Final installment
2005-06-15...4:54 a.m.


Here comes the final installment of the Hawaiian anniversary portion of my diary. Now that things have settled down some, including my transition back into work and days off and stuff (not to mention the necessary cups of coffee with best friend), I can transfer...

THE REST OF THE STORY (written on our way home from California)...

So...where I left off...

One thing I forgot to mention was playing in the ocean on Thursday afternoon. I got in the water which, by the way, was a truly perfect temperature. It was just cool enough to take the edge off of the heat of the day, but not so cold that I had to either creep into it or jump in to "get it over with." Of course, the first couple of waves that came by knocked me flat, and I snorted a few ounces of sand and salt water. By the end of the day, my throat and sinuses were raw, and I was in seventh heaven. That evening, we went to Kobe, a Japanese Steakhouse. The wait was long, but SO very worth it. It was one of those places where they cook all of your food in front of you, and if your chef is REALLY good, he puts on a show for you in the process. We had a really good chef. He made jokes, flipped food through the air onto our plates and the plates of the other six guests we shared our table with. He sliced up an onion, stacked it up, poured sake in it, and lit it on fire, creating a little volcano. There was a ton of food, but it was served slowly and as it was cooked. I had the steak and shrimp, with the steak rare. I had a complete food-gasm, and it was by far the best meal we had the entire time.

The next morning, I felt a little wiped out, and like all of my digits were swollen. My throat was still sore, though a bit more so. I figured it was just the excitement and exercise of the day, coupled with the humidity and jet lag. We went down for breakfast, then headed to the International Market Place.

The International Market Place is a wonder to behold. There are probably close to 100 different vendors. They carry a bazillion different kinds of jewelry, clothing, souvenirs, etc. And you can bargain with them, as I discovered on our window shopping venture on Wednesday evening. Can you say Hammie Heaven? I knew you could! Anyway, I had a field day. I bought 14 necklaces to bring home as gifts, 2 beach towels, a pair of sandals, an ukulele (pronounced oo-koo-lay-lay), 8 t-shirts, and 5 boxes of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Oh, and you might be able to bargain with some of the vendors in the DFS Galleria mall, too. I went into one of the shops looking for a cheap watch, and told the cashier I was looking to spend $15 on a watch. She spoke to her boss in Japanese, who indicated that I could have any watch on one particular section
of shelf for that price. The cashier looked dumbfounded, then relayed the information to me. I picked out a watch, and when I looked at the price tag later, I discovered that I'd just gotten a $30 watch for half-price. Hee hee! I love Hawai'i, if for nothing else than the shopping. We headed back to the hotel so I could take a little nap, and when I woke up, we went out for lunch. By the time the meal was over, I felt just completely beaten down.

The next two days were pretty much identical to that afternoon. I was so sick and achey, I pretty much wanted to crawl under a rock. Not to mention that I was feeling guilty about wasting the time we were supposed to be enjoying and celebrating our ten years of marriage. I did manage to get up enough energy to take a drive along the North Shore on the Winward side of the island. We found a grocery store and picked up a box of cough drops, then we stopped at a roadside stand for Hawaiian Shave Ice. This is not the same as a snow cone! You have to be quick eating it, because it melts quickly, and it's not as sweet as most snow cone syrups. Anyway, the stand we stopped at was also a macadamia nut farm store, where I picked up some more nuts to bring home, and a little bag of kona coffee for Christine. The place was family-owned, and watching their family was much like looking back through time at my family, back when my grandparents and great aunts and uncles were all alive and close.

On Monday, we headed down to Denny's (yeah, I know, practically in paradise, and Corey wants a skillet breakfast), and on the way, he suggested seeing a doctor. I had read in our guest services packet that there is an on call doctor in one of the other hotels in Waikiki, so I agreed. The very last thing I wanted to do while we were there was spend half a day in an ER or Urgent Care, but I had to do something. I was achy, and my throat hurt so bad that it was making my ears hurt, and I was ruining our vacation. Anyhow, we asked our waitress about the on call doctor, and she sent us to the Sheraton Princess hotel. I was in and out in no more than an hour, prescriptions for Zithromax and a Lidocaine gargle in hand. They're billing our insurance for the visit, and we'll have to be reimbursed for the prescriptions when we get home. I started the Zithromax right away, and by that afternoon, I was already feeling better. We went to Kelley O�Neil's for lunch, and when we got back, there was a message on the phone for us.

It turned out that it was from the company doing our sunset dinner cruise, calling to tell us that their ship was out of the water for repairs, and could they please reschedule us for Friday. The cruise was supposed to take place on the very next day. They called the DAY BEFORE. How many people are going to be in their hotel rooms in the afternoon on their Hawaiian vacation? Not to mention the fact that it was too late to make arrangements with another company. I tried to call them back at 6:30 in the afternoon, and they were already closed. I was FURIOUS. A very special part of our vacation involved that cruise. But, I decided to just suck it up for the time being, since we still had the remainder of the afternoon and evening ahead of us.

We took a walk along Waikiki beach. We walked down to the harbor, and looked at all the pretty boats. We marveled at each other, at the clarity of the water, the sky. We saw a small striped silver and black fish that had died in the water, and then watched small crabs come and make a meal of it. We finally headed back to Duke's beachfront restaurant for dinner. We talked and smiled and watched the waves roll across the ocean and caress the beach.

The next morning, Tuesday, I called the cruise company again. I asked how long the ship had been out for repair. A month, she told me. And they waited until the DAY before the cruise was supposed to happen to tell me? She offered me an upgrade, which is apparently cruise-speak for "costs more," not "improved service." She said that she could get us on a dolphin watching cruise on one of their other craft that morning. Which, don't get me wrong, would likely have been a beautiful experience. However, I didn't think my beautiful embroidered silk Chinese mandarin collar dress would have been appropriate attire, and besides, I wanted a nice romantic cruise where Corey and I were focusing on each other. So she told me that I might be able to get a refund through the agent I booked it through, and I should call the number on my ticket. So I did. And THEIR customer rep told me that it was too late for me to get a refund. I immediately insisted on speaking to a manager. He tried to convince me that the manager wouldn't be able to help, and I assured him that I didn't give a good goddamn, thank you very much. He finally put his manager on, and he tried to tell me that it was too late for a refund.

Now, I'd already explained the situation to the first guy. The manager apparently didn't get the information from him, though. I told him, "Look, this isn't just some kind of, 'Oh, I suddenly don't think I want to do this,' sort of thing. I WANT to go on this cruise, but the COMPANY cancelled it, and I want my money back!" He finally saw what I was saying, and straightened out the first guy I spoke to. The first guy asked me to hold while he called and confirmed that what I was saying was true, then came back on and apologized for the misunderstanding. He told me that my money would be refunded within a week. Which wasn't a cruise, but it was better than getting screwed out of a cruise AND $117.

After settling that issue, we took a trolley to Hilo Hattie's. I love Hilo Hattie's almost as much as the International Market Place. They have everything you could hope to find in Hawaii and more. I picked up a couple of Hawaiian wraps (called pareaus) for myself and one for Mercedes. Corey got a set of 4 pairs of chopsticks, and I also picked up a notepad for Mercedes made out of natural local fibers and topped with a seashell. I also got a set of four coffee mugs. Tee hee!

We spent the rest of the day visiting historical sites. We went to see the USS Missouri. We were allowed to explore nearly every nook and cranny of the battleship, and it was amazing. She's seen a lot of history, and it was an honor to be aboard her. And can we say Mr. Hammie Heaven? I thought so!

Next, we visited the USS Arizona Memorial. It was very emotional, being over the top of it. The men that went down with the ship are still inside the ship. Even after 63 years, she's still leaking oil. I can't even describe the flood of emotions that came with standing inside the memorial that spans the center of the ship. I imagine visiting the site of the World Trade Center would affect me even more, since that happened in my own lifetime, and if so, it would take me quite awhile to recover from the spiritual pain of it.

Finally, we visited the Punchbowl Memorial Cemetery. Again, very emotional. All of the bodies recovered from the attack on Pearl Harbor are buried there, including the bodies of the unknown. It's a beautiful tribute and a peaceful place. If I had to be buried, I'd want it to be in a cemetery like that one.

After we got back to the hotel, we decided on a Chinese restaurant, the Golden Dragon. I changed into my anniversary attire, painted on my eyebrows (which were met with admiration, surprise, and approval by tourists and locals alike - hee hee!), and Corey dressed up in his khaki slacks and embossed aloha shirt. Our meal was incredible. We decided on one of their dinners, and had no idea what we were getting into. First, they brought out the pupus - egg rolls, crab wantons, and pork. Then they brought hot and sour soup. Next was the main course - a large plate piled with duck fried rice, and the meat dishes - lobster and shrimp, eggplant and chicken, scallops and asparagus, and beef and snow peas. THEN they brought us dessert - green tea ice cream for me, which was weird and I didn't care for it much, but it was fun to try, and coconut ice cream for Corey, which he didn't like much but had fun trying anyway. Our meal was punctuated by the sound of the ocean, bands playing at various beach theatres along the shore, and a pot of jasmine tea.

We topped off the evening by packing up and getting ready for our flight out the next morning. We went out for breakfast and some last minute gift shopping, then headed to the rental return for our car. With that done, we took the shuttle back to the airport. We grabbed a huge soda and a tiny pizza, then kicked back filling in crossword puzzles together until time to board the plane. When we were finally on the runway to take off, I got my last views of the pristine beaches of Hawai'i. The whole morning I was sad and teary eyed. Going back to the real world sucks. LOL.

When we finally got off the plane and descended the escalator, Alex bounded over to me, hugged me fiercely, and cried on my shoulder. I think he missed me a little. It was just him and Dave to pick us up at the airport, as Mercedes and Nana were at church, and Christie was home sick. And Dave informed us that there was something wrong with the van. Just to give you a little history, the plan was for Dave and Christie to take the kids to San Diego for some of the attractions there. We offered to let them take the van so they could be more comfortable for the trip. On the way to the airport to pick us up, Dave felt the transmission slipping, so we took it to a mechanic to find out what was going on.

We need a rebuild. An $1800 rebuild. And chances are, it'll go out completely before we make it home. So...

New plan: Rent a car, drive it home, leaving the van in California. Work a month, save paychecks from hospital and overtime pay from Corey until we have enough for the tranny rebuild. Then either fly one of us and Mercedes back or rent another car and drive BACK to California and pick up the van. Drop Mercedes off for another visit with Grammy, and drive home. The rental car is a Toyota Corolla, white. It's brand-spanking new, which is nice, but I sure miss the space of the van. Somehow, the trunk is big enough to manage all of our luggage, though, and both kids fit in the back seat, so I guess we're doing good. And if anything mechanical fails on this car, it's NOT OUR PROBLEM. All we have to do is get to a phone, call Hertz, and they can bring us another car and THEY can fix it. The whole situation was a huge stress, and I don't want it to be the final accent on our vacation. So I'm trying to focus on the good stuff, of which there really was so much. I am, however, looking forward to getting home, in spite of the fact that I have to be at work tomorrow at 6 in the afternoon. I wonder if Christine will be awake when I get home? I can live with Colombian coffee if I get to share it with her!

the last trail...the next path

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