Leeward Coast

As humbly as I can put it, it's been a blast driving around this island. So after clearing up my geography of the island and realizing we did the east coast the first day, today we set out to explore the west or leeward coast of Oahu. This area is less touristy and very Hawaiian and the road north up the coast eventually just fizzles out. It doesn't have the jungle of the east coast, but with the Wai'anae Range running along the coast the views are still impressive. It took all of 90 minutes to get from Waikiki to where the road disappeared, at which point we simply turned around and enjoyed the scenery going the other direction. Although most homes in the area are inhabited by native Hawaiians, I suspect transients have set up somewhat permanent digs in tent communities along a small section of the beach, shown in the last photo. We did come upon one beautifully situated condo complex backing on some stunning cliffs. Most homes in the area looked more like the following photo. When we got back to Honolulu, we headed to the Ala Moana Centre, the largest open air shopping centre in the world - according to them. It had all the big chains like Macy's, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and Newman Marcus plus "x" number of smaller stores plus the largest food court we have ever seen. We have determined that we are not food court people, however, and so we went to one of the 15 sit down restaurants also on site, called Assaggio. As we were leaving they were having a Hulu show in a permanent stage area. I've been hunting for a compact snorkel/fin set while we've been on the island and although we didn't find one, I did get a nice snorkel and mask at, of all places, Walmart. Actually they had an impressive display of dive and snorkel equipment. Before we came to Hawaii, we wondered where we might go for food stuffs and decent wine. The GPS certainly helps, but for most basics and souvenirs to boot, there's an ABC store on every corner. Back at the apartment by 3:00, the Waikiki surf community was still going strong. We had some down time before tonight's dining experience at Sensei, a highly recommended restaurant right across the street from us in the Marriott Waikiki. By dinner time the temperature had dropped to an alarming 80 degrees and it looks like we might have some shower activity tomorrow - when things are lush and green, there's a reason for that. The top on the car might be a yo-yo. Anyway, dinner. We booked the Sansei, meaning third generation, because it came guide book recommended and because it was a short walk from our apartment. Tonight was a small plate sharing dinner: 1. Panko-crusted fresh ahi sashimi - amazing, never know it's tuna. 2. Shrimp dynamite - shown below with a unagi (eel) glaze - amazing, eel, what? 3. Asian shrimp cake - delicious but not as good as the first two. 4. Seared foie gras Nigri Sushi - yeh, well it's foie gras, what's not to like. 5. Lobster and blue crab ravioli - the sauce was liquid shortbread. 6. Granny Smith apple tart - a nice finish. We accompanied this with a Mer Soleil Chardonnay. An outstanding meal! On to tomorrow.