as u may have understood from my previous posts, being part of an exotic phenomenon, as well known as it may be, gives me my fix. so was the double sunday nov 17 for me. to have a full sunday of activity, go to sleep by night, and wake up on sunday morning, is an experience i will never forget. davening shachris on the second sunday, by the שיר של יום, i contemplated saying היום יום ראשון השני בשבת. an 8 day week, a jewish calendar month of 31 days. as i said about the manly beach experience, if u understand it, enjoy it, if not continue on, u just may be normal.
after we landed we went to customs and were admitted. it took a few minutes to find the guy who has the stamp stating port of entry as hawaii, but we eventually found him. its the same exact stamp that they used to give in new york it just says HHW on it instead of NYC. anyone know what exactly it stands for? i dont. maybe honolulu hawaii? google claims its Household Hazardous Waste.
as to the next 2 days spent in hawaii on the main island, the main thing i learned is that i wish i could spend 2 months there exploring everything all the islands have to offer. less than that wont suffice. the place is absolutely gorgeous. no words or pictures can describe it. there is a feeling in the air of no day, night, or time zone. hawaii is a whole different pace than everywhere else. society as we know it absolutely stops in hawaii. people walk around as if they wouldnt give a nickel for the whole world, yes even the ones that dont smoke weed. to sum it up i would say כל הדר מחוץ להוואי אין לו "aloha".
we picked up a red convertible jeep and headed over to the open market by aloha stadium, where we bought hawaii style clothing and coconuts filled with coconut milk. those coconuts and straws are a must have for the hawaii pics. after checking in to the very dinky Pagoda Waikiki motel, we headed over to pay our respects at the USS Arizona Memorial. thanx
@Dan for the wonderful post on how to get the very quick to sell out tickets.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/hawaii/honolulus-uss-arizona-memorial-pearl-harbor-reopens/ i actually grabbed them as soon as they opened up, not a moment too soon, as the next day all the reservations for that day were booked. just as the master says.
the memorial was built very well, and actually gives u quite a feeling for what happened on dec 7 1941. parts of the original warships can still be seen in the water, and there is actually still oil rising from the sunken ships. it was quite a somber experience. the great US of A really knows how to memorialize their fallen. for me it was especially somber when contemplating the fact that the mistake of the Japs in forcing the US into the war was actually the salvation of my grandparents and the rest of european jewry. if not for that day, who knows what would have been left by the time the war would have ended. the virtual reality exhibit was extremely cool, i found it hard to breathe "under the water", and only my continued self assurances that it isnt for real kept me from drowning.
after having some trouble opening and closing the roof of the convertible we went back to the airport (a 5 min drive) to switch the car. they gave us instead a ford mustang, which although it wasnt red or yellow, it for sure gave us the full hawaii feeling. only later did we realize that a mustang is an absolute must have for the complete hawaii photo op.
we then found a quiet spot near Haleʻiwa Beach Park, where we took many gorgeous pics, enjoyed the water, and watched the stunning hawaiin sunset. the feeling of the end of the world is amazing. we watched the waves and some kids riding the waves for an unknown amount of time, i dont think they sell watches in hawaii. probably not calendars either. at some point we realized that the 1 smartphone we had was missing. in any other of the destinations on this trip we would have been extremely stressed. no waze, no pictures, no way of communication. but right there at that moment, for some reason, the thought of just staying on that beach for the rest of my life wasnt that disturbing. eventually some obviously local kid (by his polenisian looks and perfect english) came and said is this phone yours? he told us that some random guy found it a short distance away and told him to go find the jews because according to the pics on the phone its theirs. a real kiddush hawaii. he then offered us to come join his family bbq a few minutes walk away. we did just that and found the locals to be quite interesting ppl. i would have loved to make a hamoitizi hawaii and taste those steaks, but too bad. u know if we werent so obviously jewish he might have never found us, and then we wouldnt have been by the bbq anyways.
eventually we picked up and went back to waikiki, where we strolled along Kalakaua Avenue and the boardwalk. there were allot of interesting stores and ppl, including a tesla showroom where they let us take pictures in some nice new teslas and check them out. there were a few really weird street shows with different types of acrobatics and music. they ask u after the performance to give them a few bucks but no one makes u feel uncomfortable if u dont. we then headed back to hotel to eat and hit the sack.
we woke up monday morning nov 18 after the longest break ever between shaboss and monday (i know, im obsessed). we davened in the local chabad, ate, loaded our baggage onto the mustang, and headed out. the plan was to circle the island along the coast starting in waikiki along the south, then along the east, north, and back to the west towards the airport. we did just that and it was amazing. every few minutes we had to stop and find parking, because there was another one of those once in a lifetime views. their are endless amounts of observation spots, piers, beaches and whatever else u need to just stare out at those beautiful sights. the little rock islands are really stunning. the sky is stunning, the mountains are stunning. it is almost like a dream. pictures are nice but they dont capture a fraction of the beauty. we rented some snorkeling gear at Pupukea, and found a relatively deserted spot to go snorkeling. i dont know how it compares to other coral reefs, but for me it was a mind blowing experience. the fish are so colorful, the water is clean and clear, and the feeling of swimming together with the fish in and out of the reefs is amazing. u get so close to the fish u feel u can just reach out and grab them. of course after about twenty tries u realize its not possible, although i did touch quite a few. after snorkeling till we could no more, we came out and within 5 minutes were totally dry. we drove a little further, picked a spot, and sat down to daven mincha and watch the second most beautiful sunset in the world. the first being of course yesterdays sunset. right around sunset is when the waves are highest, and all the surfers come for the party. the backdrop of the sunset, the palm trees, the huge waves, and the surfers is an experience which captures the eyes and the mind and puts u in a trance.
as sad as it was, we had to leave. we tore ourselves away from planet hawaii and headed out towards HNL for our night flight/hotel on alaskan airlines to ANC (25k aa miles per person).
to be continued....