Waikiki

The Waikiki area is more touristy than the other areas I've explored.  Still- it offers beautiful beachs, lots of shops, the Honolulu Zoo surfboard rentals/lessons and lots of people for people watching =).  I've been over a few times now- the first for some surfing which I've already posted about.  The second time- I met up with a random group of people to play some sand volleyball.  The group is a based online, and the organizers moved here about 1.5 years ago, eventually drawing the same conclusion that I did - why aren't people playing sand volleyball all the time and all over this island???!!!  They decided to buy their own net/court set up and start a meet-up group after several months of looking for a group to join.  Thank goodness!  We had a great group and played 3v3 for several hours until it was too dark to see.  In addition to some great volleyball, another cool thing was that we all stopped playing to watch the sun set over the ocean.  Living on the east coast- I see the sun set on the mountains, so this was the first time I've seen it set on the ocean.  The other guys all live on the west coast, but still stopped to appreciate the beauty of where we are- sand, surf, coconut trees, blue water, orange/pink skies, sailboats and surfers outlined as the orange sun sank into the water.  Breath taking....
Towards the end of volleyball, a random Australian guy walked up and asked to play with us.  He trains as a semi-professional sand volleyball player down-under so was quite good as well as pretty good looking, complete with Australian accent.  However, I had to stifle a laugh when he introduced himself..."Hello!  My name's Bruce."  I've just seen Finding Nemo too many times, and wanted to say- "Hello, Bruce!  Tell me, do you eat fish?"
Third trip over to Wakiki was for Halloween!  Leslie and I met up with Jill and Tony to walk around the main strip and take in all the costumes.  The sidewalks, restaurants and bars were packed with people enjoying this random American holiday where we pretend to be something we are not.  Some of the best costumes (other than our own of course!!) included:
-a guy with a large piece of cardboard behind him tacked with bed sheets and a pillow behind his head- pretending to be sleeping while standing up
-an amazing dragon type costume w/ make-up - pretty scary!
-pippi-longstocking, complete with monkey
-fast-food characters (Jack, Ronald, Burger King, Wendy, Hamburgler)
-an amazing Dorothy and Scarecrow duo- looked straight from the movie
-guy dressed up as Heath Ledger's 'Joker' when he dressed up as a nurse in the movie- kind of double costume
-4 people with immaculate black and white costumes that were very theatrical- I think it's probably from a specific play or work of art as it seems familiar but can't place it...
-and one of my favorites, because I'm a nerd, was a stormtrooper from Star Wars walking around with a sign that said "Free Hugs"!  I got a hug, but forgot to get a picture to share!  Hilarious...

Stylish witch, gypsy and- you guessed it- manta ray!  Hard to see the tail in this picture...

Fast food wars