A few weeks ago - before I was sick - Da Wife and I had always talked about cruising Waik's (short for Waikiki for all da non-kama'aina folk).     

So Da Wife and I hopped in da car and drove down one lazy Sunday afternoon just to see how it's changed and we were pleasantly surprised.

Besides the transformation of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center.... and the rebuild of the "Boardwalk" on Lewers Street.... and the Duty Free fish tank gone.... and the Waikiki Theaters closed down.... and a couple of buildings empty.... it pretty much looked the same.

There's always a certain vibe in Waik's - maybe it's just because we were "playing tourist" or maybe it's because the weather was fantastic but nonetheless, it was actually fun to cruise around on foot. While we mainly stayed around the Kalakaua/Royal Hawaiian area, it certainly felt like we walked a mini-marathon!

Follow da pictoral below of wat we saw.... and click hea to see more!

 

We started off on da Ewa end across the street of the Royal Hawaiian at the newly redesigned Lewers Street. It has a ton of stores and restaurants to please tourist and kama'aina alike.

 

 

There's even a store with guess who drawn on da window........ BJ Penn!

 

 Da Wife and I  

 

 

 

 And wat would Waik's be without a street named after one Hawaii's favorite entertainers - the late Don Ho.

 

 

 No, it is not an obscene carving. It's actually a Harley carved out of wood! Pretty cool... even if I'm not old enough to ride a Harley. 

 

You know wea dis is? If you can't remembah... it's wea the old metal statue of the fisherman throwing spear was at with the waterfall and hula stage. They really opened up da area and it looks much bettah.

 

 

 

Can you spot Da Wife? We took a stroll inside to get a bite to eat. Wea? Read on to find out. 

 

From all da times I've walked in The International Marketplace, I've nevah noticed da "yellow brick road". It actually helps you find your way in, out and about so you don't get lost - how cool is dat!

 

Is dis a postcard photo op or wat?

 

 

Check out da store...... Can you spot Da Wife?
I feel a SOS coming soon.  

 

C'mon.... you can't fo'get about da "magic" pearls. Tap it three times and say it with me........ A-L-O-O-O-O-H-A! 

 

 

 

Starving by now so we head to Puka Dog for a quick snack.

 

 

 It's like da Soup Nazi (ala Seinfeld) wea you order in steps.

 

 

 Once your bread gets properly toasted.... it goes on "tap"......

 

 

Check out all da sauces they have on "tap". Shmall kine nutz yeah?

 

 

Just like filling up a draft.......

 

 

Was there any doubt which sauce I wanted?

 

 

 

Like the store's name, it's a Puka Dog - literally a dog in a hole. Dis is da top of da hole..... before da big bite!

 

 

 

See, it takes two hands to hold da buggah.

 

 

Sorry, dis pictah isn't da prettiest but it surah was onolicious!

Make surah wen da cashier asks you wea you from, you say hea so you get one kama'aina discount..... yeah, it's not a myth.... still get stores dat offer dat.

 

 

 

Walkin' back around and you can see why hotel occupancy is down..... cause no mo' people.

 

 

Hey! I used to work hea! In fact, dis very store! Store #54 of uku-million. Ahhh, da memories.

 

 

I dunno about you but a Hello Kitty spam musubi keychain?! And hea I thought they were only in manapua's.   LOL.  I kid I kid!   LOL

 

Now I dunno about you but I was trippin' out dat they were sold out of a brush costing dat much!

 

 

Does it help grow hair? Or maybe it gets da white out?

 

 

Would you believe they would leave bricks of gold just out in da open?

 

 

Don't ask how much it costs.... you'd think you were actually buying a 'real' gold brick!

 

 

 

Damn I look good huh?

 

 

Had to stop by and stroll through the "Pink Palace".

 

In da lobby area, there's a hugemangeous nostalgic looking map of da islands. There were about five tourist admiring it the same time I was.

 

 

It doesn't get any more "Waikiki" than dis!

 

Of course we couldn't leave without getting a slice of cheesecake!!

 

 

 

We stopped by Burger On The Edge again using up the last of our gift certificates and it was ONO! Except, don't get da "Kick Ass Chili Fries"... not so 'kick ass' if you ask me. Stick with da truffle fries and you won't be disappointed. And now they even offer wheat bread! Yum.

 

 

So there it is. Waik's enjoyed like a couple of "kama'aina tourist" and I gotta admit it was fun! We got to do a bit of window shopping, people watching and just taking in the sights and sounds of otherwise anoddah part of Hawaii. If you get a chance, DO IT! You deserve to have a little fun and enjoy wat Hawaii has to offer.... unless you're a hermit or a killjoy.

If at da end of da day you're still unhappy, put on dis shirt and make yourself happy.....

If there's anything Waik's has plenty of..... it's beer.

Happy Feel Good Friday everybodies! ......... Lurkahs too. 

 

 

 

 

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We've all seen it time and time again, in fact we've seen commericals and heard it on the radio from time to time, but do you do anything about it unless it affects you directly?

What I'm talking about is a leaking faucet.

Doesn't seem like much but there are two things - and two things only - that it does affect: our precious water resources and our pocketbooks.

The first, we don't get to "touch" or "see" directly so when people mention water, it's in one ear and out the other. As far as it hitting your pocketbook, it depends if you pay the bill or not - although we're ALL affected by the cost whether you want to believe it or not.

So why is it that such a simple thing goes unattended to so often? Is it just because you're not directly affected? Or maybe you just don't care.

I make payment on our water bill at home and I see the water bill at work and believe me, the thousands of gallons used just doesn't seem possible - and when you're paying for "per gallon" use, that suckah adds up!

For the longest time (since late last year), one of the men's bathroom had a constant leak. It always puzzled me why the faucet would always run and run - especially in these hard economic times when saving every penny means if you'll have a job or not.

Everybody moans and groans about cutting cost and pinching where they can so why wouldn't such a simple thing as turning off a faucet be such a chore?

Well it must be because it went on for months! Everytime I'd go into the bathroom (drink lots of water and tea so I go often), the faucet was already "on". It would range from a simple drip to a steady stream and I'd always turn it off with just a simple turn and be on my way.

 

 

 

 

I emailed the maintenance supervisor and spoken to another maintenance crew directly about the problem but it never got fixed until one day a couple months ago I got fed up and posted a sign........

 

Did it help?

Nope. It went on for a few more weeks.

People still didn't catch the hint even with this sign taped directly over the affected sink!

Wassap Wit Dat!

Finally, I emailed the building supervisor a few weeks ago and one of the maintenance guys comes over and says,

Maintenance:     "The faucet is ok. I turned it off."
BL:     "I know the faucet is ok but because it doesn't shut off properly, it constantly leaks."
Maintenance:     "All you have to do is turn it a little more and it won't leak."
BL:     "I know that. I even put up a sign saying to do that but who ever uses the sink doesn't twist it hard enough."
Maintenance:    "It shuts off ok if you turn it off all the way."
BL:     "Look, all it takes is a 25 cent washer to fix so twisting it shouldn't be so hard. People aren't turning it off all the way for a reason and it's probably just a worn washer. The faucet leaks so can you just fix it?"

A couple of hours later it's fixed and the sign came down.

I can't understand why people who use the faucet couldn't turn it off even with a sign asking them to? I can't understand why the maintenance crew who service the bathroom never fixed it or mentioned it to someone who could being that they seen it everyday? I mean seriously, would you let that faucet run and run in your own home?

I can't even imagine how many hundreds, if not thousands, of gallons were wasted.

And every now and again I see this which totally grosses me out,

 

 

I think it's mustache and/or nose hair clippings but why - WHY?! - can't who ever does this clean it up?!? Ugh.

Even the lights are off in the bathroom and while it wasn't my idea, since it was off and we had enough natural lighting, I always left it off - just made sense. It must have made sense back in the day too because there's a really really old sticker on the light switch.....

 

You know me, I'd do anything to help out but especially if it means that I can do whatever I can to save my job - any job for that matter - so it frustrates me when I see things that can be controled not controled.

What have you or your company done to help control costs that can be controled? Switch to one-ply?  

So turn off the lights when not needed, unplug your chargers when not in use, fix your leaky faucets but most of all....... just care.

Care for yourself and care for others and we'll all live better for it.

 

 

 

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It's already the middle of the week and my brain is fried - now I need a vacation for my sick days.

I can't think straight and not sure if any of you feel the same so here's a few "Would You Rather's"..... answer one, answer all...... no need think...... but a post would be appreciated.

 
Would you rather...... fight Mike Tyson or talk like him?

Would you rather...... break your thumb or your big toe?

Would you rather...... be cryo-freezed underground for 5,000 years and brought back to life or shot into space in a plane living for as long as you can?

Would you rather...... be stuck on a deserted island with your lover or your best friend (no, cannot be da same person)?

Would you rather...... be a famous singer or a famous actor/actress?

Would you rather...... be on Pros vs Joes or American Gladiator?

Would you rather...... have your luggage lost or your flight delayed a day?

Would you rather...... be able to read minds or always tell the future?

Would you rather...... be on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire or Deal or No Deal?

Would you rather...... be a taxi driver or a limo driver?

Would you rather...... have your feet smell or your arm pits smell?

Would you rather...... sleep the entire weekend or pah-tay da entire weekend straight through?

Would you rather...... sleep on a bed of nails or walk over 25 feet of hot coals?

 

And da bonus question...........

Would you rather...... fut in public with everyone around you knowing or hear a stranger fut... smells and all?

 

 

 

Have fun!
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Muchos Mahalos for all those who wished me well while I recovered from a very bad influenza strain, and no, it wasn't the H1N1 virus.

Per Doctor's orders, I was house arrested and kept in isolation even from Da Wife for almost a week. It didn't matter really since I practically slept for the the first 72 hours and going into the weekend it was just about trying to get my strength back considering I lost nearly 10 pounds.

The first holiday of the year has come and gone for me and while I would have loved to have spent it at the beach with a great BBQ, I'm still battling some residual effects of the flu. Believe me, food would have been a very welcome sight considering I could count the number of times I've eaten on a single hand this whole week... unless you count the three gallons of OJ.

My couch has my permanent okole print on it, I've actually slept more than my dogs and Da Wife has picked up some of the slack around da house..... ok, all da slack. Love ya Babe!

But enough of my misery, how did you all spend your Memorial holiday weekend? I hope it was a lot better than mine. Did you thank a serviceman/woman lately? Did anybody participate in the Lantern Ceremony? sassy7, sorry we couldn't meet up (unless you're still here for this week) and I hope the service went smoothly. Anybody watching the NBA Playoffs?

Geez, I'm not looking forward to going back to work especially since we're closing the month too.... maybe I feel another cold coming on?

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My apologies for not checking in once yesterday but you see.... I got hit by a Mack truck and I'm still feeling da effects.

A few days ago - late Saturday afternoon to be exact - I started feeling it: scracthy throat, light headiness, slight temperature.

Oh wait.... that was the post game effects of yet another disappointing loss. More on that later.

I got hit with something far more worse than any loss... I got a real bad case of the flu. Unrealz bad. It was so bad that Monday morning I deliriously called my doctor for an appointment, drove down doing my best to match the speed limit (was driving like a mukule granny in a Camry) and what really was about 50 yards to my doctor's office from the parking garage felt like trudging a mile through the Sahara on my hands and knees.

After spending about 40 mins waiting, I finally get called in and get asked the same ole same ole questions.... 10 minutes later when the doctor comes in, I get asked the same questions. I really don't know what that's all about. I wonder if it's trick questions to see if you answer them the same way 10 minutes ago or to test your patience? Or maybe your symptoms will change from the time you get admitted to the time your doctor sees you?

In any case, I've been house arrested this whole week and sent into quarantine per doctor's orders. I haven't been able to hug Da Wife and she's been kicked to da couch. Well, if I actually woke up in the last 60 hours to move, maybe she would have had a chance to kick me to da couch. If there is anything good about being sick it's that it's a sure fire way to lose weight!

So if I don't post for awhile, my apologies in advance as I try and kick this bad boy out of my system, but before I fall asleep for the next 48 hours I'd just like to send an E Komo Mai to WWD! Shout Out to all Da Lurkahs who popped in on Monday's "Represent" Blog and also to those who we haven't heard from in awhile too.

hanapaa

Center Of Thought

9th Island Cuz

kuya.d

matt

HiloBoy

Jason

World Wide Ed

Tim

UH Baseball Fan

Sachi

skycastles

 

If your name wasn't listed above...... too bad..... you must be a Kwonic!

 

 

 

 

 

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