Saturday, July 01, 2006

Drake Comes to Hawaii Part 1

Well, I always try to start off each entry in this blog with some idea or phrase that summarizes everything. It is really hard to find a unifying characteristic in your week sometimes. Sorry. I'll just have to go in order.

On Sunday, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad and I went to "Sushi Rock", the new experimental sushi shop owned by our former travel agent Peter. This is something called a caterpillar roll. Cute, isn't it.
It was also delicious. Tuesday we had expected Drake to come, but a delay in his flight meant that he didn't show up until the next day. Pity, he missed this sunset.
Actually, I should tell more of this story. So, Drake called me on Tuesday and said he would be coming in at 1:20 the next day because he had been bumped. He went to go stay with a friend in SF. Then he received a call at 3 in the morning telling him to be at the airport two hours earlier than the airline had told him the day before. So, at 4:23 am Hawaiian time, I received a call from Drake telling me that he would be coming in at 11. I woke up the next morning, unsure if I had dreamed the call or if it was real. In addition, in my half awake stupor I had forgotten to ask which flight number, airline or departure city. So basically, I showed up at the Kona airport early just to be safe and tried my best to find out which plane he was probably on. An hour and a half later I was just about to give up and go home to use the internet when Drake called me. Ta-da. He made it.
One of our first stops was the Mac Pie Factory, which I have wanted to visit for some time. The Mac Pie sample we got was tasty, but it would be impossible to eat an entire pie. The macaroons, however, were stellar!
Then we went to Ba-Le for lunch. Here I am about to eat the mother lode of Boba, chewy, delicious Boba.
So, Drake felt that he should bring something for the family since we will be putting him up for a week. So he built a guitar. That's right, he built a guitar.
He also brought some olive oil, which we will probably get to try before he leaves. Here is mom admiring the olive oil as Drake prepares to present to her a somewhat more extreme present.
Observe the look of shock on my father's face.
It is too bad that none of us play guitar. It's ok. Our neighbors do, and the guitar is so lovely that it is beautiful just to look at. Here is its first song.

So the next day Dad took us on a flight along the island. Saw lava going into the sea. Drake got a little bit ill, having recently recovered from a sinus infection, but as I understand, the pictures he took were still better than mine.
Pu'u O'o vent, the active volcano.
We landed at Hilo Airport to take a rest. Saw a beautiful tree.
Went back to Kona, stopped by Costco and marveled at the explosives.
On Friday we went snorkeling in the bay.
Great water, but strong winds and current.
And this is an example of damaged coral. Don't touch coral. It kills it.
And this is technically the edge of our property.
This shot is for Kira. We left Meriman's in this condition.
We then went into a Ukulele shop, where I saw a picture of a Japanese soap opera star who was in a drama that I have heard of. I took a picture of the picture because I had a feeling it would start a conversation with the woman behind the counter. It worked. She asked me how I knew about the star, and I said that I had been watching a lot of Japanese drama to prepare for moving to Japan. Boom. Conversation started.
On Friday afternoon Drake and I hiked to the back of Waipio Valley from the Waimea side. We took the trail that goes from Opelo road. Here is Drake charging the hill.
The truck that nature reclaimed.
Drake trying not to get wet.
Still trying.
No luck.
This is the back of Waipio Valley, taken in the 3 seconds that it was clear.
Me, at the edge of the world.
The trail hasn't been very well maintained.
So, after returning to base camp (the Bleecher's House) and taking cold showers, we went off to the Hawaii Public Radio dinner, where Drake did as I had hoped he would and talked shop with the other radio station people.
Expect a big adventure soon.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trenton.
I got your letter with photos.
Thanks a lot.
I miss you so much.
I really hope we have good time together again.
Please come to Korea.
Take care~!

Trenton said...

Yay! I am so glad that you have been checking my blog! As for Korea, I'll do my best! ;)