Treehouse, making Kilauea erupt, volcanoes in the dark - April 25-26, 2011

On Monday, we started a four hour leisurely drive to the town of Volcano.  The route would take us around the island counter-clockwise.  Lunch was in Kona at a tiny taco joint called Killer Tacos that was recommended in the "Big Island Revealed" guidebook.  (Thanks to Ed and Angela for letting us borrow the book!)  They were out of fish, so we had kalua pig burritos and soft tacos which tasted okay (not exceptional enough to snap a photo).  We also tried to get some macadamia nut pie for dessert, which was supposedly nearby at the Kona International Market, but we did not find the store.  Instead, we settled for the "best shave ice on the island", sold from a stand next to a Longs Drugs store.  The ice was not shaved fine enough...the best shave ice still has to be Ululani's on Maui, the #1 U.S. restaurant on TripAdvisor.

We continued on Highway 11, heading towards the southernmost point on the Big Island.  Did you know that it is also the southernmost point in the 50 states?  We didn't actually drive to South Point as it was 12 miles from the main highway.  We did make a rest stop at Punalu'u Bake Shop, the southernmost bakery in the US.  Free samples.  We bought a couple of baked buns stuffed with red bean paste and a piece of mac nut pie.

Eventually we make it into the town of Volcano.  Our home for the next two nights, "Treehouse Skye", was located in a residential community a few miles from the entrance of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  We turned right off of the highway onto a two lane street which shrunk to a one-lane paved road, then turned left onto an unpaved gravel road.  Skye gave great directions to the place, though I would recommend getting there before nightfall as there are no streetlights and signs are hard to read.  I had given him a call before we arrived, so he met us at the driveway and took us on a tour of the treehouse.

in case you didn't know

stairway 20 feet up to the front door

little nook

fireplace and sitting area

nicely equipped kitchen (only missing an oven)

throne in the forest

shower (hot water comes from Skye's main house)

stairway up to the bedroom loft

raised bed, so comfy

trundle under bed for extra guests/kids; extra space behind with additional futons

view from the loft: cute decorative touches above the kitchen

view of the Treehouse from the "sky walk"

sky walk that leads to a small patio, all up in the trees!

What a work of art!  A lot of the materials were "recycled" (ie. leftovers from construction projects that would've been thrown away)   Five living trees were incorporated into the treehouse.  There was a lot of light as the walls were mostly windows with hardly any curtains (especially the bathroom).  Skye lived in a house (on the ground) 100 feet away, so it was supposedly private, and the entire property was five acres in size.  I was a bit worried about privacy with so many windows, but I couldn't see any other houses or structures.  (maybe there was a telescope hidden from view...)  One remarkable thing was that there were no bugs!  You'd think there'd be bugs crawling around due to the outdoorsy environment, but nope.  There was a small spider in the bathroom, but any house will have that.

For dinner, we visited the Kilauea Lodge Restaurant which was highly recommended in the guidebook.  The restaurant had a rustic feel to it, and we were seated next to the International Fireplace.  There was hardly anyone dining at 5:30pm, but the hostess still asked if we had a reservation.  Later on, Babe informed me that you could make a reservation on OpenTable, so they'd need to check you in.

decorated with plaques and items from all over the world

warm brie appetizer

fresh greens with papaya seed dressing

homemade soup

rabbit braised in "hearty hunter wine sauce"

"safari schnitzel" made from antelope

the best-tasting tea ever - locally grown in Volcano.  wanted to buy some, but couldn't find any.  apparently it is $400/lb.

After dinner, we stopped by a mini-mart to pick up some papayas.  It was rather dark getting back to the treehouse; fortunately we already knew the way.  The temperature plummeted at night as the area's elevation was over 4000 feet.  The hot water in the shower was adequate and the bed was very warm and comfortable.  There were robes available for use, which came in handy.

We woke up at 7am the next morning as the light was pouring in through the windows.  (this may be a problem for people who need complete darkness to sleep)  We also heard a cardinal repeatedly attacking his own reflection from a window in the sitting room, which was sad, but funny too.  Later in the morning, Skye dropped by to give us a loaf of locally baked bread as he forgot to stock the fridge with bagels for breakfast.  There were half a dozen eggs already in the fridge as well as individually wrapped pats of butter and tubs of cream cheese.  The pantry was stocked with whole coffee beans and a grinder with all the condiments, bagged teas, and oatmeal.  There wasn't any fruit (which I had expected from seeing the pictures online, though technically he stated "breakfast fixings" in general), which was why we got papayas the previous night. 

Today was dedicated to visiting the volcano and hike around.  We got to use our National Park annual pass again, so continued to get our money's worth!  First stop was at the visitor's center...not much there, but you have to go there for this box:

The ranger gave it to us and as we pushed the button, he went "Oh no, look what you've done!" and showed us a computer monitor with a video of the volcano erupting, haha.  Hilarious!  He said that in the past, a couple of visitors had freaked out, thinking they actually did make it erupt.

Unfortunately today's lava flow wasn't accessible via hiking, as it was erupting inside Kilauea's Halemaumau vent.  The entire area near Halemaumau was closed off due to toxic gases, so we couldn't drive there to take a look either.  We decided to do the Kilauea Iki hike.  You get to walk right across what once was a lava lake.  There was a huge group of people on a Holland America cruise shore excursion in front of us, mostly non-American from their accents.  A lot of them were wearing brand-spanking new white leather tennis shoes...soon to be gray colored.  I wondered if the ship was able to dock overnight, as it would be a large investment of time to see the volcano, with a 3 hour drive back and forth from the port.  Babe and I were slowed down by them in the beginning as the trail was narrow, but we managed to squeeze by when they took a short break.

view of the crater from above

eventually life does fight to exist on the barren crater floor

there are still some steaming vents

that white in the background is rain...it was dry on the trail until we crossed the crater

We then checked out Devastation Trail, followed by a drive along the Chain of Craters road.  We stopped at various craters on the road.  Cooled lava can take on many different textures and shapes.

looks like a bad plaster job

a small lava tube

lava flows petrified in time

eerie lava landscape

this lava was crunchy

looks like oil slicks.  the lava is very light and porous

this lava cooled into what looks to be the bust of an animal

Near the end of the road was the Puu Loa petroglyphs, which was about a 1.5 mile hike roundtrip.  The petroglyphs were carved by the early Hawaiians as they had no written language at the time.  This was and still is a sacred place for Hawaiians.  A wooden boardwark was built by the park around some of the petroglyphs to prevent further damage to them by visitors walking on them.

petroglyphs like these are all over the site

petroglyphs of humans

the holes were made to bury umbilical cords to ensure long life for the child

not a petroglyph, but interesting how lava can cool in spirals

At the end of the Chain of Craters road is where lava meets ocean.  New land made by lava flows is usually unstable; there were signs everywhere saying not to approach the edge, as the lava shelf may crumble and fall into the ocean.  There was an area where it was "safer" and you could see a sea arch from there:

We didn't have time to walk past the end of the road (a gate blocks cars from entering), but if you did walk further, you'd enter a housing development that was devastated by the lava flows in the 1980's.  We drove back up the road and stopped at Thurston Lava Tube.  You get to walk through an old lava tube.  It was set up especially for visitors, with a nice ramp and handrails, concrete walkway and electric lights inside.  You'd expect a gift shop at the exit.

We went back to the treehouse to eat last night's leftovers for dinner, then headed back into the park for nighttime viewing of the volcano from Jaggar Museum.  It was dark, easy to see the orange glow coming from Halemaumau crater.  Pretty cool.

not too bad with a pocket camera though an SLR would've been better

Tonight was our last night at the treehouse.  Tomorrow, we go towards Hilo and check into our vacation home located right on Champagne Pond!

Start of Sabbatical! Traveling to the Big Island, the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel - April 23-24, 2011

Finally taking my 8-week sabbatical, woohoo!   Here is the list of the major things I would/will be doing:

• a week on the Big Island of Hawaii with Babe
• a solo mileage run to Singapore (staying there for 2 full days versus a few hours)
• another mileage run to Singapore, staying 4 full days but accompanied by my friend Karen
• a week in Las Vegas (I know what you're thinking...too long)
• half a week in Scottsdale, AZ with Babe
• 9 day trip with Babe to see Peru and hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Sabbatical officially started when I left the office early on Friday afternoon to catch a plane to Babe's place.  Interestingly enough, "work" still continued to follow me, as I bumped into Vanitha, a friend at work who was traveling to meet her son to look for housing for grad school, and happened to be on the same flight since she could not get on an earlier one.  It was nice to have some company on the flight as it made the time fly by.  I'm not surprised when I run into people at the airport or even the same flight, as it had happened last year with another old work friend, Shekoufeh.

The first week of sabbatical was for relaxing and forgetting about work.  I even turned off work email to my iPhone.  However, I managed to dream about work the first few days, ugh!  Interestingly enough, the stock price went up since I went on sabbatical.  They must not need me around.

Our trip to Hawaii had arrived...this was Babe's first visit to the Big Island, and it would be my first time seeing the volcano at night.  I planned the trip differently than the last couple times I had been to Hawaii.  I had usually stayed in one place the whole trip, but this time, I broke up the lodging into different places, as the Big Island is very large and I didn't want to spend so much time driving back and forth between home and attractions.

Thanks to "UDU" (Unlimited Domestic Upgrades) on United, Babe and I were upgraded to first class on the leg from Los Angeles to Kona, which made for a more comfortable trip.  (we were unable to get upgraded on the puddle jumper to Los Angeles, not that I cared, as the flight was short)  Breakfast was served, but it was the same blah turkey sausage/potato/egg plate with croissant and fruit.  We landed in Kona around noon...and I did not forget my iPod and iPhone on the plane like last February! :)  I got a Hertz rental car from Priceline, which saved $50 from booking direct.  The rental counter agent told us there was a special on full-sized sedans and Jeep Wranglers...then he looked at my reservation and said, "Oh, you have a full-size...well, we have a special on Jeep Wranglers..."  I declined all offers, and we were on our way in our Mazda 6 with 29k miles on it.  We thought we had marked all damage on the car on the form to turn in to the exit gate agent, however, the agent noticed that the left front wheel panel was jutting slightly open (at an angle which was hard for us to see) and he marked it down for us, sweet!

As usual, our first stop was to Costco for lunch and groceries, but since we didn't have a condo (our first hotel offered only a small refrigerator in the room), we only bought pre-cut papaya and pineapple. We also stopped by Safeway to get beer, poke, and Hawaiian bread.

Our home for the next couple of nights would be the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel.  I originally booked the Four Seasons Hualalai, but the tsunami triggered by the Japan earthquake hit the Big Island and damaged the Four Seasons as well as the resort next door, the Kona Village.  The Four Seasons website claimed that the resort would re-open three weeks later, but after seeing damage footage on YouTube, I doubted that would be the case, and I was right, as I received an email a few days later from Four Seasons apologizing for canceling my reservation as the re-opening would be delayed until April 30.  I was bummed as I was hoping to treat myself to a couple of nights there as I had always wanted to stay there, plus I found a deal that included breakfast every morning plus one lunch.  Plan B would be to stay at the 2nd highest rated hotel on TripAdvisor, which was the Mauna Lani.  I got a great price of $209 a night plus tax on Hotwire after researching that the Mauna Lani was the "mystery 4.5 star Kohala coast hotel" on betterbidding.com.  Regular room rate was $395.  This was way less expensive than my original plans to stay at the Four Seasons.  Incidentally, the Four Seasons mailed me an apology for the resort closure and included a coupon for one free night, good until April of next year, and combinable with any offers, yay!  I'll need to make another trip to the Big Island before then...I don't think I will be able to find a better discount than this, unless someday I meet some rich friends who will invite me to stay in a villa there. ;)

The Mauna Lani was like an oasis sprouting up from the black lava desert of the Kohala coast.  The hotel had free valet parking, and the bags were unloaded by the bell hop to take to the room.  We were seated at one of several individual desks, where we were met by a greeter, who asked for our names, and gave us fresh orchid leis, a cool towel, and a refreshing guava beverage garnished with pineapple.  She disappeared, then an agent came with the materials to check us in and describe the amenities offered by the hotel.  Very classy.

We were offered the opportunity to upgrade to an ocean view room for an additional $25 a night.  Since the difference between a standard room and an ocean view room was $250 a night, the $25 was a bargain!  (in addition to the low Hotwire rate)  Our room was on the top floor, facing the turtle pond (denoted as the "quiet side").  It was nice to be on the top floor as there was no noise from "people above", and most of the roof of the lanai was open to the sky.

The hotel grounds were beautiful, with lots of water features and lush landscaping.  There was even a shark pond!  At 6pm every night, a "warrior" sounded the conch horn and ran around to light all of the gas torches in the resort.  It was funny to watch children chase after him.  There was live Hawaiian music in the atrium that evening.

We ate dinner in our room (poke, papaya and beer!) and crashed as we were so tired from being up since 3:30am.

Sunday was Easter, and it was a gorgeous sunny day.  We spent the entire day at the beach.  There were many cabanas with padded loungers to choose from, as well as hammocks.  Servers would visit the guests every hour or so to see if anything was needed from the bar or grill, which was very convenient.

We took a stroll of the grounds later in the evening.  Sunsets are spectacular on this side of the island.

We only spent two nights at the Mauna Lani, so we did not have a chance to enjoy other complimentary amenities such as one hour of tennis every day, snorkel rental for four hours every day, coffee/tea in the lobby, guided nature walks, or riding bicycles to roam the grounds.  Staying at the Mauna Lani was very relaxing and carefree, though I was definitely looking forward to our next accommodations - a treehouse located next to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park!

Da Beach, coffee, luxury villa, local eats, air pockets! - Feburary 17-19, 2011

Today was our last full day with Ed and Angela as they were returning back to the mainland the next day.  We headed to the northern-most point on Kauai, Ha'ena State Park and Ke'e Beach.  It took over an hour and a half to drive here from Poipu, with narrow roads and one-lane bridges.  The Kalalau Trail trailhead that takes you along the Napali coast starts at Ha'ena, but we didn't hike it this visit.  Ha'ena's parking situation had changed over the years...before, if the paved lot was full, you could turn right onto a dirt road into the forest and find some spots to park next to the trees.  Later, the dirt road access was closed and an overflow parking lot was built a ways from the paved lot.  When I was here November 2009, I was lucky to snag a spot in the main lot, but not this time, so I dropped everyone off, then parked in overflow.  It was only a few minutes' walk to the beach.

The waves weren't super high at Ke'e, but it was enough where the lifeguards posted a "No Snorkeling" sign and barked at people who attempted to get in with snorkel gear.  Some of the beach is protected, so we went swimming.  Much of it was captured on video, so I only have a few pictures to share.

After swimming in the ocean for a couple of hours, we packed up and did a little bit of sightseeing (Wet Cave, Hanalei Valley Lookout) on the way to Hanalei Bay.  I was hoping to run into a surfing school on the beach so that everyone could take lessons.  I didn't see any classes going on, though there were people renting surfboards, oh well.  We swam there for an hour, then grabbed "linner" at the nearby Ching Young Village strip mall, including picking up some shave ice at Shave Ice Paradise, which wasn't that great.  Should've gone over to the Wishing Well Shave Ice roach coach down the street.  We decided to call it a day since it was such a long drive back down to Poipu, plus, we had to check out of the timeshare the next day.  The timeshare was only until Friday, and we weren't leaving until Saturday afternoon.  I had hoped to find another week that would extend into Saturday, but no such luck, so fortunately, I saw a deal on Travelzoo at the Wyndham Koloa Landing at Poipu Beach.   It turned out to be even less expensive if I signed up for their free Wyndham Rewards card and booked their special member rates.  I reserved a three bedroom oceanview villa for $361 total, the price you'd normally pay for a hotel room without a view at a luxury Hawaiian resort!  The pictures of the resort looked fantastic.

Friday, we bade farewell to our home base at the Marriott Waiohai and did some sightseeing to burn time between checkout and check-in.  First stop was the Kauai Coffee Company, with free coffee tasting and a self-guided tour around the plantation.  There were many flavors to choose from, regular and decaf.  I don't normally like the taste of coffee, but gave in to peer pressure and drank some macadamia nut decaf (with lots of sugar and cream).  Then we took the tour (which for some reason, was called a "maze"), inspecting coffee plants and harvesting/drying equipment.

Afterward, we headed into Lihue town to grab some local grub at Hamura Saimin Stand.  I had wanted to try this place out for a while ever since reading about it in the Ultimate Kauai guidebook, but didn't get a chance to do it until now.  It was located on a side street in a shady part of town, next to motels offering rooms with no view for $75 a night.  The eatery was set up as diner service, where you find a stool and sit down.  The waitress throws you a menu that's seen better days, hand you a place setting consisting of paper napkin, disposable wooden snap chopsticks and plastic Chinese soup spoon, as well as a small glass of water.  Four of us ordered the "special" saimin and two got the wonton noodle soup.  Wontons here are not the same as wontons in California.  I think the inside was filled with unmarinated lean ground pork, nothing else, no shrimp, no mushrooms, or any sort of flavor.  Not a fan of these.  The other toppings were okay, nothing spectacular.  It was $6.75 for a bowl, so it was an inexpensive way to fill your stomach.

After lunch, we hit another farmer's market at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue.  The market was to start at 3pm, but tons of people were already milling about, looking at all the vendors' produce.  Sheri's mom selected a couple of huge ripe papayas to purchase, but the vendor told her that she couldn't pay until 3pm.   At around 2:58pm, a "grand marshal" of sorts blew a loud whistle, then everyone rushed the vendors!  I wasn't sure what people were scrambling to buy.  We picked up longans and starfruit in addition to the papayas.

Our last night in Kauai, boo hoo!  (Ed and Angela had already boarded a plane back to the mainland)  We headed back to Poipu and arrived at the Wyndham.  I pulled the van up to the porte-cochere and went into the hotel lobby to check in.  The desk agent offered me a fresh flower lei!  She also offered to give leis to the rest of the group in the van, but I told her that they were all taking a nap after the long drive.  When I returned to the van, I mentioned that they could get leis if they wanted, so Sheri, her dad and my dad went in to get some.  The men were presented with kukui nut leis.

Our villa was on the 2nd floor in one of the buildings closest to the shore.  The elevators were "semi-private", meaning you pushed the button corresponding to your villa, and the elevator would move, and once it reached your floor, it would open to your private hallway that led to the villa.  (the opposite elevator door would open if you were going to the villa next door)  The front door was made of really nice wood.  Upon entering the villa, the "oohing and ahhing" commenced.  The place was decorated with rich dark woods mixed with a soothing neutral color palette along with tropical accents.  Plush duvets, fluffy towels and robes made it very luxurious.  Three bedrooms and three baths...$361 was a bargain, versus getting three hotel rooms and no kitchen. (though we could have saved money by checking into the $75 motel near the saimin restaurant...NOT!)  The "oceanview" portion of it was mostly a "filtered" view through the palm trees since we were on the 2nd floor, and the building had 4 floors.

king bed in master bedroom

master bathroom

master shower with Grohe fixtures

master walk-in closet

great room with wrap-around floor-to-ceiling glass doors that slid all the way open

gourmet kitchen with granite countertops, Wolf appliances and built-in refrigerator

one side of wrap-around lanai

other side of lanai

queen bed in 2nd bedroom

2nd bedroom's bath, which was also the "public" bathroom

two twin beds in 3rd bedroom

private full separate shower and bath in 3rd bedroom

walk-in laundry room

last day in Hawaii :(

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the on-site pool and hot tub, pretty much had it to ourselves.  Here's a picture that I stole from the Wyndham website:

Later that night, I read a brochure in the villa that gave contact information in case we were interested in "ownership".  Apparently, these villas were for sale, not as timeshares, but fully owned property that was managed by Wyndham if you wanted to rent it out.  There were more buildings to be built in the next year.  I looked it up on the internet, and to buy a place like the one we were staying at would cost close to $2 million!  I think I'd rather rent...

Saturday, we checked out and headed to the airport to catch our flight at 2pm.  My mom and I were upgraded on our flight from Lihue to LAX, yay!  The flight had started non-eventful, with a decent beef curry dinner but not-so-great movie ("Unstoppable").  But as we got closer to the mainland, a storm was going on, and we started experiencing turbulence, but nothing out of the ordinary.  Then we hit an "air pocket"...the plane probably dropped a few hundred feet.  People were a bit shook up, but we brushed it off.  The captain announced that the flight attendants should be seated.  Then we hit another air pocket; we dropped sharply again and I heard a loud crash in the forward galley and a flight attendant screamed.  I saw three flight attendants sitting on the ground in the galley, not knowing when it would be safe to stand up again.  The phone next to the exit door was ringing (near my seat), but no one was there to answer.  I turned around wondering if I should answer, but watched the passenger sitting in 8D take off his seat belt and grab the phone, probably the captain calling about status and did not know that most of the flight attendants were on the floor just right outside of the cockpit.  The plane shortly stabilized with little to no turbulence, and everyone was on their feet again.  What a scare!  It was probably my second worst flight ever in all my flying history...I actually cinched my seat belt tighter across my hips.  Eventually we made it all the way back to San Jose after midnight...an unforgettable end to our week-long stay in paradise.  Mom and Dad, hope you enjoyed your 40th wedding anniversary trip (minus the air pockets)!

Where in the world is Kat Kong going next?  I'm taking my 8-week sabbatical in the middle of April!  (so long overdue)  The only plans set in stone so far is a 9-day trip end of May with Babe to Machu Picchu, which includes a 4-day Inca Trail hike up in high altitude.  We're doing some practice hikes to prepare...last weekend, Babe and I hiked Picacho Peak again.  My legs are sore right now, but not as sore as they were when I first did it.  Does that mean I'm in better shape or a smarter hiker?  :)  Next, we'll hike Humphreys Peak after the snow melts, to get some altitude practice.  Stay tuned!