.  On Thursday we went to Surg's, which is supposed to be the best Mexican food out here.  Overall review: we will keep looking.

Surg's Mexican Kitchen

While eating dinner on Friday some kids handed us a flier for a Japan benefit show at a nearby venue, so despite being exhausted and needing to get up early the next morning, we went.  The dingy room was filled with bikers in their leather, pirate ninjas, Meat Loaf look-a-likes and urban cowboys.  After a couple of angsty acoustic songs by people in attendance, a Chuck-Ragan-Alkaline-Trioish band composed of a violin, banjo and acoustic guitar played an enjoyable set.  Just to throw off the bikers the remaining line up included a just formed pop punk band with a repertoire of Japanese covers followed by a ska band.  Saturday we worked most of the day with Sunday to look forward to.  After working short shifts on Sunday we went to Mac 24/7 for breakfast, napped at home, then headed off to the North Shore for some shave ice and plate lunch.  It was a good end to a busy week.

Watermelon pineapple and mango raspberry

This week marks the beginning of my new bento obsession

North Shore Sunday The Long Way

Sunday March 13th.  

Today we went the long way and stopped to swing on some vines

Admired a famous hat

Spent time at a beach park before having plate lunch

Went to Waimea Bay

Where we enjoyed a lazy Sunday

And finished it all off with shave ice (lime with raspberry and lemon with watermelon)