history, culture and live bullfrogs

On Tuesday I attempted to do things and learn stuff. 

First order of business was catching a local bus out to Pearl Harbor to visit the various memorials commemorating that infamous time in America's history.  Entrance is free and the tour I took consisted of a 30 minute film and then a boat ride out to the USS Arizona Memorial.  The sunken remains of that ship are still visible from the deck of the memorial and much to my astonishment, it's still leaking oil into the water some 70 years later.  "The tears of the Arizona."  Blew my mind.   All in all it was a very worthwhile trip.  I gained knowledge about that fateful day and was left with an overwhelming sense of patrioticism and pride that I will carry with me on the rest of my journey.

One of the three anchors of the USS Arizona.  This thing weighs 10 tons.   That's 20,000 pounds for those of you who aren't into the mental math thing (you know who you are). 

The whole harbor

The USS Arizona memorial.  The remains of the ship sit right underneath that memorial, with the bodies of the crew still entombed.

Tears of the Arizona

Names of all the crew members of the Arizona who died during the attack

After I was done scoping out Pearl Harbor, I hopped on a bus in search of something a little less heavy and decided to make a little pit stop in the Chinatown district of downtown Honolulu.  Turned out to be one of the better decisions I've made in awhile.  As you may or may not know, one of my favorite hobbies is wandering around aimlessly in new places, people watching, and basically being kind of a weirdo.  So I got to do that for hours on end.  Score!  The whole experience was an assault on the senses.  The smell of fresh fish and not so fresh durian (still couldn't bring myself to try it), the sight of colorful produce and other unidentifiable goods (if anyone knows what gao is made of, please let me know), the sound of old ladies haggling with shop owners in languages I'll never know, and the taste of some delicious beef pho from a sketchy looking street stand (if there's anything I've learned from the Travel Channel it's that the best and most authentic cuisine comes from the street vendors with the longest lines.  Thanks, Bourdain).  Some highlights:

My new favorite market

I think these are roasted ducks.  Or some other fowl like creatures.  Who's to say really?  For some reason, this made me think of the scene in A Christmas Story when they go to the Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner.

Absolutely no idea what the hell these are.

"Hey girl, have you seen the deal on pig eyeballs over there?"   Old people are so cute.  

 

Live bullfrog - $6.99/lb.  Tasty.

So Tuesday was a definite success.  I kind of forget what I did on Wednesday but I'm pretty sure it consisted of laying on the beach, reading a Vanity Fair article about Beiber Fever, and eating frozen yogurt for lunch.  Oh and I also had a fantastic webchat with three of my dearest pals back in the Burgh.  We talked, we laughed, we played charades, Weenie mooned me a bunch of times, Kel modeled her new nightgown?muumuu, and Linds explained the details of her upcoming tear duct surgery that will hopefully help her to stop being so sensitive and crying all the time :)  Technology is wild!  Miss you idiots!

Yesterday was a travel day as I departed Oahu and made the quick 30 min flight to Maui.  The views from the plane were amazing so if you ever make this trip, make sure you do it during the day so you can see all the surrounding landscapes.  After I landed in Maui, I waited around for an hour to hop on a bus to my hostel.  I booked this place because it offers sweet free tours, but I think the trade off is that its located in a dead part of the island.  I walked around yesterday and found the main street of town, which isn't much to write home about, but oh well.  Going to take a bus to some little hippie beach town called Paia today.  Tomorrow is an all-day 12 mile hike up an active volcano so I'm super pumped for that.  Sunday I'm going to try to catch a whale watching tour and then hit up a beach bbq hosted by the hostel at a clothing optional beach nearby.  I don't think the world is quite ready for me in that sense yet, but I've been wrong before....