Haleakala crater, Maui (Hawai’i)

PittDoc

Everyone else was ‘disqualified’ because they did not comply with the requirements of the contest that were in place at the moment of commenting. Therefore there was no need for a draw.

‘zasm’ did comply with the requirements and I tried to contact this user to confirm her/his booking class is valid for an upgrade but I have not received any answer so I could not have her/him in the draw.

However,  EagerTraveler commented ‘I have 25 [eUpgrades] more I can donate’ so I’ll contact this user to choose the 2nd winner (so to speak) using a random draw or some other way at her/his choosing.

While in Oahu, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to Hanauma Bay. It wasn’t the $7.50 entrance fee that would have deterred me, but the fact that it seemed to be so far out of the way (I stayed in Waikiki and I did not have a rental car). However, the nearly 5-star rating on yelp and tripadvisor convinced me to go. It’s similar to how I view bestsellers and box office hits: that many people can’t be wrong, right?

The bus was $2.50 one way. My wife and I caught the earliest bus at 8:00 am and arrived there around 9:00, and there were already many people there. We had to watch a documentary and off we went to the beach, a short walk down a hill. There is a tram-car – $0.75 to the beach and $1.00 coming back (yes, the price difference does make sense, down the hill and up the hill, you see) – but we did not take it. I hope it is still a long ways in the future before I need transportation for such a short distance.

I was reluctant to rent the snorkeling gear as I had never done it before, not to mention the thought of using a mouthpiece that had been used by so many people was not very appealing. I wonder whether they clean it properly.

So I entered the water, but I could not even go waist-high as the coral reef was almost everywhere, no way to avoid it, and if you weren’t careful, it would cut you. However, I was still able to see lots of fish.

In the end, I decided to rent the snorkeling gear, and I very awkwardly put it on and adjusted it (to a certain degree; I had a feeling I did not wear the mask and mouthpiece as well as I was supposed to). And I took the ‘plunge.’

AMAZING!

I am an eternal novice swimmer (and skier, as a matter of fact, along with many other physical activities that some seem to perform with great ease). But I could not believe how agile I was, the dexterity I had, the ease with which I moved, almost effortlessly. I felt I was gliding; it didn’t feel like swimming at all. And lots and lots of fish, it’s a different world down there. I wish I’d had an underwater camera.

Some reviews said that, due to so many tourists, there is not so many fish to be seen, but this is far from true. Perhaps before there were even more fish. For me, it was a lot, at least by my standards, as I had never seen something similar, apart from aquariums.

There were fish coming from all directions, some of them startled me as they were quite big (they did not seem bothered by my presence) and they were all shapes and colors. I even saw an octopus.

I had an epiphany – I now understand why so many people are so taken with snorkeling.

Actually, there was a small yellow fish who seemed very frightened of me. One day, as I was thinking of the scene, I realized all of the sudden he was trying to tell me not to eat them, either (I had stopped eating red meat a few weeks before) so I listened to the little fish (could it be the fabled Golden Fish?) and I’ve now stopped eating fish.
Unfortunately, I am certain he didn’t say anything about any wishes.

CONCLUSION: If I go back to Oahu, I will definitively visit Hanauma Bay again. 

No, it is the Haleakala Crater in Maui (Hawai’i) – the answer to yesterday’s question.

The answer tomorrow

I have too many of them and they expire on February 29. I said 12 but there might be more; it depends on whether I will use some of the eUpgrades for myself but I’ll try not to as my flights are usually not more than 3 hours.
Also, there might be a second prize as someone ‘owes’ me a few eUpgrades but this would be more complicated so I cannot guarantee.

The booking classes the eUpgrades are valid for (you could read more details ‘How to request an upgrade’): 

Leave a comment below to win and I’ll randomly select the winner using random.org. I’ll contact the winner using her/his email address and take it forward from there.

The comment has to include:

1. the location where you are at the moment you are writing this comment, for example: Airport lounge, Toronto or Home, Los Angeles, or Office, New York, etc. ;
2. the dates when you are planning to fly;
3. confirmation that the booking class of your ticket is valid for eUpgrades (have added this ‘requirement’ just to make sure no-one wastes her/his time , as far as I know all international flights are valid for upgrade but I might be wrong).

The contest closes after 8 days 8 hours and 8 minutes.
Sorry, but I couldn’t help it.

Yes, I stayed at Hooters, the price was too god to resist not to mention that the reviews on TripAdvisor did not seem to be as bad as the name would have implied. Actually some incredible prices were mentioned so I wondered whether I could get the same. “On my annual trip to Vegas for a trade show and stayed at Hooters. Snicker all you want but for $20 a night you can’t find a better deal.”

So I started an Excel file and I kept checking the prices. I checked not only for the day I wanted, January 12, but for the previous days as well as I was curious to see whether booking 2 days in advance or on the day of the check-in would make any difference.

The following prices are per night as I was interested to stay there only 1 night.

Some interesting facts:

• It seemed the later you booked the better the price, for example on Sunday 8 the price of room for check-in the same day was only around $38, on Monday 9 Jan for check-in Monday only around $44.
• Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 the prices were high, I suppose because of the Consumer Electronics Show

I booked my room for Thursday on Tuesday (didn’t want to risk any more, like the price of a stock that you want and keeps falling but you feel at any moment it might go up so you decide to pull the trigger). And I was somehow right, had I waited until the last day I would have had to pay more (had I waited one more day I would have saved a few $, not too much).

I wondered how much the prices would have been this week and it seems the strategy of booking as late as possible might work.

They are quite funny:

The disadvantage of not eating meat, why would they not offer a free vegetables dinner ? Maybe because the statistics show that vegetarians don’t gamble (really don’t know whether it is true I just made it up).

The conclusion is that it is not a luxurious hotel but I might stay again if the price is right.
They even sent me a survey (the proper way, not like other surveys): Upon completion, you will be entered into our contest for a chance to win a 2 Night Stay, $50 Food and Beverage Credit and Airport Transportation in an Official Hooters Casino Hotel Escalade!

And no, I did not keep the water bottles.

The dog was at the bike rack. He seemed peaceful, but I put the bike somewhere else.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Speech

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
………………………………………………………
With confidence in our armed forces – with the unbounded determination of our people – we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”

Full speech and more details here

A visit to Pearl Harbor, is a must for everyone; any trip to Oahu, Hawai’i should include a day trip here.

My wife and I got tickets to visit the USS Arizona Memorial at 2:00 pm. We’d gotten there at 8:30 am; I asked at the visitors’ centre what time we should have been there for an earlier time and was told that the queue for the site often starts at 6:00 am. This did, however, give us a chance to visit the other sites.

Tip: The USS Arizona Memorial is free and even if they run out of tickets you can go and wait there. I was waiting for the 2:00 pm tour and there were a few families without tickets that were let on when some of the ticket holders did not show up. I suppose for the early morning tours the chances of this happening are less likely, but toward the end of the day people might get held up at other sites and not make it back for their tour.

The attack on Pearl Harbor marked a turning point in the second world war. Had the attack not happened, Japan could have pilfered Asia a few more years with impunity, Germany would not have declared war on the United States and the fighting in Europe could have been prolonged for many years.

Many lives were lost at Pearl Harbor but, in retrospect, many more may have been saved.

Some interesting facts, that I did not know before:

• Of the eight damaged US Navy battleships six were raised, repaired and returned to service later in the war*.
• The Niihau Incident ( from Wikipedia):
  In the official report, authored by Navy Lieutenant C. B. Baldwin and dated January 26, 1942, Baldwin wrote, “The fact that the two Niʻihau Japanese who had previously shown no anti-American tendencies went to the aid of the pilot when Japan domination of the island seemed possible, indicate likelihood that Japanese residents previously believed loyal to the United States may aid Japan if further Japanese attacks appear successful.”
• A few sailors on the USS West Virginia survived after it sank. They were discovered during repairs and a calendar found with them indicated they had lived until 23 December, over 2 weeks after the attack.

*As I had read that the aircraft losses included 188 destroyed and 159 damaged – it seems the number slightly varies depending on source but let’s say a round 350 - I wanted to check something else so I read that the total US aircraft production in 1941 was 18,466. The Pearl Harbor losses amounted to only 7 days production. It seems the attack didn’t achieve much from a military standpoint, but served only to “to awaken a sleeping giant”. In no fewer than 4 years, Japan lay in ruins, the aftermath of the first atomic bomb.

(Released to Public) Location: PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII (HI) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA) DoD photo by: PH3(AW/SW) JAYME PASTORIC, USN

Oil leaking from the sunken battleship can still be seen rising from the wreckage to the surface of the water. This oil is sometimes referred to as "the tears of the Arizona" or "black tears".

Art at Tate Britain: “Oranges, wood sculpture; this work is created from 5800 oranges, and raises questions about ephemerali​ty, time and decay. Visitors are invited to take an orange and as a result the piece literally dematerial​ises and changes through visitor participat​ion.”

I’d had two oranges (my wife’s and mine), but I ate one before I took the photo.

 
I recently went to London and visited Tate Britain. I was curious about this work and of course it is no longer there, but at the front desk they knew about it. I suppose it was getting expensive to maintain it.