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     ~ Waikiki Photos~
     ~ Paradise Cove Photos ~
     ~ Pearl Harbor Photos ~
     ~ Maui Photos ~

     ~ Read my trip highlights ~
     ~ Hawai'ian Terms ~
     ~ Hawai'ian Custom ~
     ~ The Spirit of Aloha ~


The mystical Hawai'ian Islands
are calling...

After our two - three week vacation on the beautiful islands of the Philippines, we landed into the Honolulu Int'l Airport on the island of O'ahu, one of the mystical islands of Hawai'i. Our first stop was in Waikiki where we stayed at the Ohana Waikiki West hotel, most popular amongst the Canadian tourists. There are no all inclusive resorts in Hawai'i so if you don't plan on renting your own beach front condo for your stay, then this hotel is one I'd highly recommend for its great staff & service and its prime location close to shopping, restaurants, groceries, the International Market Place, and the beach!

While in Waikiki we paid our respects to our fallen heroes who lay at rest in Pearl Harbor. Lucky for us, during our visit there we were able to capture the grand sight of one of the largest US Air Craft carriers, the USS Nimitz, which was docked there for a few days. We also went to the best Luau Hawaii has to offer at Paradise Cove, where I got my "Certificate of Achievement in Polynesian Dancing" and where we also taste tested some wild tropical alcoholic beverages. I toured the island in style in a Porsche Boxster thanks to our Hawaiian friend Alex, who is a Tai Chi instructor and owns many studios throughout the world. Late one night, my cousins and I along with some Navy friends we met at the luau, even dared to skinny-dip (ok - maybe not me or my cousins or the majority of the group - just ONE guy) in the warm waters of Waikiki beach!!

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 Then off we flew to Maui where I felt like I was back in the Philippines again. The island is bustling with many filipinos and even their homes are like the upper class homes one would find in the southern Philippines. There we got most of our much needed rest and relaxation outside of the commercialized hot spots of Waikiki. In Maui we stayed at the beautiful Condo complex of the Ohana Maui Islander (1 Bedroom Suite Kitchenette *recommended*) on the west side of the island, on the Lahaina coast. This is where we met Dr Ashkan - a good looking doctor from Hamilton who was on a diving / research (of Dengue Fever - an epidemic that threatened many islanders and tourists at that time) vacation. We had a wild and wacky dinner with him at Bubba Gump's where we kept asking our waiters to do countless Bubba / Forrest Gump impersonations. Although that was all my doing, the waiter decided to take his revenge - he told his fellow waiters that it was Ashkan's birthday. So they all got him to stand on a chair in front of the entire restaurant (tables fully booked) and they made him salsa dance. Well, little did they know that Ashkan thrives under the spotlight but it was hilarious to see him "perform" to the ladies that the waiters seated in front of him! It was the funniest moments on that trip!!

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 It was with Ashkan, in his topless jeep, that I dared the climb to the summit of Mount Haleakala at three in the morning... after partying it up at a local night club! We were ill prepared for the dampness of the clouds once we hit 4,000 ft. It was freezing cold and the air was getting thinner & thinner - plus we didn't have the jeep top on either! So after wrapping ourselves in all sorts of summer apparel (luckily I had my knapsack filled with clothes - shorts on my head, t-shirts as scarves, a skirt as a poncho) we finally reached the summit at about 5am and had no shame about going from car to car knocking on windows to find out if anyone would take us into the warmth and dryness of their backseat!! hahaha... An older couple took us in and were shocked to find out that Ashkan, who dared something as foolish as almost freezing us to death, was a doctor! We fell asleep in the couple's backseat while waiting for the sunrise which never came. When we woke up, the older man, who used to serve in the US army stationed in Subic Bay - Philippines, told us that we'd freeze to death if we went out there and tried to figure out how to put the top back on the jeep. Instead, he told us it would better if we just raced down the mountain to the warmth of the mainland. Well, what a scary drive that was. Not only did we NOT have a top on the jeep but the windshield wipers didn't work (or at least Ashkan couldn't figure them out at the time)!!! Every now and again Ashkan would politely turn to me and say "Babe - I need a wiper!" We were able to find some humor in our foolishness. With all the summer clothing we had piled on us like rags, he looked like Rocky in his early days. So we'd play out Rocky scenes where Ashkan pulled off a pretty convincing Rocky impersonation. Well, even though I was too frozen to take pictures as proof of our "adventure", we both agreed that this story will be one that'll live on in our memories! Once we got to the lower altitudes it did get warmer but the dampness stayed on. Phew, made it back in time to take the hottest shower of my life and catch our flight back to Waikiki.

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Hawaiian Terms to get you in the mood:

"Aloha" - Love, affection, compassion, sympathy, pity, kindness, greeting, to greet, hail, Hello, Goodbye!
"Mahalo" - Thanks, gratitude, to thank
"Luau" - PARTY!!!
"Kamaaina" - Native-born, host; acquainted
"Lei" - Flower necklace, garland
"Malihini" - Stranger, tourist, newcomer, guest
"Ohana" - Family, relative, kin group, related
"Pau" - Finished, ended, completed, all done
"Shaka" - All right! Cool! Awesome! Wicked!!

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Hawaiian Custom:

"The Shower of Flowers" - From the top of a coconut tree, a Male Kamaaina opens a bag of leis and showers the people below with flowers. It is believed that if you catch a lei as it falls and before it rests on the ground, you will have good fortune within the upcoming year. After you have caught your lei / flower, you would wear it behind your ear. All single people would wear it behind their right ear and "taken" couples, married or in relationships would wear it behind their left. Why? The left is aligned with your heart, which means your heart is taken.

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The Spirit of Aloha:
(Reference: http://www.holoholo.org/hanahou/hhpart02.html)

In the beginning A (pronounced "ahh"), the eternal light giver, created Namaka O Ka Hai (the great power of the sea). But A saw the seas were alone, so he freed the force Pele. Pele created the lands. To keep them above her jealous sister, she constantly renewed them. The people who found these lands named it Hawai`i hailing it as a place of blessed "alo" or "aloha" meaning "in the presence of A." Life in old Hawai`i was a spiritual experience. There was aloha everywhere; in the people, plants, animals, rocks and reefs. Even in the canoes and paddles and the tools used to make them.

But aloha is more than a word, it's a way of life. If there is life, there is mana, goodness, and wisdom. If there is goodness and wisdom in a person, there is a god-quality. One must recognize the "god of life" in another before saying "Aloha." It means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return. It's the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence. It's to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable.

To say "Aloha" to another with indifference is blasphemous, just as saying "Mahalo" ungraciously is profane. Therefore, when one says "Aloha" to another, one must mean it sincerely. If you are angry with someone, you must cleanse away all ill feeling before saying "Aloha." It is said, and given, freely and without condition or expectation and with the realization that it may not be returned but it is given without regrets nonetheless. It is this concept more than any other that distinguishes the Hawaiian culture.

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Mahalo!