Home sweet home

It feels wonderful to be back in your own home. In your own bed. I read in the airport that home is not a place but a feeling of belonging. My bed is definitely where I belong. It’s the coziest, warmest place I can think of under the covers though the outside temperature dipped just below freezing yesterday night. It’s almost magical.

Now I am not sure where I should start and how I should really approach my vacation. Hawai’i. It’s apparently pronounced as huh-vei-ee by the locals and not with a big aah sound. But not being local, I decided not to care how it was pronounced by the locals. It’s a group of islands in the middle of the pacific with almost nothing in 2000 miles of any direction. The closest islands are the Marquesas Islands which are about 1500 miles away towards the south. The islands themselves were (are being) formed by volcanic eruptions caused by a hot spot in the middle of the pacific plate. This over time has resulted in the islands being formed with the hot spot moving towards the south east slowly over millions of years.

I spent my time between three of the Hawaiian Islands. So I spent one week in Waikiki (in Oahu) followed by three days on the “Big Island” (Hawaii) and then three in Maui. This was then followed by a week of maximum relaxation and lot of shopping in Waikiki and Honolulu.

Things I did
Waikiki
1. Took a surfing lesson on Waikiki beach.
2. Went snorkelling in an aquarium like bay called Hanuama Bay.
3. Went on a circle tour of the island of Oahu.
4. Went on a day trip to the Polynesian culture center which I absolutely, absolutely loved where I learnt to do the Hula and fell head over heels in love with Tahitian dancing. (It had something to do with the guy on stage – who had the cutest smile - coming up to me and asking me to dance and me mumbling something to him before following him on stage and trying to follow him in the dance.)
5. Attended a Hawaiian Lua’u feast.

Big Island
1. Went hiking alone in absolute pitch darkness with a flashlight in hand for two hours in the lava flows. It was an experience. The sound of the lava flowing into the ocean, the sound of ocean against the rocks, the sound of the wind blowing hard in my ears, the sight of the lava glowing orange in the dark, the sight of the night sky that was so clear that the milky way was seen so clearly.
2. visited rainforests and waterfalls.
3. Went hiking down pololu valley all by myself and realised that I was all by myself in the entire valley. An amazing feeling. Also went to waipio valley which was very touristy.
4. stayed in Hilo and went driving around the rest of the island.
5. Expedition up to the summit of Mauna Kea at 13000 feet, where the worlds best telescopes are located due to the lack of light pollution there. Also a star/constellation show there.
6. walk through a lava tube.

Maui
1. went to Lahaina and did shopping. Beautiful town.
2. Saw a sunset in Maui with the wind blowing through the valley and was almost strong enough the blow me off balance. It was just so awesome to just stand there.
3. Saw numerous rainbows. In fact I am sick of ‘em now. It was so common.
4. Went Snuba diving in the ocean. One of the highlights of the trip. How the ocean can be so pristine, clean and clear is beyond me.
5. Went chasing dolphins which seems to be chasing out catamaran more than us chasing them.
6. Went to a show called Ulalena. Good drum beats. It was an artists rendering of the mythology about the creation of Hawai’i.
7. Road trip to Hana.

Back in Waikiki
1. Shopping, shopping and more shopping.
2. Visited Honolulu downtown and Chinatown.
3. Walked from Honolulu downtown to Waikiki along Ala Moana beach.
4. Saw numerous more rainbows. In fact I saw a double rainbow once.
5. Revolving restaurant in Waikiki.
6. went hiking and came back covered in mud and slush and maybe a little bit of blood too, but felt happy that I was the least muddy of all the hikers there AND I came back without getting my shoes wet even after so many falls and slips on the streams. Dancing helps to balance well on rocks when you are crossing streams. My friends with who I went hiking had water oozing out of their shoes and I had a smug look on my face after the 14th time we had crosses the stream.
7. went to Kailua beach and lanikai where all the modelling happens.
8. Had shave ice, visited a macadamia nut farm.
9. Went to the valley of temples to visit a Buddha temple and fed food to giant goldfishes. One of the most serene places I have seen.
10. Learnt to navigate using stars in a planetarium.

Anyways, after all this I also did have time to relax a lot during the last week. The internet capability in the hotels was surprisingly bad and I had to hunt for coffee houses to check email even though I stayed in pretty good seaside hotels which I would think would have connections for the money they charge.

Took about 1500 pictures, 50 video clips, the dolphins, Tahitian dance and a complete 2 minute clip of a sunset from beginning to end are the highlights.

Last night I talked to my friend for an hour about my trip about the not-so-USA feel in the big island and maui. The mythologies and religious beliefs. The politics of becoming the 50th state. The wave theory behind the sizes of the surf and the waves. The volcano formation theory. The wonders of diving and how you have to adjust to the pressure every two feet. I heard a lot of local radio and Hawaiian songs are truly melodious and charming in their own calm way.

I could talk for about half hour on each of those activities that I have described above but its hard to really put down how you feel when you do each of those things. I will probably touch on a few of those things in the next couple weeks whenever I can.

I don’t think I will be going out to restaurants for a while though. I was just catching up with emails at work today. People seemed happy that I was back. I take that as a good sign. My fishes have been moved back into my house. I have stocked up my fridge again.

Thought of the moment: Dwelling, dulcet dwelling.