Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
San Francisco
So after 2 nights of not sleeping I arrived to SFO and Elo's friend Ken was nice enough to pick me up really early in the morning :) so I got to wake up Elo who was still sleeping (that should not be a surprise to people who really know her)!
Took a little nap and then off to town - it was the first nice day after many rainy ones :) so at least I picked the right day to arrive.
San Francisco is still the same as I left it year ago when I was here the last time :)
Guess what we had for dinner :) sushi of course!
And then I had the real sleep of my life - Elo woke me up next day at 1 pm as she thought I was dead (as I was not moving at all) and I thought that it was 9 am and I could sleep some couple of hours more :)))
But no - off to the city and then in the evening to the airport, again.
We actually met an Estonian waitress at a cafe where we went for a breakfast/lunch/dinner :)
When I arrived to the airport I had a major deja vu - American Airlines had grounded all their MD90 aircraft as they did not pass some kind of technical thingy - the guy at the check-in actually asked me to come behind the counter and see for myself what the flights looked like - not good at all :( they were looking for volunteers actually to get off the flights....
After the first 2 flights left without me I managed to get on the last one - lucky me, got the last seat!
I was seated between a really old and talkative guy and a younger one who was sleeping the entire flight - and 5 hours later I arrived to Washington - happy days are here again as the weather is nice and friends even nicer :))
Took a little nap and then off to town - it was the first nice day after many rainy ones :) so at least I picked the right day to arrive.
San Francisco is still the same as I left it year ago when I was here the last time :)
Guess what we had for dinner :) sushi of course!
And then I had the real sleep of my life - Elo woke me up next day at 1 pm as she thought I was dead (as I was not moving at all) and I thought that it was 9 am and I could sleep some couple of hours more :)))
But no - off to the city and then in the evening to the airport, again.
We actually met an Estonian waitress at a cafe where we went for a breakfast/lunch/dinner :)
When I arrived to the airport I had a major deja vu - American Airlines had grounded all their MD90 aircraft as they did not pass some kind of technical thingy - the guy at the check-in actually asked me to come behind the counter and see for myself what the flights looked like - not good at all :( they were looking for volunteers actually to get off the flights....
After the first 2 flights left without me I managed to get on the last one - lucky me, got the last seat!
I was seated between a really old and talkative guy and a younger one who was sleeping the entire flight - and 5 hours later I arrived to Washington - happy days are here again as the weather is nice and friends even nicer :))
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Stuck at Honolulu airport
So actually the same day when we arrived to Honolulu 2 airlines, Aloha and ATA had declared bankruptcy... and we thought that it would not affect us at all :) wrong since all those people were rebooked to the flights we intended to take and it is a spring break so there are more people here than on your regular week.
But "brave" as we were we just showed up at the airport, hoped for the best and gave it a try.
Elo managed to get on the first flight out of there as they only offered 1 seat to us and she was going to visit her friends in San Francisco so I just let her go.... kind of made sense...
I decided to spend the night at the airport as the idea of going through the security check once again did not feel nice - again they tried to deep freeze me but it did not quite work as I went outside to warm myself every hour :)
First flight in the morning - almost got on but then the last 2 people showed up at the very last minute and no luck :(
Met this lady who was at the airport trying for the first time in her life on standby tickets - she had no clue how things worked (that you can try different flights etc) - so I gave her a little lesson in ID travel in "Epp style" :)
And then another 2 ladies "praise the Lord" style with big hairdo showed up (they had been stranded for 3 days already and now were holding confirmed seats for one of the afternoon flights) - we had a quite interesting 3 hours talk about politics and the current economical situation in US, but their last conclusion on every topic was still in the style of "this is the Lords way and it is good for something" etc :)
The next 2 flights were so crazy that the staff actually got into a little fight amongst themselves and then they announced that they only had 2 seats for the evening flight and soooo many standbys that they did not even want to reveal the number to us.
But "brave" as we were we just showed up at the airport, hoped for the best and gave it a try.
Elo managed to get on the first flight out of there as they only offered 1 seat to us and she was going to visit her friends in San Francisco so I just let her go.... kind of made sense...
I decided to spend the night at the airport as the idea of going through the security check once again did not feel nice - again they tried to deep freeze me but it did not quite work as I went outside to warm myself every hour :)
First flight in the morning - almost got on but then the last 2 people showed up at the very last minute and no luck :(
Met this lady who was at the airport trying for the first time in her life on standby tickets - she had no clue how things worked (that you can try different flights etc) - so I gave her a little lesson in ID travel in "Epp style" :)
And then another 2 ladies "praise the Lord" style with big hairdo showed up (they had been stranded for 3 days already and now were holding confirmed seats for one of the afternoon flights) - we had a quite interesting 3 hours talk about politics and the current economical situation in US, but their last conclusion on every topic was still in the style of "this is the Lords way and it is good for something" etc :)
The next 2 flights were so crazy that the staff actually got into a little fight amongst themselves and then they announced that they only had 2 seats for the evening flight and soooo many standbys that they did not even want to reveal the number to us.
At the same time there was an announcement that Hawaiian Airlines has a special charter to LAX and there are still seats available for sales - so I just decided to purchase the ticket and get out of there....
Arrived to LAX in the middle of the night and spent another lovely 4 hours at the airport floor (at least they do not freeze you over there) - just to find out that they will not accept my HNL-SFO coupon for LAX-SFO flight!
After a brief headless moment and couple of tears I just went and purchased a "real" ticket - felt so tired of the airports and all that crap!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Oahu sights and beaches
So the next day I decided no to go to the beach at all as I was already showing the first signs of "boiled lobster" or actually "boiled shrimp" at that stage and instead climb the Diamond Head mountain that is the symbol of Honolulu.
Basically it is an old (really old) and non active volcano and you get a nice view of the city and ocean from the top - it was well worth the climb of 40 minutes :)
After spending 2 days on the Waikiki beach "grilling" (in my case just one) we discovered that there are other beaches well worth visiting :)
First beach was Hanauma bay - to actually get down to the beach you have to watch a 15 minute move of how you can "look but not touch"...
It is haft or 2/3 of a crater that fell into the ocean long time ago and now it is a perfect spot to snorkel and see different kind of sea animals. You actually do not have to snorkel but go to the water just up to your knees and the fishes are right there :) different shape and colour.
And then it started raining :(
They say that if it is raining on one side of the island it might not be on the other side, so we packed up and jumped to the bus, got off at the next beach - Waimanalo beach - gorgeous beach and there were only about 10 other people there. The sand is nice and white and there are nice and big waves, trees and nice mountainous scenery :)
And then it started raining, again :(
The bus ride back to Honolulu was probably the worst 50 minutes of my life so far as local bus drivers only know the off or on button on the A/C and it was freezing... and our clothes were wet.... Brrrrr
Ohh and this rainy day actually was the day when I got my worse sunburn so far - now officially a lobster stage :(
Kailua beach - this was our favorite! I had to stay in the shade though but it was still a nice and relaxing day with only a bit of rain.
Sunset beach - this beach is on the North Shore and is supposed to have these huge waves and because of that is one of the favourite spots for surfers in the world - well we did not see any of those BIG waves - kind of a disappointment :(
So if you have to go to Hawaii please choose another island - not Oahu!
MAHALO for attention!
Basically it is an old (really old) and non active volcano and you get a nice view of the city and ocean from the top - it was well worth the climb of 40 minutes :)
After spending 2 days on the Waikiki beach "grilling" (in my case just one) we discovered that there are other beaches well worth visiting :)
First beach was Hanauma bay - to actually get down to the beach you have to watch a 15 minute move of how you can "look but not touch"...
It is haft or 2/3 of a crater that fell into the ocean long time ago and now it is a perfect spot to snorkel and see different kind of sea animals. You actually do not have to snorkel but go to the water just up to your knees and the fishes are right there :) different shape and colour.
And then it started raining :(
They say that if it is raining on one side of the island it might not be on the other side, so we packed up and jumped to the bus, got off at the next beach - Waimanalo beach - gorgeous beach and there were only about 10 other people there. The sand is nice and white and there are nice and big waves, trees and nice mountainous scenery :)
And then it started raining, again :(
The bus ride back to Honolulu was probably the worst 50 minutes of my life so far as local bus drivers only know the off or on button on the A/C and it was freezing... and our clothes were wet.... Brrrrr
Ohh and this rainy day actually was the day when I got my worse sunburn so far - now officially a lobster stage :(
Kailua beach - this was our favorite! I had to stay in the shade though but it was still a nice and relaxing day with only a bit of rain.
Sunset beach - this beach is on the North Shore and is supposed to have these huge waves and because of that is one of the favourite spots for surfers in the world - well we did not see any of those BIG waves - kind of a disappointment :(
So if you have to go to Hawaii please choose another island - not Oahu!
MAHALO for attention!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Travel in time
When we started flying from Osaka it was 9:40 pm 3. April 2008 and when we arrived to Honolulu it was 9:40 am 3. April 2007 (the year is according to the stewardess's announcement :) ).
Honolulu airport itself is like travelling back to 80's to the "Dynasty" and "Dallas" times - dark walls and big steel-glass lamps....
Our visit to the island did not start well at all - border guard yelled at me and then the bus driver gave us a lecture how we could not leave our suitcases to the isle but have to hold them in our lap! And then the "fun" started - the crowd on the bus was like a bunch of circus freaks - one twitched and another one yelled :(
Felt like public enemy no 1.
Best part of the day was when we got to the Waikiki beach (according to Elo our local Pirita beach is much better though) - the water is green-blue and you can see the bottom and the best part is that the temperature is so perfect - you could stay there all day.
Were supposed to stay in Honolulu 6 nights but because of the culture shock we cancelled the last 2 nights.
Ohhh - our roommates are 2 chubby boys from Alaska :)
Honolulu airport itself is like travelling back to 80's to the "Dynasty" and "Dallas" times - dark walls and big steel-glass lamps....
Our visit to the island did not start well at all - border guard yelled at me and then the bus driver gave us a lecture how we could not leave our suitcases to the isle but have to hold them in our lap! And then the "fun" started - the crowd on the bus was like a bunch of circus freaks - one twitched and another one yelled :(
Felt like public enemy no 1.
Best part of the day was when we got to the Waikiki beach (according to Elo our local Pirita beach is much better though) - the water is green-blue and you can see the bottom and the best part is that the temperature is so perfect - you could stay there all day.
Were supposed to stay in Honolulu 6 nights but because of the culture shock we cancelled the last 2 nights.
Ohhh - our roommates are 2 chubby boys from Alaska :)
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