Bags - Lost in Transit · Hyning - Lost in Translation

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Hawaii - not so much of the sunset behind swaying palm trees, but the mountains, the volcanoes, the beaches and the pipelines... and aloha! After 16 hours and a stopover in Taipei, I arrived... without my luggage. All the way here to Waikiki without a bikini, it's a hopeless start to much anticipated holiday.

Flying across the Pacific Ocean and gaining a day, I arrived 1 day before Hyning. For some reason, I always thought we were getting in on the same day. Day 1, I wandered around Waikiki, alone, feeling like I had over-dressed for a beach-party, jet-lagged and disoriented. Good thing that there was a sale going on in Alo Moana, I could always find comfort in retail therapy. I-love-Hawaii tees became my uniform for the next few days, that's if my luggage arrived before we were due to leave for the Big Island.

Waikiki

Waikiki seemed more East Asian than an American. The Korean and Japanese probably outnumbered the locals. The tourist crowds were slightly older than those in South Beach, Miami. It is probably because it is too far for college dudes in the States to make this place their winter retreat. If Miami was hot, steamy and intense; Waikiki was warm, calm and relaxing.

The plan was Hyning and I would meet in our little surfers' den which was right at the edge of Waikiki near Kapiolani Park. Since I have all this time to burn, I thought I'd pick her up in the airport instead. For some reason her flight arrived early and I missed her. So we were playing hide-and-seek and we, somehow, bumped into each other at Diamond Head. With Hyning here, we started our 'Thelma and Louise' trip around Oahu and Big Island.

Marc at our surfers' den gave us some ideas and highlights in Oahu.
Sunset cruise on Captain Cook's yacht - too tacky.
Luau (Hawaiian Feast) with cultural shows - too touristy.
Volcano-heli over Maui - too expensive.
Trek up Pu'u Ohia - this sounds more like it.
Snorkelling at Hanauma Bay - ahak!
Catch Triple-Crown at North Shore - I started to think he can read our mind.
Sky-diving at North Shore - yes!

So off we went to make arrangements for the next week, paid an obligatory visit to Pearl Harbour and the National Memorial and more importantly, we needed to get ready for our volcanoe-trail in the Big Island. We were to leave for the Big Island and then back to Oahu.

North Shore

North Shore - the coastal front of Oahu. Fox TV's North Shore, the last few seasons of Baywatch and Lost were all filmed here. I gather the dramatic swells of the waves here provide enough storylines for moviemakers. In December, surfing in North Shore is not for the faint-hearted. The waves go as high as 16ft before crashing to the shore. The waves sounded fierce and unsettling. From a distance, surfers were seen bobbing up and down the sea, waiting to catch that perfect curl that would take them riding through the pipelines. I heard there were pointy lava bits and sand walls at the seabed. North Shore is the place with most dangerous waves. If you are into surfing here, you will need to know exactly what you are doing. There were signs all around Ehukai Beach Park warning

Respect is vital

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Surfers who knew exactly what to do were all around. The Triple Crown of Surfing was happening. Hyning and I were eager to watch it (specifically to watch the surfers). We arrived in North Shore on thanksgiving night after a quick spin in the Big Island. Shops were shut and the reception of our beachfront villa was deserted. There was no one to check us in. We found a message and a key left by the receptionist. After a slight hiccup, Brian, the cute surfer dude, gave us the key to our beachfront villa. We were torn between seeing Polynesian Cultural Centre or a full day at Halei'wa Beach. In the end, we agreed 1/2 day at Polynesia Cultural Centre and 1/2 day at Sunset beach for the 2ne Crown. But after the main show at the Centre, we decided to spend the rest of the day at Sunset Beach, to watch and mingle with the likes of Sunny Garcia and Andy Irons. It was just captivating to watch - the swells, the swirls and the surf.

Sunset at Sunset Beach was like no other places. Yet again, all sunsets are unique in their own way. With the waves thundering at the background and waterspray floating about, little rainbows could be easily seen at the ocean. When I was totally engrossed in watching the pipelines, the sky lit up in hues of red, orange and violet. Slowly and stealthily, the sky became dimmer and dimmer. It was beautiful.

Road Trip around Oahu

Road names in Hawaii in general are multisyllabic, long and somewhat weird. Take for example the king who unified the Hawaiian Islands - Kamehameha and the place where Captain Cook claimed to have 'found' Hawaii - Keala'kekua Bay, odd names eh? It was a tough job trying to read maps with road names printed on font 6. It could even be tougher when the car is in motion, with hiphop music playing on full blast at the background. But that was how we managed around Oahu, with Hyning driving and me navigating (or supposedly). Thank goodness for Irene's GPS, which sometimes did not turn out to be as accurate as Hyning's very own in-built 'GPS'. There were times the GPS indicated that we were at the Pacific Ocean when, in fact, we were driving up Mauna Kea - no where near the sea. Hyning seemed to have this natural magnetic field. She is drawn automatically to our point of destination, although sometimes with nice little detours for coffee. Salut.

The coastal road along Halei'wa to Hanauma Bay offers many 'scenic point' for picnics and picture moments. It took us longer than expected to drive around. Our road trip went mostly like this - "Stop stop.. picture picture." Followed by screeching brake with hazard light turned on immediately. Hyning would pursue an impossible reverse manoeuvre or 3-point turn in a single-lane trunk road. We would get off the car, snap a few shots, get back on the car and continue on our ride.

"I just want to fly...

The moment Marc suggested that we should go flying (or sky-diving), we were immediately taken to the idea. We figured, if we don't do it now, we will never do it. We knew each other too well to know that we would not chicken out, not when we were together. The whole deal involved taking a twin-engine beechcraft up to 14,000ft, strapping tight to a tandem master and taking that one tiny step forward and you are off for a one full minute of freefall before the parachute opens at 4,000ft.

We drove to Farrington airfield early in the morning. On the way there, we were both very quiet and sombre, the truth was we were both scared, very scared. I am sure we both doubted for a moment that we might not make it back and all the 'what if's were playing tricks on us. When we arrived at Pacific Skydiving, strangely there was no one there, a guy later appeared from the office and we were told that it was too windy to skydive today. Damn. Or rather *phew*.

I decided to come back a few days later to do it, by myself, as Hyning has left for Cali. Except, this time, there were 6 other Japanese tourists. We were given a quick run through the safety procedure, how the harness works etc. I was not paying attention or rather I could not focus at all. My heartbeat was probably going at 200 bps with my forehead full of beads of coldsweat. The people at the skydiving centre thought I was feeling hot and turned on the fan!

I am sure that the experience would be exhilarating, like never-before but what if the parachute did not open? What if the strap with the tandem master became loose? Or simply what if something went wrong? It was just too late to turn back now, payments were made, waiver letter signed. I was escorted or rather marched to the aircraft that slowly climb to 14,000ft. The tandem master thought I was a Japanese, because for all the questions he asked, I just nodded. I was so scared that I could not even speak. I had never been so afraid in my life. It all happened very quickly, when the first tandem master opened the aircraft sliding door, we were guided or rather pushed by our tandem master to get near the door. But I really wanted to give up and before I could scream 'noOOOooOoOO!!!', I was out there, swirling in the air. I could not feel anything. I did not dare to open my eyes fearing that the next thing I see would be fleeting-scenes of my life before me and it would be the end. The tandem master held my hands tight, our arms and legs stretched-out like tortoise. The g-force pull was strong and the winds were fierce and loud, I could not even hear myself screaming. I had a peek out of curiosity and my gosh, this is what I was missing. Everything just seemed so small and insignificant. The houses at the ground were tiny, the fields were of different shades of green, nicely and geometrically divided. North Shore waves could be seen churning and unfolding. We dropped past clouds and I could feel the moist on my face.

I was told to keep running when we touched down but I slipped and fell flat on my face. Not quite the elegant landing I imagined, yet when I was asked what happened to my knees later, I told them that I fell from 14,000 ft and this was the only injury I had.

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Photos

Sunset at Waikiki
Along Kapahuluu Ave

Triple Crown of Surfing
North Shore, Oahu