Many of my friends that travel to Hawaii are snobs, I think. They think of O’ahu as simply an airport as they jet off to Maui or Ha’waii (big island) because it’s “more beautiful”. True, O’ahu is the most urbanized because of Honolulu, but the city is NOT the island.
There are places all over O’ahu that make it seem like Honolulu is a jillion miles away. But one advantage to the City being so close is that these spots are easily accessible, unlike Maui or the other glam islands. These are some of the spots I found by mucking about. In a Roadster.
Tantalus: The drive here is fairly easy. Past the Punchbowl National Cemetery, there’s Tantalus Road. Turn right and go up. Within 3 minutes, the houses will thin out and you’re in rainforest. Within 20 minutes you’re at the summit.
About 2 minutes down, there’s the Puu Ualakaa State Park with a lookout that puts all of Honolulu and a lot of ocean at your feet.
Urban Honolulu with Diamond Head looming in the background
From the right, HNL, Hickam Field and Pearl Harbour
This is the gate to the Puu Ualakaa Park. Please note the sign. What happens after you leave a message?
I hope someone checks the machine…
I also found a lookout that evening near Koko Head near the Portlock, Hawaii Kai area. It’s a cliff that overlooks the ocean that you have to shimmy between two houses and a very steep sandy path gets you here.
If this were in CA, there would be warning signs every 10 feet and a fence.
It’s a little part of O’ahu that’s frequented by locals. Not many tourists come out here, according to a fellow photographer.
Also got photo shoots happening here too.
While I was here watching the sunset, I heard and saw a whale go by, flapping its fin. Cool!
kersploosh
Finally, showtime!
The end to a good day
…a shining house on a hill…
Giovanni’s Original White Shrimp Truck
Giovanni’s is one of the better known of the breed known as the “Hawaiian shrimp truck“.
They’re easy to find when you’re driving the North Shore. They have a big sign.
Giovanni’s is comprised of two trucks, one making shrimp and the other making smoothies. There’s a bunch of pick-a-nick tables and (I’m not kidding) a Kaiser Permanente across the street. Coincidence? I think not…
There’s three items on the menu. Shrimp Scampi. Hot and Spicy Shrimp and Lemon Shrimp. You don’t get a refund if the Hot and Spicy is too hot and spicy. You CAN order a half and half, which I didn’t know about until I started eating.
I did get some of their hot sauce on the side. It’s very hot and very Tabasco based. It was pretty hot dipping; imagine how burning hot it would be if you cooked da shrimp in it! Mmmmmm…
Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck
Kamehameha Highway on the North Shore
South of Kahuku Sugar Mill
North Shore, HI 96734
Sunset from Oahu
Here’s a nice shot to end my first full day here on O’ahu.
This is the view you got if you were sacrificed at the Puu O Mahuka Heiau. People still bring offerings. Here’s all that’s left. And it’s a National Historical Landmark!
The stones are sacred here; dun touch or go inside!
Thankfully, all I had to sacrifice was about 6 minutes of mountain driving to get here. Parking right in front…
I was the only one out there round sunset. Along with a wild boar. Too fast to take pic…
Rai Rai Ramen
You know, it just wouldn’t be me if I flew somewhere really far and DIDN’T find a good ramen shop, just by chance.
Well, I did. This is my first full day here on O’ahu and I decided to break in my rental Roadster by doing a drive up the windward side of the island. Naturally, around 12ish, I was feeling peckish (had a small brekkie; part of the “diet”) and I saw this shop in the distance. It called to me, “tabemasu“..so I did.
Parking right in front, lah!
They’re apparently a well known and well regarded shop. I walked in and immediately ordered a bowl of Hakata Ramen.
mmm, could a return visit to Kyushu be in my future?
The noodles were springy and the condiments were generous. The cha-siu slice was tender and the broth was flavorful, if just a touch salty. Wonderful stuff! If you’re on the Windward side of O’ahu, EAT!
Sapporo Rai Rai Ramen
124 Oneawa Street
Kailua HI 96374
1-808-230-8208
A neat ramen site
Stumbled upon this ramen website via a story about Ando Momofuku, the father of instant noodles.
Apparently, there’s a guy who runs an appropriately named ramen fan site who has done the pilgrimage to Yokohama, like many of us have. Except his WIFE is also a ramen fiend. That’s hella cool, almost like having a g/f that’s into football and doesn’t mind riding on the back of the motorcycle…
Where do you find girls lidat??
It’s kinda half way to Tokyo…
That’s where Hawaii is. So far the trip has been good. On the flight out, I got bumped up to 1st Class. Nice.
The flight got in 35 minutes early. Better…
I picked up my rental and they had a Monte Carlo for me. I asked for a different car and they gave me a Roadster (MX-5)! No extra charge. Very Nice!
Oahu outside of Waikiki requires wheels. These are nice wheels with 189 miles on the clock. I think there’s going to be a lot of road trips in the next few days. Going topless!! WAHAHAHAH
…
First thing you do after you check into a hostel is find the grocery store. So I walked down and up the hill with brekkie for the next few days. Had dinner, one beer and formed a plan. It involves *gasp* getting up early…
Urgggh…
Digital Camera History and why “walking-ixus”?
I realized recently that if you removed all the photoblogs off the net, it would be hella boring online! Much of the blogging revolution is due to the creation and evolution of the digital camera. Of course even before digicams, there were pictures up on the net. But it was not as accessible!
Back in the day, you had to
1: Take pictures with film (?),
2: Develop aforementioned film and
3: Scan and resize into computer for uploading with 14.4 modem.
Very slow process and hella expensive! Film ain’t cheap and you pay for all the shots on the roll, good and bad. My last film camera was a Yashica T4. Then I realized that I’ve been digital since 2001 and blogging the following year. Wow!
I started, like practically everyone in the US did with photography, with a Kodak. I purchased a used DC210 back in 2000.
It was a big camera, 1 whole megapixel and gobbled AA batteries 4 at a time. I learned the phrase “rechargeable batteries” very quickly. The picture quality was marginal because of its fixed focus lens (which Kodak claimed was a “feature”) but the ability to instantly view your snaps and delete the ones that didn’t pass muster was a novelty back in the day.
After seeing my cousin’s Canon S10, I promptly picked up a used S20 and began my long run with Canon hardware. After that camera, I picked up an S300 and while in Hong Kong one trip, I picked up an Ixus S400 to replace that. My most recent Powershot/Ixus/Ixy camera was the SD400, very compact and took good pix. A great camwhoring camera! In fact, I have an SD800is enroute that has two things that my other cameras never had: wide angle 28mm lens setting and image stabilization. Makes it easier for that big dramatic night shot.
Now, what’s with the blog name? Well…
When I decided to create a blog a few years ago (mostly to stop people from asking for personalized emails and pix from the road when I started travelling), I had to think of a name. I figured it would be things as I saw them, and by extension, how my camera saw them. At the time, I had a Canon Powershot (in the US, they’re called Powershots, in the rest of the world they’re called Ixus except in Japan where they’re called Ixy) and I decided to name the blog based on what my camera saw.
And the name “walking-powershot” sounded stupid.
Walking-ixus, OTOH, was different. It sounded “not as stupid” plus none of my frens in the US would know what it meant. Because of that, I’ve had to explain that many times. And after three years of asking “what does your blog name mean?”, I’ve finally posted the answer here.
Some shots from Macworld 06
I made it out to Macworld today to check out the hype about the iPhone, Apple’s latest kick-ass cool gadget. And, yes, it is hella cool, slick and seksi. And i want one! When I can actually see and touch and playwidit…
When I finally made it onto the showfloor and made a beeline for the Apple exhibit, I was greeted with the iPhone rotating in its own case and being guarded by a “apple security guard”. Still, it is a beeyoutiful piece of industrial design and a technical tour de force.
That’s how the iPod component looks like
Here’s a closeup (sorta) of the back. The little dot in the corner is the 2MP camera that strangely, isn’t mentioned much…
The Star of the Show…
Timbuk2 wasn’t here this year (so no 28.75% off deal this year) but Crumpler was! They were serving beverages on request! Yeay! Buuurp…
It’s almost closing time!
iPhone (with 2G!!) debut at Macworld. A game changer, eventually
By now, everyone in the civilized world has seen the debut of the iPhone. This is the device that I’ve been waiting for. Quad-Band GSM. EDGE (tho HSDPA or UMTS would have been better), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. And your choice of either 4GB or 8GB storage. I pick the 8 Gig.
I am reserving judgement and curbing my techno lust until I find out a few things about it. I was able to speak to an Apple drone about the iPhone. I hit him with some questions. And as usual, the answers I got were slightly better than useless…
The 2 MP camera; is it autofocus or fixed focus? “erm, I think it’s autofocus coz it’s 2 MP.” FYI, the camera is fixed focus. Okieee…
Is the iPhone sold SIM locked since it’s going through Cingular (ugh) or is it going to be sold unlocked through Apple, similar to what Palm does with its Treo line? “We haven’t made that marketing decision yet”.
Skype client? “we don’t reveal that information”
I’d like to know these things before I throw down US$700 and commit myself to yet another 2 year period of indentured servitude (AKA “contract”). So the ultimate internet tool? Not quite yet. Still, that’s one seksi piece!!!
Crumpler is here and it’s staffed with Ozzies. Besides the accent giving them away, I asked about beer for bags and they had beer there! Burp.
Micro$oft is planning a new release of Office next year to match this year’s new PC office release. No info except that they’re “adding features”. I suggested to them that they bring offline messaging to the Mac Messenger client. Wonder if it’ll actually happen…
Surprisingly, Timbuk2 is not here this year. So no 20% off and no (pay your sales) tax deal this year. Booooooo!
Gov. Schwarznegger’s Inagural
The one memory that will stick out for me (besides the event itself) was the head freezing Sacramento morning cold! I forgot to bring a hat. I realized this as I was waiting in the queue to clear security to attend the swearing-in of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium on 5 January.
Once inside, it was a full house as the Governator took his oath after the prerequisite speeches and entertainment.
And what’s is an Inaguration without a ball? I went with a bunch of frens. It was fun, albeit short. Only three hours of open bar? WTF??
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