Greetings all, and Happy Chinese New Year, Year of the Dragon!
This year, it's been very cold here in Shenyang and the Chinese New Year came early this year, so for our celebration, we decided to go to Hawaii. Rod used to live there years ago while stationed in the Army, but for me it was the first time...and I don't think it will be the last! I loved it!
It was such a nice break from the long, cold, dark, firecracker filled days and nights of Shenyang to the tropical warm ocean breezes of Hawaii, USA...hard to top that...and besides that, when going, we crossed the international date line so that we arrived earlier than we left on the same day and got 2 saturdays out of it! It was a 7 hour flight from Seoul to Honolulu but a 10 hour flight coming back (due to the trade winds)
When we got there, we couldn't check in because we arrived too early, so we went shopping at Walmart (we're so high end!), got haircuts, did lots of practical stuff all while speaking english...it was so nice!
So here are a few pictures of our adventures in Hawaii..
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| Sarah & Rod decked out in Hawaiian Mumu and Aloha shirt...at the International Market in Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii |
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| Blue skies, warm ocean breezes and a barefoot walk on Waikiki beach in January has got to be like Heaven! |
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| Chinese new year celebrations in Hawaii...Rod got in on the deal with the dragon dance (notice the Chinese food shop in the background...we didn't have any while there!) |
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| The garden at the Dole Pinnaple plantation...what a lovely place |
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| A picture postcard spot on the Dole Pinnaple plantation |
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| A unique tree bark...the rainbow gum trees on the Dole Plantation |
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| The North Shore of O'ahu, where the big waves are. This is where the surfing competitions we see on TV are held...it's beautiful to look at, but I'm not interested in swimming here! |
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| The classic sunset picture on the beach...the view from Dukes restaurant...so nice! |
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| Just had to have a Lei...just had to! |
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| Sarah in the rain forest besdie what has to be the biggest fern in the world..a Madagascar fern...I loved it! |
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| Rod swinging around in the rain forest! |
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| Rod and Sarah hiking in the bamboo in the rain forest |
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| Sarah & Rod doing a trip with "Bike Hawaii"...all downhill after our hiking...nice way to relax |
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| Sarah & Rod on the way to the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor |
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| The raising of a flag that will flow over the Arizona memorial...a very moving place |
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| The Arizona memorial..1177 men died on that ship alone on Dec 7 1941...truely a sad day. |
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| When Rod lived in Hawaii, he was a member of the US Army Band of the Pacific and he played in this bandstand in Honolulu |
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| Rod & Sarah getting ready to hike Diamond Head mountain |
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| The view from the top of Diamond Head...so worth the hike! |
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| Sarah & Rod after hiking Diamond Head |
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| Another view from Diamond head |
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| Rod & Sarah after hiking Diamond head |
So that's about it for our Hawaiian vacation...we loved it and will likely go back!
We're back in Shenyang now...going to the ice sculptures tomorrow...what a contrast!
Have a great year of the Dragon everyone!
Sarah & Rod
