Honolulu, HI

The most commonly kind of shark seen was called a sandbar shark. These are your typical gray, predatory-looking sharks-on-the-prowl. We were also lucky enough to see a couple of large Galapagos sharks. Every now and then, the boat crew told us they see the much bigger (and more dangerous) tiger sharks, and even less frequently than that—the mighty great white, but we didn’t see any of those on our trip. It was really cool to watch the sharks thrashing around and cruising on the surface of the water while we waited our turn for the cage.

On May 10, 2008, my wife and I went to the 16th annual Filipino Festival in Waikiki. There was also a parade which ran along Kalakaua Avenue, but we only attended the festival part of it, which was in Kapiolani Park, across the street from Queen’s Beach. We arrived at the park at around 11 AM and the festival was already in full swing. The park was filled with people celebrating Filipino culture: a musical group performed on a stage with dancers, vendors of all sorts sold food and drinks, arts and crafts, while families and people of all ages walked around experiencing it all.

After checking out the indoor exhibits, we headed outside where the aquarium’s larger exhibits are. We saw the intertidal tank, which is a long, waist-high tank right against the edge of the aquarium property, with an awesome view of the real ocean right behind it. Mangrove trees line this tank, and swimming in its waters are colorful reef fish such as needlenose butterfly fish, yellow tangs, raccoon butterflys, various corals, crabs, shrimp, sponges, and many more creatures! Also out here was one of the aquarium’s star attractions: the monk seals. These seals are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, meaning that they are from here and found nowhere else on Earth.

Looking to the left, there is sort of a shallow bay area leading up to a high stone wall fronting another beach mansion. There is a small footpath that winds its way out through the rocks to this wall, and while we were there we saw a group of Hawaiian kids taking turns jumping off the wall into the water below. It looked like fun, but my wife and I preferred to remain on the main, sandy part of the beach.

We spent one of Waikiki’s famous sunny afternoons at Honolulu Zoo. My boss had given me two passes to the zoo. His friend donated to the zoo on his behalf as a Christmas present. He didn’t care to go to the zoo and I like the zoo. I went with my boyfriend who’s lived on the island for two years but hasn’t seen the zoo. Since the day was still hot we decided to refresh ourselves with ice cream from one of the many ice cream shops along Kalakaua Avenue. We were passing it by on the way to the zoo.

A friend of mine recently invited me to spend an afternoon at Ala Moana Beach Park with her and her family. It was the day of their annual family picnic, and she promised I’d have a great time.

Once down the hill, it was a pleasant ride through wide, tree-lined streets until we reached Waialae Beach, about twenty minutes after we had left Waikiki. There is a beach park here with green grass, and a parking lot with a small foot bridge spanning a canal that leads to the beach. We parked our scooter-cars in the lot and crossed the bridge to the beach.

We decided to start the day with breakfast at his friend’s restaurant and walk down to the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach Hotel to watch my canoe club race in the OHCRA or Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association McFarlene 4th of July regatta at Waikiki Beach.

We like to go snorkeling here if the surf isn’t too rough. There are some cauliflower corals, humu humu trigger fish, and some larger game fish sought after by the fishermen. The beaches fronting Diamond Head run for several miles, and each little spot has its own characteristics. The best part about it is how few people there are on the beach, even though it is right next to Waikiki.

I have the utter privilege to house sit my friends’ place and their miniature schnauzer. It’s an extreme pleasure simply because they live in Harbor Court, smack dab on the waterfront across from Aloha Tower Marketplace and on the edge of Chinatown and downtown Honolulu. This is most fortunate for me because Chinatown and downtown Honolulu is great for walking, great for sightseeing and great to mingle with people.