Rainy Day in Waikiki-Day in Laie

View from our lanai at the Waikiki Prince

Monday, December 22nd-Dawn came with puffy pink clouds in a blue sky to the east, but within an hour the rain was Pouring down, the first real downpour I've seen since I got here on the 9th. Not bad for winter in Hawaii. My bruised heel bone was really sore, so I just stayed in for the day. I did laundry, defrosted about four pounds of ice out of the freezer in the little fridge in the room and worked on updating this blog from our weekend activities while the guys upgrading the cable had the room pulled apart and were in the room with me much of the day. The main guy was good company and I got some good information about things to do. 

When Harry got back, we headed right out to the mall. He is still 'questing' for a carved koa wood bracelet. All we saw was plain ones, and they were pretty expensive, both on the kiosk cart and the fancy store. I don't really care about it, we ordered one from Maile Nui, though it probably won't be koa wood, but once he gets an idea about something he has to keep searching. We had dinner at the mall and then home to bed, though I did go to the ABC for an umbrella, some snacks for the next day, and water and so on. 

Ukulele Bus Man

 Tuesday I planned a trip by bus to Laie to go to the LDS temple. I got on my way at 7:40, which was a little later than I planned. The buses weren't crowded and I enjoyed looking at the things to be seen along the way. The highlight was when an older man in shorts, yellow t-shirt, and rubber boots got on carrying a good sized ukulele. He chatted with the driver for awhile, then launched into playing and singing Christmas songs. I got a couple of snaps and a little video of him. That really put me in the Christmas spirit.

I got to the temple a little after 10 and got into the 11:00 session. Afterwards I went into a sealing session and then headed to lunch. I just missed the chance to get some soup and bread and was looking at the vending machine when a sister offered to share her corn chowder with me. I think her name was Sue Nee Lin. She was warming some homemade soup in the microwave. What she had left made a nice little bowl for me, and then she popped a big tangerine on my tray while I was warming it. I asked if she had another for herself and she said she did, but I never saw it, so I suspect she gave me her only one. There were gourmet cookies there and we helped ourselves to several each. She tried to give me crackers a couple of times, but I did say no to those. We chatted during the few minutes she had to eat-only 15, but it was very nice.

Before she left she pulled out a little loaf of dessert bread in a foil pan and said to share it with my husband. I tried really hard not to take it, it was obviously something she planned for her day at the temple, but she insisted. I sampled some and it was really good. I saw her later as I did the work for some other names, and that was really sweet. It is so nice to have these brief contacts with people. When I was done and headed for the bus stop I was stumping along with my big bag and my walking stick and a little white truck stopped by me and a sister asked where I was headed. I told her I was going to catch the bus and she offered me a ride to the bus stop. I gratefully accepted, and she took me along to where there was a stop with a roof and bench so I didn't have to stand out in the weather. There is actually a stop like that where I was headed, but I was grateful that she wanted to go the extra mile to make sure I was taken care of.  

The bus stop was definitely a country stop even though it was at the edge of a neighborhood. It was surrounded by stuff from the nearby home, plus there were chickens wandering about and cats nearby, sometimes fighting in the bushes next to the stop. Harry called and changed my destination from the Windward mall to the Macadamia plantation. I would need to get off at Maile Nui's place. He had picked up my pearls from the wholesaler and was getting a box for them.

I almost missed the stop, the bus was moving pretty fast. I was tracking it on my phone, but wasn't sure when to pull the cord to request a stop. The stops are pretty close together and I didn't want to stop too soon. The Tropical Farm flashed by and I quickly pulled the cord. The driver was able to stop safely at the woodcarvers, and I walked back along to Tropical Farms.

The pearls turned out beautiful. We compared them to the necklace that inspired my creativity, and the guy there took our photo. We headed out then to our same shopping center and theater where we saw the latest Hobbit movie, 'Battle of the 5 Armies'. Dinner was popcorn and soda, and some almond M&Ms I bought for the day.

Wednesday, 12-17-14, Temple day, Mackey's Shrimp, Exodus

Harry went to work quite late and was able to drop me off in Laie at the temple. I got there in plenty of time to attend the 11:00 session, Which was done by 2 pm. I loved the way the session moved from room to room and loved how immersive it was for me because they showed the new film that was filmed on the islands. The mountains in the background, the plants, and even one of the people in the film fit right in to where I am right now and gave it a realism that added to the experience.

Laie temple

I ate a simple lunch in the cafeteria, a creamy soup with just a little vegetables and ham in it, along with an inch and a half thick slice of homemade whole wheat bread. I got a little packet of Milano dark chocolate cookies from a vending machine for dessert.

I had gotten a bunch of family name cards printed and was so excited that they let me leave all the ones needing baptism there for one of their youth groups to do.

I spent a little time in the visitor's center until it was time to go to the bus. It's kind of a hike to get to the bus stop, and I had to wait another half hour for the bus to come. The trip took the full hour predicted to get to the stop where I planned to meet Harry, but I enjoyed seeing the scenery and people along the way.

The Bus

At the end of the line I walked a little way over to the Mackey Sweet Shrimp truck and waited at one of their tables for half an hour until Harry showed up. We had the garlic butter shrimp with rice covered in garlic butter sauce, and salad. The shrimp was very good, even better than the night before. They are farmed on that side of the island, so they are really fresh.

We were entertained by the Hens, roosters and chicks wandering everywhere, and even more entertained by the young Japanese pregnant wife who was so frightened of them she kept her feet up when they were around and squealed in fright. When the couple left I noticed a back pack left on the bench of their table and after no one else that was getting food sat there, I took it to the food window and told the lady who I thought left it. A minute later she called to her helper and gestured frantically to stop a car that was leaving. It turned out to be them, and he got their attention and returned it to them. When they saw me up and talking to the guy that brought them the pack, they realized I'd turned it in. The young husband waved, smiled, and bowed to me over and over. I did the same back to him. It was a nice feeling that I didn't hesitate too long and that they got it back before they left.

The forgotten backpack

Harry suggested we stop off at a shopping center on our way back and see a movie. We saw Exodus, which was well done, but departed from the scriptural account in typical Hollywood fashion, which made it jarring to watch no matter how I tried to think of it as fiction or alternate reality. I wish they would just stick to the story and if they want to fictionalize by fleshing it out, ok, but to leave out important things, change them, and change who Moses was as a prophet was just disturbing. Harry didn't like all that either. I was also bothered by the strong smell of rancid dirty carpet. I never got nose blind to it, It bothered me the whole movie. I notice the smell at the other theater on Saturday, but it wasn't as strong in the theater itself and I stopped noticing it after awhile there.

We still had time to watch some TV when we got back to the room, although we did stay up later than usual. Harry is working shorter because he found out there is no overtime available. He'd used up more hours than he was allowed by the time he found out, so he his minimizing his time until the new week starts.