A day on Oahu

Embassy Suites provides a sumptuous free breakfast. And, in an effort to conserve energy, some inspired genius has created coffee urn cozies. I am totally charmed by the intelligence of wrapping your coffee pot in it's own fitted quilt!

For breakfast, I hit the Asian end of the scale with hot miso soup, baked fish, rice, pineapple, and then a flash over to Americana with an omlet. The omlet cheff and I got talking about GEDs. She wants her sister to go get one, and I administer them, so I gave her my e-mail address to ask questions. And we got so involved that she tossed cheese onto my otherwise lactose-free omlet, so we had even more time to talk while she made another omlet sans cheese. I love making contact with people!!

According to plan, DH, Norman and I headed out to the Flea Market. The bus trip would have been cheap, but slow, We opted for quick and spendy and took a cab. As we cruised along I took a picture of these lovely trees. I'm used to trees that grow straight up with one main trunk. (Oregon produces most of the Christmas trees west of the rockies. We even ship them to Japan and Guam.) These relaxed, sprawling tropical trees delight me. Norman suggested that they were probably obedience trained trees. They know only two tricks - sit and stay, but they are very, very good at them. Then I pointed out that we have tree farms rather than tree ranches, because it is so hard to move the stock to summer pasture. We found ourselves hilariously amusing. DH smiled tolerantly.

I was so busy with shopping that I didn't even think to take photos untill I saw this. I didn't know you could grow your own! We got piles of t-shirts (18 for $40. This solves almost all our shopping assignments.) And Dh bought me a "Magic skirt." It is a wrap skirt in two layers of sheer polyester in complementary prints that you can wear a gazillion ways. And, since he just discovered that my inner three-year-old loves pink, he bought me a pink long t-shirt with pockets! Ooooo! My inner three-year-old is enthralled!

The Market is located in the parking lot surrounding the Aloha Bowl. The whole parking lot is filled with vendors and their stalls, and we walked about three miles hither and yon-ing. I didn't find Hilo Hattie fabrics, but I did pick up two bundles of poly-cotton aloha prints from a small company that makes their own clothing. I'm not yet ready to pull apart the bundles, but maybe later. . .

After we got back from the market, DH and I put on our swimsuits and went to Waikiki Beach - a short walk from our hotel. I didn't want my camera to get wet or stolen, so we will make another trip down there just for photos. But yesterday, we played in the warm water and watched the people from all over the world who were reveling just like we were. Imagine floating in a friendly ocean, watching A honeymooning Japanese couple with a combined weight of about 120 lbs, trying to show a nice middle-aged German man in a speedo how to use their video camera, While his well-fed frau in a shocking turquoise bikini tries to help. All this played out against a backdrop of the PINK Royal Hawaiian Hotel and the blue, blue sky.

And then we had lunch.

Later in the afternoon, we wandered down to the International Marketplace, a Waikiki landmark for over fifty years. I remember when it was just little pushcarts set up under this big tree. You could buy leis and palm-frond hats and shell necklaces and fresh produce. But the property owners got smart, and put up buildings. The vendors started selling jewelry and trinkets to the tourists, and now it's a mecca for tourists and souveniers.

They still have the tree, though. And a pond with great big Koi! There used to be a restraunt with a private room up in the tree. I always thought that would be SUCH a romantic place to have a nice meal. They took it out decades ago, but it lives vividly in my memories.

I took a nap. We met the famdamly for the complimentary cocktail hour, then wandered off in search of food. A Pastrami restraunt? In Hawaii? Why not? I had to fly to Hawaii to have my first taste of matzoh balls. Why has no one told me about matzoh balls before? I want to eat matzoh balls for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What is a matzoh anyhow? What do you call a neutered matzoh? And how do they get the balls so light and fluffy? YUM!!!