Thrill Side!

I mast$%&$@#$ in the plane’s restroom on our flight back home from this trip. It just occurred to me  while peeing, (fuck it, why not right?)  It helped me sleep for about 30 minutes through the bit of turbulence and babies crying on board.

I hit the big 31 this year and celebrated in Oahu. Last minute trip, thanks to my girl Amanda 😉 and the Madrina .

4 years ago I visited for my first time, I’M BACK MOTHER FUCKERS!

Waikiki beach with Diamond head in the background.

Lots of people were out there getting married, here’s my cousin Peter Kim.

These ABC stores are everywhere on the island, like liquor stores in Oakland.

Rented one of these.

We let the water rock us as we enjoyed the view and soaked up some sun.

We rented this Challenger, pissed me off though. Small rear windows = huge blind spots.

In the morning we checked out the Pearl Harbor memorial. You watch a quick movie on the attacks by the Japanese, then you get on the ferry to the memorial. Lots of old people, but it was cool to be there and hear what happened.

The white on the map below shows the layout of the sunken Arizona and the memorial shown in white.

Names of the victims.

After the memorial we hit the flea market. Its right outside the Hawaii football stadium where the pro bowl is played.  When I first heard about it, I pictured it like our flea markets in Oakland, filled with peoples’ unwanted treasures. This one however its more of a souvenir outdoor mall. Everything there is targeted towards tourist. Key chains, hair pins, surf boards,  Hawaiian shirts etc etc everywhere.

These guys celebrating the Chinese new year, dressed as dragons and beating on drums where blessing the vendors.

Rap letters.

We bought some souvenirs (which I lost later) , we headed out to Hanauma bay, missed it on my first trip. Must go if you visit the island. I also recommend buying your snorkling gear at one of those ABC stores, it would save you some money.

We stopped at this look out point in front of KoKo head  (pictured in the back ground), AND WHAT THE FUCK DID I SPOT? FUCKING BEAST OAKLAND! 2000 miles away and 6+ hr flight. I fucking love this!

After taking this  picture for instagram, we hopped in the car and went to Hanauma bay. We payed $7, watched a short video on what not to do, like not touching the fish, not stepping on the coral reef, blah blah blah and then they released us.

Pure beauty, ( the background is pretty too).

Brought some of my people along

Un sandwhichito y un taco de ojo pa la dieta. (A lil sandwhich and some eye candy for the diet)

We rented some gear and got busy. While snorkling , I was hella paranoid I’d slice my belly open swimming over the reef rocks. It was beautiful, crystal clear water, all kinds of fish, colorful, big, small, clear.

Amanda thinking she’s a pro in 1 foot of water.

We swan and layed in Hanauma bay for a while before we headed up to hike Koko head.

Big shout out to my connect, I would have never made it up that mountain without this good mountain of powder. Johnson & Johnson baby powder for my nuts and inner thighs.

Amanda, prior the the hike.

There it is, half a mile up these abandoned, steep ass train tracks.

Paramedics walking someone down. Shit got real.

Come on girl, you can do it.

We made up an hour later. It was not a hard hike, I stayed along Amanda and motivated her to not give up. There’s Hanauma Bay in the view from the top.

It’s my birthday! BITCHES!

You know how I do.

I exchanged a few words with these locals before we walked down.

Rocking my boy Wire’s shirt.

Amanda, post hike.

The walk down.

We got back in the car and headed back to Waikiki, rested and then hit the mall for some food.

That good Loco Moco.

Walked the strip back to the hotel.

Hella Japanese people, I felt like I was in Japan.

Amanda in front of Duke’s statue. Duke was a pioneer in the Surf game.

Back in the hotel, view from the balcony (we totally didn’t have sex here to the sound of the ocean).

Next morning we headed out to north beach.

North beach is the country side, more chill and laid back part of the island.

We stopped at Waimea bay real fast and early.

Cooling.

Stopped at a little fruit stand. #supportlocal

#thestruggleisreal

we kicked it in turtle beach where we snorkled once more.

After that we went for a quick bite to eat a few miles north.

Oh yeah, I love Taco trucks, in this case , Shrimp trucks.

Bought some hand crafted Tiki gods from this man’s shop.

This place is a must go to, great shaved ice with vanilla ice cream.

Always has a line of people waiting for that good cream.

We walked down the street while enjoying our  shaved Ice/ cream.

We then hit Turtle Beach.

Reminds me of the time back in the late 80s, it was a dark hot night. I waited in the dark alongside my mom and other family members in a beach in Oaxaca , Mexico. We were waiting for a sea turtle to lay its eggs and go into the water so we could dig them out and later eat them. Someone decided it was a good idea to sit me on top of the turtle as it was walking back into the ocean. My 5yr old self started crying, hahah but anyways.

Turtles are safe here and come to rest.

This was awesome, there were about 4 turtles in the water and 2 on the beach cooling.

On the way back to Waikiki we stopped for some Pineapples.

The Dole plantation. I recommend the Pineapple ice cream there, don’t do the tour unless you want to see nothing special.

Last time I went I had more fun feeding the fish than that silly tour, so we did it again.

After I ate some ice cream and let my phone charge for a while we cut and hit Duke’s in Waikiki for some food. Really nice spot with the beach view.

The next day was our last day before heading back home. We jumped in the car for a little more sight seeing.

Got this from a 7-Eleven. Had to.

Sent mom a postcard, always send my mom a postcard from my plane trips. Next time I’m flying her with me.

My buddy Andy recommended a lot of these places for me to visit, including Makapu’u lighthouse and lookout point.

The top feels so much better than the bottom. So much better.

Thank you all for reading, or just looking at the pics. Stay tuned, until next time.