Diapers

After returning on the red-eye from Hawaii I was immediately heading north to Squamish to volunteer at a camp for folks recovering from neuromotor disorders of various ilks. I was lucky during my down time to walk the early mornings along the Squamish River near Brackendale (famous as the stopping ground for eagles making their way north and south) but only saw one.

1) accommodations in Squamish were just a tad different than what I had at the St Regis in Kaua'i; 2) wandering along the Squamish early on Easter Sunday morning

3) more the the river walk; 4) moi decked out on Easter morning for the easter parade

This weekend saw us in Kits for Don & Sand's "Diaper Party" - Sand's having twins! We busied ourselves by making a diaper cake. Yes a diaper cake! We also made a batch of double chocolate cupcakes with rosewater buttercream icing.

5) D&S stunning dog, Yoshi; 6) our cake

7) Sand is SO pregnant!; 8) the cupcakes!

9) these terracotta warriors started appearing on the streets of Vancouver on Wednesday. There are 34 in total out there - each one unique - and all will be auctioned off for charity .... to buy or not is the question!?

In other news, this year's cruise season starts on Tuesday and we'll again be inundated by 1000s of new neighbours wandering our Gastown streets.

Honolulu II

1) the famous pink umbrellas at the Royal Hawaiian looking out to Diamond Head

Post Kaua'i we found ourselves holed up in the Nani Pumehana Suite in the oh-so-1930s Pink Palace otherwise known as the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki and promptly recommitted ourselves to a diet of sushi, sushi, sushi ... in between surfing Waikiki and shopping.  Loved it!

2) the back of the hotel; 3) I got leid for this picture!

4) the wonderful rockers that look onto the courtyard - I loved sitting here; 5) G wanders the hallways

6) our room even had a name; 7) the toiletries

8 & 9) our suite

10) the main lobby; 11) on the way to Morimoto's by the Hilton

12) each of the doors in the Royal Hawaiian have been hand-carved with the Hawaii State seal

13) G's martini at the MaiTai Bar; 14) my maitai

15) our one concession one day - a pizza at the MaiTai Bar; 16) more of the lobby

17) the main entrance; 18) me relaxing in the rockers

19) the hallways are oh-so-lovely

For sushi we walked to the Modern Hotel at the far end of Waikiki and spent two meals completely ensconced in the wonderful world of Ironchef Morimoto's Waikiki outpost, called simply enough, Morimoto. The first time we dinned, we sat at a table and put ourselves over to Morimoto's US$120/pp omakase tasting menu. Our second venture we sat at the sushi bar, ordered a la carte and left sushi selections to the chef. Both were outstanding meals and we would certainly recommend the place.

20) the quiet kitchen; 21) lunchtime crowd is sparse

22) the kitchen is hopping at dinner; 23) looking across to the bar at dinner

24) first course is hamachi and toro tartare; 25) whitefish carpaccio

26 & 27) bagna cauda (we've made this one at home several times and I thought ours was better! .... take that Ironchef

28) I forget! (must ask G to remind me - blame the Chardonnay); 29) seaweed tea as a palette cleanser

30) Morimoto's sushi selection; 31) the final course is a hodgepodge of everything - wagyu beef, tartare, black cod

32) dessert is ... underwhelming ... I'm sorry but asian desserts regularly disappoint but I suspect that's my palette at play not the fault of chef

33) Morimoto tempura; 34) chef's $40 sushi/maki combination

35) so much fish; so little time!

Kaua'i

1) the famed Na'Poli Coast from a lookout along the Kalalau Trail

2) the sunsets on Kaua'i at Hanalei Bay are amazing each and every night

After a spell in Honolulu we flew up to Kaua'i, rented a car, and took up residence for a week at the stunning St. Regis Princeville which overlooks Hanalei Bay (probably best known as the home of Puff the Magic Dragon). If you surf Hanalei Bay, which we did lots of, you can see the outline of Puffy from the Bay.

3) Hawaiian Airlines gets us there; 4) the view from our room at the St. Regis

5 & 6) our room

7) greetings and chocolate from the Hotel GM; 8) our room even has a hook to hold the leis we received upon arrival - classy!

9) the St. Regis Lobby Bar; 10) the lobby

11) the pool; 12) each morning we had all manner of birds greeting us (actually hoping for some crumbs more likely)

13) I spent a lot of time lying right here with this view!

14) down by the beach; 15) I spent a lot of time lying here too

16) looking across Hanalei Bay; 17) greens everywhere

18) even when threatening a brief shower; it's beautiful

19) the pool at night from our room

We did a whole lot of nothing while at the St. Regis. We ate (of course) - trying the hotel's John George Vongerichten restaurant, Kaua'i Grill (which was disappointing - good food served in a cavernous, busy, noisy room with hurried [if professional] service), the Makena Terrace (which was infinitely better Kaua'i Grill [take note John Georges!] and spent Thursday evening with most of the hotel's guests in the lobby bar when the entire island suffered a complete blackout, conveniently enough just as the champagne was being sabred (a St Regis tradition that we've enjoyed both in Singapore and Washington) and the sun set.

20) dinner was best on the Makena Terrace - this was our view one night with a splendid bottle of California chardonnay

21) sunset that same night

22) we ordered sushi to finish one meal; 23) the view first thing in the morning with lots of volcano 'mist' in the air

24) moi, sur la plage avec MaiTai; 25) wanna surf?! ... we did ... lots

26 & 27) ahi tuna sliders and pizza at the beach one afternoon

28) me in my rash guard heading out to surf the day; 29) our uber good surfing guide, Eli, assists some young surfers as we depart

30) the dock at Hanalei Bay; 31) paddleboarders and surfers head out

32) sunset one night from my room with the telephoto lens

We spent a few days exploring Kaua'i and headed south then west to the island's famed Waimea Canyon (known as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" and which was utterly breath-taking) and drove from there up to Koke'e State Park and the lookout at Kalalau Valley where you can gaze out onto the splendour that is Kaua'i's Na'Poli Coast (I cannot more highly recommend this should you visit - pack a light jacket as it is cold up on top).

33) lunch at the Shrimp Station where we had, 34) fish tacos

35) and coconut shrimp; 36) Chicken in a Barrel BBQ another day where we had ...

37) their combo platter - the chicken, amazing! the beef rib, less so; 38) at the beach at Kapa'a

39 & 40) on the Kokee Road up to Waimea Canyon and Kalalau Lookout

41) looking back south to the Waimea; 42) Captain Cook of course

43) looking West to the island of Ni''ihau (which is privately owned by descendants of the Scottish Robertson Family, who bought it from the Kingdom of Hawai'i back in 1864

44) heading into the canyon

45) arriving in Waimea Canyon

46) a Hawaiian stilt; 47) rice or poi field?

48) on the way up to hike the Kalalau Trail; 49) G dwarfed in Wet Cave

50) the famed Lumaha'i Beach from South Pacific; 51) looking across Hanalei Bay from Lumahai' Beach to our resort

52) G on Lumaha'i Beach

53) the Kalalau Lookout

54) the Kalalau Lookout

55) the Kalalau Lookout - worth the drive for sure

56) Kapa'a beach; 57) Waimea Falls (aka Fantasy Island falls)

58 & 59) me just outside Princeville looking into the valley

60) the Kilauea Lighthouse

61) the Kilauea Lighthouse

62) G hiking the Kalalau Trail (this is far steeper than it appears here let me tell you; 63) looking down onto Ke'e Beach (where we started hiking)

Kaua'i has a population of some 67,000 souls and it is Hawai'i as it was before rampant tourism consumed all (witness: Mau'i). We also spent a day hiking the Kalalau Trail that winds itself from Ke'e Beach along the Na'Poli Coast to several lookouts and Kalalau Beach. As an aside, Kaua'i is home to one of the rainiest places on earth - the summit of Kaua'i main mountain, called Mount Wai'ale'ale. It seem to be always covered in mist and fog whilst we were there and I'm still not convinced it has a top!

Kaua'i is famous for the movies that have been filmed on its shores including "The Descendants" (right in Hanalei Bay); "South Pacific" (again featuring Hanalei Bay - the house where George Clooney first meets his wife's lover is right on the beach there); "Blue Hawaii" (at the now, sadly, hurricane swept Coconut Grove Hotel); "Jurassic Park",  and is even home to the (in person underwhelming) double waterfall from "Fantasy Island".

Suffice to say that G and I adored - utterly, simply and completely adored Kaua'i. This is saying a lot as, since the first day I breathed air, I have had no desire whatsoever to visit Hawai'i. So, go figure. After a week of complete indulgence, we flew back down to Honolulu to complete our holiday with some surfing on Waikiki Beach and a stay at the iconic grand old lady of Oahu hotels - the Luxury Collection's Royal Hawaiian Hotel (aka, the Pink Palace).

64) aloha till we return to catch the waves again!

Honolulu I

1) dawn on Waikiki from our room

We spent our first 4 days in Hawaii in Honolulu at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which was more by fate then choice. It was the conference hotel and was where I was put up. The Hilton Hawaiian Village is a 'resort' and definitely has the resort feel with gobs of tourists - many Japanese - and all-in-all had the feel of a cruise ship to it rather than a hotel. It has resident penguins, macaws and flamingos, umpteen towers (I was told some 3000 rooms), seven pools all filled to capacity with wee ones, and a small 'village' of tourist shops and restaurants.

Honolulu struck me as any other large American city but in particular I was left with both a feel of a toned down Las Vegas, and, along the main shopping strip - Kalakaua Ave - a feel of Orchard Road in Singapore, though more casual.

We committed to an all sushi diet while in Honolulu and took up residence for meals at Kai-wa (excellent; an outpost of the Tokyo teppan restaurant with superb rolls) and would highly recommend it.

2) G strolls along Waikiki Beach; 3) the penguins at the Hilton

4) aburi tuna roll with spicy sesame sauce; 5) love the yellow rescue board on the fire trucks here

6) cucumber and seaweed salad (the bonito broth with this was stunning)

7) pumpkin and asparagus salad; 8) egg and green onion omelet

9) easily THE BEST hamachi I've ever eaten

10) Waikiki; 11) sunset at Waikiki

12) there she goes

13) dusk from our room

We've been joyously holed up at the St. Regis on Kaua'i since leaving Honolulu and will make our way back to Honolulu mid-week.

Aloha

Though it's tough, I've been forced to find myself through Easter in Hawaii.

1) view from our hotel on Waikiki