Hawaii : We Wanna Wailana

My fingers have been tinglin', ready to show you photos of our adventures in Hawaii... now that we're back home, we can!!

JD had more days off from work this year to play than he did last year. We wanted this trip to be more organic and spontaneous than last year's trip of a

luau, hula dancing

, and

swimming with dolphins

and

sharks

.

First Stop: Wailana Coffee House

These coconut pancakes are the bomb diggity. What's the white syrup? More coconut, of course!!

If you ever go to Oahu, please stop by Wailana Coffee House for these pancakes. The eggs were gross, but the pancakes and bacon were phenomenal.

Here is the view from our first hotel, the Doubletree Hilton. Rain, rainbows and murals of flipping whales.

Oh yes. The wonderful employees of the Doubletree greeted us with hot chocolate chip cookies and we were pumped. 

Originally, because of our late reservations, we had to break up our stay into several different hotels. But, being the awesome and persistent husband he is, JD called the Hilton Hawaiian Village at least five times the week before we arrived and he finally got us a room there for a consistent three weeks. We did have to stay at the Doubletree two nights when we arrived but it was much better than our previous plans of having to switch hotel rooms several times a week. Everyone was super nice at the Doubletree and the rooms were nicer than the Village... but the Village has way more activities so I was happy there while JD was working. If you're going to vacation in Waikiki, we would recommend the Hilton Hawaiian Village. 

Here is our map from Honolulu to the North Shore, our favorite area on Oahu! More to come about that  next post...

Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bet She'an, Megiddo... The Everything Israel Video. Come explore with us!

Want to go to Israel?! Try this on for size...

It's quite a lengthy video but it's difficult to condense two and a half weeks of the Holy Land into one short clip. We hope y'all enjoy!!

We'll start posting about Germany soooooon!!

October 3: Koko Head Challenge

If you are ever on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, Boots & Kimos is a must-try! MM invited us to this little restaurant that we had to actually sit outside for quite a while just to get a table. Don't let the wait deter you. They serve these deliciously rich macadamia nut pancakes, which had a sweet macadamia nut sauce flowing over the 3-pancake high stack. I read that people love this sauce so much that even the Betty Crocker Company wanted to sell their product. What!? Yeah, it was that good.

After JD's teleconference, we set out to find Koko Head. We drove around for a bit trying to find the start. Somewhere along the road, we ended up at the Botanical Gardens. The GPS couldn't find it either. Just as you shouldn't let the wait deter you for the awesome-ness that will be served to you at Boots & Kimos, don't let the difficult-looking hike ahead deter you from Koko Head. It is most certainly not for the faint of heart, but you can do it.

You'll want to take lots of water (three

Camelbaks

per hiker's back should suffice), a camera, a Bible, and someone awesome to motivate you the entire way up.

{Alright, it's not that bad - but it's pretty tough if you're not in a daily routine of hiking such craters.}

As you may be enticed to hike Diamond Head due to its popularity among tourists, we would suggest against it. Grated, we haven't hiked it but we've heard that Koko Head's views hold many more marvelous treasures than Diamond Head. Plus, it's less crowded, less touristy and more of a challenge. Koko Head was formerly occupied by the military in order to transport personnel and supplies to a lookout post on the summit. How did the military get up to the peak? By trams and railways, of course!

And how do hikers get up to the peak? You guessed it - by walking more than 1,100 steps - or old railway ties. These railway ties have a tendency to be fairly spaced out every few feet so people with long legs (i.e. JD) have a higher advantage of defeating the trail with more ease than those with short legs (i.e. Whit).

This is Koko Head. Doesn't look so bad from here, huh? Please note that, yes, the baseball field you park beside

is

, in fact, the parking lot that will eventually lead you up to Koko Head. Don't second guess yourself... or triple guess if you had the same difficulties as us.  

The small hike's trail from the parking lot to the beginning of the massive hike's trail...

Oh, this is it. After the hill from the parking lot, followed by the paved road, you should embark on something similar to this.

Now

does the Koko Head trail look a bit tougher? 

We made it to the top!! Haha - kidding. This photo was taken maybe 1/8 of the way up. We were still fully energized at this point. 

This is the face of a man ready to defeat Koko Head. Yes, my sweet husband does smile all of the time.  Even in the face of defeat. It's a truly beautiful thing. I aspire to be more like him in times such as this.

He has a stamina that I just can't comprehend. At this point, I'm taking the photo from a little further behind him on the trail... as in, this photo is in full zoom. My energy was fading rather quickly... 

But, there were awesome views to sustain our wariness. 

Yeah, this reminds me of a roller coaster too - right before you lose your stomach. Vertigo, anyone?

Another fully-zoomed photo of my husband trekking at full speed ahead. He would let me catch up with him every now and again, but I just kept falling behind. I kept saying, "Gosh, I really need to get a work-out regimen."

Still working on that one...

The 500th step. 

Hydration is KEY!! I wish we had those Camelbaks about right now...

This is the bridge. Yeah. The bridge. As in, there is nothing underneath these railway ties except a vast span of nothing, and then maybe some grass below that nothingness.

Or at least that's how you may feel when crossing it.

You can also take the side trail to the right, if you're terrified of falling through. In other words, we took that trail on the way back down.

The Hikers vs. The Mountain

The beauty of this trail is that you will find an infinite amount of camaraderie. It's all of you vs. the mountain. This girl was one of many people that we shared encouragement with. I wish that we had gotten a snapshot of

the man carrying a baby on his back

. Oh yeah, and

the guy who was carrying his girlfriend down the mountain

.

THAT

is motivation, my friends. And it helped give us that push to keep going.  

Water break!! Did I mention that you should hydrate during this trek?

And this would have been the perfect place to pull out the Bible. Seriously. It was absolutely breathtaking. I mean that literally and figuratively. :) It was a great place to rest, take in the view, and hope that you would not fall forward the slightest bit or it's Jack and Jill the whole way down.

Props to my sweet husband for taking this cool pic. I'm so glad I wore my wedding shirt that day. It made for a pretty cool element in the photo, don't you think?

Oahu at its finest on a cloudy day. At this point, we were so high and the clouds were so filled with rain that it began to sprinkle on us. The rain was also motivation for continuing on. It was kind of like the voice of God saying, "What's up, Todd's? Why don't you join me on top of this crater? I've got some pretty cool sights for you. Oh, you need water? Here's enough to carry you through."

You may think this is the top, as it is the end of the ties. Don't be deceived, friends. My husband is merely resting for the first time on our hike. 

Follow the trail up to the tippy top (the beaten path to JD's right) and you will see some views that will almost knock you off the peak. It's a great photo op and resting spot!! We also met a super nice couple up here that took our picture for us. 

Here's a view into the crater. I had nightmares of falling off the peak into this crater during the nights that followed taking this photo.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After enjoying the view, get ready....

...give each other a good luck kiss for the way down...

...and go!!

You may be tempted to run, hop, skip, or jog down... but be forewarned. Your feet may run out ahead of you and BOOM. Jack and Jill

again

. Not cool. Especially when you have short legs.

The treacherous bridge. Round 2. I'm pretty sure I crawled down backwards this time.

Is it that noticeable that JD graciously took the camera from me halfway during the hike? Can you also tell that he was super far ahead of me again on the way down? His legs are so much longer than mine.

Time for my muscle pics. 

I AM WOMAN!!... with a Dasani bottle in my hand.

JD took some pretty cool photos as I was cautiously hopping down the roller coaster-like trail. You can check out a stop motion clip we put together at 

this video

towards the end. 

Though this particular hike was quite strenuous, it was awesome and rewarding at both the peak and the end. We encourage anyone and everyone to have a go at it. Don't give up. Rest when you need to. Drink more water than you think you can even handle. Most importantly, enjoy it. Savor the battle because it is indubitably worth it. (Can you tell we've been watching How I Met Your Mother shows lately on Netflix?)

A Coconut Crackin', Tree Climbin', Hula Dancin', Adventurously Hikin' Hawaiian Recap

We still have one more daily recap post coming later this week (fingers' crossed), but we wanted to go ahead and post this video of our luau (finally!!) and the infamous Koko Head hike (post coming soon).

Music Choice

Boy with a Coin - Iron & Wine

Beautiful Day - U2

In other news, it seems like we'll be around Huntsville for a while. Yippee! Project corner, here I come!! I've already been working on some new projects and I cannot wait to post about them, in hopes you get some inspiration. As for Huntsville, we're excited that we may finally get to check this place out and enjoy it for a while.

Do you have any suggestions for our Huntsville adventures? 

Weather willing, we are super pumped to hike Walls of Jericho this weekend. I found out today that Davy Crockett hunted there. This happily serves as Reason #104 to hike the Walls of Jericho. 

Have a happy Tuesday!!

October 1: New Book. Must Read!

As JD drove away from the hotel, we blew each other kisses and waved at each other until he was no longer in sight. Since this is a daily routine of ours, it threw me off a bit when the security guard looked at me and smiled as I crossed the sidewalk.

“I bet he really appreciates you blowing him kisses like that on his way to work. That probably made his day,” said the tall, jolly security guard. To emphasize my shock at his adoring comment, I must acknowledge that he resembled "the tough guy" from the Zaxby's commercial like you wouldn't believe...

Every couple has the sweet, quirky thing they do. We tell each other "I love you" non-stop and we always make it a point to "kiss each other with a thooouuusand kisses" daily.

I’ve always thought that Hawaii was a state for lovers. Even at the shark adventure yesterday, the cameraman said he had never seen a couple kiss underwater with their snorkels on... with the sharks watching. That baffled me. Haven't any newlyweds ever tried this... or were they too smart to do something crazy like swim with sharks on their honeymoon?

With postcards in hand, I walked to the Post Office in one of the towers to send our “Aloha’s” to our family and to send a postcard back to ourselves. I spent most of the day pool hopping (sun bathing at one pool then switching to another). During lunch, I started reading Same Different As Me. Yeah. I had to stop reading because I started crying.

So I walked to the Tapa Pool and started reading again, tears straining down my face.

Fortunately, I was wearing my sunglasses.

I just couldn’t bare it any longer. I walked up to our room with fear that someone had thought I was truly upset.

On the contrary, God was breaking me down through the written words of Texans I don’t even know.

I sat in a chair on our balcony and literally

wept

as I turned the pages. Every once and a while I would get up to change Kleenexes and to try to regain composure, although I consistently broke down again as I started reading.

Close to finishing the book, JD called and said he was on his way back home. He picked up some dinner for me at Outback. Later he told me how flustered he was about the traffic, as this particular Outback only had take-out… not curbside takeout. You would've thought JD was a celebrity, the way everyone was honking their horns at him in frustration.

I had to put down the book because there is no better distraction than having my sweet husband home (in the hotel). Took note that I must finish it tomorrow. 

September 30 : Yea. We went swimming with Sharks.

I climbed out of bed this morning at 7 a.m. to make our appointments with North Shore Shark Adventure. I love that my husband desires to live an exhilarating lifestyle; yet, I suppose it is a stark contrast to my desire having been to swim with dolphins...

The earliest we could call for reservations was 6 a.m. but we were both exhausted. It was nearly impossible to get either of us out from under our haven of white hotel sheets. The boat was scheduled to leave port at 11 a.m. so we needed to be there by at least 10:30. JD checked his email while I traveled to the lobby for our morning Starbucks run. For some reason, we didn’t have our act together so we left the hotel around 9:20 (it takes an hour to get to the North Shore). We had to stop at Wal-Mart so we could buy an underwater cover for the Flip Cam though. After asking the electronics lady at the weirdest placed Wal-Mart I’ve been to (it was located downtown), she said that she didn’t even think the Flip had an underwater cover (which they do because I saw it on the Wal-Mart website yesterday). Oh well. We drove through the pineapple fields to get to the North Shore, welcomed by exotic trees and breathtaking views of the mountains and ocean. I was so thankful JD finally got to see what I had the opportunity to witness last Sunday!

We arrived to the port around 10:45 a.m.

In other words, we barely made it on time.

This was perfect, as our timing prevented me from thinking about the "What If" scenarios prior to jumping into the ocean. The instructors quickly briefed us on Shark Safety

(can you believe there is such a topic?)

as the boat started into the vast blue. Views behind and beside us were extraordinary. I know I use words like that to describe Hawaii fairly often, but that’s the only way I can express the beauty!

The captain drove out about 3 – 4 miles offshore. The first group, made up of about 7 people, was the first to go down in the cage tied up to the side of the boat. [I got sick during this time, due to the nature of the 4-foot waves tossing the small boat around.] We could see the sharks from the boat but they looked much smaller from above than from down below. The cage was beating steadily against the side of the boat. The top of the cage was surrounded by about one foot of steel bars, held above the water by buoys. The sides of the cage had glass panels and steel bars to hold onto. This is basically what we looked like:

picture courtesy of Masa Ushioda

With blood flowing rapidly through our veins

and fortunately not from our skin

, we counted at least eight Galapagos sharks. I kept bobbing up like I was wearing floaties or something, but JD went to the bottom of the cage, only to find out that there was not a glass bottom... simply steel bars that he accidentally stuck his foot through. He quickly swam back to the top in slight terror. I think we spent a total of 20-30 minutes underwater, amazed at the gracefulness and precision of these giant fish.

The ship crew filmed our time with the sharks but I can't pull the files up on my computer yet. We can't wait to put together a video of this thrilling experience!!

The ship captain commanded us to get some some type of doughy substance in my stomach to soak up the acid which was beginning to settle. I got terribly seasick during this trip. Fortunately, my stomach felt like it could handle a treat from Matsumoto. Shaved Ice. Oh yea!

We also stopped on the side of the road to capture the beautiful view of the tide rolling in. While exploring, JD found this coconut... and he opened it using a rusted nail on a wooden block. Fortunately, we had no desire to eat it (given the rusted nail and all) because it was filled with maggots. We got out of there as quick as possible and took showers as soon as we got back to the hotel!!

Between the nasty traffic jam in Waikiki and dinner, JD said such an amazing thing to me:

“One of those great yet small and simple things about marriage is that I actually have someone to eat dinner with tonight.”

You see, we spent at least an hour calling around and asking for restaurants to deliver to our room. At some point during our frustration, we heard the sky roaring with dominance. “Seriously?? Now we’re going to have to walk through the rain if we want to eat??” We looked outside and realized it was the Friday night fireworks show –

NOT

thunder. JD felt bad that we missed the fireworks show after he saw my reaction from last Friday. But I just laughed. It had just been one of those nights; the fact that we missed the show just added to the amusement of the evening.

When we went downstairs for dinner, we honestly had no option but to get take-out from Round Table Pizza again or to just dine-in at any restaurant. Having been faced with this dilemma last Sunday (not having anyone to eat with nor being able to get take-out, and just eating biscotti bites I bought at the Farmer’s Market earlier that day), we decided it would be best to eat at Benihana. We came to the conclusion that the Hilton just wants to make sure their guests get out of their rooms.

This would not be the best hotel to stay at during a Honeymoon. ;)

We have found a bountiful blessing in marriage today: you will forever have someone to sit with at a dinner table and to sit by on an airplane (as long as you travel together, that is). Praise the Lord for that!

September 29: Royal Dolphin Swim {Part 2}

We put our life vests on and stepped into the chilly waters to get accustomed to our new dolphin (and a wholphin) friends. {The wholphin is a false killer whale and a dolphin, but we’re pretty sure it’s not the same as a porpoise.} Amy, the trainer, was amazing with the dolphins and her personality reminded me of Felicity Wood's free-spirit and energy. Plus, she called me Whit and I thought that was pretty cool (a lot of people are humored by seeing all of the little things that impress me).

Our first swim was the dorsal fin swim. We would sit in the deep end with our arms out straight and our body in a “T” position and then all of the sudden… WHOOSH! Here come the two sweet dolphins basically saying to you, “Come on! Come on for the ride! This will be so much fun!” …And it was. I was so afraid I would miss their fins but they wouldn’t let me miss them. In fact, they most certainly made sure we grabbed their fins.

Next was the foot push. We would lay in the pool with legs spread and arms forward, like a Superman pose. Once again, they swim up behind you without you basically even realizing what’s going on and WHOOSH!! They are pushing you up, like you’re soaring on water, with their noses! It was the craziest thing but so incredible. JD struck a Hulk Hogan pose when he was standing and I gave Aloha signs (but my push came to a fairly abrupt end because I thought my bottoms were falling off so I grabbed my bottoms and my balance faltered; thus, the absolutely horrendous but humorous photo of me below).

We then had a photo op with the sweet massive wholphin (a kiss and we got to “cradle” them for another pose). JD and I couldn’t decide between all of the photos so we just bought 8 out of the 10, plus the DVD. We had so much fun and we wanted to be able to look back on these moments to reminisce (and to show to our kids one day, of course). We wish we could post the video online, but it's encrypted or something like that. If you ever want to see it one day, we will be more than ecstatic to show it for your viewing pleasure. :)

The final part of the Swim included a nice goodbye back and belly rub to our new friend, and then a water fight between our group and the wholphin. This will be a day I will never forget. The best part about it is that I finally got to spend an entire day with JD, traveling around the gorgeous island of Oahu.

During our departure, we stopped at several scenic lookouts to take photos, videos and enjoy the moment. We were excited to see that JD received a text saying he doesn’t have to work tomorrow.

You know what that means… cage diving with sharks.

Wahoo! I know my fear will be heavily intense. I hope those sharks won’t smell my fear.

We made it back to the Hilton in time for a lovely dinner at Sergio’s again. That place is so good. We treated ourselves to coffee and tiramisu after our meal. I feel like we were somewhat jipped because the tiramisu portions we saw come out last Friday were much larger than the small portion our waiter brought us. It’s OK though. It was definitely worth it.

Our night concluded with JD replying to emails from work and with me downloading photos and videos, and writing in the travel journal. This will go down in history as one of our best trips ever. I had trouble falling to sleep. All I could think about was how thankful I was for JD and how thankful I was to be here with him. If it weren’t for his new job, we would not be able to travel like this. Well, at least not this early in our marriage, I’m sure.

Before we fell asleep, I promised JD that I would take him to Australia one day and that we would make a new list, a list that states our things to do in OUR lifetime. Let’s be honest, nothing is more fun than going places together.

September 29: Sea Life Park {Part 1}

Today is JD's first true day off.

The scenery on the way to Sea Life Park was breathtaking. Crazy sharp turns surrounded by mountainsides revealed an open at the end of rocky tunnel destined for exhilarating views of the coast. The water, clear with black lava rocks peaking above the surface of the ocean, seemed dangerously blissful because of the overpowering waves but calming beauty. I couldn’t believe our entire drive would offer such remarkable sights.

And then we arrived. A moment I have anticipated since I was a little girl: to swim with the dolphins. My expectations were along the lines of petting them and loving on them. Those expectations were “blown out of the water."

Prior to the Royal Swim, we took a gander at the sights of the park. The park overall wasn’t too amazing but the shows were a lot of fun to watch (dolphin / penguin / sea lion show & the sea lion show). One of the dolphins in the show had some stomach problems and she displayed it for all to see in the eye-level tank. I'm sure she was pretty embarrassed as the entire crowd burst into laughter. (The end of the video features this sweet mammal's incident.)

We enjoyed a hot dog, popcorn chicken, fries and a Coke for lunch then ventured off to our dolphin swim (covered in the next post). Here's a sneak peek:

September 27-28: View from our Balcony

With the exception of dinner at Jimmy Buffet's, both September 27 and 28 were fairly uneventful. Thus, we felt it would be great timing to share these two epic photos with y'all we took from our balcony.

The first is a lovely night shot of Waikiki and the second is a dramatic shot of a rain shower. Surprisingly, the rain passed by us. We didn't get one drop at the Village. I was so excited to see the double rainbow too. According to a waiter I was eavesdropping on, double rainbows appear at least once a week on Oahu.

Overall, the weather was wonderful in Hawaii. Sometimes the clouds would completely abandon the sky and we would get small "sun showers" [small rain droplets without a cloud in sight]. Hawaii truly is a magical place!

September 26: Exposure to the Filipino Culture

JD and I ate breakfast together at CJ’s again. Those macadamia nut / coconut pancakes are basically the only local food that we’ve enjoyed on Oahu.

While traveling, JD and I have both picked up reading for enjoyment. I finished the book “I Don’t Know How She Does It” while on this trip. The book laid out a vivid perspective on the working mom vs. the stay-at-home mom. Though it was eye-opening, it tended to be quite depressing at parts. This is not a book I would recommend; however, I have not seen the movie. Have you seen it? What would you rate it?

MM, JD’s cousin, and I hung out today. Our plans were to hike Diamond Head but those plans faltered a bit because of car trouble. Luckily for us, we were in close walking distance to the mall. I bought some nicely designed travel journals and a sweet driftwood birdhouse, which we gave to my parents for Christmas. It was unbearably hard to part with, but I know they will love it just as much as I did.

MM’s uncle picked us up at the mall and fixed the truck. MM then took me to Max’s, my first Filipino restaurant. It was a little different than I expected. She ordered a squid on a platter and I ordered the only food I was familiar with (thanks to Mrs. Josie cooking it for us on the holidays)… pancit. Despite my lack of interest in the food, MM and I had a blast! She was great and the spontaneity of the evening was delightful and intriguing. I’m thankful for the chance of meeting family on Mrs. Josie’s side. [If you're wondering "where JD came from" (as some people put it), his mother is full Filipino and his dad is caucasian. I can hardly wait to see what our babies will look like one day.]

Today served as a late morning and a late night for JD at work. With our travel schedule, we’ve learned that “home” can even be a hotel room. This has become one of my favorite quotes and images I’ve seen on Pinterest: Home is where your husband is.