Honeymoon Part 2: Maui

March 25^th: Ice Cream Solves All Problems

Missing a flight is never fun and by the time Bill and I arrived in Maui, we were stressed, hungry, and tired.  We bought a rotisserie chicken and ate it on the beach while the sun was setting.  Then we checked into our resort and took a long, much-needed nap. When we woke up, we decided we still needed some comfort food to cheer us up.  A little shop that made homemade ice cream did the trick. I predictably chose coconut, and Bill had banana macadamia nut.  

Monday March 26^th: Three Very Different Beaches

We spent the day at Makena Beach State Park, which is characterized by a cinder cone surrounded by three beaches.  The first beach we visited was the black sand beach.  Bill had never seen a black sand beach before and I hadn't seen one since elementary school.  The sand was rocky, with various reds, blacks, and whites that gave it an overall rusty-grey color.  It was the least crowded of the beaches, possibly because of its rough waves and jagged shallow reef.  

Only about a block away was "Big Beach" which looked like a postcard and was surprisingly the opposite of the black sand beach in every way.  The beach was enormous, the sand was very fine and light-colored, the bright turquoise waters were remarkably calm, and it was very crowded.  "Little Beach" was the last beach we found.  It was separated from Big Beach by a rocky hill and a somewhat-hidden set of stairs.  It had the same bright colors as Big Beach, except it was smaller and windier.  Oh, and most of the people on the beach were naked.  Technically, it's illegal to be nude in public in Hawaii, but there are a few places where for whatever reason, the police tolerate it.  This was one of those places.

Bill was in the mood for hiking, so we illegally hiked up the cinder cone.  Although it was only 360 feet tall, it was harder than it looked.  The ground was made out of volcanic debris and felt like fine gravel. It took us at least an hour to complete our hike. It was hot and dry, and we were looking forward to jumping into one of the beaches at the bottom of the trail. We opted for Little Beach, which was the first time I went swimming at a nude beach.

On the way home, we had a smoothie made with real papaya, ginger, and sugarcane from a local fruit stand, followed by BBQ pork at an ocean-view restaurant.  Back at our resort, we lay on the lawn star-gazing and split a bottle of Syrah wine.

Tuesday March 27^th: House of the Sun

For some reason, we thought it would be a good idea to wake up at 1:45am to see the sunrise over Haleakala, an inactive volcano that literally means “house of the sun.” We rented bicycles, helmets, and rain gear from a company that also provided us with transportation up the volcano. The summit is Maui's highest peak at over 10,000 feet above sea level, and the climate was drastically different than what we were accustomed to. It was raining, and the temperature was only in the 30s. It's a good thing we had been provided with jackets and pants, because Bill had only packed t-shirts and shorts. I was a little bit better off in my long sleeves and sweatpants, but I was still cold enough to wear my bicycle helmet while we waited for the sun to rise. When the clouds finally opened up and it stopped raining, the view did make it all worthwhile.

The bicycle company brought us down to a site on the volcano that was 6,500 feet high, and let us take off on a 23 mile downhill bike tour at our own pace. We stopped a couple times to take pictures and feed big white horses.  When we returned to town, it was only about 10am but we'd already been awake for 8 hours. We devoured a large breakfast of ono (similar to mackerel) eggs benedict, bacon avocado omelet, and a rich mocha. It was the best meal we had during our honeymoon, and some of the best eggs benedict I've ever tasted (second only to the crabs eggs benedict in the Seattle Space Needle).

Lilikoi quark cheesecake with goat cheese truffles

As if we hadn't eaten enough, we spent the afternoon sampling cheeses at Surfing Goat Dairy. Apparently, they've made 18 national award winning cheeses. I didn't even know that national cheese contests existed, but it sounded impressive. First, we sampled their lilikoi (passionfruit) quark cheesecake and two goat cheese truffles (flavored lilikoi and strawberry balsamic). The desserts were surprisingly light, fluffy, and creamy. Next, we bought as sampler of six fresh chevres, which were also very soft and mild. We tried six of their award winning cheeses: black pepper, bananas & curry, garlic & chives, sun dried tomatoes, horseradish, and jalapenos & lime. Unfortunately, we were too full at the end of this to eat any more, but we bought a sampler of six aged goat cheeses to enjoy later. Before we left, we played with the baby goats, some of which had only been born a couple weeks prior to our visit.

I guess waking up before 2am caught up to us, because as soon as we got back to our resort, we fell asleep for several hours. When we woke up from our comas, we had our aged goat cheeses with pineapple wine for dinner. The flavors were: BBQ (smoked with Kiawe wood), herbs de Provence, feta (ripened in brine), ping pong balls (made by soaking chevre in oil), macadamia nut, and Thai Dragon chillies.  That evening we swam in an outdoor pool, which we had to ourselves. The stars were brilliant, and live Hawaiian music was playing nearby.

Wednesday March 28^th: Whales, Turtles, and Dolphins

Our last day was the best day of our vacation. We went on a 6 hour tour in a blue raft. Our captain, Dante, was hilarious and drove too fast. Bill and I rode in the front for an even bumpier, more thrilling ride. As the start of the tour, we saw multiple pods of 4-6 humpback whales. Several males were competing for a single females attention, and every time the female did something, the males imitated her. We were able to view them from as close as 100 yards away. Next, we rode along the volcanic Kanaio coast, which is lined with sea caves and unique, intricate rock formations.

We stopped at four different snorkeling destinations. The first was near La Perouse Bay, and was as beautiful as any snorkeling I've seen in Oahu. The second was my favorite; it was the back side of the crater Molokini. There was a vertical wall of rock that dropped down 300 feet, and sun rays shot down dramatically through the clear deep blue water.  The third snorkeling spot was the inside rim of Molokini. The boat dropped us off at the reef edge, where there was a 200 ft drop. The last snorkel spot was a sea turtle habitat, where we were each able to see at least three giant sea turtles up close. On our way back to the harbor, over half a dozen spinner dolphins rode alongside our raft.

We had a few hours before we needed to be at the airport, so we explored a small beach town called Paia. We walked through the shops, read on the beach, and grabbed one last meal in Maui. I had an avocado lox sandwich and Bill had calamari and chips. Having learned our lesson, we made it back to the airport with ample time to spare and headed home to Oahu. It had been an eventful eight days, and we were exhausted.

Honeymoon Part I: Kauai

March 21^st: Land of Chickens and White Tourists

Bill and I have been living in Oahu for almost a year, and our honeymoon was our first chance to see some of the other islands in Hawaii. We returned home from our wedding in California for one evening to pack, and left early the next morning for Kauai. Our cats acted extremely needy and affectionate to make us feel guilty for leaving them again.

Bill is the King of Chickens!

Kauai and Oahu are rather different islands. Oahu is densely populated and is culturally diverse with various Asian ethnic groups, Hawaiians, and Caucasians.  Kaui, on the other hand, is a gorgeous, chicken-populated, vacation spot for white people.  I'm not sure whether you would call it the "least touristy" or the "most touristy" because although it's the least crowded, it also relies the most on mainlander tourists to sustain its economy.  Regardless, it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  It was also surprisingly filled with wild chickens.

After arriving in Kauai, we wandered through a quaint little town and split a pineapple burger, taro burger, and taro fries for lunch. Then we checked into our spacious yet cozy bed and breakfast resort, which was right next to the beach. Poipu Beach has breathtakingly clear turquoise waters and provides something for everyone: lots of waves for body boarders and surfers, a snorkeling spot filled with sea turtles, and a big calm area that's perfect for swimming. We chose to swim in the calmer waters while we watched the sunset. It was a nice way to start our vacation.

March 22nd: Caves and Zip Lines

We explored the North side of Kauai, stopping frequently at overlooks to take pictures. At one of the stops, Bill took a small trail off the side of the road to urinate and accidentally discovered Lumahai Beach. Later we found out this is the beach where “I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair” from South Pacific was filmed. We foolishly climbed onto a shelf of lava rocks in the water and were nearly knocked down a number of times by strong waves. It made Bill quite worried about his fancy camera.

The speck in the middle is me swimming in the cave.

Our next destination was two caves made out of lava rock. A dog who refused to eat anything but coconuts lived in “the dry cave.” Considering his diet, he looked about as emaciated as you would expect. The “wet cave” was filled with water from underground springs. It is nicknamed “The Blue Room” because during high tides, the narrow sunlight opening into the cave turns the water a bizarre blue color that can only be viewed while swimming in the cave. I swam through the cave but unfortunately the tide was too low for me to enjoy the blue room effect. It was cold, dark, and creepy, and lots of fun.

Bill zip lining.

Bill was anxious for us to leave the wet cave because he feared I would drown and then he'd be late for our zip line hike. We hurried off to Princeville Plantations, where we rode nine zip lines and crossed a suspension bridge. The views were outstanding. The last ride was a set of two side-by-side zip lines that were each 26 feet high and 1200 feet long. Bill and I rode them at the same time while holding hands.

We watched the sunset at Hanalei Pier, where most of the South Pacific beach scenes were filmed including the song “Bali Hai.” Then we went on a 15 minute walk in the dark to Queen's Bath. During the summer, Queen's bath is a popular swimming spot but in the winter it provides a magnificent view of waves crashing into lava rock next to a waterfall. Rumor has it that multiple tourists have died there.

March 23rd: The Spin Game

Our third day was spent kayaking on the Wailua River with a bottle of premixed margaritas. Our first destination was Secret Falls. The only way to see this enormous waterfall is by traveling up the Wailua River using some sort of water transportation, and then taking a 40 minute hike through the forest. We stopped during the hike to swim in a tributary. It had a rope swing that hung too close to the water so instead of swinging on it, we held onto the rope and spun around as quickly as possible. Spinning 10 times in 10 seconds was a guarantee that you wouldn't be able to walk straight. I enjoyed it so much that on our way back to the kayak, we stopped to do it again.  

Our second stop was at Fern Grotto, a popular tourist location. I'm pretty sure a “grotto” is just a cool-sounding word for a cave or cave-like structure. This particular grotto was a lava rock wall covered in tropical ferns and surrounded by ginger flowers and mosquitoes. Before kayaking back to shore, we made one final stop at a swimming hole and I went for a swim while Bill skipped rocks. I was very cold when I got out of the water, so Bill buried me in hot stones until I fell asleep. After our kayaking trip, we wandered around Kamokila Hawaiian Village, which is supposed to represent Hawaii during the 17^th century. It felt like Colonial Williamsburg, if you ignored the multitude of brilliant-colored peacocks.

In the evening, we attended the weekly “art night” event in Hanapepe, an adorable town that was used as a model for the Disney animation Lilo and Stitch. The streets were lined with little shops, kiosks, art galleries, and music played by local performers. We bought a piece of homemade purple potato haupia (coconut milk) pie and stargazed from a giant swinging bridge that spanned across the Hanapepe River.

Swinging Bridge in the daytime.  I'm camouflaged in this picture!

March 24^th: Top of the World

Waimea Canyon.  Bill's camouflaged in the one.

The breakfast at our resort was delicious every day, but this one was my favorite. We each received a boiled egg, a wedge of cheese, a guava pastry, a walnut pastry, a chocolate pastry, and a ton of fresh fruit: papaya, lime, pineapple, kiwi, cantaloupe, and grapes. We stopped by the swinging bridge in Hanapepe so we could appreciate it in the daylight, and spent the rest of the morning admiring the Waimea Canyon. It's the largest canyon in the Pacific, measuring 10 miles long, 1 mile wide, and over 3500 feet deep. The layered walls are a colorful mix of reds, browns, greens, and yellows. Although I had read about the canyon, it was still a shock to see such a dramatic site on a tiny island. 

The most spectacular hike of our honeymoon was the Awa'awapuhi trail. It was a total of 6.2 miles long and ended with a 2500 ft high viewpoint. Sheer cliffs dropped into the Awa'awapuhi and Nualolo valleys, making us feel like we were on the top of the world. We were so high up that we could watch helicopter tours fly below us. It was one of the most incredible things that Bill or I had ever seen.

On the way home, we saw a gigantic full-arched rainbow over the Waimea Canyon. We stopped for an indulgent dinner of fresh fish n' chips and pizza topped with macadamia nut pesto, kalua pork, and pineapple. Bill had a Guinness, and I had freshly squeezed lemonade flavored with crème of coconut and lilikoi (passionfruit) syrup.

March 25^th: Oops!

We tried to fit too much into our last morning in Kauai. We went swimming in Poipu Beach, this time opting for the more exhilarating wave-pool-like area. Then we checked out of our bed and breakfast. At this point, we probably should have gone to the airport but decided to squeeze in a couple last-minute sites. We stopped by Spouting Horn, a blowhole created by water flowing under a lava shelf and bursting 50 feet in the air through a small opening. Then we shot photos of flowers at the National Tropical Botanical Garden. We arrived at the airport later than we expected and missed our flight. Neither Bill nor I had ever missed a flight before. We felt both disheartened and relieved as we bought new, last-minute plane tickets and set off for Maui.

Wedding in California

Bill and I had a small, casual wedding on St Patrick's Day at his Aunt Patti's beach house.  The back of her house is made of glass so we had an incredible view of the ocean.  I spent the morning eating fresh fruit and cheese from a local farmer's market and watching an old movie with my sister while she curled my hair.  It was much more relaxing than I thought wedding mornings are supposed to be.

My 6'4" brother-in-law led the processional as our flower girl.  He was followed by a bridesman, 2 bridesmaids, and 2 groomsmen.  All of us wore Hawaiian shell leis.  For the music, my sister composed a mix of "Here Comes the Bride" and "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood, a song from Camelot in which Guinevere laments the fact that she is getting married because she wants men to fight over her.  It has such genius lines as, "Shall a feud not begin for me?  Shall kith not kill their kin for me?"  My sister and I couldn't wait for my Dad to hear it and shake his head at us as he walked me down the aisle.

The ceremony was short and sweet.  Aunt Patti was our officiant and at our request, she started her speech with "Mawwage is what bwings us together today" in the style of the priest from The Princess Bride.  Bill read his own vows off of his iPhone.  My Vietnamese grandma gave a touching speech and recited a poem she wrote for us.  Our wedding rings were presented on pieces of coral, and at the end of the ceremony, we combined two little bottles of sand to symbolize our unity.  All our guests signed a shell for us to take home as a keepsake.

Dinner was a buffet of kalua pork, teriyaki chicken, fruit salad, steamed vegetables, salad with ginger dressing, and sweet bread.  We also had plenty of beer, wine, and champagne.  The crowd pleaser was the 8 different flavors of cupcakes: lavender, Kahlua, chocolate amaretto, margarita, dulce de leche, chocolate raspberry, coconut, and basil.  It was far more food and alcohol than we could consume.

For our first dance, Bill and I danced to La Vie En Rose.  Later, my Dad and I waltzed to Moon River.  My sister, brother-in-law, and I had spent weeks creating a unique playlist for the reception consisting of Beatles, Queen, oldies, and jazz.  The other guests must not have loved it as much as we did, because nobody wanted to dance until halfway through the evening, when someone switched our playlist to generic dance music.  I guess not everyone likes to dance to Louis Armstrong, but we enjoyed it.  The video below was filmed by Bill's brother Kevin, who was also our wedding photographer.

Bill and I spent a total of 5 days in California.  Most of our 33 guests were busy, so it was very easy to hang out with everyone who wanted to spend more time with us.  We went wine and beer tasting, played board games, walked on the beach, went hiking, visited Hollywood, and ate lots of amazing food.

The Dentist

This is how I normally feel after the dentist.

Generally, I love going to the dentist.  My sister does too, so I grew up thinking this wasn't unusual.  The dentist is like going to a spa.  You sit in a room with pretty mobiles hanging overhead, and a nice lady comes in who tells you what gorgeous teeth you have.  Then she makes pleasant small talk with you, even though you're not expected to respond.  You can either study her eyes in great detail or go into a half-asleep daydream.  Both are lovely options.  Meanwhile, she'll polish your teeth so you can leave feeling beautified and clean.  At the end, a dentist comes by, introduces himself, pats you on the back, and gives you some free floss and toothpaste.  Other doctors are not like this.  Eye doctors tell you you're blind, ear doctors tell you you're deaf, regular doctors tell you to lose weight, and OBGYN doctors attack you with a speculum.

The dentists in Hawaii are not like the dentists in Virginia I grew up with.  When I tried to make my first Hawaii dental appointment, I learned that in order to have my teeth cleaned, I needed to first have a completely separate appointment to see the dentist and have x-rays taken.  Since I really wanted a dentist, I put up with this inconvenient demand.  When I showed up for my first appointment, I was seated in a tiny room by a dental nurse.

"Have you had digital x-rays of your teeth taken before?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?  The digital kind?"
"No, um, maybe not.  I'm not sure.  Are those different than normal x-rays?"
"They're newer.  And uncomfortable."
"No, I don't think I've had those."
"Oh... I'm sorry, but I want to warn you.  They're uncomfortable."
"Okay.  Why don't we use the old kind then?"
"I think because these are easier to download.  But they are not very patient friendly."
"What if I don't want to get x-rays of my teeth?  Can I opt out?"
"Did you want your teeth cleaned?"
"Yes."

This is how I actually felt.

"Then... you need to do the digital x-rays."
"...Okay."

She left me in the room for a while to make me nervous.  When she returned, she proceeded to jab large electronic rectangles into my mouth and request that I bite down while she took pictures.  It was impossible to bite down and keep the rectangles in place without causing tiny cuts on the roof of my mouth or sides of my cheek.  This happened about 16 times.  This was far less friendly and time-consuming than the gentler, kinder days of plastic x-ray films.  When the torture was over, I was moved to a bigger room to see the dentist.  The dentist did not pat me on the back or give me free toothpaste.  He told me my teeth looked fine and to come back in six months.  I was relieved that the worst was over and that my dental cleaning would surely be a better experience.

My dental cleaning appointment came a few weeks later.  I was brought to a room in the back by a different dental nurse.  She sat me down and immediately stated, "I have to take your blood pressure.  And the reason we take your blood pressure is because if your blood pressure is too high, it will mean your blood is too thin and there may be too much risk in doing a dental cleaning."  I didn't tell her that having high blood pressure does not actually thin the blood.  But even if it did, it hardly made sense for that to be a contraindication to scraping teeth with a little metal hook.  I asked her, "Really?  You can't clean my teeth if I have high blood pressure?"  She looked at me and stated slowly, as if I had not heard her the first time, "Yes, because if your blood pressure is too high, it will mean your blood is too thin and there may be too much risk in doing a dental cleaning."  I responded, "Okay.  That sounds a little bit crazy."  I thought this was much more polite than what I wanted to say, which would have been something along the lines of, "Okay.  That is an inadequate explanation and sounds a lot like pseudoscience bullshit."

I did not think checking my blood pressure would be a problem, because like most other 26 year old girls, my blood pressure is always normal.  The nurse put an automatic cuff on my arm and read my blood pressure out loud:
"It's... 140/110.  That's actually high.  We maybe can't do your tooth cleaning today."
"Oh.  What's your cut off?"
"Normal is 120/80."
"Okay.  Is your cut off anything above 120/80?"
"No.  Normal is 120/80.  The cut off is higher if you're taking blood pressure medications.  Are you?"
"No.  What's your cut off for people who aren't taking medications?"
"I don't know.  I'll have to check.  But I think this is too high.  Let me check your other arm.  It's... 130/110.  It's still too high.  I will tell your hygienist.  Are you anxious?"
"No."
"Were you running to get here?"
"No."
"Okay, let's check it in a couple minutes."  She left the room, and I wondered if she was going to return with a manual blood pressure cuff, which tend to be more accurate.  When she returned, I was a little bit disappointed that she stuck with the same automatic cuff.
"Now it's 130/99.  The hygienist says this is okay now because the lower number is not three digits.  She'll be in to clean your teeth."
"Okay."

The dental hygienist came in next.  She was not rude, but she was not a nice lady who complimented me or made small talk.  Her eyes were not nice to look at and there were no mobiles in the room.  The hygienist spent just a few minutes scraping my teeth, and then sprayed ridiculously cold water all over them.  She told me to remember to floss and sent me home.  I left shocked, annoyed, and a bit disillusioned.  It was the first time I understood why everybody hates going to the dentist.

Our Wedding Invitation