Octopus anyone?

Beach picture of the day:


One of the accomplishments I achieved while in Hawaii was eating raw fish. I am not a fan, but I thought maybe I should try it again. So I tasted what is called "poke" marinated raw fish. I had some at the luau, and then again on Tuesday, the difference being that on Tuesday, it was octopus. Yup, little octopus tentacles, I'm thinking maybe they were baby octopus...I know gross. My adventurous spirit though got the better of me that day. I got back to SD, and I can assure you, that probably won't happen again.

One of our days in Hawaii was spent appreciating the beauty of the island, the views and hiking the natural wonders. We hiked Diamond Head to the top and saw great views of the island, a pretty lighthouse at the base and the mountainous jungle in the distance. I have to admit, I thought I was in pretty decent shape before the trip, having run and been a gym rat for a while, but that last little climb up to the top almost did me in. Luckily my training on the stair master kicked in!



We also went to the Pali Lookout to view the lush and green canopy. I observed that the island seemed to have a desert side and a greener side. The north side of the island seemed to be a little more green and Pam tried to teach me about how the island created it's own clouds and it rained more on one side...she had a name for it and it escapes me now. Oh well, it was still a great place to see out and walk around.



Our culinary experience this day was much better than our first couple days on the island. We went to The Shorebird, a seaside restaurant, where the "Scandinavian Pepper" grilled her own food. Yup, this restaurant allowed you to choose the type of meat you wanted and then you grill your own. I had chicken. My two travel mates did the beef kabobs, looked so good.

This delectable experience was achieved through the mode of "reservations," something we figured out was required to have a good dining experience while in Waikiki. The rest of our evening meals were achieved through this planning process (and I suggest it to anyone else that goes there!)