But, my story of the North Shore begins in the most unlikely of places...a place that, if anything, is the antithesis of the North Shore. My story begins in the Ala Moana Shopping Centre between Waikiki and Downtown Honolulu. The massive shopping complex is the biggest (and probably most expensive) shopping center in Hawaii- complete with 3 floors of shopping ranging from Japanese department stores, to Macy's, to Armani and Gucci, and the fast-food of McDonald's to the fine-dining of Alan Wong's "The Pineapple Room". The size of the shopping center is quite massive and the number of Japanese tourists within the shopping center is even more incredible. But...i didn't come here to shop.
The largest mall in Hawaii and home to tourists from around the world, the Ala Moana Shopping Centre
Nope, I was there for taiko. And...actually, unless I was wearing a wig, I couldn't be in this performance because it was an all female performance for the Cherry Blossom Festival. I went as a roadie and to watch (something I don't do often enough) the performance with a new friend of mine by the name of Aya, who recently moved to Hawaii with her husband to open up a Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet) restaurant in Waikiki. I actually met Aya through Kelsey and Kaoru (the one who sold me the fue) because Aya also plays taiko. In fact, Aya played taiko with the same group that Kaoru started playing with in the United States- St. Louis Osuwa Daiko.
All girls performance. First set of pieces, Oroshi, Shiraume, Matsuri (OSM for short), three pieces that are always played as a set.
It was great getting to watch a performance for once, and it's definitely quite different being the audience. All in all, (despite having to make some last minute changes to accommodate an equally last minute request for a shorter program) the performance went pretty well.
More OSM, a piece of the Oedo Sukeroku Daiko group in Tokyo.
Introduction of Yodan Uchi, another piece from Oedo Sukeroku Daiko that features solos played on both sides of the center drum. Sensei played with their performing group for several years when he lived in Japan.
Yodan actually means "four sides" in Japanese, so all four hitting surfaces are used in the piece.
Kirsten, a member of KETE (Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble), soloing in the piece. This piece actually involves hitting both drums simultaneously.
Ai-chan (on the right) taking the final solo of the piece. I actually knew Ai-chan from when I was a kid because she played with another group in Hawaii that my LA group was really close with.
This part is called the "Bridge", and as you can see, it's aptly named.
The ending to the piece involves four people jumping around the center drum and changing directions. it's really cool to watch and it's definitely quite scary because it looks like people are always about to crash into each other.
So...from the hustle and bustle of the Ala Moana Shopping Centre, I went slightly north to Aya's apartment, where we would meet the other people going to the North Shore with us, Greg (member of the intermediate TCP classes), Matt (member of the beginning II TCP classes), Cara (member of KETE), Kelsey, and Yoko. Aya's apartment is actually in a high-rise on a hill overlooking downtown and the Waikiki hotels, so the view is pretty incredible. I stood on the balcony for quite awhile taking pictures and admiring the scenery.
Incredible view from Aya's apartment
Views of the Waikiki hotels from Aya's apartment
And now the real journey begins....but in the rain. What started off as a beautiful sunny day in Honolulu, turned into a monsoon as we headed out of Honolulu and north toward Wahiawa (where the pineapple plantations are) and eventually the North Shore. It was luckily only slightly monsoon-like on the North Shore, but still not the beach-perfect weather I envisioned (especially a downer because I was in my swimsuit).
Oh well...so the weather was kinda rainy, but that didn't stop the North Shore from impressing. First stop was Giovanni's, a shrimp truck (yes you read right...truck) that the North Shore is famous for. In fact, the North Shore is famous for many of these mobile shrimp providers, and especially the deliciousness (and garlickyness) that is the shrimp they serve. We ordered several massive plates (I actually shared a plate because I ate lunch only an hour and a half earlier) of garlicky goodness- each had 12 jumbo shrimp, two scoops of rice, and cloves of garlic everywhere! Despite being full from lunch, it was delicious! And I somehow still managed to eat in the double digits of shrimp.
The famous Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. The scribbles all over it are actually the names of people who partook and enjoyed the garlicky goodness
Greg and Aya about to enjoy their shrimp
Me and Cara fighting for a piece of garlic soaked deliciousness
Next stop, Cholo's, a Mexican restuarant known for their Margaritas. So, we partook in their specialty, each having a pretty exotic Margarita with some chips and salsa as an after lunch/dinner treat. To give you an idea of the Margaritas they had, I had a peach and strawberry margarita, Aya had a pineapple and lilikoi (passionfruit) margarita, and Yoko had a (prepare yourself) li hing mui margarita (li hing mui is a plum powder that Hawaiians basically put on almost anything). Pretty incredible and pretty delicious.
Enjoying some Margaritas at Cholos (which to my understanding is the Spanish term for "gangster"[?])
Up until this point, it had been raining pretty much non-stop, not always heavily...but never really stopping. However, after finishing our margaritas, the rain stopped and the clouds were beginning to clear, perfect timing for a most beautiful sunset. We drove to the beach to go watch the sunset, and we stopped at a beautiful and quiet beach well-known as a haven and resting spot for sea turtles. We made our way onto the beach surrounded by trees and coconut trees and were greeted by nothing other than...well..sea turtles!! Three of them...all sleeping on the beach.
Sea Turtles!!
Me, Aya, and Mr. Sea Turtle
This turtle had some kind of tracking device attached to his back. Kind of sad in a way, but I guess its so they can ensure their survival, they are endangered afterall.
Yoko and Kelsey enjoying the beach
A close look at our sleepy friend
So...with our new sea turtle buddies, we watched the sunset from the sandy shore. Actually...none of us actually sat down because we would get all sandy, and actually the sea turtles didn't watch the sunset with us because they were asleep. =P But we did watch the sunset, which was nothing short of beautiful. Glowing orange and casting a faint orange and yellow glow on everything. It was really amazing, and even more amazing to be watching this amazing sunset under the shade of coconut trees next to sea turtles!! Yes indeed, quite amazing.
Incredible sunset
I don't think words are necessary for this one.
Orange and yellow glows on everything.
beautiful colors from the beautiful sunset
Yup...
Paradise indeed.
From left to right: Kelsey, Matt, Yoko, Aya, Me, Greg, sunset, and of course...the sea turtle. By the way, it's a federal offense to touch a sea turtle so we couldn't take any pictures riding the turtle. =P
After watching the sunset..which unfortunately anti-climatically ended behind some clouds, we drove to Waimea beach, home of professional surf competitions and 40 foot waves. The big wave season is (also) unfortunately coming to an end, so the waves at Waimea beach didn't even come close to hinting the greatness that was only a few months before. In fact, the ocean was unbelievably calm! But I could see how the bay itself played host to surf competitions and best surfers in the world. As a looked at the bay from the highway which went above and around the beach under the waning moments of sunlight, I could picture the giant waves and crowds of people watching in amazement and awe at both the power of man and nature.
Waimea Bay is not only famous for it's surf, but also for a giant rock. Okay, okay, that sounds kinda dumb, but it's not just any giant rock, it's a giant rock that you jump off of into the ocean. And while that seems kinda crazy (especially given the height of the rock and how close it is to shore), the water in Waimea Bay gets very deep, very fast. In fact, it drops off like a cliff only a few feet from where the water hits the sand. It's a bit of a daredevil thing to do, and you have to muster up a lot of courage to do it, but I'm definitely all for the challenge.
I didn't take this picture, but this is THE rock at Waimea Bay
Unfortunately, however, it was getting pretty late, and I was so full of shrimp that if I did jump in, I probably would've sunk straight to the bottom without the slightest chance of being able to swim back up. So, I never did get to the put the swim trunks that I was wearing all day to use. :\ But, I did see some amazing sights and eat some great food. In a way, it seems almost absurd how much amazing stuff you see out here, but as my Uncle Bob put it (not actually my Uncle by blood, but), "In Hawaii you just see amazing things all the time." And you know what, he's right. You see amazing things all the time. Like the following:
I saved the best for last, this is my favorite...the money shot. Simply amazing
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