Japanese Weddings

HONOLULU, Dec 26 - Walking around the grounds at my hotel, one definitely gets to feel like a minority.  Hawaii has always been a popular destination for Japanese tourists, but I have never seen as many of them as this time.  

Quite a few of them come here to get married.  Here's a pink carpet setting leading up to a canopy facing the beach where one of the weddings took place this morning.  Wedding on a Monday?  Why not...

This is another Japanese wedding party posing for photos in the back garden, the "coconut grove."

Touring Oahu

And then it was time for me to go pick up my rental car and hit the road... to the north shore of Oahu. 

Check out the above map.  The blue line is the "tour" of the island that I took the day after Christmas.

And what a sight it was...

Just as this wave crashed, I actually saw a sea turtle that almost got washed up on the beach.

These shots were taken near the northwest-most point of Oahu, Kaena Point...

... which is obviously popular with surfers as well as...

...aeronautical enthusiasts.  Right after taking the previous shot of Kaena Pt parking lot, I saw this glider coming in for a landing almost directly overhead.

I followed him with my camera until he landed at Dillingham airfield cut right against a mountain range.

On my way back into town of Mokuleia, I caught this breathtaking scene of breaking surf.  I've been told that the waves in this area are often 20-30 feet high.

From the air and sea to the ground, I stopped to photograph these pretty hibiscus bushes outside a fairly modest house in Mokuleia.  I have found that's often the case in my travels around the world - you can find the most beautiful gardens around the most modest homes.

This is another case in point in the same town.  This magnificent blooming bush was hidden behind a gas station.  I had to walk through trash to get close enough to it to take this shot.

And just look at how resplendent it is close up.

The rest of this area looked pretty trashy, too.  The license plate on this old cruiser says it all: SURFING.

But one can always look away from the man-made things to spectacular nature scenes, such as this...

...or this surprising race horse farm right on the ocean.  Guess nobody told the horses this was a "monkey top tree."  They took up residence under it anyway.

The house in the above picture was just there... but the main reason I took it was that jagged mountain range visible behind it.  It reminded me of the scenes from the "South Pacific" musical and the subsequent film.

Thought the Sedona, Arizona, residents could relate to this picture.  Except that they'd be wondering who had gotten their "bell rock" or the "sugar loaf" all wet by dropping it into this bay :-) (Kaneohe Bay on the east coast of Oahu).  Notice also how the weather had changed so quickly.  Ominous looking clouds were gathering in the sky.

Another lovely-looking horse farm replete with "monkey trop trees," with the "South Pacific"-type mountain range as the backdrop (ditto re. the shot that follows...)

There were lots of fruit farms along the way, and even some coffee plantations.  It was the first time in my life that I have actually seen a coffee plant (looks more like a tree).  I stopped at one of the roadside stands and bought some freshly cut coconuts and papaya for lunch.  I was surprised by how fibrous and nutritious coconut tasted.  I am not crazy about it as a flavoring in cakes, but the fresh plant tasted great.  As did the papaya, of course.

Less than an hour later, Honolulu was basking in sunshine.  But the main reason I took this shot was the road sign.  How do you like the Likelike Hwy sign?  :-)  Likelike it a lot, a lot?  :-)  [the word is actually pronounced leekehleekeh in Hawaiian].

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