I woke up feeling pretty shitty the next morning, but I had no time to recuperate because I had to head back to North Shore for my shark adventure at 10:30. So I got dressed and grabbed the papaya and banana that the hotel left as a gift and headed straight to the harbor. When we got there, I was feeling pretty sick. I think it was a combination of anxiety, lack of sleep, and partying to hard the night before. I sort of wanted to vomit before heading to our boat, but I sucked it up and hoped for the best.
The boat wasn't very big and it had a little cage strapped to the back.
We were a group of 6 which was just enough for us to all fit under the front end of the boat to stay dry. If you don't stay at the front end of the boat while the boat moves, you get pretty soaked and with all the wind, I could see how it could get pretty chilly. The boat ride is about 15 minutes about 3 miles away from the shore.
< heading out to the shark zone.
Then the boat sort of just sways out in the middle of the ocean. This part was pretty sickening. The captain said the water was actually pretty choppy and that he was close to telling the group after us that it might not be to safe to go out....quite the encouraging words. They separated us into 2 sessions. I was part of the second group to go in.
<excited (and maybe a little scared) when the boat stopped in the shark zone.
It was pretty scary to see all the sharks surrounding the cage. The workers were baiting them to stay near the cage. The sharks looked huge from the boat. They told us that they normally see Galapagos and sandbar sharks. I was amazed at how many there were.
After the excitement of initially seeing the sharks, I started feeling really nauseous. The boat was rocking way to much and at a really slow and sickening pace. Looking at the horizon did not work for me. I was feeling disoriented. At one point, I sort of just laid out in the middle of the boat and looked at the sky to see if that would work. I knew I had to get into the water soon or I'd be losing the papaya that I had for breakfast.
I really wanted to buy and underwater camera, but by the time it was our turn to get in the cage, I didn't care anymore. I just wanted to get in the water and off the boat.
This experience was absolutely AMAZING. The sharks were fucking gi-normous and there were lots of them! U have to get the rhythm of the cage or you'll get tossed around and banged up quite a bit. You where snorkels and sort of just float in the water toward the top of the cage. I found a nice spot in the front left side of the cage. That's where I remembered that they were tossing the bait. I must have counted at least 12 Huge sharks. I'm pretty sure they were Galapagos. There were also tons of little shiny fish swimming around them. it was beautiful and scary. My heart was beating so fast the whole time. I loved it. It was such a wonderful rush. The water was nice and warm, too. I wish I had bought that underwater cam, because it was so clear and awesome. All the sharks looked so different from one another up close. Some had scars and things on their gills. It was fucking great just seeing them. They looked curious, but not really harmful as they circled the cage. I sort of wanted to touch the tails of a couple of them as they passed by, but they warned us not to during the orientation and I wasn't about to lose a limb out in paradise. There were sharks on all sides and at the bottom of the cage. It was insane! I think they give you about 20 minutes in the cage which is plenty of time.
<Captain said to throw our hands up for the photo
<Some sharks around the cage. I was joking that it'd be just our luck to have some sword fish come by and try to thrust at us while we were in there. =P
< This funny bird decided to hitch a ride while we were under. It sort of startled me when I had to go to the back of the cage for them to reel us in. The bird sort of flapped his wings at me and squawked when moved near him. He was more of a threat than the sharks. hehe. Silly bird.
I loved the shark adventure. The experience was awesome and the workers were really cool characters to hang out with. I didn't vomit, but I heard that 2 of the other people vomited off the side of the boat while we were in the water. Eh. eww. This was one of the coolest things I've ever done. I love watching blue planet and other underwater nature shows, so this was the best. Aside from getting sick, it was the perfect tour.
After the shark tour, I went back to Macky's since it was nearby. Once the car stopped, I hopped out and hunched over grabbing my tummy. I almost threw up, but after crouching down for a few minutes, I felt better. I had the lemon pepper shrimp this time, which is also tasty, but I sort of wished that I got the butter garlic because it's better to me.
We headed to Kualoa Ranch to see if we could catch a horseback riding tour. It turned out to be booked for the day. They had other tours available, but the girl working there did a real good job at discouraging us from doing what they had available. She described things as "too shaky","really scary", and "dangerous", while expressing how much she didn't enjoy those tours. I left a bit disappointed, but at the same time relieved because I was exhausted and still a bit nauseous from being out in the choppy water.
We decided to head back to Waikiki, which was a beautiful scenic drive on the east side of the island. We drove with the top down because the sun wasn't so intense. It was so beautiful and it just felt really great feeling the clean air surrounding me.
<Bathroom stop. Look at the beautiful mountains!
< Me with the little pocket cam. I get paranoid lugging my camera around in hawaii, if I'm not able to keep it on me. They leave so many warnings to tourists about protecting their belongings and what not.
<Another snapshot.
<Approaching the city. This is when it started getting hot again. We weren't able to get the top back up til we got off the freeway.
When we got back to the hotel I got ready for our dinner at Nobu Waikiki.
<One of the dresses I got in San Francisco from bebe.
Nobu Waikiki just happened to be right across the street from our hotel which was nice. It was just as good as Nobu New York. I guess Nobu Malibu is just a shitty restaurant that shouldn't carry the Nobu name. I wonder why Nobu Malibu is rated so high in the Zagat. It really bothers me actually. Oh well. I've mentioned this before.
Me and my first cocktail.
This menu offered Omakase options at $90, $110, and above so we decided to ask for a $150 Omakase.
< Enjoyed from left to right. Each was very tasty.
< great flavor. all the fish totally melted in my mouth. I had a feeling that Nobu Waikiki would not disappoint.
<This was nice and refreshing, but I think 2 pieces would have been better.
<eh getting a little bored waiting between courses.
<Yummy lobster dynamite. The asparagus and mushrooms were a nice touch. Sometimes dynamite has too much sauce and seems to rich. This was perfect.
<Washu beef. Easily one of the BEST beef dishes I've ever had. It was like butter, so tender it melted in my mouth. I was so stuffed by the time I got this, but I finished every bite! It was so delicious prepared and cooked to perfection!
< more sushi I was so stuffed, i just ate the tops of some of them.
<This was a well thought out and perfectly balanced dessert. My favorite was the center which was banana with macadamia, Shoyu (soy sauce) ice cream, and i think honey. You wouldn't think shoyu ice cream would be tasty , but it was delicious. It was sweet with a bit of a salty flavor sort of of like kettle corn. It was a beautiful combination The dessert on the right was also yummy with pistachio sorbet and nuts, haupia sorbet and berries. The one on the left was more of a refreshing melon dessert. Nice for cleansing the palette between bites.
The food was very delicious at Nobu Waikiki. All of the flavors were delicious and well balanced. The fish was very fresh. I only had one problem which was portion size. The portions were again a bit too large. I guess they eat more in Hawaii. Don't get me wrong. I love eating and I have a big appetite, but I like to pace myself. Plus, they didn't really tell us how many courses we were going to have, so we ended up getting stuffed long before the main courses. Half portions of all the dishes would have easily been more than enough for me.
<sisters...bday girl in the center.
<umm...i had 4 shots of jack before i headed to the party. 
<She was getting mad that i was ruining all her bday pics. Truth is I gave her one normal pose for evey 3 silly ones. That's how I roll.
<3rd shot of tequila. At this point the tequila tasted like honey. 
< <3 my sisters
<Trying to be sexy. 
<uh...I'm a jackass. 
<thought I was so slick.
<So hungry. 
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