Concrete jungle

Honolulu has a population of about 1,000,000 and Waikiki is a crowded tourist area. A lot of people "shop" while there. I am not a very good consumer.  The display methods of many of the kiosks in the one large central shopping mall are notable - every piece of merchandise is out!  It is very overwhelming visually. And nothing has prices of course. You must haggle.

Despite being crowded urban area, Waikiki has amenities though that make it easy for people like me. I don't need a car (which costs money) and it has a few cheap restaurants (food budget was less than $40 a day)

With that said, Waikiki apparently used to be a fertile lush area that was remarkably beautiful.  Hence why a hotel was built. Others sprung up, and bang, a hundred years later that natural beauty is gone. All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put Waikiki back together again. I am unimpressed with man's accomplishments. No amount of ingenuity could recreate the Waikiki that once was.

 We love Teddy's burgers by the zoo. Best hamburgers and fries. Did you know wave types have names?

 Beaches are sometimes crowded with trash mixed in the sand, especially cigarette butts which do not degrade very well.

 Looks like yoga pose Lion's Roar.

 Our sand snowman.

 Awesome sunsets. Great weather 333 days a year!

 

 Abby LOVES hula. We saw the hula show at least three times. I did get her a ‘Uli ‘Uli.

No recycling in Waikiki. Millions of tourists and no recycling bins. Knowing Hawaii's issues with trash and Knowing Kodiak's issues with trash (another island), this is bewildering. Again, why do we insist on being irresponsible. There are great tragedies in this world. North Koreans cannot leave North Korea. They are shot if they try.  While unbelievable issues such as this seem make issues like recycling seem trifle, it seems like in our 1st world condition, surely we could perhaps take care of our own trash. 

Honolulu airport.

While I don't like supporting irresponsible consumerism and ill-planned development, I am a hypocrite here. I would go back in a heartbeat. The good times I have with Abby in this case outweigh my sentiments of not supporting irresponsible consumerism and ill-planned development.

Since I have been back to the rock, I have barely seen Abby.  Last week I worked, painted the fireworks stand two evenings, had friends over one evening, which was great but meant I still did not see Abby, one night I did errands, and then she went to dad's.  This time with her was really important for both of us. I could have easily gone out to Pasagshak for a week, but it really would not have been the same. Weather would have been spotty, my phone would have worked, and she would have no kid's to play with or parks to play in, so...Waikiki is home away from home for us.