Birthday!

My birthday celebration this year fell on a special occasion: King Kamehameha Day! I was hoping there would be some super cool festivities in town to enjoy on my birthday (a Tuesday this year), but there seemed not to be that much going on. A parade would be passing through downtown, but that seemed to be about it. It seemed especially odd because a Japanese department store celebrate its 100th anniversary with a giant fireworks display the week before. I guess historical figures are less important to most people.

So, in lieu of that, we decided to check out the Dole Pineapple maze and make a day out of it. Jake, Jeong-Wan, Sejin, Bret, Bret’s wife Jennifer, Mark, Anna, and I trekked over there in a couple of cars and set to exploring. I baked some cookies for the occasion, so Jake and I partook of those before delving into the maze. Inside, it wasn’t quite as big or nice as I expected. Sejin kept saying, “This is the biggest maze in the world?”

I had a good time, though. Anna and I explored together, looking for the eight stations labeled on the map and bumped into others as we wove in and out of the scraggly hedges. Eventually we met up with Jake and Mark and managed to find the last few after about an hour of searching. I like to think we could have been a bit faster if not for the cookies.

Afterwards, we settled down near the cafe and had some of the plantation’s famous “Dole Whip,” which is basically pineapple soft serve. It was so good that Sejin and Jake both went back to buy a second serving.

When we had all finished and gorged ourselves on pineapple, Anna and I took off with Jake for some snorkeling at Shark’s Cove. She surprised me with a snorkel set as a present and we had an awesome time swimming around the little bay. In the water, there were tons of fish: Moorish Idols, yellow Convict Tang, green Parrotfish, purplish Goatfish, and Reef Triggerfish (Humuhumunukunukuapuaa). We also saw a see turtle swimming near one of the cliffs and an eel darting around the reef. Totally cool, especially for my second snorkeling experience.

Jake took off after that to get Travis, so Anna and I went into town to get dinner at Cheesecake factory. We put our name in, then got a Mai Tai at a Mai Tai beachside bar. The drinks were good, but a little too fruity to be called true Mai Tais. Cheesecake factory was yummy, but this was the first time I realized they don’t have very many vegetarian options on the menu. So, I asked the waiter if they could make a burrito for me without meat. They were pretty helpful, but he pointed out that everything is cooked in chicken bullion. I got one anyway because, hey, sometimes you just don’t have a lot of options. They replaced the chicken with veggie burger chunks at least and it came out pretty good!

We were both too full afterwards for cheesecake, but the waiter spotted my birthday on my license when we ordered beers and embarrassed me with the birthday song. On the upside, we got a little mini-sundae for free.

Finally, we took off and headed back to my place. Elan and Jake came over for a session and we all chilled and watched Tv before I finally went to bed with Anna. It was definitely a very good birthday! And for once, I didn’t have to worry about being hungover the next morning.