Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Home for Now

This is our current temporary home.  We found a great place to rent, but it isn't available quite yet, so we are on the beach at Waikiki in the Ilikai Hotel, 23rd floor.  This hotel is actually quite a landmark here.  It is featured in the opening sequence of the original "Hawaii 5-O" TV series.  Steve McGarret (Jack Lord) is standing on the penthouse balcony - about 3 floors up and almost on top of our room.  A bit of trivia - the character Chin Ho was named after then owner of the Ilikai hotel.  If you feel like a bit of nostalgia, want to see a great wave, or just want to re-visit one of the greatest theme songs ever, click here:

Our lanai overlooks the harbor, the ocean, Ala Moana Beach park, the airport, and awesome sunsets. 

There is always something going on.  Here, a big container ship is heading out to sea, and surfers are heading out to the waves.  Layden likes to watch them and while doing so can be heard quietly humming the classic surf song,  "Wipeout"  while a hint of a smile lurks at the corner of his mouth.

Every morning this boat heads out towards Diamond Head, and every evening it heads back to port.  We aren't sure what it is, but it reminds us of Star Wars so we call it the Jabba the Hut party barge.

This morning there was a fire in one of the condos nearby.  Lots of sirens, and this big ladder truck.  Here, the cars actually cleared out of the busy intersection.  Didn't seem to work quite so well in Korea.
This is a bigger view of the harbor and a bit of downtown Honolulu.  

A BIG cruise ship heading out to sea.

An airplane headed back to the mainland.
The harbour and Honolulu at night - also very striking. 
ALOHA
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2 comments:

  1. Mama PeckAugust 5, 2011 at 5:21 PM

    Awesome! Yep, I'm officially jealous. I could be happy all day just sitting on your lanai and watching the goings on in the harbor. What an amazing view! And, you 'have' to stay there till October? Yeah, you Folks have it rough. LOL Enjoy every minute of it! (Sure was fun to talk to you this afternoon! We miss you.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cathy RoggiaAugust 8, 2011 at 3:49 PM

    Ha ha. Tough life, Colbys. we love you.

    ReplyDelete

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Sunday, July 26 2009

Sunday, July 26 2009
Remember this sign?
We have learned something really interesting about this "welcome sign" which we thought was a big billboard that was pasted onto an old overpass. It turns out that this is a defensive emplacement known as a rock drop. It is a big concrete box full of rubble and rocks. In the event of an invasion by North Korea the panels underneath the drop will be opened and release the rubble across the roadway, hampering movement into South Korea.

SOLAR ECLIPSE!

SOLAR ECLIPSE!
Might look like the moon - but it's the sun!
On Wednesday July 22 Asia experienced a solar eclipse and we got to see it! Miraculously the expected day of monsoon rain did not materialize and the sky was mostly clear for the duration. During the eclipse, which occured around 11:00 a.m., the sun was much too bright to view directly - we had to be satisfied with reflected images. But, as the sun began to re-appear, just enough clouds came in to allow us to look - and take a picture. It was quite something to behold and we feel lucky for the opportunity.

On A Clear Day...

On A Clear Day...
We had 2 days of church meetings in the Seoul area. Today the weather was remarkably clear and I was able to get a great view of the city skyline and the radio tower. Usually the sky is too hazy for a view like this. Pollution, rain, high humidity or dust storms are contributing factors.