OAHU NORTH SHORE

If you know a little bit about surfing, you probably know that Oahu North Shore is without any doubt the surfing Mecca. If you are a real champion you need to confront yourself with the monster waves of Waimea Bay, Sunset Beach, Banzai Pipeline. But this is true only in winter. When the north hemisphere swells are hitting hard the islands. In summer, and now it is still summer, the North Shore is as flat as an alpine lake. Of course in our tours of the island we stop by, just to take some pictures of the almost non existing breaks. But still its unique mix of little towns, and surfer dudes driven tourism is making this a magical spot in the island. Here some pictures for your enjoyment ...Again no waves now. But be sure that if you will come here in winter you will see monster waves and all the best surfing champions hanging out here with fear of what can happen out there once they start charging ...

HAWAII STREET FOOD

Street food. Street food. Street food. I love it. And even if Hawaii cuisine is far from being my favorite I can't resist to stop when I see a street food truck. For Tina is even easier, because she loves Hawaiian food. So here we are in the Oahu East shore enjoying a plate fresh Garlic Shrimps plate and some local smoothie ... everything was really good ... and we enjoyed it so much and at the end of our splendid meal we went also to pick up some flowers from a tree close by ...

VALLEY of the TEMPLES

The Valley of the Temples is definitely one of the best Hawaii kept secrets. It is in the Oahu island, but even if this my 5th trip here, and I didn't really know that I had missed such a beauty. We read about it on the Lonely Planet while we were driving around and we decide to go visit it. The Valley of the Temples is probably the nicest and peaceful cemetery I have seen in my life. Everything seems so graciously organized. So colorful. Almost a Paradise ...And on top of that there is a wonderful replica of a 12th century Japanese Buddhist temple in Uji, Japan. The temple here in Oahu has been built in the late 1960s. Its name is Byodo-In Temple. Byodo-In means Phoenix. In fact the temple features two majestic metal phoenixes along the top ends of the main temple. The Buddha is seating on gold lotus leafs ...So, if I can suggest something ... try not to miss a visit here if you will go to Oahu. It is really such a peaceful and inspiring place ...

DRIVING OAHU, Hawaii

The meeting with running socks is over. It went pretty well. And here we are, Tina and I, trying to get the best out of this few days trip in Oahu. We started driving around. Driving around in Hawaii is definitely one of my favorite experiences. The landscape is wonderful, the mighty ocean is always few meters away. You can stop in lots of beaches. Watch dudes surfing. Stop in small cities and get a coffee or some local food. Definitely a complete drive of Oahu is something you can't miss, if you happen to come here. Some pictures, to give you an idea ...... absolutely stunning ... :)

THE SOCKS SITUATION

This is pretty embarrassing, but this is what happens when you plan a trip half for business and half for fun ... you forget something. In my case I forgot my formal long socks. I had to go to the meeting and I found only my running socks in the the suitcase. And it was too late to go shopping around for socks. So I had to use those. With a pretty embarrassing result ...... all the time during the meeting, I tried to hide my feet under the table, but I am pretty sure my customer noticed it ... :o

HONOLULU, Hawaii

After half day driving around the West coast of Oahu, we finally got to Honolulu. A name that is a synonymous of Paradise. The reality is that it is a pretty modern and tall city with all those skyscrapers. But indeed a city built in a wonderful location. Here some pictures, so you won't be shocked when you will see it ...... but out of the cities that I know, probably this is the one where I would like to live. Just for the fact, that I could go surfing everyday in the warm, gentle and wonderful waves of its most famous beach, Waikiki ... :)

HOMELESS in HAWAII

Even if Hawaii is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and seems that life is just perfect here, this is not Paradise. There are social problems. Lot of social problems. Especially in the Oahu island, the most populated of in the archipelago. And you can have a feeling of it, if you leave the famous touristic spots. When we got in Oahu we rent a car and we drove over the West shore of the island. Probably the least touristic of all. And there we have seen a lot of homeless. Lot of families live on the beach in camping tents. And from the way the tent are, you can easily figure out that they had been living here for a long time ...... the reason is pretty simple. The cost of real estate here is enormous, especially if you are a native. Lot of people is doing lots of money in the mainland. Is coming here and is buying land and home. And maybe they are using it few weekends a year. Of course the real estate industry sky rockets, and is leaving very little room for the native Hawaiian, who can't afford to buy multi million dollar house. At this point they don't really have a lot of chances. They either leave the paradise, or they are homeless in their land. Most of them leave, some of them decide to stay even if this means live camping on a public beach ... as a tourist I felt guilty to take these pictures, and to be part of their problems ...