I’m back! Apologies for not posting the past few days; I’ve been a little busy, but probably more likely – lazy!

Wednesday, January 19 – Waikiki

After loafing around the hotel for a while this morning, I decided to go on a little recon mission. Before booking an Airbnb you’re just given a general location of the property. Afterwards, an address is provided. So, with address in hand, I went to check out my new neighborhood. It was only about a 15 minute walk from my hotel; just on the other side of the canal (further away from the beach). I think it’s on the edge between the border of Honolulu and Waikiki. It’s a quiet area, which is nice. And within walking distance of grocery stores and dining options. All good. I met one of the other residents of the complex when I was walking by, who also happens to serve as the maintenance person. Nice guy. So hopefully this will be a good situation. Watch this space…

I spent the rest of the afternoon just kind of roaming around this eastern edge of Honolulu. I only have one photo to post though unfortunately. I came across this interesting statue outside the Hawaii Convention Center…

I finished the day by heading back to the Indian take away spot near my hotel. Went with Chickpea Masala this time. Very good!

Sidenote: I spoke with the woman at the take away counter for a few minutes. The discussion centered around the amount of tourists in Waikiki. I felt like it was rather crowded here, considering the Covid situation. She somewhat agreed with that, but also said that pre-Covid the streets and beaches of Waikiki were packed with people. Even though it is surely detrimental to her business, she likes it better now. Interesting…

Thursday, January 20 – Waikiki

I’m out early for an experiment today. I’m planning on spending the day exploring The North Shore of Oahu. It’s an area known for big waves, beaches, parks, and yes, a few tourist traps (quilty – I hit one!) It normally takes about an hour to get there by car from Waikiki, but here’s where the experiment comes into play – I’m going to take the bus. Not a tour bus. A regular city bus. Very cool that they offer a city bus service throughout the island! Why am I doing this? A few reasons (and I’m probably reiterating what I talked about regarding the Pearl Harbor bus ride): interaction with the locals; I can enjoy the scenery rather than worry about driving directions (no co-pilot); it’s not like I’m short on time (as Chuck reminded me!); and most importantly, I’m cheap!

Payment on the bus is either by cash (exact only – no change) or by a pre-paid HOLO card. The fare for each trip is $2.75. However, by using a HOLO card, the maximum a rider will be charged for a single day is $5.50 (in other words, no charge after two trips). There are two bus routes going back and forth from Waikiki/Honolulu to the north – one up the middle of the island, or a scenic drive along the east coast. The former takes about 2 hours, the latter around 2 1/2. Obviously, I went scenic!

Sidenote: There are roughly 160 stops on the scenic bus route from Honolulu to The North Shore! Of course, the bus doesn’t actually make a stop at every one. At least it didn’t on my trip!

I left the hotel around 7:30am, caught the first bus closeby, made a transfer in Honolulu, and arrived in the North around 10:15. The bus wasn’t even close to being crowded throughout the trip, which was nice. I sat on the right side to get the best views. And the scenery was beautiful!

I ended doing a lot of walking along the coast, but it’s pretty spread out, so I also used the bus to get to various spots too (and frankly, at some points the road along the coast is rather narrow and not the best for walking)

I must confess I did make a stop in Haleiwa, a little North Shore tourist town.

I was going to take the central bus route back to Honolulu, but a coastal bus came by first, so I took that. Terrible! I ended up getting back to Honolulu around 6pm. A long, but very enjoyable day! And the transportation only cost me $5.50!

Sidenote: For those of you interested in Pearl Harbor history, Haleiwa was a rather important place, which I hadn’t realized. Here’s a link to the story.

Friday, January 21 – Waikiki

Moving day! Time to check out of the hotel and take up residence in my Airbnb home for the next month. I admit I have a little apprehension, because although I’ve viewed the exterior and I like the neighborhood, I’ve only seen pictures of the unit’s interior. But hey, worst case, it’s only for a month, right?

The walk from my hotel to the apartment took about 20 minutes (minimal luggage, too cheap for an Uber!).

And with the caveat that I had low expectations going in, I’m pleased with the unit. It’s clean, has strong internet (more on that tomorrow), hot water, good water pressure. What more could you ask?!?

Here are a few pictures (remember, low expectations!)…

I spent the rest of the day unpacking and getting the place sorted.

As many of you know, today was my birthday. And thank you to everyone who reached out to me throughout the day. It was wonderful to hear from all of you! But, I’m sad to say it turned out to be a rather boring day. I didn’t even get anything special to eat. Embarrassingly, my dinner was a tuna sandwich from a local convenience store! Oh well, as many of you told me, a boring birthday in Hawaii is still a pretty good day!

I remember a phone call I had with my Dad on my birthday during my first winter escape in 2019. He made the comment that I was rarely in Madison for my birthday. I really hadn’t thought about it, but he was right. So for my journal entry that day I put together a list of where I had been on my birthday over the past several years. Here’s that list, appended to present day…

• 2000: working in Houston
• 2001: working in Corpus Christi
• 2002: working offshore, Bay of Campeche
• 2003: working offshore, Bay of Campeche
• 2004: working in Kuwait
• 2005: working in Kuwait
• 2006: working in Houston
• 2007: working in London
• 2008: working in London
• 2009: on vacation in Malta
• 2010: on vacation in Paris
• 2011: working in Yokohama
• 2012: working in Perth, Australia
• 2013: working in Perth
• 2014: on a business trip in London
• 2015: working in Houston
• 2016: on a business trip in Yokohama
• 2017: in transit to Tokyo for a business trip
• 2018: working in Houston
• 2019: on vacation in Buenos Aires
• 2020: on vacation in London
• 2021: Madison (Covid lockdown)
• 2022: on vacation in Honolulu

Saturday, January 22 – Honolulu

I hate to say it, but I think today is going to be a rest day.

I did make a run to Target though (about a 15 minute walk), and here’s why. I made a mention in yesterday’s entry about the internet here at the apartment, and it is fine. The issue is my 10 year old laptop. It keeps losing the wireless signal. I had that problem at the hotel too, but not as severe. Very annoying. And I remember I had the same issue a couple years ago at a hotel in Argentina. Fortunately there they actually had ethernet wall outlets that I was able to utilize in place of the wireless (with a borrowed cable). Well, I should have remembered that and brought an ethernet cable with me on this trip. But no. So I bought one at Target ($15) and plugged it into the router here in the apartment. Problem solved! (until I get to the next place that doesn’t have an ethernet option!)

I spent the rest of the day reading, getting caught on my day-to-day life stuff, and oh, watching the Packer game (3:15pm start here). Wow, was that ugly!

I’m sorry these last couple days have been rather boring. I’m hopeful this coming week will be better!