Thursday, January 28, 2016

#tbt to Oahu

In the middle of placing old photos into albums and scrapbooks, I came across these memories from my first trip to Hawaii back in 2004-2005ish. I went with my boyfriend at the time, and we drove a Jeep throughout the island of Oahu.


That's me.  I don't know where I was heading.


We went to Hanauma Bay.


I don't have many photos of me in Hawaii. In the few that I have, my eyes are closed. 

I was so excited to try out my disposable underwater camera.  To my disappointment, there was barely any marine life to capture on my nifty Kodak.  I suspected that years of us tourists trampling the coral reef killed everything off.  Perhaps it was isolated to when I went and where I specifically snorkeled (since recent Yelpers seemed to enjoy it), but it was a colorless aquatic graveyard for me.  My underwater photos might as well have been taken in a tub full of dirty water.  


I still can't tell if that's aggressive behavior, as in "Get the hell out of my way!"  This was probably before my first surf lesson in Huntington Beach, CA. I was so carefree and enthusiastic about surfing then. Now I'm terrified of sharks. Ok, I still surf, but with fear.


Other highlights of the trip were the garlic shrimp at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck and Matsumoto Shave Ice.  I also got in trouble for wearing my bikini top and shorts at a breakfast buffet. Guess I took the beach casual dress code too far. Some poor employee in a full-on suit at the Japanese-owned hotel had to politely let me know (that I was trash).  It was very uncharacteristic of me because a) bathing suits are not my best friend- I wear it to swim and tan. Otherwise, clothes are going on top asap. b) Hello! I'm at a buffet. I have been known to hang out at Las Vegas buffets for 3+ hours. Why would I want to wear only a bikini top when my gut is hanging out? 

Ah, 2004-2005 Erica. What an idiot.

Anyway, I would love to return to Hawaii one day and visit the other islands. Have you been to Hawaii? What are your favorite spots? 

xo,

Erica

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