Orchids at the Hyatt Regency

 

The rain kept moving in and out so on one of our trips under the balcony, I took some pictures of these orchids.

 

 

Dinner at Bangkok Chef

 

I took Jim and Cherie to Bangkok Chef for Thai food. (Eric was too tired to come along with us). We had a lot of good food and I was stuffed by the end of the night.

The botanical tour

 

One of the things Cherie wanted to do was check out some of the local flora and fauna. I took her to Senator Fong's Plantation Garden. I've never been there and thought it might be interesting to check out. Well, it didn't disappoint. Our guide was colorful with a lot to talk about it. Some of it made sense. Most of it didn't. But it was a good 120 minutes - although the official tour length is 60 minutes. At least they didn't make us pay double.

The view

 

Hawaiian Monk Seal

 

On our drive around the island on Thursday, I saw some people standing behind a rope near Ka'a'awa. I had to pull over - I figured it was either a turtle or a seal. When we got it, we clearly saw that it was a monk seal sunning itself. Soooo cool. Here's the sign on the rope warning us about getting close.

 

 

 

 

Thursday is Garlic Day!

 

On Thursday morning, I picked up Cherie in Waikiki and we headed to Senator Fong's Plantation Garden. We had a guide who took us through the valley. He was interesting and full of information - even when people weren't around, he kept talking. Entertaining. After the garden walk, we headed to Giovanni's! Yeah! Garlic shrimp. After our lovely meal of garlic shrimp, we kept heading north to get to Haleiwa to Matsumoto's. You know what's next. Shave Ice. After this, it was hard to stay awake for our drive back to Waikiki, but we made it without incident. Thank heavens. We followed up with a garlic dinner.

 

Old People's Dinner at Ninnikuya

 

On Thursday night the grown-ups went to dinner with Dean & Sheri - Dean would be appalled if he thought I was calling him old. We headed out to Ninnikuya off of Waialae Ave. Lots of garlic everywhere. A really good time.

Haleiwa Fish Pond Restoration

 

Friday morning started out early. The group had to be in Haleiwa by 9am - I went from Kahalu'u and the group went from Waikiki. We got to the fish pond, which is just off the main drag in Old Haleiwa Town. We were met by Kalani Fronda, Senior Assets Land Manager who gave us a brief history of the fish pond. Then, they got to work. :)

The hard part begins...

 

Here's Kalani giving the team instructions on what they're supposed to do. The group picked up shovels and started moving sand that had accumulated in the stream.

 

 

 

Catching Fish

 

After spending about an hour clearing a stream, the group moved to the back of the property where they went to catch fish. Beautiful, huh? This is the keiki pond - where the little fish swim. The group was equipped with nets and off they went. It's not as easy as you'd think.

 

 

 

Last Dinner at the Prince Court

 

This was a really nice way to end the trip. Everyone gathered at the Prince Court at the Hawaii Prince Hotel for a dinner. It was seafood night so there was crab, oysters, mussels, etc. But the desserts were good, too. I can't believe I didn't take any food pics. I'm losing it.

Jim & Cherie