Sep 2005

Biggest news for today is that we attended the "Lost" Season 2 premiere last night down in Waikiki at Sunset on the Beach. I can't remember if I explained what Sunset on the Beach is in an earlier post... but in a nutshell: They have a large, 30-foot screen that the city of Waikiki uses to put on public events! They premiere movies and tv shows that are filmed here in Hawaii.... and last night was the showing of the new "Lost" Season 2 opener!

The events started around 5pm with games and food vendors. We couldn't go that early, as C had to work his regular day. The actors from the show arrived and did the red carpet thing, gave autographs and spoke to the crowd... all before we got there.

We showed up shortly after 7pm, and the weather was NOT cooperative!! It was pouring down rain, and we had no umbrellas or chairs or anything. I had envisioned sitting either in the grass or sand and enjoying a nice sunset on the beach before the movie. It didn't work out that way AT ALL. So many people had their umbrellas up, that we couldn't see anything! We were cold and wet and unable to see a thing, so we ended up leaving... so I didn't see the show!! It airs on TV next week, so we'll have to wait like the rest of the world to see it.

Another girl here in Hawaii got some good pictures, though! She got there much earlier than we did, and also got her chairs in a spot so she could actually see the screen. These pictures were taken by Nicole:

The big screen just as the show was about to begin:

A rainbow over the white food vendors tents:

The screen seen from a distance:

The cast of the show standing on the stage at the bottom of the pic, and the mayor of Waikiki seen on the big screen, welcoming everyone:

Jack, Charlie, Sawyer and Jin:

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Like I've said, rainbows abound! Something else that's cool about them, a LOT of times, they're full rainbows here! Full arcs from one end to the other!

This was yesterdays:

At the same time, N was riding his bike, getting more and more daring. The neighbor kids have built a small ramp that they love to jump, and N has joined in with them. Here he is, on the approach:

WOW, whatta weekend!!! Yesterday, the actors from the tv show "Lost" did a disaster relief fundraiser that benefitted the American Red Cross. They did a meet and greet thing where people could go and get autographs and take pictures in exchange for monetary donations to the Red Cross for Katrina victims. Sweet, eh?!

So we went! Down to the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. The newspaper said the event was from Noon to 2pm, and the lineup would start around 11am. Yeah RIGHT. Did they really think people would wait until 11am to start the line? We showed up around 11:20 or 11:30 and once we found where we were supposed to be, we faced the most amazing, long line! hehehehe It felt like we were about 1,000, but I don't think it was that bad. I would, however, believe that there were at least 1,000 people total! Pretty unbelievable.

So I waited in line while my husband and son wandered around, entertaining themselves. Since we were really there for only me. hehehehe Anyway, as the line moved forward, and I finally approached the long tables where the cast were sitting.... I pulled out my digital camera to start taking general scenery pictures to help set the scene... and... guess.... WHAT.

No memory card in the damn camera! So I think I was the only 1 out of 1,000 people who didn't take pictures going thru the "meet'em line". So I just chit-chatted w/ them as I walked by. LMAO Sad! But still fun. The actors were really nice... they'd each look up expectantly with a flashy smile waiting for me to take my picture, and they're realize I wasn't taking any, so they chatted instead! LOL

My son had on a Power Ranger t-shirt which sparked a quick conversation between him and the Korean man... and the blonde girl, Shannon on the show (the sister chick) joined in by saying, "I tried out to be a Power Ranger once, the Yellow one!" How funny! The other blonde girl, Claire on the show, was like, "Really? Did you have to know karate?" LOL!! That girl who plays Claire is unbelievably cute and pretty!!! She was by far the most eye-catching person there.

Matthew Fox, "Jack", was cool. He looked surprised at a person there not snapping pictures, so he talked to us too. We told him it was really cool of them to do this as a fund raiser. Things like that. There were only 2 cast members not there. The chick who plays Kate and the dude who is Sayid. I later heard someone say they were actually out filming and so couldn't be there.

They had a stack of color 8x10 glossies that they all signed for us. So I at least have THAT as a memento of my day. I had REALLY wanted to have my own pics to share and keep for posterity, but OH WELL. I have another chance on Wednesday. They're going to be out again for Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki. They have a massive screen they put up out on the beach, on which 5,000-7,000 people can watch movie premieres and whatever else the city decides to show.

So Season 2, Episode 1 is premiering world wide a couple of weeks early here on the island!!! The whole cast will be there, and so will I with my MEMORY CARD and camera. More on that after the event... Thursday.

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And about Sunday football in Hawaii. Live events that happen on the mainland... oh the time difference!! NFL games here start at 7:00am Sunday morning!! So what does that mean for the "Night" game?! eeek.

I saw one of those digital highway traffic advisory signs here last week... one of those black signs w/ the words written in orange dots that the DOT can change whenever they want to. The sign was on the outskirts of Honolulu, and it said "Drive with Aloha".

Drive with Aloha. ? I drove on, wondering how I should be driving with "hello" or "goodbye". Shortly thereafter, I forgot about it.

Then 2 nights ago at dinnertime N asked us a question right out of the blue! He said, "Do you know all the things that Aloha means?" We said, "No, can you teach us?" And his reply was, "Well, Aloha means hi, bye, to care, to share, and I don't remember what else."

And the light went on! Drive with Aloha means, "Drive with CARE"!! And suddenly it all came clear.
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I just read a very exciting thing on a Hawaii military wives message forum!!!!! If you're a fan of the TV show Lost, you'll know why. =o)

Members of the cast of ABC's "Lost" will sign autographs in exchange for donations to the American Red Cross from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, across from the Tapa Bar.

I hope they let us take pictures!! I would like that a lot more than a bunch of autographs. hehehehe

More on this as I find things out!

No WONDER the Hawaii state logo on the licence plates is a rainbow! We see multiple rainbows every day here! E said she saw two in the sky at the same time earlier today! It seems to "mist" here a lot, not quite raining, but never enough to chase away the sun and white puffy clouds.

I thought I'd start taking pictures of them today... so here's the first of them.

I'll add more as I take them.

Before living here I never really gave much thought to their rainbow license plates before. =o)

The kids are accumulating a group of friends from our street too. They are expanding the age limits of their friend groups too.

I keep having the feeling that we're camping here. My whole life growing up, we travelled and camped... in all sorts of campgrounds, from very nice with all the ammenities, to those with outhouse-like showers and no hook-ups of any sort and no swimming pool (I HATED those!!). But one thing that was remained the same no matter where we were, or what state..... kids of all ages agreed to play with each other when they were camping.

It didn't matter so much how old the other kids were, just that they were a playmate for the day. Here in Hawaii, we spend our entire days outside, and kids just start wandering and gathering in unlikely groups.

N's best new buddies range in age from 3 to 7. Back in South Carolina he would NEVER have considered playing with a 3 year old, but somehow things are different for him here, too.

And the pickings are mighty slim for an 11 year old girl, so E's playing with ALL sorts... from 3 year old boys up to an 8 year old girl so far. LOL! Poor babe. She has a friend her age that just moved in sort of near us, and who goes to her school, but her mom is keeping her very busy moving in, so we don't see much of her.

Today is one of those ideal, dreamlike fantasy days here in Hawaii. It's exactly like I'd been imagining it would be.

It's Labor Day weekend, so we slept in... everyone waking up when they were ready. Eating breakfasts of cereal, fresh pineapple, muffins and juice. Lazily getting ready, getting suits on and into the car finally, having loaded all the snorkling gear and towels.

We headed west out of Wahiawa, towards Haleiwa. Our house is only a few minutes away, and it turns out Haleiwa is an AWESOME little surf town with nice shops and restaurants.

What a cool place!!

We turned north along highway 99 (Kameahamea Highway) and stopped at 4 beaches along the way. Turtle Beach was first, as we've heard a lot about the masses of turtles who swim there. We didn't see anything there except one large, dead puffer fish. Tourists were gawking and pointing at it.

Next on the tour was Waimea Bay. I'd heard so much about this place, and couldn't wait to check it out. It's got a lot more sandy beach than the other beaches... you walk across a lot of beach, by people playing beach volleyball, a huge surfing class, lifeguard stations, etc.

Here you go Alison, these are for you:

Third stop for the day was Ehukai Beach... better known as the Banzai Pipeline! Since it's summertime, the waves aren't massive, but they were still bigger than any others we've seen on the island! The beach here is very steep! I hope some of the effect comes across in the pictures! We'll be coming back here in the winter time when the huge surfing competitions are being held!

Our final playing/resting spot for the day's fun was Sunset Beach. It's the second day we've spent there (the pictures from the first day are below in this diary).

After we'd been there for a while, all of a sudden, we noticed a sea turtle swimming near the shore! So E got her mask and snorkle real quick and went out to get a better look. I couldn't get that great of a shot... but here it is: the turtle is the shadowy spot above the label.

We left Sunset Beach and went south back towards Haleiwa... and stopped along several surf shops, surfboard shops, etc. Lots of cool places to see and shop. Then we ate lunch at Pizza Bob's. Mmmmm Pizza...