A story of Pineapples and Pearl Harbor

"I think Hawaii would be a good place."  He said.  "Everyone who's been there says it's wonderful."  Hmm.....  Hawaii?  Do you know, it's not ever been on my radar.  I don't even THINK about the place and a as a holiday destination for New Year? The time difference, the jet lag.... You must be mad. 

Two months later.  I have done just about all the research I can manage.  The choices for Hawaii are huge - each island has it's own 'flavour' and I had no idea where we might find a great combination of bustle and hustle and sun and good food. I enlist the help of Journeywoman - a great website for women travellers - and a very good friend here in Tokyo who knows it really well.  It all boils down to this being the very first visit to Hawaii and what we want to do.  So.... Oahu gets the vote and, we figured, if we are going to Oahu, then we might as well stay in the centre of  it all - Waikiki.

So following an amazing Christmas here in Tokyo we boarded a flight to Honolulu one evening.  I must just do a small aside here - if you ever hear me saying I'm using a Delta flight, please, please, please fell free to slap me.  They were, quite possibly, the very worst airline we have ever been on.  We had great seats, so that wasn't the problem but members of the cabin crew were astonishingly, laughingly the very worst we have met.  They were rude, loud and very clumsy.  They shouted at the passengers (us!) to demand a choice for the meal and then proceeded to throw the meal onto the tray in front of us - missing Dave's and thus making for a rather hilarious scramble for the hot dish before it hit the floor.  Dave has lost none of his rugby skills and was there like a shot - something to do with food driving him on I think!  Anyway..

Waikiki was everything we'd hoped.  After a bit of a wait (we did arrive very early in the morning and they were full), we had a wonderful room with a fabulous view of the beach and ocean beyond. It was busy and bustly and full.  We soon learnt to book restaurants days in advance and found wandering off site was the best thing to do.  We found some amazing places to eat - some better than others and we also found a fabulous bar with a Jazz Duo who really engaged with their audience (of about ten on some evenings).  It's a little known spot it seems, but was a real find.  We spent a few evenings in there and always found something to celebrate!

One of the surreal moments was whilst booking sunbeds - the phone in the booth rang.  The ring tone?  Hawaii Five O!!  I had to pinch myself.  We were actually staying in the very hotel that is used as a base for the Hawaii Five O team and we had seen the place on the TV before we even arrived.  As you can imagine, it's hopeless now.  When it's on the TV I cannot concentrate on the story line - I keep shouting "IWe were there, we were there;  that's the bar we had lunch in!!"  Very irritating for a certain member of the family!

We spent time seeing something of the island.  We visited a high end Mall, a low end Walmart and also wondered about in Waikiki which seems to favour all the designer stores.  We did Pearl Harbor - that was fascinating.  I had been to the Japanese museum here in Tokyo and knew that side of the story so was very impressed by the even-handedness of the US in their telling of the story.  The sheer ingenuity of the Japanese came across clearly.

We visited North Shore too.  We saw some HUGE waves and some very brave people surfing in them....

On the way over to the North Side we passed the Dole pineapple plantation.  We arrived very early in the morning and were able to move around very easily.  We took a little train ride through the plantation and learnt about pineapples and what they do with them!  Then came the yummy bit:.......

The gardens around the plantation were worth a look see too but time was tight - we had a schedule to keep.



 

New Year's Eve was a spectacular event, billed as the greatest thing in Waikiki.  Well, that mya well have been so.  We had a top notch dinner and watched some fabulous singers and three well known Hawaiin Divas who had got together again just for this event.  Two of the three sould sing well - the other one?  Not so well really but they had a lot of fun.  We sat on a table with some lovely people and entered into the spirit of the evening - getting up to dance with the singers when asked!  Great fun - lovely evening and a very different way to spend New Year's Eve!

Finally the Hawaiin Sunsets:





Just an ordinary Sunday in Tokyo

Fuji San after the snow

Kitanomaru Park Entrance

Seriously, if you don't have a lens then you are not in the Gang!

Tokyo Colours

Let me rant.....please?

The day started with no hint of what was to come. It was all looking so good.  The overnight rain had stopped, the air was cool and fresh.   I'll start at the very beginning (as Julie Andrews once famously sang)....

We decided to have one last visit to China before we leave Asia.  Half term was looming and seemed the perfect space.  We had to keep it short as the school has a visit from some Inspectors the day after the half term holiday so we didn't need to be seen to be staying away for too long!  We long to see some of the beautiful places in Beijing just one more time:  Summer Palace, 798 - the Art District and maybe a quick trip to the Forbidden City.  We also wanted to spend some time with our very good friends from our time there so got in touch to see if they were available.   So far so good.

Took a while to get hold of our travel agent and get the tickets - you can't apply for a visa til you have the tickets.  Got the tickets?  Book a hotel.  You can't get a visa without an address to go to.  Booked the hotel?  Yes, the Fairmont - somewhere we have been promising ourselves to stay ever since we saw it being built for the Olympic games.  Sadly it wasn't finished in time for that and we left the country the following year without seeing it completed.  Another tick off the Bucket List for us then on this visit.

Got the forms for the visa application off the Chinese Embassy website.  Done this before soooo many times.  Sorted it all out, got copies of absolutely everything, added a photo and went off to the Chinese Embassy - this was on Monday 3rd October.  Hmm, closed for National Day which is actually 5th October.  So.... closed on the Monday before...  hmmm.  Checked with our friends and the whole of the Chinese population has a whole week off.  So not open til 10th October then?  Wrong.  10th October is a Japanese National Holiday.  Not open til 11th October then?  Right.  And we fly when?  Oh the 16th.  Takes four working days for a visa unless you pay extra.  I'm afraid my heart wouldn't take the strain so I decided to go for the mega express service and pay the Chinese whatever they want just to get it done and to be able to sleep at night.

So yesterday saw me queueing outside the Chinese Embassy in Roppongi by 8.50 am.  First day after such a long holiday meant the queue grew quickly and snaked around the building.  Not to worry I knew where I was going and what I had to do.  In and out in 40 minutes I reckoned then off to Starbucks and a visit for coffee with my lovely husband in his office.  Job done.

So I get through all the security, smile dazzlingly (I thought) at the security guards and run up three flights of stairs to beat the lift which is full anyway.  I fling myself through the door, head to the check desk and the lovely unsmiling lady behind the window takes one look at my forms, beautifully completed in clear, rounded script with a blacker than black pen and states very calmly that I " have the old forms.  We have new ones now".  The clue had been the man in front of me who, when told the same thing, became incandescent with rage and I stood back in amazement - I have never seen such a display of anger in anyone over three and half years old!  I did not wish to be anythng but British - stoic in the face of hardship and challenge, quiet and fair minded.  So I muttered "I got them off your website" and smiled.  She, of course, had the upper hand and merely handed me a new bunch of forms that quite honestly looked like a GCSE examination booklet.  I retreated to what was, but not for long, a space and spread the papers out prepared to tackle this with no hysteria.  To cut a long story short it required far more information than I could carry in my brain (How many countries had we visited in the last twleve months and exactly what were the dates of those visits?).  I was quickly being surrounded by furious foreigners in the same predicament and for some reason I became a fount of all knowledge - Do I need to add this?  Where can I get that information?  Do I have to fill this bit in?  I wanted to scream at them, "How do I know??" but I didn't.  All this while I was trying desperately to complete my own form and David's too.  He was busy, I knew that.  The impending inspection involves so much preparation and he did not need disturbing; I was sure I could do it without him and then.....  the bl.... signature block.  Of coure, how could I forge his signature successfully when the passport had a beautiful copy of it in there?  I'd never get away with it.  Blast, damn and all that other stuff.  I called him and threw myself on his mercy.

He was amazingly sanguine.  But then, he was alone in a nice tranquil office with a window and sunlight and a cup of tea while I was on the third floor of the Chinese Embassy surrounded by Chinese and foreigners all shouting and pushing and invading my space.  The solution was simple he couldn't come to the Embassy (why on earth would he want to? I asked myself later) but I could go to school, sit quietly in the cool, calm atmosphere of the staff room, complete the forms and simply present them for his signature.  Oh God how I wish I had a PA .......

Sorted, all within the hour.  I could still, just, if I got a wriggle on, make the 12 o clock deadline to get the visa and collect it in the morning.  I was elated as I returned to the Embassy.  Surely to goodness the early morning rush would have died down; this was possibly the best time to go, I convinced myself.  No one waiting outside....looking hopeful then.  The security guard recognised me and spoke warmly when he greeted me - for the second time that day as he explained to his colleagues.  I skipped up to the third floor and ....wham!  I have never, ever seen so many people in a room.  It was jam packed and the queues to be rechecked were humongous.  I nearly turned and left but that good ole British determination came to the fore.  Finally I got a number: 554.  Window 1, I was told.   Window 1 was currently serving 534.  TWENTY people in front of me;  I could have wept.  I didn't weep though.  I reached into my bag and retrieved the ipod.  Set it up, put the earphones in my ears and propped myself against a wall.  Then I relaxed to the every day tale of country folk - The Archers Omnibus!   Surreal. 

Almost two hours later I was seen and dealt with in about 5 minutes but during that waiting time I had made myself a solemn promise. In fact it became a mantra - I am NEVER going to a Chinese Embassy anywhere in the world EVER again and the corollary to that was "And I am NEVER, EVER, EVER going to go to China, EVER again!"  So I had better make the most of my time there next week.  This will be our last and final visit to the country we called home for two years.


Postscript - collected the passports complete with visas this morning - in and out in fifteen minutes.  Maybe we will go back again after all......




Kamakura with Kenka

Another amazing day out from Tokyo with Kenka.  Short train ride to Kamakura and here we are again.  Managed to paddle in the Pacific too - sooooooooooo warm at this time of year.

Tsunami warnings everywhere.. what to look for

Then off to Hase - Dera - a beautiful temple which is devoted to the souls of  babies born before they could live - Water Babies.  There are literally thousands of little statues to these children.  How lovely to be able to publicly share the untimely birth of these babies.

Stone lantern in Bamboo

Pond at Hase-dera

Praying at the Temple

Inside a Japanese wax umbrella

Cool Kenka! Under the spray at Hase-dera

Tokyo Moon

The moon over Roppongi Hills on 13th September 2011

Beautiful Bali

I really believe this is my most favourite place on the planet so far.  If I ever disappear, I'll be found sipping Strawberry Daiquiries on a beach here, under a palm tree, soaking up the sun and admiring the view.  We 'discovered' Bali last year and chose to visit again - totally against the Williams philosophy of see it, enjoy it, move on.  This year's choice of destination was based on advice from a friend or two.  So it was then, that at 5pm one evening, we landed in the Big Bird which had brought us from Tokyo to Denpasar.

Our villa was stunning - even in the dark - which it was when we arrived due to a delay at Narita.  There were two huge bedrooms either side of a large lounge area (outdoors, but covered) and the private pool for our sole use.  Oh gosh, this was certainly the life and we quickly settled into it!  The bed was a bit of a shock to both Dave and me - it had a bit sticking out the bottom which got both of us on the shin so for the rest of our holiday we had a big purple bruise developing on our legs.  Togetherness..?!

We didn't 'do' an awful lot. We did not want to spend time in a hot stuffy car or wander about in hot, dusty towns.

We had massages and pedicures almost daily - they were so cheap and so accessible. We discovered the best places to eat, we met with friends who had also chosen Seminyak as their holiday destination, we found a fabulous beach, enjyoyed the ocean which on occasion could accommodate novice surfers too and loved our leisurely swims in the villa pool. We drank champage, enjoyed the local beer - Bintang, ate beef rendang and sate as well as amazing foie gras and lamb. We listened to music and yes... I even listened to the Archers and skyped family, courtesy of wifi in the place.  We relaxed and chilled and recovered from what we both decided had been quite a year.  The earthquake had taken its toll on both of us in different ways and it was a real joy to finally put that behind us and add it to our life experience list!



By our pool



On the beach at Legian

View from the front door

Frangipani blossoms

On the street in Seminyak

Street view