Bringing Spring To Me

Bringing Spring To Me, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

The trees are beginning to bloom in the northeast, and it's finally getting warmer outside. However, I'm in such a gloom lately - overwhelmed with a lot of things - that I could use anything to lift my spirits. Today, it's these magnolia flowers, clippings from my friend's tree.

Aren't they beautiful?

Kauai - Day 4, 5 and 6

We saw everything on the top half of our list, and we're running out of time. Instead of rushing to see everything else, we just decided to relax and enjoy the rest of the time we have left on the island. Afterall, if we see everything this time around, then it won't give me much reason to come back, soon, right?

Kauai perfect., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Hands down, my favorite photo from the trip. Our last night in Kauai, and this is the last shot I took of this magical place. With all its imperfections, it couldn't be any more perfect. This picture, and Kauai itself.

Day 4, 5 and 6 was like this:

Day 4

• Breakfast at Poipu Tropical Burgers - won't be going back
• Decided, for day 4, we'll stay local. Stay on Poipu beach, spend time at the pool
• Spouting Horn
• Bought the kid's 2011 ornament
• Poipu Beach - the kid LOVED it
• Ate Puka Dog for lunch
• Pool at the hotel
• Farmer's market - bought more fruit!
• Dinner at Merriman's - the husband liked it, I didn't
• Husband picked a banana from a tree for the kid

Day 5

• Breakfast at our room balcony - mango, caimito, papaya, pomelo, and star fruit, before we hit the road for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches
• Banana Joes - STRIKE 1. No ripe papaya means no smoothies.
• Guava Plantation - STRIKE 2 and replaced with a cafe. How sad is that?
• Beach by St. Regis in Princeville - STRIKE 3. No parking available.
• Anini beach - a great consolation for all those disappointment
• More bird chasing
• Dinner at Oasis. Best meal so far.
• Awesome sunset
• Finally, pointing out a sugar cane plant, still in the ground, to the husband and resisted every urge to just start hacking at the plant so he can have a taste of what its like fresh versus sitting in the refrigerator for days.

Day 6

• Last day...
• Breakfast at Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee company. We decided it was the best breakfast place we've been to on the island. No fuss.
• Back to Poipu beach and the pool where I discovered that my kid has no fear and complete trust on me and her dad, and wished I was the same...
• More Puka dogs
• More Papalani gelato. No, they still didn't have the sour cream flavor, and I was ok with that
• Drive to the airport for our flight out
• And, that was that.

I want to go back...

At the Spouting Horn Park, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Spouting Horn, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

"Banana, Daddy, banana. Please.", originally uploaded by gealouxy.

The Girl and Her Treasures, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Spotted Dove, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Itsy Bird, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

The story of the sour cream gelato., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

NO FEAR, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

She kept on wanting to swim away even though the water was way over her head. There were a few times when she jumped from the edge of the pool, she went under, and when her dad pulled her out, she screamed, "Again, Daddy, again!".

I just hope that her daddy will always be there to catch her when she falls, or pull her up when she's down.

Kauai - Day 3

Day 3, and I'm getting so used to being in Kauai. We now have a routine - wake up with the roosters, get dressed, hop in the car, breakfast, and then decide on which direction of the island to explore. Northeast. Today, we're heading northeast

Day 3 was like this:

• Skip the big breakfast - coffee, scones and croissants instead


• Fresh coconut, plucked from the tree, by the husband


• Banana joes smoothies


• Also bought some fresh banana and oranges to bring back to the hotel. This becomes part of the routine - find fresh fruit, bring back to hotel to snack on.


• Kilauea Lighthouse


• Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge


• Lunch at Kilauea Bakery and Pau Hana Pizza


• Waterfalls x2: Wailua and Opaeka'a Falls


• Dinner at Kiibo - another hole in the wall. Food was ok, not going back.


• Stopped by saimin - smelled like chicken in there. Since the hubs doesn't eat chicken, and i wasn't up to smelling like chicken, and we just had dinner, we skipped the noodles (que horror!) and settled to just bring back some lilikoi pie.


• Turned in early, again.

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Taken from the Kilauea Lighthouse vantage point. Every white speck you see is some sort of bird. It would have been nice if we were closer. I imagine, though, that it would have smelled like a bird's ass as well. Also, I would have taken a picture of the lighthouse itself, except that it was under repair and, as a result, looked nothing like you'd write home about.

He climbed and took two coconuts for me to enjoy., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

He must really like me, this guy.

Banana Joe's in Kilauea, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

I was told that the best smoothie on the planet can be found here. I've never been to many places on the planet, but I can tell you that the smoothie - don't make the mistake of asking "What flavors are there?" as they only have one - was definitely awesome. Too good, in fact, that we drove back (our hotel was a good hour away) two days after to have more. Sadly, they didn't have any fresh papayas. So, no smoothie. Boo.

Purple flowers outside Banana Joe's, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

This bird has a Facebook page., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Her name is Daphne. And, she has some 80+ fans on her Facebook page. Quite friendly. At the Kong Lung Market Center in Kilauea - Kauai, Hawaii.

Some interesting flowers at the the Kong Lung Market Center area in Kilauea - Kauai, Hawaii.

A bud within a bud..., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Red orange cluster, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

What is it that makes a lotus so poetic on its own?, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Lobsterclaw Heliconia, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Another tree, even better than the first one., originally uploaded by gealouxy.

From lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel. On our way back, we saw signs for the Wailua and Opaeka'a waterfalls. So, we decided to go.

The sign says, "...people have been killed". Is it because of the slippery rocks, or the bullets that pierced this sign?, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

One of my guidebook said to ignore the warning sign: go ahead and climb down the waterfalls, if you dare. I told the guy he can try, and we'll wave to him from the top along with the rest of the tourists. He took one look down and assumed I was trying to get rid of him. Kauai, Hawaii.

At the Wailua Falls Lookout, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Wailua Falls, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Recognize it? Only if you watched Fantasy Island.

Twisted, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

An attempt for something artistic. Or, something. Whatever makes more sense. Taken while the guy checks out the route I wanted him to take down to the waterfall, just before he said "I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes here, and you're taking a picture???". He can be so dramatic sometimes.

Something simple, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Opaeka'a Falls, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

At the Opaeka'a Falls Lookout, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Two waterfalls in one day. It could be luck. Or, it could be Kauai.

Kauai - Day 2

Our 2nd day on the island and Kauai was taking me farther and farther from reality. I didn't think of work. I didn't think of home. I didn't think of anything. I was just there with the two people I love the most.

Day 2 was like this:

• Woke up early, again, at 530AM. The roosters were starting to grow on me.
• Breakfast at Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee company.
• Drove to the western side of the island this time where we passed by leftover sugarcanes swaying at the side of the road, and the Kauai coffee plantation. We were planning to stop by on the way back to the south side, but we chose to skip in favor of hanging out at the beach instead.
• Checked out Waimea Canyon from Waimea Canyon Lookout.
• Took our first - and only - family picture for this vacation.

Waimea Canyon, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

At the Waimea Canyon Lookout, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

• And then we headed to the Puu Hinahina Lookout.
• At this lookout, we chased chickens with the kid.
• She also sat high up on a tree for the first time.

At the Puu Hinahina Lookout for the Waimea Canyon, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Waimea Canyon from Puu Hinahina Lookout, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Roosters, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Roosters, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

• The kid saw her first waterfall, the Waipo'o Falls, at the unsigned Pu'u Ka Pele lookout.
• Lunch at the Shrimp Station. It was a dive, and the flies bothered me, but the food was decent. We ordered the shrimp burger and the shrimp taco and walked away very satisfied. I'd consider going back again. Sadly, I think the flies will still be there. If you don't mind swatting at them every five seconds, then do try it.

The Shrimp Station, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

Red Hibiscus at the Shrimp Station, originally uploaded by gealouxy.

• Milkshakes at Koloa Mill.
• Pool and beach again.
• Dinner at Roy's where the kid ate edamame, seared ahi, crab cakes, salmon teriyaki, broccoli and rice. Next to us, two kids ate spaghetti - no sauce - with cheese. Was it my future staring me in the face? I hope not.
• Sleeping by 830PM.