Five days until we're off to Maui...Two days until Pearl Harbor tour...Shopping online...A year ago...Close up Lion photos...

We walk along the busy streets of Waikiki seeking shade from time to time.

We're excited about moving to Maui, more than we anticipated. Without a car in Honolulu, unable to cook meals with no nearby grocery store and longing for more space to maneuver, we're anticipating the six weeks in Maui with much enthusiasm.

This is the cutest store! They custom make flip flop while the customer waits.

As we mentioned in several past posts, it will have been 77 days that we haven't cooked a single meal. Honestly, I'm chomping at the bit for some home cooking. Tom is also looking forward to our favorite meals, although he'll be joining me in my usual restrictive diet.

The Pualeilani Atrium Shops at Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort.

We've learned to make fabulous dinners and the planning, grocery shopping and even putting the food away, are tasks that we both enjoy. Learning a new grocery store is not difficult. Usually within a week or two, we'll breeze through with ease finding all the items on our list.

Beautiful gardens and fountains in the Hyatt mall.

We're especially intrigued by food prices in Hawaii wondering if in fact, they'll be as high as others have reported. Last night, we purchased a four pack of toilet paper at a local ABC convenience store for $2.86 which didn't seem higher than we often pay. Of course, once we shop in Maui next Thursday or Friday, we'll certainly share the prices we discover.

Entrance to the King's Village Shopping Center in Waikiki.

Often, we've heard others say they'd love to live in Hawaii wondering if its possible with the higher cost of living. After all, it is rated with the most expensive cost of living than any other state in the US. We shall see how that rolls out for us over the next several months.

The clock tower at the King's Village Shopping Center. Once inside this boutique type mall, we walked along an upper level hearing someone calling out to us. It was a couple we'd met on the slot pull on the most recent cruise, dining in a sidewalk café in the mall. We sat with them for quite awhile engaged in interesting conversation.

On Monday morning at 6:55 am, we're scheduled to be picked up outside the Aston Waikiki for the seven hour Pearl Harbor tour. Tom's been chomping at the bit for the opportunity to see this historic site.

Pearl Harbor, not unlike Normandy, with its powerful and emotional significance, no doubt will be meaningful for both of us, taking photos every step of the way which we'll share the photos the next day or at the latest on Wednesday.

We would have tried this scale if we hadn't used all of our change doing laundry which,
by the way, was only $7 for two loads in the coin operated laundry in the hotel as opposed to $28 for the same amount in Paris and London.

As for my shopping online...oh, it would be nice if I could walk into shop and find things that fit me, that were practical, durable and cool in hot climates, I'd be thrilled. But, its not the case. Plus, the thought of browsing through numerous stores at the largest mall in Honolulu, the Ala Moana Mall, looking for these specific items is pointless.

This was my Cobb salad at our new favorite restaurant, Cheeseburger Paradise in Waikiki. We love this very busy place serving over 1400 guest per day, planning to return again tonight. Its imperative to arrive by 6 pm to ensure getting a table. I ordered extra avocado for $2 and loved the Blue Cheese dressing which they assured me was gluten, sugar and starch free.

I prefer tee shirts that are made with 5% spandex for durability (they don't get stretched out) that are somewhat fitted. Wearing more fitted tees appears more dressed up (to me) than a typical baggy tee shirt. This way if I add a skirt, a pair of jeans or longer shorts, I feel acceptable in public.

Currently, I own only one pair of shorts which just won't cut it for long term stay in Hawaii. I'd intended to "cut off" two of the last three pairs of jeans I ordered received in a box of supplies in Madeira five months ago. But, having worn those three pairs of jeans so often these past several months, I realized that I didn't want to reduce my inventory down to one pair of jeans.

Tom was smiling when he read the menu with multiple options appealing to him. There were 16 TV screens in the sports bar area of Cheeseburger Paradise. I offered to sit where he was sitting so he could watch the screen but, if its not the Minnesota Vikings he has no interest.

Yesterday, I placed an order for six tee shirts and two pairs of 11" long shorts also with 5% spandex for comfort from two of my favorite online stores, knowing their sizes will fit me without trying them on.

With free shipping, I had them sent to our mailing service, where they'll box them up and ship them and a few other supplies to a local UPS store in Maui that I noticed on google maps is not far from our condo.

Tom ordered a Reuben Sandwich on white rye with onion rings.

Now, that I know these items will be on their way to Maui within a few weeks, I'll throw away the old worn out tee shirts that these new items will replace. "Buy new, throw away old." No room in our luggage for added weight.

In an effort to save on spending in Honolulu we'd decided to avoid the high cost of taxis and walk everywhere. There are numerous buses and trolleys that run along the boulevard but, with endless restaurant and points of interest in Waikiki Beach, we've been content traveling on foot.

Hibiscus in the mall.

When we return to Oahu for nine days at the end of May, we'll stay in Honolulu to have an opportunity to explore that end of the city and to be near the pier for the upcoming cruise to Sydney, Australia on May 24th. At this point, that seems long away. In no time, it will be here.

Time flies when we're having fun.
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Photo from one year ago today, October 11, 2013:

This male lion was waiting for a meal of baby warthogs which he hoped the nearby female lion would capture from a nearby hole where their mother placed them when she spotted the lions. For more details on this story and many more of our close up lion photos, please click here.