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My trip was cheaper than a vowel
Mar. 5th, 2006 11:20 amVanna could make a fortune selling vowels in Hawaii. Just sayin'.
We arrived in Honolulu and the rental shuttle bus picked us up immediately. John had rented a minivan, which was the perfect size for the five of us (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bigjohnsf, albadger, double_ohsteven, me, and John's friend H).
We all had low expectations for the hotel. It was rated online as either a 1 or 2-star hotel. But it wasn't bad. Yay for low expectations! The online deal "forced" Steve and I to book separate rooms, but Steve was able to convince the clerk to move us into one suite instead. It wasn't fancy, but it was decent and on the corner of the 9th floor. From the balcony we could see Diamond Head, the Pink Palace (the Royal Hawaiian, pictured below), and a bit of ocean.
Wednesday night was a quick walk through the International Market Place. I spotted a bear who worked at one of the stalls. He cruised me while we ate, but he was busy with customers after dinner. I think that he was about the only bear I saw on the island. We then walked for a bit on the beach. I was feeling not-so-fresh-hot, so Steve and I headed to bed after that.
I made no plans for the trip. I expected to have an umbrella drink and enjoy a few sunsets. I should have had the umbrella drink the first night and saved the umbrella for all the rain. I saw a bit of sunshine during the trip, but I didn't actually see the sun. Our trip coincided with some of the worst weather since 1996. The rain didn't really dampen our spirits. For $157, I'm going to enjoy all of it.
John played tour guide operator for us. That was great. Thursday he drove us to Punchbowl cemetery. Then off to the Valley of the Temples, where we saw the lovely Byodo-In Temple. The road was washed out for any travel further up the Windward Shore, so we took the scenic H3 over to the H2 and headed to the North Shore, where we got to experience some heavy rain and flooded roads firsthand. The rain let up every now and then, and we stopped at Sunset Beach, after turning around shortly past Kahuku.
After a short rest in the hotel, Steve, Badger and I went out in search of dinner. I started feeling bad again, but luckily we found the Aqua Cafe in some food court. My seafood pasta was really good, and I felt much better after that.
After dinner, we met up with John and jfh at Angles, a gay bar that was right across the street from our hotel. (For randomly picking a hotel, John picked a location that worked well for us.) We sat on the balcony and watched the hookers on the street below. Some were even pretty! We then went next door to Fusion, another gay bar. It was empty, so we walked to Hula's for a drink. The music was good, the place had a decent-size crowd, but I missed the attractive men of SF. It was raining after we left, so we caught a cab back to the hotel. The taxidriver said that a lot of Hawaiians think of San Francisco as Paradise. Me, too.
We arrived in Honolulu and the rental shuttle bus picked us up immediately. John had rented a minivan, which was the perfect size for the five of us (
bigjohnsf, albadger, double_ohsteven, me, and John's friend H).We all had low expectations for the hotel. It was rated online as either a 1 or 2-star hotel. But it wasn't bad. Yay for low expectations! The online deal "forced" Steve and I to book separate rooms, but Steve was able to convince the clerk to move us into one suite instead. It wasn't fancy, but it was decent and on the corner of the 9th floor. From the balcony we could see Diamond Head, the Pink Palace (the Royal Hawaiian, pictured below), and a bit of ocean.
Wednesday night was a quick walk through the International Market Place. I spotted a bear who worked at one of the stalls. He cruised me while we ate, but he was busy with customers after dinner. I think that he was about the only bear I saw on the island. We then walked for a bit on the beach. I was feeling not-so-
I made no plans for the trip. I expected to have an umbrella drink and enjoy a few sunsets. I should have had the umbrella drink the first night and saved the umbrella for all the rain. I saw a bit of sunshine during the trip, but I didn't actually see the sun. Our trip coincided with some of the worst weather since 1996. The rain didn't really dampen our spirits. For $157, I'm going to enjoy all of it.
John played tour guide operator for us. That was great. Thursday he drove us to Punchbowl cemetery. Then off to the Valley of the Temples, where we saw the lovely Byodo-In Temple. The road was washed out for any travel further up the Windward Shore, so we took the scenic H3 over to the H2 and headed to the North Shore, where we got to experience some heavy rain and flooded roads firsthand. The rain let up every now and then, and we stopped at Sunset Beach, after turning around shortly past Kahuku.
After a short rest in the hotel, Steve, Badger and I went out in search of dinner. I started feeling bad again, but luckily we found the Aqua Cafe in some food court. My seafood pasta was really good, and I felt much better after that.
After dinner, we met up with John and jfh at Angles, a gay bar that was right across the street from our hotel. (For randomly picking a hotel, John picked a location that worked well for us.) We sat on the balcony and watched the hookers on the street below. Some were even pretty! We then went next door to Fusion, another gay bar. It was empty, so we walked to Hula's for a drink. The music was good, the place had a decent-size crowd, but I missed the attractive men of SF. It was raining after we left, so we caught a cab back to the hotel. The taxidriver said that a lot of Hawaiians think of San Francisco as Paradise. Me, too.
