ParadIce, Day FIve

DAY 5, Dec 10th: And now, John adds to the story; it’s “Wet”-nesday literally! We headed for a proper breakfast including pancakes with coconut syrup and exotic fresh juices from the juicer. And it is RAINING! Seems our server washed his (which I joked was going to cost him his tip!) Anyways, after eating we visited the resort gift shop and went to our room for a short nap. John was worn out from trying not to sleep on his freshly inked arm.

Getting up, we decided to hit the North Shore again. Along the way we stopped at the Dole Plantation. The train tour was very informative. We did some more shopping and had authentic Dole Whips. Left over cones are great for attracting the local birds that not only ate out of John’s hand but hovered about and sat on his hand while eating! So Neat!!!

We then cruised up to North Shore Tattoo to have the panel looked at – one side seemed light on ink (skin hadn't stretched well enough while doing that part) so we were told to return at 4 pm when the artist who worked on John would be coming in. So we went to the Market Place and had coffee, checked out the Surf Museum and a gift shop. Got back to the North Shore Tattoo and Jimmy touched up the arm and gave us some background history about the design; It is a Polynesian Revivalist Style of Tattooing, since nobody actually does traditional style tattoos anymore – it was an art form that died out when a written language was developed, but certain artist’s were using elements from the traditional style to craft new art for a new generation. Anyway, day 2 of having touch-up work done on top of what was done the day before wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience! Imagine a sunburned bruise that someone is constantly poking...

After, we went back to Waimea Bay Beach again to listen to the waves some more and to make sure we got some local T-Shirts and then headed back to Ko Olina and Ilihani.

We decided to get cleaned up and had dinner at one the resort’s fancier restaurants, Azul. It was way expensive and way worth it! After appetizers we ate a “palette” cleansing ice cream made from Chinese fruit infused with Basil. Who would’ve thought such an unusual combination would taste so good? Dinner was a 5 star event (awarded 11 years in a row) and afterwards we walked along the Ko Olina beach lagoon under the moonlight. Holding each other and listening to the waves seemed like a moment frozen in time. We then retired to our room, had a few drinks, and listened to the winds rustling the palm trees and fell asleep with the sliding doors open.


http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z...emanvx/HAWAII/