Karen's Visit in Hawaii

June 28, 2016
Bill took the morning off to pick up my baby cousin Karen from the airport while I was working.  It was their first time meeting.

Aw - Bill even greeted her with a lei.

After work, we joined some of my friends for dinner at Opal Thai, the best restaurant in Hawaii.

Claire & Karen & Me & Mahkam & Arun & Liz & Opal <3 & Eric & Bill & Kea & Justin

June 29, 2016
Karen and I spent the morning snorkeling in Hanauma Bay and visiting Halona Blowhole & Cove.

Hanauma Bay was full of gorgeous colorful fish, as usual.

The blowhole wasn't blowing, but Halona Cove sure was pretty.

Karen just returned from a year in Vietnam and she missed pie and sushi, so we had Hawaiian Pie Company for breakfast and Hawaii Sushi for lunch.

Passion pear pie

Eric, Pixel, Liz, and Kai joined us for lunch

After Bill returned home, we went out to the Farmer's Market for dinner, where we bought an assortment of dishes to share: The Pig & The Lady (Vietnamese), Guava Smoked (BBQ), India Cafe, Sushi Sliders, and Brazilian Hot Cheese Bites.

Picnic on the lawn

We ended the evening watching the sunset over Point Panic.

Pixel wanted to chase cats instead of pose for this picture.

June 30, 2016
Bill took the day off of work.  We hiked Lanikai Pillboxes (AKA Kaiwa Ridge), followed by a morning at Kailua Beach.

Karen's first hike in Hawaii

Bill goofing off at the beach

In the afternoon, my friend Paige took us out on a boat to the sandbar, a raised strip of land in the middle of Kaneohe Bay.

Karen & Paige & Bill & Pixel on the boat

That strip of lighter green water is what the sandbar looks like from afar.

Me & Karen & Paige floating on the sandbar

Pixel's first time paddleboarding.  She hated it.

Since Karen had limited time in Hawaii, we took her on a food tour for dinner consisting of Real (mac n' cheese, candied bacon, beer/cider), Shirokiya (Japanese hot dogs, gyoza, takonaki, and okonamiyaki), and Leonard's Bakery (malasadas).

The first part of our food orgy

We ran into my friend Tiff at Shirokiya, the Japanese food court

July 1, 2016
Karen and I woke up at the crack of dawn for a snorkeling tour on the west side of the island.  We went to three snorkeling spots: one with lots of sea turtles, one with octopuses, and one where we swam with pods of dolphins.  There were about 100 dolphins in the water, and we saw around 40 at once.  One dolphin jumped out of the water several times!

Dolphin Excursions tour

The highlight of the entire week for me was watching an octopus alternate between camouflaging, turning bright red to attract a female, and turning bright white to scare other males.  If that wasn't exciting enough, we also saw the octopus eat a fish and then mate with another octopus.  I don't have any pictures from this experience, but here are some online photos so you can try to imagine watching an octopus change between these three colors. 

Octopus while camouflaged (online photo)

Octopus while red (online photo)

Octopus while white (online photo)

After snorkeling, we drove to the North Shore for Bill's work potluck party at Haleiwa Ali'i Beach Park.

At this point, Karen had visited a beach on each side of our island - South, East, West, and North.

Bill, Karen, and I watched Friday fireworks from Magic Island.  For dinner, we attended Florian and Sarah's homemade pizza potluck.  Karen loves brie, so our we made a brie pizza with caramelized onions and squash sauce.

Waiting for the fireworks

Bill's food coma after too much pizza

July 2, 2016
My friends Satomi and Ynhu joined Karen, Bill, and me on a weekend in Maui.  It was the third morning that we woke up before 6am, which is why Karen looked like this on the airplane.

Sleep deprivation

Duffy, my friend who lives in Maui, joined us for breakfast.  The highlight of the meal was grilled banana bread.

Satomi & Me & Duffy & Bill & Karen & Ynhu

The four girls plus Bill spent the day driving on the famous Road to Hana, stopping at multiple destinations along the way.

Garden of Eden Arboretum: Puohokamoa Falls

Garden of Eden Arboretum: location of the opening scene of Jurassic Park

Garden of Eden Arboretum: 100 year old mango tree

Garden of Eden Arboretum: lots of peacocks

We didn't stay long at Keanae Arboretum because it was raining.

Bill watching waves crash against lava rock at Keanae Peninsula.

Karen had her first shaved ice at the Halfway to Hana stand.

Upper Waikani Falls

Wai’anapanapa State Park: Black Sand Beach

Wai’anapanapa State Park: Sea Cave

Wai’anapanapa State Park: Karen before the surprise water splash

Wai’anapanapa State Park: Karen during the surprise water splash

Wai’anapanapa State Park: Karen with the rainbow that followed the surprise water splash

Wailua Falls

Haleakala National Park: Oheo Gulch

For the second night in a row, we ate unique pizza for dinner.

Pesto Banana pizza and Ahi Parmesan pizza

Our hotel in Hana had a two-tiered poi pond and a view of the black sand beach at Hana Bay.

Poi pond and black sand beach

July 3, 2016
Even though it rained on us, my favorite part of our Maui trip was walking to the Red Sand Beach.  I had never seen anything like it before.

Bill at the Red Sand Beach

We returned to Haleakala National Park to hike the Pipiwai Trail.

Pipiwai Trail: Makahiku Falls

Pipiwai Trail: huge banyan tree

Pipiwai Trail: bamboo forest

Pipiwai Trail: lots of bridges

Pipiwai Trail: Waimoku Falls

We took the long and windy road back out of Hana, but it took much less time since we didn't make any stops on the way out.

Everyone except Karen wore scopolamine patches to prevent motion sickness.

For a late lunch, we picked up some paninis and homemade pudding at a cafe.

So hungry.

Karen had been waiting all week to see a rainbow, and we finally saw one while driving to Haleakala, Maui's volcano.

Long-awaited rainbow

Full rainbow!

From an elevation of >10,000 feet, we watched the sunset over the clouds on Haleakala. 

Ynhu's friends Ferre and Luke joined us for the sunset.

Bill, Me, Ynhu, Satomi, and Karen

MAUI

We attempted to stay on Haleakala for stargazing, but the clouds obstructed our view so we headed back to our hotel.  We grabbed some take-out sushi for dinner, and a few of us relaxed in the hot tub before bed. 

July 4, 2016
The Maui group flew back to Oahu and ate dim sum before parting ways.  Bill, Karen, and I picked up a bunch of poke (marinated raw fish) and Hawaii desserts (Bubbie's mochi ice cream, JJ's chocolate pyramid, Ono's lilikoi cheesecake, Ted's haupia chocolate pie, Ted's strawberry guava pie, and strawberry mochi) for snacks/dinner.

Too many Hawaii desserts.

We saw another full arched rainbow while driving to Koko Head crater.   We hiked up Koko Head and spent a couple hours at the top viewing the sunset, eating our picnic dinner, and watching the 4th of July fireworks.

Getting ready to hike up 1,048 steps

Nearing the 360 degree view at the top of Koko Head

Sunset on Koko Head

4th of July Fireworks.  We were hoping for a better view, but at least we saw some in the distance.

July 5, 2016
Karen and I grabbed poi (pounded taro root) donuts and banana fritters from Kamehameha Bakery for breakfast and enjoyed a relaxing last morning in Hawaii before I dropped her off at the airport.

At the airport - homeward bound

What a week!  A sandbar, a volcano, a red sand beach, 2 black sand beaches, 2 boat rides, 2 snorkeling trips, 2 rainbows, 2 sets of fireworks, 3 sunsets, 3 hikes, 5 waterfalls, 100 dolphins, and the coolest octopus ever.  I hope it is just the first of many more visits to come.