Hawaii - Twice in two months

Hawaii - Twice in two months ! Sounds unreal but I feel one of the very few who had the privilege to visit Hawaii in such a small span of time. Always heard, always dreamt, always been the ultimate destination, finally it was time to live the dream. Infact the dream was lived Twice in two months ! God's grace. Always thankful to the almighty who takes care of me.

It was April'2015 and I was scheduled for a 4 day trip to Honolulu. My employer has an office in the beautiful island of Oahu. It was an official visit to meet and greet the Engineering team as well as get some level of project planning accomplished. It was a nice direct United flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. However I saw something on the way that I have never seen before. Its strange that there was something that happened mid air. What can possibly anyone see that high up. One the window seat bored after good  3 hours, looking outside the window at the blue sky I saw a stream of white object. I discarded it thinking it was a long cloud ! But the stream went on for good 5 minutes. I found it weird that a cloud stretched for that long and it was in the form of a stream. I got very curious. I was fully awake and was really eager to know when does that cloud end. Strangely after a few mins, I see another airplane out of my window. And literally my flight overtook the other flight ! I have never ever seen this visual. I captured a picture for my memory and here it is for you to see it as well. It might sound too fake if I would tell you that I saw another flight as well. Ripley's believe it or not. I have the second picture here as well.

I landed on to Honolulu airport and took a taxi to the office. The location was on the 25th floor facing the blue ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. They call it the Mauka side and the Maika side. I think one of it means mountain side and the other means ocean side. I wrapped up the day and got a ride with my colleague to the hotel in Waikiki. It is one of the most famous beach in the world. We walked around in the evening. Everybody around us was in a vacation mood wearing beach wear, sunglasses, hats and a big smile on the face. On the other end it was my colleague and me who were wondering about the planning of the project and in office trousers !. What a sad state to be in. Felt completely out of place. We changed and went on a walk on to the Waikiki beach strip. It was beautiful.  We had a good meal at the Hard Rock Café and we retired for the day. Next day was another heavy day at work followed by a team dinner at Gordon Bierch. On one of the day post work we went to the old town where on of our colleague would play a guitar like instrument in a restaurant. It was a good experience. In no time it was departure time. With the strong Hawaiian essence, beautiful landscape and words like Mahalo and Aloha ringing in my ears, I was more than eager to come back even before I had departed.

Feeling the disappointment in my wife that she missed out on a trip to Hawaii as well as my unsatisfied hunger, I started finding deals again to go back and visit Hawaii. I ended up finding a great deal for the month of May to goto Maui this time. My wife was excited too and without much thought I went for the deal. It was very exciting as this time it was a leisure trip with my wife. Right place, right time, right company. We took a direct flight to Maui from San Francisco. This time no weird experiences of overtaking another plane ! It was a super smooth flight. As we approached the island we could see some really beautiful landscape from the flight. The island looked really pretty and the water was dark blue and it appeared light blue towards the coast. It was a sight to remember.

We were again greeted by the hawaiian spirit of  Aloha. I had told my wife to be prepared to hear Aloha and Mahalo every few minutes. Also the locals pronounce Hawa-ee and not Hawaii as we possibly call it. It sounds very prominent and very nice to hear from a local. We picked up our rental car and off we go. We were on the road to a 45 minute drive to our hotel. We were booked at the Sheraton which was located on the west side of the island near Kanapalli beach. The road to the hotel was extremely beautiful. Deep blue sea on the left and mountains touching clouds on the other. Cant get any better. We stopped over at Lahaina for a quick lunch. To our surprise we found a really good place called Lahaina Pizza Company. It was in the hotspot of Lahaina downtown. Really good pizza. Highly recommend it. Nice location overlooking the blue ocean and a great bite of pizza. 
We reached our beautiful hotel and relaxed for a while. I do not want to attempt to describe the scene outside. I have no words. You can take a look at it yourself. Here is the picture. I don’t think I can possibly do justice to the picture.

We freshened up and after a short nap, we explored the beach and the hotel. We went back to Lahaina as it was a short drive from the hotel. We walked around for a bit and grabbed some dinner. We ate at Thai Chef. Being vegetarian I have to be a little careful as my choices are limited. Thai is always a good option and Thai Chef turned out to be pretty good. We retired the day early as we felt the jetlag. 

Next day was a lazy day. We decided to enjoy and not do anything in specific. We lazed around the pool, beach and the hotel. We truly relaxed and it was such a good feeling. 

We found a booth selling the snorkeling ticket for 1$. We knew there has to be a catch as no lunch is free. It was timesharing hotel deal. We have to go and listen to some lecture for 90 mins and then they would give us the coupon for 1$ snorkeling. We took the deal as we had not booked for the snorkeling trip as yet. Worked out for us.We heard them out for 90 mins and then said a sorry that we are not interested and got the coupon. Sad but true. Saved 120$. Good enough as Hawaii can get expensive :) We were a little early for the session hence we hopped onto a beach near by. Very pretty site. We found a few men who had climbed up the coconut tree and were fetching some fresh coconut. We asked them if we could have one. They offered it to us for free. That coconut water was one of its kind and we had to have it without a straw. It was an experience.

Post this session, we grabbed lunch and walked around on the street. It was a nice little strip. Must be a mile or two with shops on both sides. Sea facing. You can find all kinds of things there. My wife likes crystal show pieces. We even liked one show piece. We were tempted to buy but we do not have a nice enough home to keep that show piece. Decided to back off any wait for our time. The day went by. We were back to the hotel. Enjoyed the pool, beach and pleasant evening. For dinner we had mexican food. It was a nice setup in front of the beach. We had to retire early again as we had an action packed next day.

Next day was an early start as we had to goto the famous road to Hana. We filled up the gas tank, picked up light snacks and we were off to the road to hana. It was diagonally opposite onto the north east corner of the island. Hence inspite of the island being so small it was a long journey. Road to Hana is not a destination but it is a memorable journey. So enjoy the road to hana and not sleep on your way to the destination :) There is no destination. We started early around 8:30 AM. The most noticeable thing was the changing landscape as we go east and the changing climate. It was warm, sunny and dry on the west and as we approached the central parts it got cloudy and started raining. As recommended my our friends we downloaded an app called Gypsy Drive Tour- Road to Hana. It guided us through our entire journey. Highly recommend it. We stopped at Paia for breakfast. We were adviced to fill up out tummy before we take the journey. Paia is a good spot for breakfast. We had nice spinach crepe there.

We resumed the journey post breakfast. The app was fantastic. It narrated the entire road, the surroundings, landmarks etc. It even made us realize that the waves got bigger near paia compared to the west and hence more professional surfers prefer surfing here. Shortly we reached our first view point. Don’t remember what it is called. My only memory is that it was picturesque and we had to walk in to reach a beautiful waterfall. Having seen a similar view in Puerto Rico was not as impressed as it seemed already seen. But what we will surely remember  is the sugarcane juice we had at the stall outside of the view point. It is a must have. Again I cannot describe how good it was. I come from India and have had many sugarcane juices in my life but this one was the best I have had. We also picked up fresh cut pineapples.

Back on the road, it soon started winding. With beautiful tress on either sides, on a mountain the road was wet due to rain, green surrounding and a tiny little road. Again Puerto Rico kind of killed the wow factor but still a great visual and a place to go. Several view points came by and we got on and off for the view. The last point was the black beach. We spent a good amount of time there and finally returned back home. The journey is tiring and time consuming. We relaxed in the evening in the hotel and on the beach. The hotel was the absolute home base. It always felt so go to be back in the hotel and relax by the pool side.

On the following day we had an early start we had to take a cruise for our snorkeling trip to the Molokini crater. We were very excited to snorkel. The last snorkeling experience was in Maldives back in 2011. We checked in for the cruise in Maalaea harbor. They handed us our fins and water googles. We also rented an underwater camera. It was early in the morning. The sun had just appeared. So it was bright enough and warm aswell. The boat ride was good and the excitement was at the highest level as I love adventure. Soon after the breakfast was served we could get the first glimpse of Molokini crater. However much to our disappointment, the captain gave us a bad news of the sea being rough and choppy. This cause a swirl in the ocean and hence diminished visibility. It was not safe for us to get into the water under such conditions. It was a sudden melt down and unfortunately under safety reasons the boat had to be turned back. The captain explored other possible calm waters but nothing worked out. Finally the tour was called off. The money was returned and we got a nice free boat ride if we see the brighter side. I guess we still have some unfinished business here in Maui and it has almost forced us to come back. We went back to the hotel. It turned out to be an awesome day at the hotel. We really enjoyed more as we relaxed more. The waves were huge and I was straight into the water. I cant remember how many nasty falls I must have had in that rough water. It was fun though. We took a nice little shack where we relaxed over the afternoon. The golden beach, blue water and big waves made our day.

For the evening we had reserved our spot for Luau at the Feast of Lele. It is the Hawaiian traditional meal. The setup was great. Right by the beach. Sunset time. The entire restaurant crew was dressed in traditional hawaiian costume. It was a fantastic 4 course meal. Each meal represents a specific Polynesian region. And each dance represented that particular region from which the food was represented.


Being a vegetarian I really did not enjoy the good. I am a foodie and hence my mood depends on the food :) I was left unfed and extremely hungry but one the positive side I consider money spent for the ambience, the music, the Hula show. It was a one time experience. I will possibly will not do it again but its worth it once.

It was then the last day. We woke up with a heavy heart knowing we had very few hours in hand to enjoy the paradise. We packed and were ready for check out. Enjoyed the last few hours and checked out of the hotel. It was time to head back. The time flew by and the memory remains. It is a special place. This time too I left Hawaii with an unsatisfied hunger. Who know when the next time will be. 

When I think of Hawaii, here is what I see,

Aloha - Mahalo - Hawa-ee

Express 2014 & we go again for 2015

Its January 1st, 2015. New hopes, new beliefs, new beginning, course corrections. 2014 was a very successful year. I saw my self make a difference at work (unfortunately not outside of work, which is something that I am not too proud of.)

Spirent gave me the opportunity to perform and learn in 2014. Great exposure, great experience, good projects. Spirent help me grow professionally as well as personally.

I got my first opportunity to speak to a public forum where I was on a debate panel at the NetEvents with renowned industry personalities. Multiple camera's, journalists across the world and the opportunity to talk on the emerging technology topic of Network Function Virtualization. It was certainly one of the highlight of 2014.  

2014 has also been a year of travel - New York, Washington, Los Angeles - multiple times,  India, Seattle, Paris - 2 times !, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Alaska, Vegas ! All in one year. I am sure I am missing a couple of trips. Fantastic memories. I would not mind another year full of travel. Hopefully 2015 has different locations. 

While 2014 has given me a lot, Cant leave out the Mercedes that was bought on a rainy Super Bowl day ! :)

I can foresee already that 2015 is going to be one of the most important year. There is a need for speed, need for hard work and most importantly need for smart moves. A lyric from Bon Jovi's song It's my life comes to my mind,
          " Tomorrow's getting harder make no mistake

             Luck ain't even lucky

             Got to make your own breaks"

We go again in 2015! Time to prove again, time to work again.  Rebooting ….