Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Mele Kalikimaka ! (Merry Christmas in Hawaian)
Alain and I would like to thank all our blog readers and wish all of you a Merry Christmas, an excellent year in 2011, good health, prosperity, fun and happiness !
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Honolulu Marathon (December 12, 2010)
Honolulu's Marathon is The Event of the year here with about 30,000 participants from around the world. Believe it or not, it starts as early as 5 o'clock in the morning with fireworks. And, Yes, we did get up that early to see the runners start their race with enthusiasm, laughter and good spirits. Many participants dress up to complete the race and the atmosphere is very festive. Even newly weds run !
Below is the video of the first Runners, they are all Africans, they start really strongly and finish first, too...
The organization is massive and you can see tents at the finish line, where you have showers, massages, food, drinks, first aid to treat all the pains...
Below is the video of the first Runners, they are all Africans, they start really strongly and finish first, too...
The organization is massive and you can see tents at the finish line, where you have showers, massages, food, drinks, first aid to treat all the pains...
The fastest runner finished the race in 2h27 minutes and for many others 7 hours later. Participants were still arriving steadily, one after the other, for some, hands in hands, some limping, some crying, some laughing. The emotions were high, but everybody seemed relieved and thrilled to have completed the race. It is always truly amazing that people can walk or run 42 kms (26 miles), no matter at what pace, what age ! Truly inspiring !
Friday, December 17, 2010
Molokai Island, Hawaii
Our last couple of days on Oahu were spent lazily partly on the beach partly visiting. We saw the beginning of the Christmas preparation in front of the City Hall of Honolulu. We spent our last evening on Oahu with our roommate, Pia. We went to have a drink (maybe two) and we ate some pupus (the Hawaian appetizers) ! Rockefeller Oysters, chicken wings and calamaris ! A nice way to end up our stay.
Some pictures of where we have lived in Waikiki on Ala Moana Boulevard
Molokai :
We took a small plane there, a Cesna, 4 passengers in total and our crew, the captain ! The pilot is the captain, the flight attendant, the mecanician and he also takes out our luggage from the luggage vault. Alain had to almost crawl and twist to be able to enter and fit inside the seat ! After a half hour flight, we made it safely to Molokai ! Molokai is 38 miles long and never more than 10 miles wide. It counts about 8,000 inhabitants. The scenery is very different from the West side of the island (very dry and almost desertic) to the East side, more green and wet. We have rented a car for a week, a Dodge 3.5L. We wanted something smaller but this is all they had available. It was easy to find our Bed and Breakfast as there is really only one main street in the main village of Kanaukakai. We spend our first day going to the far end of the East side, where the beginning of Jurassic Parc 2 was filmed. It is a 32 mile coastal drive to Halawa Valley, very narrow and winding road. It is very beautiful and the road ends up at a beach.
We have talked with a few locals on the Island and learnt that the island is also sometimes called the ''Welfare Island'', as about three quarters of the inhabitants are receiving welfare from the government. The locals here have been fighting any kind of development for many years and really it is not easy to say whether it is for the best or for the worst. On the island now, they have only one hotel left and it is also the only place where you can have an alcoholic drink. They have 2 grocery stores owned by locals, no fast food (although this at least is not a bad thing), except for a Subway, a couple of banks, a couple of gas stations. They have 28 churches though.... There were talks apparently of getting a ferry to Oahu, but this has been dropped too. Currently, there is only one ferry going to Maui. Needless to say that the night life is somewhat limited. We have talked to three people from the mainland who have settled in Molokai for over 10 years and the three of them seem very disillusioned about the future of the island, so much so that it almost left Alain and myself depressed ! The three of them are talking about leaving the island too.
We went once to eat ,,Pupus,, again at the Hotel Molokai and we were lucky enough to be invited to a Vegetarian Luau, the traditional Hawaian meal. Alain and I had met Brenda in Oahu and she had said that Molokai was a great place to see how Hawaian really lives. Brenda is very involved in her community where she is helping people make better health choices starting with food and exercises. She also plays the music and home schools her four children. We were a little bit surprised by the fact that this community is very religious too. The event we attended started and ended by a prayer. It was nonetheless very interesting.
We have visited Purdy's All Natural Macademia Nut Farm or Na Hua O'ka Aina. They have about 50 trees that were planted about 80 years ago and they harvest the nuts every day. They naturally fall on the ground and the farm owner just have to rake the fruits every day and sort them. The nut is taken out from its shell and you can eat the nut just like this, raw or have it roasted. Both choices are excellent. A small pack of roasted nuts is sold for seven dollars, but it is worth it!
Saturday was the market day and we did not want to miss this ! The market does exist but apart from a few vegetables and fruits, it is more or less an exposition of the local crafts and arts. It is Molokai !
Our host at the Bed and Breakfast had offered to guide us to the Falls at the end of the Halawa Valley. We were happy to go with him as we later learnt that the locals charge 75$ to 100$ to go there. If you ever go to Molokai, never pay this much money : the walk is very nice in the woods, and the falls are fairly impressive, but not worth paying that much money ! By the way, we pay $ 40 a day for our B&B. We are sleeping in a sort of a trailer where lizards come in and out... In terms of cleanliness, I will only say this : I have seen better !
We were originally planning to go to Kauai, but after looking at the prices of hotels, car rentals..., we have decided to go back to Oahu and stay a few days again with our Swedish lady, Pia, until it is time for us to fly to Big Island on December 28, 2010.
Some pictures of where we have lived in Waikiki on Ala Moana Boulevard
Molokai :
We have talked with a few locals on the Island and learnt that the island is also sometimes called the ''Welfare Island'', as about three quarters of the inhabitants are receiving welfare from the government. The locals here have been fighting any kind of development for many years and really it is not easy to say whether it is for the best or for the worst. On the island now, they have only one hotel left and it is also the only place where you can have an alcoholic drink. They have 2 grocery stores owned by locals, no fast food (although this at least is not a bad thing), except for a Subway, a couple of banks, a couple of gas stations. They have 28 churches though.... There were talks apparently of getting a ferry to Oahu, but this has been dropped too. Currently, there is only one ferry going to Maui. Needless to say that the night life is somewhat limited. We have talked to three people from the mainland who have settled in Molokai for over 10 years and the three of them seem very disillusioned about the future of the island, so much so that it almost left Alain and myself depressed ! The three of them are talking about leaving the island too.
We went once to eat ,,Pupus,, again at the Hotel Molokai and we were lucky enough to be invited to a Vegetarian Luau, the traditional Hawaian meal. Alain and I had met Brenda in Oahu and she had said that Molokai was a great place to see how Hawaian really lives. Brenda is very involved in her community where she is helping people make better health choices starting with food and exercises. She also plays the music and home schools her four children. We were a little bit surprised by the fact that this community is very religious too. The event we attended started and ended by a prayer. It was nonetheless very interesting.
We have visited Purdy's All Natural Macademia Nut Farm or Na Hua O'ka Aina. They have about 50 trees that were planted about 80 years ago and they harvest the nuts every day. They naturally fall on the ground and the farm owner just have to rake the fruits every day and sort them. The nut is taken out from its shell and you can eat the nut just like this, raw or have it roasted. Both choices are excellent. A small pack of roasted nuts is sold for seven dollars, but it is worth it!
Saturday was the market day and we did not want to miss this ! The market does exist but apart from a few vegetables and fruits, it is more or less an exposition of the local crafts and arts. It is Molokai !
Our host at the Bed and Breakfast had offered to guide us to the Falls at the end of the Halawa Valley. We were happy to go with him as we later learnt that the locals charge 75$ to 100$ to go there. If you ever go to Molokai, never pay this much money : the walk is very nice in the woods, and the falls are fairly impressive, but not worth paying that much money ! By the way, we pay $ 40 a day for our B&B. We are sleeping in a sort of a trailer where lizards come in and out... In terms of cleanliness, I will only say this : I have seen better !
We were originally planning to go to Kauai, but after looking at the prices of hotels, car rentals..., we have decided to go back to Oahu and stay a few days again with our Swedish lady, Pia, until it is time for us to fly to Big Island on December 28, 2010.
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