The Rogue Islander: Mikko-tastic!

Well, readers. It has come and passed far too quickly: Mikko's Hawaiian Adventure.

Mikko took a super-long, super-redeye flight that brought him to Honolulu around 5 am on a Saturday.

We were able to identify him because he was the one with the MONSTROUS BEARD

We started the day by stopping at Libby's for some Manapua:

Soft bread stuffed with savory chicken or pork filling. Very, very tasty.

We then decided to make the most of the day with what we are now calling the "Mikko H. Special". The three of us hiked Diamond Head:

snorkeled Hanauma Bay:

and got lunch (and beers) at Kona Brewpub.

Not a bad first day.

Because you were wondering, the favorite beers of the day there were... (drumroll please...)

Mikko: Lavaman Red

Chris: Lemongrass Ginger

Matt: See: Cold and wet.

After Kona, we went home and then walked into Waikiki to enjoy a few Mai Tais at the Hale Koa.

Your tie? No, Mai Tai. (Free Pun, you're welcome)

There was some live music (yes, Freebird was vigorously requested), the magnificent Betty P. met us, and we moved the party to Moose McGillycuddy's. Highlights? Mikko vs. Betty drinking contest. Mikko lost. But really, we all lost because we decided to order Long Island Iced Teas. Enough said.

The next day, we took some time to recover with morning coffee, eggs, and Yankees:

They go so well together...

Mikko got his 9' surfboard delivered, strapped it to the top of the car and we began epic day #2.

This day began with snorkeling at Electric Beach. Fun fact - snorkeling at Electric Beach cures hangovers (mostly). It was a miracle! (kinda)

We then drove to the North Shore to investigate the surf situation and see the sights. The surf? A little intimidating. The sights? Pretty fantastic. We finally got to see some turtles resting on Laniakea beach:

They're holding hands!

We took the long way home, around the tip of the North shore and through Kaneohe to show Mikko some more of the island. It's the part that looks very Jurassic Park-y.

Rawr!

On his way to work the next day, Matt drove Mikko into Waikiki to go surfing off of the beach there. It's a bit of a paddle because, unlike Second Beach in RI, the surf at this beach occurs as a reef break:

Artist's Rendering
(Not to scale)

After Mikko's morning sesh, I met him in town and we walked back to the apartment together. It's a pretty long walk when you have to maneuver around tourists with a very long board. We dropped off the board, then headed back into Waikiki for lunch at Duke's.

(From Duke's website)

Mikko was able to try a local staple: poke (poke - eh), my favorite of which is raw ahi in a sweet soy marinade with onions. Mmmmmmm. After lunch and a beer or two, we wandered to the Yard House to meet Matt. Why is it called the Yard House? Because they serve beer by the (half)yard:

"How do I drink this?"
-Mikko H.

We walked along the Ala Wai Canal to get to our sushi dinner at Tokkuri Tei

Races along the canal

At Tokkuri Tei

Delicious beer and delicious sushi

The next day, Mikko and I walked to the beach a couple blocks south of my building. We stopped for a photo op in the park:

and I got some great pics of Mikko:

Mikko: The Messiah?

No, he has to walk across a shallow reef to get to the waves. It does look impressive, though.

The beach is pretty far, so I couldn't get a reeaaallly clear photo of Mikko - but he's the one in the white rashguard with the white board.

about to catch the wave...aww yeah

After a short beach day, Mikko and I went on a walking adventure. We walked to the Iolani Palace and King Kamehameha statue, got some homemade icecream (yum), and circled back to our apartment, passing the "Occupy Honolulu" campers (yes, I said campers) on our way back. Here are some highlights:

Looks promising..

Not again!!!!

Allie?! What are you doing in Honolulu?! Also, why can't you spell your name? Is this a new thing?

Tequilla Machete

Tequilla Rifle

When Matt got home from work, we went to Dave and Buster's for their super happy hour specials. We had an amazing system working so we were able to kill bad guys for 3 hours for $20 total.

Action shot!

We walked from D&B's to Bac Nam for our traditional Pho Tuesday dinner and it was uneventful (except for the part where the guys threw me into a fountain). Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup where you add basil, mint, lime, bean sprouts, and sriracha hot sauce to your taste. It is amazing and everyone should try it at least once...What? Changing the subject? Not me.

Matt was able to get off of work a little early on Wednesday, so we had a lazy morning, then made our way to the North Shore. On our way up, we stopped at the Dole Plantation

Little, baby pineapple!

ornamental pink pineapple

When Mikko saw this, he got very excited. It is a train tour that rides around the plantation.

So pumped.

When we asked the ticket lady if we were too old for the tour, she paused for too long for me to feel good about it, then said no. So we rode this train:

Around these fields:

and learned that pineapples are grown by planting the green tops twice. Also, the average worker can plant 10,000 a day. That's 20 each minute. I also learned that Dole is very very very wealthy, as in: they own one of the Hawaiian islands. After the train, we took some elegant photos:

and ate some pineapple soft-serve.

You've got a little something in your 'stache, Mikko

We ended our day by completing the maze. We seriously hustled (and also cheated) because the people who finish with the top 5 times get a prize!

...or so it was advertised. There was no prize. BOOO!

We consoled ourselves by getting Dat Cajun Guy shrimp for lunch.

So. Freakin'. Good.

We made a slow way back, had an easy afternoon, then had fish tacos at The Shack while listening to live music.

The hightlights of Thursday include the beach, and...AKL! As usual, our experience was wonderful. Matt had to act as bouncer because Won decided to close around 6:30. Mikko was on his best behavior, and Won treated us with Soju:

RUN!

Well, ok. If you insist.

...and dessert!

Some kind of chocolatey, hazelnutty, fried goodness

[The rest of this night has been censored for the benefit of our readers.]

We were in remarkably good shape the next day. This was fortunate because Mikko decided to try Discover Scuba! He was awesome at it! The only things Mikko struggled with were guzzling air and floating up when he got too excited.

So ready.

Where ya goin'?

Woo hoo!

While under, we played with collector urchins. You pick them up and rest them on your hand, then wait for them to extend tiny sucker tentacles. You can flip your hand over and they stay attached. Really fun. We saw a ton of fish and finished dive 2 with a huge ray! It's wingspan was like 6'.

That evening, we brought a couple beers and our books to Magic Island to watch the sunset.