October, 2010 Archives

Hawaii | sunset

October 22nd, 2010

One day we had some extra time with nothing planned. We consulted Mr. Lonely Planet and he suggested a beach to watch the sun set at.

When I came back from walking around taking photos for a bit, Darek had written this. Awwwww…..

Hawaii | snorkeling

October 19th, 2010

I love snorkeling – in theory.

In reality, not so much. I’m afraid of fish touching me, ok? And I hate having my face underwater with that little tube. I don’t trust it.

But I love snorkeling. Or at least I wanted to try it.

We went to the gorgeous Hanauma Bay. This is what it looked like when the park opened, before all the people got there and before there was anyone collecting admission (score!):

Kitties!!!

My feet:

Darek took the fish pictures because I was freezing and wouldn’t go very far in the water:

Ok so those last two were taken in our hotel’s aquarium. PSYCH!!

Hawaii | LOST

October 17th, 2010

If you don’t know or haven’t figured out yet from previous posts, we’re big fans of Lost. Mostly Darek but me as well. He was super excited to learn that we’d be in Oahu while the series finale was being aired. What are the odds?

My big thing was the pineapple plantation, and Darek’s was definitely the Lost stuff. We spent one of our days touring some of the main filming locations.

Here’s Darek with the commentary.

One of the big LOST finds was Camp Erdman, a YMCA camp better known to LOSTies as the DHARMA barracks and New Otherton (where the Others live).  This first photo is most recognizable as the outside shot of the hospital where Juliet was operating on a young Ben (after having been shot by Sayid).  It’s also where Sawyer and the rest of those that jumped back to 1972 hung out to discuss their plans after having arrived at the DHARMA barracks.

This room served many purposes, it’s where the Others kept Kate captive, where Christian Shephard told Sun and Lapidus that they had a long journey ahead of them, and where DHARMA registered new recruits.

This mantle held many of the old DHARMA photos when Christian was talking to Sun and Lapidus.

This building served numerous purposes as well for the Others and DHARMA.

Building 22 was Ben’s house.

Random DHARMA house.  I’m an Other!

Check me out!  I’m in New Otherton!

Look at me!  I’m Ben!

Jacob tells me to do things.

Stacie is shocked as Oceanic Flight 815 breaks apart in the sky above.

The cabins were actually pretty tiny.  There weren’t any refrigerators full of DHARMA food inside.

There also weren’t that many buildings that close together.  Camera trickery!

To the beach!  This is where the LOSTies spent many days playing ping pong and figuring out how to live together (so they wouldn’t die alone).

The LOSTies beach camp. I’m here to rescue you!  Wait.  Where is everybody?

Many LOSTie conversations took place here.

From here Jack Shephard saw his deceased father standing in the water.  It’s also where they emerged heroically numerous times.

Jin!  Catch us some fish!

Previously posted on DarekandStacie.com…

The Tempest.  This is where Jack and Juliet kiss.

Hurley’s golf course.

The 1950s Others camp.

Where Sun and Jin got married.

The marina for numerous meet-ups after the survivors make it off the island and where Desmond and Charlie drove off the peer in Season 6.  I THINK it’s also where Desmond beat up Ben.

Ok, everyone.  Let’s march across the island.  Single file.  This is also near where Desmond accidentally killed Inman.

Eko chases after Michael.

Many jungle scenes were filmed at Manoa Falls.

And now it’s all over. OR IS IT?!

Actually, yes.  It is.

On our second-ish day in Hawaii, I woke up from a nap to hear Darek saying “OK you get to pick – are we going on a bus tour or a horseback tour of this cool place?” After I woke up all the way we decided on Bus Tour. The place was Kualoa Ranch, a working cattle farm that happens to be the filming location of a lot of things. A LOT. Of things. Godzilla, 50 First Dates, Pearl Harbor, Jurassic Park, a bunch of other stuff, and Lost. Also it’s beautiful.

The pictures don’t do it justice:

Here’s our bus. I normally don’t do so well on public transportation, because I get sick, but if all the windows are open I can usually do ok:

Here we is:

To our left was the ranch, to our right was the ocean and stuff:

The buses that didn’t make it. HA HA.

An actual war bunker type of thing, and also a Lost filming location:

Darek in the “Lost” room:

We thought this was funny:

I don’t remember what this is:

Continuing on the bus tour:

Although most of Jurassic Park was filmed on Kauai, a few scenes were filmed here:

Hurley’s golf course and stuff:

Godzilla footprint:

Some of the cows that actually live there. Mooo.

Another Lost location:

Part of a recreation of an original Hawaiian village:

Turtle Island:

Aaaand…this is the last picture I took before I split my face open with the car door. True Story.

I’m not gonna lie: one of my favorite things about traveling is the eating part. In our normal daily lives we don’t eat out much, and with all the money we save from cooking our own food we can afford to splurge a little when we travel.

I love, love, love to eat.

In Hawaii I found that I either loved or hated nearly every meal. Basically it came down to:

Seafood = Yum. Traditional Hawaiian food = No Thanks.

With exceptions of course.

This was one of our awesome meals:

I took pictures of Darek ordering while I waited in the car, since I was still bleeding from the mouth after a recent encounter with the car door:

The tables were fun:

We shared an amazing plate of coconut shrimp. Personally I wouldn’t have thought that they would have gone well with white rice, but it actually turned out to be really tasty:

You can’t really tell, but the ocean is on my right:

This was one of my least favorite meals. In Hawaii they have something called a “plate lunch,” which consists of a main entree (fish here), macaroni salad, and 2 scoops of white rice. Sadly, I can’t say that I was a fan:

Some other people weren’t too thrilled either:

Kind of random, just some sushi rolls Darek had for lunch one day. I don’t like them but I think they look neat. I had a hamburger (not pictured).

Oh My. This place was in the running for Best Breakfast Ever. Eggs ‘n Things:

I was reeeally torn between coconut pancakes and an omelet. I eventually decided on the omelet because I wanted the breakfast potatoes. I can’t tell you how much I love breakfast potatoes. I love them a lot. And the omelet, despite looking a little weird, was unbelievably awesome:

Darek got the Macadamia Nut pancakes, and they were also amazing:

This is a terrible picture of a really good meal. It’s some kind of fish with macadamia nuts or something, and rice pilaf, which I love. The ocean was just to my right:

Dessert from the meal above:

Yum:

Our drinks (you can kind of see the ocean on the right):

One afternoon we went down to some fancy hotel and had $14 Mai Tais. I don’t know that they were worth $14, but it was Hawaii, and they were yummy. I have no regrets.

The ocean is totally blown out, but I swear it’s right there…

The main reason we went to Hawaii was to photograph a wedding. Here’s the dinner afterward, at Duke’s on Waikiki Beach.

Decorations and a yummy beach drink:

I wish we had gotten a picture of the 2 of us with our leis on, but here’s Darek at least:

Because I know you want to know what amazing thing I had for dinner:

SAUTÉED MAC NUT AND HERB CRUSTED
Lightly dusted in parmesan cheese and bread crumbs, topped with lemon and caper butter

YES PLEASE:

And for dessert, Hula Pie, which is one of my favorite desserts I’ve ever eaten:

Oh Hawaii. How I miss your seafood and desserts and fun drinks and everything else about you.