The big 5

The first time S mentioned a trip to Hawaii, I was excited but it never happened, the second time I heard of us going to Hawaii, I was still excited and it never materialized so when the third time Hawaii came up, I said 'Sure, we'll get right on that!'

I just got back and boy is my son relieved! Not because he didn't have fun wading at the pool never wanting to get out or playing with his sand toys but because on our last day we also dragged him along damn close to 4 year old, 10ft, 1000 lbs bottlenose dolphins, and took him on a 1500 ft altitude helicopter ride amid waterfalls and active volcanoes. So you know how much screaming was involved - I am sorry Nahale (Dolphin) & Mr. Pilot. You have been traumatized for life.

The trip was planned for our 5th anniversary by the one I shall refer to as my 'better half' just for the sake of this post and making this trip happen. I like to keep that title for myself usually. After overpacking and under planning, we set off on the jet plane to spend the next few days doing whatever the heck we wanted to in a fancy hotel with a view and a private lagoon.

As we stepped out of the plane, it hit us - the heat! Being a Hyderabadi, I am not allowed to point that out but which one of us (think typical person that drives down to Safeway) walks in the hot sun on a regular basis anymore. The airport at Kona reminds me of the typical tiny airports where you can shout across to get your fellow passengers attention, the ceiling is a bit higher than the tallest person you know, you walk down from the plane to the gates on the tar road, where it takes you literally 2 mins to get to the bus stop or car park - I love that! In between its sprinkled with some local goodness like Leis, sarongs, & coconut water.

By the time we got to the hotel, it was time for our first Hawaiian experience, a Luau. Its basically a cultural show where they rip you off for ok food, decent show, nice desserts and strong drinks at an open bar to numb any judgements you may pass. Everybody is happy, tipsy, and ready to sexy dance on the stage with gorgeous girls in hula skirts and showmen with washboard abs, something they wouldn't do otherwise.

Our room in the Makai tower of the Hilton Waikoloa had breathtaking views of the ocean, the beach, & the dolphin lagoon, the other bonuses were the pool view and the proximity to everything! The hotel has 3 main towers and boat rides and a tram way to get to any location within the hotel property. It's a really well maintained hotel in terms of conserving the natural surroundings for most part and building the rest of the amenities keeping in mind the aesthetics of natural surroundings. 

Next morning was how every vacation morning should be - lazy. My son and I walked down to the sand area for him to do some urgent digging around and sand showering. We then decided that the best way to celebrate our anniversary day was to lock ourselves at the bottom of the pacific ocean floor and discuss things so neither could run away from an argument and once in a while gasp at the astounding ocean life - reefs, pretty fish, predator fish, shipwrecks, everything we could get our hands on for an hour.

Our Sunday again was how every Sunday should be - do nothing and whatever you do make sure its at leisure - late breakfast, waddle about in the pool, even later lunch, laze around on the beach side cabanas, lazily watch the dolphins while devouring chunks of brownie with ice cream, walk around on the coral strewn beach, pick some interesting shapes and make your son name them, and end it with a beautiful Hawaiian sunset - the sun set in the sky vs the horizon like it normally does here. Spectacular is a huge understatement. It disappeared into the sky like dying embers start to lose their glow.

Our Monday again was like how Mondays have never been, filled with to-do lists we actually enjoyed ticking off - drive across the island to experience the different terrains & climates, waterfalls, and nonchalantly hover over one of the most active volcanoes in the world, Mauna Loa, as it spew hot molten lava. The landscape in a matter of an hour changed from barren to green to lush green to slippery wet green.

The next day as we geared up to leave this gorgeousness, we attempted our last brave thing to do in Hawaii as a family; jump into the water with Dolphins. I know you are expecting to read a bit about our experience but sometimes pictures say more than words:

  

Things we couldn't avoid:

- Indian food since my son is in that age where he is still fond of Indian food and a little too much to my liking. I know some of my friends that know me long enough are laughing hard.

- Bengali tourists: Nothing against them but we found them here too!!! Talking about Bahubali!!! 

- Running about: It's a thing in my family out of marriage, we are always running to the airport, to the tour, to the boat, to the session, to everything but we get there and we have fun! 

Things I regret: 

- Not having enough Hawaiian food, the only thing I got to taste was the Ahi poke and Hawaiian pork fried rice.

- Not extending my vacation to eternity

Things I'll remember: 

Everything! My favorite parts where when we would wake up and spend an hour just sitting in the balcony staring at the ocean and its vastness, just walk around during the day, sit by the pool watching the sunset, and end the days again whiling time away watching the waves crash, listening to dolphin sounds, and the birds chirping right from our balcony. For the first time in a while, S and I were both so relaxed, I didn't care if we did or didn't do a gazillion activities or sight seeing that day.

Things you need to remember: 

- This long blog post and making it viral because thats so 'In'

- When Coconuts and Pineapples are involved, good things happen!

Aloha M*&%&*F#^*$(% !!!


The trip was in March 2017 but I ended up posting this much later because of my ability to procrastinate.