bostonbootgirl

Just got back from O'ahu Tuesday. We were there for work, but we did manage to get some pleasure in. We stayed in Waikiki, which is very much like South Beach, only with tons more Japanese people. Japanese people are huge in O'ahu, it's a culture that has just as much presence as the native Hawaiians. Announcements and public signage is in both English and Japanese, much like how we integrate Spanish here in certain parts of the mainland.

Hawaii is beautiful. Duh. But it's more than just lovely landscape. The native Hawaiians are very sweet, happy people. And they are gorgeous. The women are beautiful, thin or heavy (not to mention the gorgeous Japanese girls everywhere), and the men? Holy moly. Polynesian men are stunning. Big, brown, tattooed, smiling, island men. With muscles. And surfboards. Jesus freaking Christ, pass the poi!

Mrmatt used to live here in his Navy days, so he took me all over the island, from windward to leeward, from mountain to surf. Everything is lush, wet, green. The air smells like flowers and food. Even the poor, living in tent cities on the leeward side, have an ocean view people pay millions for, and they hear the surf at night when they sleep. Waikiki is a terrible tourist trap, but the rest of the island is heaven.

If only we could live in Hawaii for a few months. How cool it is to be in the Pacific Rim, where the newspapers talk about Asian countries like our papers talk about Latin countries, where you can buy strange fish flavored puffs in 7-11, where New Zealand, Somoa, Japan, China, Australia, Vietnam and god knows who else conmingle with native Hawaiians and their wonderful culture.

If only we could live in Hawaii.........wait! Hear that, Mr. Matt? The rumblings of a new adventure? How does the "Big Island" sound this time? Can we make it working on a Taro farm? Can we sell fanny-pack wearing midwesterners photos and paintings of glistening raven-haired hula girls for a living?

Here's some photos (the mountain view is of Maui from the plane):