(that's surfer music...the stuff Candy Pops has been humming to me with full surfer action ever since I said I was going to Hawaii!)
You know that Gladys Knight & the Pips song...'livin' the life, you're a jet-setter'??
Man, being a jet-setter's hard work! Here's what me and my sis did on 11 December...
Sunday 11 December, 3am - our despedida is just finishing up...we've done our packing, still trying not to fall asleep even though we've only had about 3 hrs sleep in the last 2 days and we're waiting for our ride to the airport.
6.40am Flight from Manila to London incl. a 5 hour stopover in Doha making it a total of about 22 hours travelling time. Because London is behind Manila by 7 hrs, we arrive in London Sunday evening...exhausted, and freezing! Still, lovely to see the parentals, chrissy and golds ;o)
Tuesday 13 December - Flight from London to Hawaii with a stopover in San Francisco. We finally arrive in Honolulu at 11pm...greeted by Uncle Jose and Jesse who gives us a lovely pink orchid lei....really feel like we're in hawaii now ;o) (can you hear the ukeleles in the background?)
The Hawaii Dizons (uncle Jose, auntie Shirley, their daughters, Jesse & Taylor and their dogs, Murphy, Zeke and Kennedy) have kindly invited the London Dizons to stay ;o)
They live in a beautiful house on top of a hill with amazing views of the island. We woke up on our first day greeted with our first blue sky and sunshine...I had a cup of hawaiian coffee (chocolate and macadamian nut flavour) on the lanai (balcony) and watched a submarine going up at Pearl Harbour.....goddamn, how cool?!! Every morning we wake up to a bright blue sky and glorious sunshine and every evening a beautiful sunset over the town and pearl harbour...and people live like this, like, EVERYDAY!!!
We've checked out the beaches from busy Waikiki to the North Shore where the waves get busy being huge and the surfers are yum! We've snorkelled in Hanauma Bay looking out for sea turtles - I didn't manage it :o( but everyone else seemed to (showoffs). I have seen lots of amazing fish though and they're HUGE and as colourful as a rainbow (am especially fond of the surgeonfish). We've sat in complete awe at the power of the waves and at the surfers who ride them! We've gone to a luau (very cool), stuffed ourselves with kalua pork and ahi poke and even tried the poi (taro paste type thing) and watched a polynesian dance show (soooo want to visit the other polynesion islands now...particularly interested in learning more about the tahiti hula...trust me on this one, Beyonce eat your heart out coz, boy, can the tahitians dance!)
Hawaii has a big asian population...quite mixed too - my cousins here are filipino/japanese/hawaiian/chinese! It means we get mistaken for locals (same, same, pacific island people! haha) and, the best thing...the food is goddamn tasty!! My faves are the kalua and poke...gonna have to learn the hula to shake those extra pounds off..... ;o)
The Hawaii Dizons have been brilliant - driving us around, hanging out with us brits, making us laugh, telling us stories and generally showing us a fabulous time. We've met their friends and other members of their family, had dinner and cocktails at Side Street Cafe and eaten a posh brunch at the Hawaiian Prince Hotel, gone to the theatre and helped decorate the tree.
Christmas day started with a late breakfast and mimosas (bucks fizz) followed by a day at the beach...me and goldilocks chased the waves on a boogie board, had coffee shakes, took pictures with the surfing champion Duke Kahanamoku and watched as the sun set over the waves. In the evening, we all went to watch the Chronicles of Narnia.
It was a truly lovely christmas ;o)
Thanks very big Hawai'i and I can't wait to come back...
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