Hook, line and sinker

Have you ever wondered what a fish felt like just after it bit the bait and got stuck on a hook? Well I could imagine what that fish felt like after this morning's unexpected purchase. I had talked to my friend, Juvy, online and found out that she lives on the island so we decided to meet up today before she went to work. We left the hotel around 10am and slowly wandered our way through the North Shore on Kamehameha Hwy. We had to stop at Waimea Bay because during winter this is where the surf gets really high and you cane see 20-foot waves. If you get here early enough there is parking space but come later on and you might just have to park on the highway. There is a jumping rock at Waimea Bay and you could see people sitting on top of the rock waiting for their turn to jump off the cliff. On the way down to Juvy's place we passed the town of Hale'iwa where they have a beach park. You could see some sailboats on shore as well as in the water. It is definitely one of those post-card picture beach.

Then we took the highway into Central Oahu and found the Dole plantation. They have a maze there where you could get lost, but the view from the top of this hedged maze shows a pineapple design in the middle. There is also a train that goes around the plantation and explains how a pineapple is born. We didn't do either activity, instead we just entered the shop. Bathrooms are located in the large store and you found all sorts of pineapple related items for sale. I saw pineapple flavored tea, dried fruits, pineapple candies with chocolate, the usual t-shirts, magnets, and key chains. They even had shirts for stuffed animals, of course I had to get Sebastien a shirt! =) Now while my brother and I were browsing we passed by this jewelry display they had in the children's section. Before I knew it I was baited, hooked and about ready to be fried. The sales lady was very shrewd and read people well because she sure read me! One minute I'm walking around the store and the next I'm pulling out a piece of paper from this lotto ball mixer thing that read "40% off a pearl from an oyster" and pulling out an oyster from a container which had a pearl in it. As soon as the sales lady started pulling out jewelry settings to put that pearl it, I knew I was baited. I felt like it is only in Hawaii that I buy real jewelry for myself and it is never done purposely. Oh well, I had intended to buy a right hand ring for myself this trip, just not there at the Dole plantation! Well, now I can relate a little bit to that fish who was just swimming along happily minding its own business when a twitch from the side view caused it to jump right on the hook and be fried.

After that whole discomfiture at the Dole plant, I thought the rest of the day should go smoothly as planned. I was going to pick up Juvy, drop my parents off for lunch with their friends, hang out with Juvy and then pick up my parents, drop off Juvy and go back to the hotel where my scheduled massage at the spa would finish off the day. Boy was I in for some more unexpected events. First I got lost going to Juvy's house, went on the wrong highway and completely missed her exit so I had to call her up and get the directions again. This happened twice! What should have taken me only 10 minutes to get to Juvy's place from the Plantation ended up being about 40 minutes instead. (Those of you who know me and have ridden with me, I can see your eyes rolling now! =) But eventually we ended up making our way to Juvy's house and picking her up. Then when we got to the Mall where my parents were meeting their friends, we got invited to join them. So we ended up eating at this buffet place where there was plenty of good food, including a crepe making station and a chocolate fountain [sorry no picture of the chocolate fountain] The meal was good by buffet standards but the conversation was fun. Juvy and I reminisced about our college days and gave my brother some advice on how to survive his freshman year in college.

After lunch Juvy took us to get some real Hawaiian Shaved Ice. Where better place to get it than Matsumoto's of course! I had seen this place raved about on Travel Channel and read about it in my "Oahu Revealed" guide book. The book mentioned that this place is so good, they have lines forming out the door and down the road. Fortunately when we got there the line was only out the door.
I got their Rainbow combination with beans at the bottom instead of ice cream. Yummy! The ice didn't melt so fast and the flavor stuck around so you weren't just sipping the stuff from your cup, you could actually scoop the ice out.

Juvy had to go to work so we dropped her home and headed back to our hotel. We had a picnic lunch consisting of sandwiches and pie from Ted's bakery. Then I headed to my spa appointment, where my muscles were pulled, pushed,
and pinched until they relaxed. It was a nice ending to the day.