Honolulu: Getting there

So for the remainder of this month I'll be converting this blog, typically dedicated to my art, to a photo journal of our trip to Hawaii for the month of December.  

Overview:  Matthew will be working at Queens Hospital in Honolulu while we are here.  His shifts are from 6pm-4am Friday-Saturday-Sunday throughout this month (a total of 12 shifts).  His schedule has given us plenty of time to explore the island.  We are staying in a condo that hosts a different ER resident from Palmetto Health throughout the year.  

Matthew flew up a few days before me to get oriented at the hospital and begin his shifts while I was finishing up the semester at USC.  Both of us were overwhelmed with the details of leaving our lives in SC for the month, combined with the conclusion of my semester and a surprise party for Matthew's 30th birthday... in many respects I had not mentally prepared for the journey or the islands.  But it didn't take long for everything to come into focus...

After 12 hours in airports and an eternity of ocean I am introduced to Maui through the window of the plane.  Stunning... these views always renew my love of the landscape.  I departed from SC at 6am, flying Columbia to Dallas, Dallas to Kahului Maui, Maui to Honolulu.  

I departed Kahului at 5:35 and landed in Honolulu around 6:30pm.  I took a taxi to the ER where I picked up the car and the keys to our apartment from Matthew.  With the help of the iphone I figured out where I was going and made my way to the apartment.

It wasn't until morning that I began to understand where we were, and I began to acquaint myself with my surroundings.  This is the view from the back of our apartment, toward the interior of the island.  The gardens in the foreground belong to another apartment complex.

This is the view of our apartment from the park across the street of our condo (Ala Moana Park).  Our building is the once center, shorter, in the shadow of the two taller twin towers in the foreground.  The condo is on Ala Moana Drive, the main thoroughfare between the mall and Waikiki Beach.  A location that affords us easy access to the beach and a variety of restaurants and shopping locales but brings with it the constant drone of traffic from the crowded street below.

The view from the balcony of our apartment looking west - Sunset over the marina and Ala Moana Park.

A bit of Hawaii for breakfast - of course the fruit!  Pineapples and bananas from the island.  100% Kona coffee, from the big island.  And a delicious selection of breads from Leonard's Bakery - a favorite of locals and tourists on Oahu - Portuguese sweet bread, and 'malasadas'  - donuts without holes, covered in sugar.  Traditionally the reason for making malasadas was to use up all the lard and sugar in the house, before the Lenten season.  Both beignets and king cake come to mind...

 A couple of photos of the interior of our apartment.  More than enough for Matthew and I - 2 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths, a kitchen with all the essentials - we are quite comfortable here.  Matthew opened the windows as soon as he arrived and we haven't closed them - or turned on the AC - since we've been here.

To our surprise on Friday evening - fireworks on Hilton Beach to the east, the view from our balcony.