Twice in Waikiki

I'm still pulling out little piles of old photo snapshots and scanning them. I give myself plenty of rest too.  So far, I've run 1610 pieces of paper through the plustek ePhoto Z300. I was right thinking there'd be at least a couple of thousand to complete. 

Lately, I've been scanning ones that feel relatively new but, in actuality, are more than two decades old. This was our first trip from Canada involving a flight over an ocean. We took a Canada 3000 for a one-week packaged hotel stay. Then, we stayed on a few days after finding a relatively cheap Waikiki hotel.

 

We returned here on a port day on our big 'Vancouver to New Zealand' cruise on October 5, 2017. However, by that time Kodak had gone belly-up and the KODAK HULA SHOW ladies were only a part of island history.

Honolulu, Hawaii

Day 12 - We awoke in port. Our breakfast view from the Lido deck was towards Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head. It wasn't long before we'd walked out of the port area to the road in front. We knew the direction of the beaches and which side of the road would get us there. Unfortunately, we turned left to a bus stop rather than right and wasted a good half hour at least. When in the right place for the right bus, we happily paid $5 for a day pass. If we'd been a little older, it could've been had for $2.

I have old scanned pictures from Oahu. Coming to this island was one of our first long-distance flights after we've moved to Vancouver. We must have come, on some now-defunct charter airline, in 1998. So although the basic layout of the famous, sandy strip of beach remains the same, I'm sure lots changed. When young, getting to new places is 'the' goal but when older, returning seems as nice too. At least the ABC Stores are still as common as ticks on a bear.





Had I not made the decision to title days on this cruise with the name of each port, I may have entitled this post: 'Chicken in a Tree'. Strangely, in the middle of crowded highrises, we saw a chicken at the side of the road. It was having a hell of a time trying to get to the other side. After several close brushes with speeding cars, the chicken flapped like mad and flew up into a tree. It wasn't a coconut tree. It seemed content sort of lurking above our heads at the bus stop. For all I know, it's still there.

I love how the dark, onerous clouds hovering over the mountain magically transformed into a fluffy white as the wind blew them toward the city and beach. Is that why Diamond Head looks as though it's been plucked from Phoenix, Arizona? I absolutely know I will end up Googling the prices for a condo in this paradise after this cruise. I am equally sure, the prices will come as a shock and make me feel silly for even looking.

Hilo, Hawaii

Day 11 - We didn't have any difficulties adjusting to walking on land today. We hadn't done so for five days, but we wanted to see a little bit of Hilo on the Big Island. The port where we docked must've been about two and a half miles from downtown. We didn't know that prior to setting out this morning, thankfully.



The highway and city aren't gorgeous but we did see familiar tropical flora and fauna as we walked. I do wish we'd had a better look at a mongoose which scurried into an enormous banyan tree. What is the name of those little plants, also found in Sri Lanka, which instantly close their leaves when touched? The sun was hot. After about an hour we got to the Wednesday Farmer's Market right at the edge of things. Seeing breadfruit, rambutan, dragonfruit, longan make me happy, while whiffing durian not so much. It is strange how fruit can excite me about spending next and future winters in the tropics. We should be in Penang before December starts!



We hadn't arranged to take a tour at this port. We were in Hilo for only 10 hours. It's possible we could return to see the US National Volcanic Park some year. Perhaps the Kona side of the island is a draw. Let me be frank about how we travel. We are urban folks and travel for the people and culture. That sort of means you'll find us where people live. In fact, our idea of a place is sort of determined by how it'd be to actually live there. Doesn't everybody play with thoughts of moving somewhere when visiting? I always have. Always.



Downtown Hilo had many little trendy shops but was generally a bit run down. In the shoreside park which buffers the city from tsunamis, we saw a drug deal go down. We didn't need any souvenirs or organic coffee, so we sneaked into McDonald's for some big soft drinks and a little free wifi. We came back to the ship by grabbing a local bus. For $1 we travelled a long route and were able to see the University, ordinary neighbourhoods, and the airport.

As we were leaving today, a storm blew in.

The Kodak Hula Show

I was just about a month old when Hawaii officially become one of the United States. It got a lot of press in the 1960's. I watched, Hawaii Five-O, the original TV series from about the age of nine (most probably on a black and white television). If you know me at all, you are also aware that I like the tropics. So, of course the Pacific-Ocean island was one of the first big vacations we took after coming to Canada.





We were witness to the Kodak Hula Show in Waikiki in 1998. That particular event had celebrated its 60th anniversary the year before we got there. The show was started in 1937 by Fritz Herman, then-vice president and manager of Kodak Hawaii. At the time, visitors had few opportunities to take pictures of hula shows during the daytime. The show was held for decades at Sans Souci. During its final years, it took place on the grounds of the city's Kapiolani Park at the Waikaki Shell. We saw it there. Less than a year later, in June of 1999 Kodak pulled funding. Although the show operated without their sponsorship for a few more years, it was eventually closed for good in 2002. I feel fortunate to have directly witnessed this part of history.

Not Only the Weather's from Hawaii

It is hot again here but that's not the only thing that was making me think of Hawaii. I got the nicest email yesterday from Bret Wirta. We're not in constant contact but when we do see each other it's as if no time has passed. We have that type of friendship.

"The Wirta family is here on vacation in one of our favorite places, Hawaii. What a paradise it is! Though we’re a society of the jet age, it still amazes me that we can board a plane in Seattle were it was dark, pouring rain and in the forties and six hours latter walk off on the tarmac to hot sunshine and throaty birdsong. We’re on the big island of Hawaii where here on the lee side it’s very dry and rocky but (thankfully) warm and sunny."

He wrote lots of other details and thoughts. I felt very lucky to have been the intended audience.

He mentioned about the sheer longevity of my eJournal and images. It is true he was mentioned in its very first week in September 2003. One of the advantages of online material is it can be shifted, sorted, and reorganized easily. For example, I will put a photo of Bret and son, and then it can be part of a special page of his entries that goes back to that initial one. This most recent photo was taken a half year ago at a surprise birthday party for Bret's 50th.

Select, Scan, and Upload

A big chore is easy if one does a bit at a time. I don't know why I don't train myself to scan just several old photos every day. Scanning one takes less than a minute. Then, getting 'em online and in The Old Box in an e-Attic takes about the same amount.

After having been uploaded, the potential for sharing them is much greater than when they are languishing in the photo suitcase beneath my hanging sports coats.

All the Stars that Never Were ...

Perhaps it's the weather? Might it be a way to avoid Seasonal Affective Disorder? It does seem that we've fallen into the routine of a short getaway in the spring with a long vacation in the autumn. For example, we've already made plane and hotel reservations for an upcoming break.

We'll go to Los Angeles from May 5th to 12th. There are a fair number of inexpensive tickets from Vancouver. Most, however, stop somewhere first. Having to wait in Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Las Vegas, or even Phoenix wouldn't be fun. Therefore, when I spotted the direct Air Canada flights on Expedia, I scooped them up. We hope the Ramada near Universal is a good hotel. At least, it's really close to the subway. We like the idea of bucking the obvious and will try to do LA without a car!

I'm standing in the warm Hawaiian waters. Was that spring vacation really nine years ago? It seems like yesterday.

Life's a Beach

One side-benefit from turning manic and neurotic due to Flickr, is I'm finally if ever so slowly, paying attention to my photo suitcase. I've resolved to use a few minutes of my time each day to scan. I find getting the image off the paper and into a digital file is quite satisfying. It's nice to get a photo out of a dark storage closet and out onto the Net. It's like I'm setting it free. I am liberating it.

The downside might be having such an abundance of pictures means I may become quite lazy with my blog entries. These weekly pages used to be mostly text and now they've become mostly jpg's. Of course, this might all just be a phase.

We've been quite fortunate at being able to walk many different sandy beaches such as those in Bali, Phuket, Kenya, and the Maldives. All the Gulf countries had beaches. Although we visited, we really can't count Turkish beaches as we were there during the winter. Does Juhu Beach of Mumbai count? Of course, we been to the most populated areas around the circumference of Sri Lanka. Yes, there have been more; for example English Bay in Vancouver, and on the opposite side of the continent, Ft. Lauderdale. 

The beach above did stand out for being a bit unique. This newly liberated photo was taken at Waikiki Beach in April of 1998. Now, after nearly eight years of languishing in the photo suitcase, it's available for viewing on computer screens worldwide. This beach was special because it was the only one where I could imagine Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) of Hawaii Five-O running around in a three-piece suit!

Ice is Nice

A few people incorrectly assume that the entire county of Canada stays frozen from August until May. Of course, out on the west coast, Vancouver is affected by the same weather patterns as the US Pacific Northwest. In the Lower Mainland, most winters pass without snow on the ground. Actually, it rarely even freezies due to cloud cover and frequent pineapple expresses. Those are wet weather systems which originate near Hawaii and pump warm, wet weather to our coast.

Last night was clear and cool. It was a degree or so below freezing. I just had to run to the balcony this morning and snap this picture which shows frost!

No Don Ho

Rather than actually think of something useful or meaningful to say today, I thought I'd scan a photo. (If I manage to scan one every so often then my suitcase full of aging photos will eventually be digitized, eh?) Here's a picture that was taken in 1998. We took a trip to Hawaii. This is a rental jeep in which we explored Oahu: