Category: Hawaii (2007)

Today, Steve and I decided to rent mopeds to scoot around Honolulu and explore past the city confines of Waikiki. The first place we went to was a very shabby looking shop run by a very pushy New Yorker type guy. When we were signing forms and such, it came to the insurance part, and fortunately, Steve is a lawyer, and actually reads the forms :) After he was reading through the forms, not only was the insurance part a little iffy (ie: you pay for insurance, and get coverage only after $3000 or something ridiculous like that–it’s a scooter!) but the guy kept pushing us to hurry up and sign–including the part where you’re supposed to mark the scratches/dents of the scooter. So Steve says, we’re not signing until we mark the damages, and the guy says, no sign first, and then you can come back in and mark the damages, it’s MY process. That made me nervous, and Steve says, it takes less than 2 minutes difference if we sign it before or after looking and marking the damages on the report, so that’s what we’re going to do. The guy is furious, rips up our contracts and says, listen, this is how I run my business, so why don’t you guys come back after you’ve run your own business so you understand what it’s like to have someone tell you the way to run their business. Perfectly, Steve says, well I’ve actually owned my own practice for 12 years, and I know to read thoroughly before signing :)

Sadly, that left us wondering where to find a legitimate place that wouldn’t try to take advantage of tourists, and we were directed to a place next to the hostel I stayed at the first time I was in Honolulu 2 years ago. A Japanese woman was running the place, so I got to speak in Japanese with her. Prices were better, and place seemed MUCH more legit, so we decided to take these. We hopped on and started to explore the eastern part of the island. We went through some really nice neighborhoods, then ended up going up over a small hill to a road that was much like the Pacific Coast Highway in California. We ended up stopping at some lookouts taking pictures, and then finding any beaches to take some time and hang out. The best one was ‘Sandy Beach’ which had great waves. After a while there, we continued on and found some other stop offs, but by the time we reached a far area, we thought it best to turn around and get closer to Waikiki so we can better time how long we have left with the scooters.

All in all we had a great time exploring on scooters, and it helped me decide that when I get back to San Francisco, I’m gonna get the scooter I’ve been wanting!

That evening, we went to meet Theo and Dave at Nobu for drinks, and then headed over to the Design Centre for appetizers.. which ended up being my dinner because I was absolutely starving. Dave & Theo lived in San Francisco before, so that’s how they knew Steve. After dinner we went to see their new condo, which was on the 23rd or so floor in this beautiful hires in Waikiki. It was really stunning. The views were gorgeous and I couldn’t imagine living in such a paradise.

The idea of going to Hawaii came up when I was leaving my previous employer, that I wanted to go somewhere to relax and enjoy myself. So the day after my final check arrived, I signed up for unemployment, and packed my bags for a little vacation to Hawaii! So this morning, Steve, a lawyer friend of mine, got a cab and picked me up for our little Hawaiian adventure. We arrived at the airport and boarded our flight and several hours later were touching down in Honolulu. When we landed, to save some cash, we opted to take the cheap shuttle bus to Waikiki, which was the biggest mistake ever. It took forever, and was completely not worth the savings on money, because after almost an hour and a half, we got out of the bus not at our hotel, but were in somewhat walking distance of where we thought our hotel was. 6 blocks later, we came to the same name of our hotel, and I was shocked, because it looked nothing like what the hotel was supposed to look like according to online pictures. We went in, and asked about the reservation, of course to not be found, and then found out that there’s yet another hotel, under the same name, just 2 more blocks down. So relieved that it was this bigger nicer hotel, we went over, got into our room, and unpacked to get ready for the beach.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach getting some sun, and enjoying the water, then grabbed some dinner and walked around the streets. It was so nice to be outside in the evening with shorts and sandals on–was perfect weather. We then thought about any other activities that we wanted to do before Steve was to leave, and I was to go to the Big Island, for my more ‘rugged’ adventure with my friend Tim.