This was the day we'd spend traveling between islands...so couldn't really do much. BUT I had to get into the water. I just had to. If you've lived in landlocked Iowa for as long as I have, you'd understand why, especially if you grew with sunny tropical beaches like I did. So, I decided to skip breakfast--SK could have some intimate moments with his parents--I changed into my bathing suit, tucked Aunty Sandy's boogie board under my arm, and I was off!
I hadn't swum in the sea for years...I keep forgetting that there are things like currents and waves and razor-sharp reefs (speaking of razor-sharp, what about sharks?). I swim 2-3 times a week in the public pool in Iowa City and that built up a sense of false confidence. Anyways, I don't think I've ever used a boogie board in my life. I might have at Sunway Lagoon, a resort thing in Malaysia that has a fake wave pool. I followed this guy who was also carrying a boogie board, sat next to him on the beach, and waited to see what he'd do. I'm not sure what happened but soon I lost sight of him. I thought, well, maybe he's out there where there were some specks floating out on the ocean. I ventured to the calm pool behind the breakwater. I was about to go through a break in the breakwater when out of sheer brilliance (or fear) I asked a guy who was swimming there if it was a good place to get out to the sea. He said there were reefs right after the breakwater but said I could float across them on the boogie board. Or, I could use the other break in the wall. I used the other break in the wall.
I paddled out, seemingly in place for 20 minutes. All this while I kept thinking, why did I feel compelled to do this? The waves kept crashing down where I was, threatening to throw me onto the breakwater. I was glad for the little musculature I had from my swims. I finally got close to the specks and realized everyone there was on a surfboard, except for me. Anyways, I turned around and waited for the waves and tried to ride them. I didn't get far. So, maybe this isn't what people do on a boogie board. It is useful for floating though..so after a while, I decided that that would be a good spot to watch the surfers do their thing. A few of them passed me by, said hi, and asked me if I was alright. I wondered why they asked me that...but not for long. I had somehow gotten into the path of the surf and had people running their boards at me...I saw one guy look at me, as he aimed his board at my broadside, look at another surfer nearby as though to say..."tell her to get out of the way." The surfer next to me said, "Quick, get on your board and get out of here." So I did...that surfer would've hit me if I hadn't gotten off my board and scooted backwards. Needless to say, that was the end of my boarding adventures.
KAUAI
We took Aloha Airlines from Honolulu to Lihue airport in Kauai. The flight cost abt $100 per person roundtrip. It was really cheap but the flight got delayed, they put us on another one, and that was further delayed, but somehow we got onto our original flight, which turned out to be earlier than the 2nd one. We got a good package through AAA for hotel and car--about $400 for three nights at what looked like a three to four star hotel in Kapaa and a compact car.
We decided to take it easy that day and went for some local fare that was not too far away. Hamura Saimin in Lihue was highly recommended by the Fodorites and several guidebooks. It looked like a Chinese/Japanese dish of noodles in broth with gyoza (Japanese dumplings), fish cake with the pink swirl in it, pieces of pork. Our guide book said the Chinese say it's Japanese and the Japanese say it's Chinese.
Then there was this mustard-yellow sauce people were mixing with soy sauce that I thought was mustard but a quick taste told me it was wasabi! I ordered the special, which had all the meat for $6 and SK ordered the extra special (which means a much bigger bowl) for $7-8. The normal sized one doesn't come with meat. We also ordered several sticks of chicken teriyaki flavored bbq skewers (teriyaki is a favorite seasoning here, we soon found out). The food was all great! The place was modest--lunch counters that also doubled as storage for napkins, etc. The locals were very friendly--I jumped in on a conversation about local food and got a recommendation for a place that serves stuffed pork chop (which unfortunately we didn't get to try).
That was the end of Day 5.
