hawaii day three

shangri-la

while visiting the hawaiian home of doris duke, all the images of tacky hawaii from the previous day were thoroughly erased. the house and the grounds were bright and beautiful, and the views were spectacular. unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures of the interior, but she had a living room to die for. one wall was a giant window that came down so that the room could be open to the outside. imagine sitting on your couch, basking in the hawaiian sun, chatting with friends, and having the fresh ocean air wafting throughout the room. this is paradise, i'm telling you.

backyard

view of the guest house

garden; courtyard

view from the patio

more pictures here.

honolulu academy of arts

the shangri-la tour ticket included free admission to the honolulu academy of arts. i'm not the world's biggest art fan, but i do love me some architecture and landscaping, and there were some lovely courtyards. i was a bit tight on time so i didn't wander around for long, but it was a great museum and i would love to go back again next time to explore more thoroughly

manoa falls

next i zoomed off to hike manoa falls. if i had to describe the place in one word, it would be lush. and then green. and then muddy. the trail was a bit slick from the rainstorm we got the night before, and i was slipping and sliding a bit, but i felt more motivated to push through as little kids ran by barefoot and girls in miniskirts walked down in flip flops.

it was an interesting experience hiking alone. to a certain degree, i felt like i was "experiencing" more because i was moving at my own pace and didn't have conversation to distract me. on the flip side, i felt like i was more isolated because i didn't really have anyone to talk to about the sights i was seeing and because this was a fairly well-populated trail, i felt a bit self-conscious being alone, and thus felt the pressure to hurry along so that i wouldn't run into other people.


aloha tower 

tourist central. fun for window shopping but honestly, not much else.