Dr. Martens - Do or Don't?

I've been thinking since around mid last year I should get some Dr. Martens boots. I have tarsal coalition (as you have read about here before) where two of the bones in each of my ankles are partially fused, causing pain and swelling when on my feet for long periods. Problem is, my job basically demands be to be on my feet for long periods, so I find runners and boots to be most supportive. My work environment is pretty casual - we can get away with jeans and runners if we want, but I'll usually wear jeans or leggings and boots with a casual top or cardigan. Last year I tried on a pair of Dr. Martens 1460 boots in a shop in DFO Moorabbin, and, looking down at my feet, thought they looked very much like school shoes and also that I looked like I was wearing men's boots. However I really should have tried them with skinny jeans or leggings to get the proper effect. Now that we're slowly on the way to winter, I'm wondering if I should invest in a pair and begin breaking them in in time for Winter:

I love the patent black, but wondering if it is a bit too 90s grunge? Yesterday I saw a girl wearing these around Chadstone and they looked soooooo good.

Regular black would be most versatile, however the current ones come with a giant Dr. Martens logo imprinted on the top outside of each boot, which I'm not so keen on. These were the ones I tried on and felt looked like men's work boots. Incidentally, I saw a girl at the hairdressers yesterday wearing these - two Docs sightings in one day. These things are definitely making a comeback. 

Then there is cherry red. Cherry red looks so good but it's not as practical as black. However may look a little more girly?

Did you have Dr. Martens back in the day? I never had any but I really wanted the 3 hole school shoes, however my school was super strict and did not allow yellow stitching on shoes, effectively banning Docs school shoes at school. Also, I don't think my mum would have forked out the cash for them. These boots remind me of the 90s though, just the look and the popularity and also those yellow Dr. Martens boots Zac Hanson had. I miss the 90s! Do you think they are a do or don't for a casual work environment? If you have them, have you purchased them recently or have you dragged out your old boots from the 90s (or earlier)? If you have them, how would you rate them for comfort and support? Most importantly, should I get some?!

Pearl Harbor and USS Missouri Tours...

One thing in Hawaii my mum was keen to do (myself not so much, I was more neither here nor there in terms of how I felt about going) was go to Pearl Harbor. Booking tickets on the government site was confusing with many different options. Our hotel had a tour desk and we booked tickets to go to the Arizona Memorial and a tour on the USS Missouri ship, both in Pearl Harbor, as well as return coach transfers. It was over $70 per person but was an informative day. Too bad they sent us this coach:

Yep, the bus is on fire.

We started off with a pretty early pickup, around 6:30 A.M. outside our hotel. The drive was just under an hour and the bus driver gave a running commentary on all kinds of things on the drive to Pearl Harbor. The bus driver was the most laid back guy ever, just yakking away casually and not too panicked by traffic, and had a bit of a sarcastic nature, but in a humourous manner. As it was early and I hadn't slept well the night before, I begun to doze on the bus, half listening, half in the land of nod. I was gradually bought back to attention by an odd, strong smell, accompanied by someone behind me saying "Is that smoke? It smells like smoke". The bus pulled to a stop on the side of the freeway exit ramp outside the Aloha Stadium (where gridiron is played), and I looked out my window to see not only the stadium beyond but billows of smoke rising up next to my window. We were seated about 5 rows from the back of the bus. The bus driver got off the bus and a minute or two later casually said over his headset "I'm gonna need to get you all off this bus." Cue panic. We all got out of our seats and tried to get down the aisle but the aisle wasn't moving as there were a couple of absolute gigantic whoppers, the morbidly obese people you really only see in America with tyros around their midsections, sitting up the front and were taking ages to haul their gigantic selves out of their seats, let alone get into the aisle, and down the front steps and out the door. A guy a row or two behind me really started to panic, yelling "MOVE!" and then other people joined in as the smoke and smell got worse and the queue wasn't moving, "HURRY UP!", "WE GOTTA GET OFF THE BUS!", "MOOOOOOVE IT!" and so on. It was starting to get worrying as the smoke was getting bad and, being at the back of the bus, we would be the first to blow up if the engine totally went up in flames. Just as I was thinking of suggesting to the guys to break an emergency exit window, the slow poke huge people finally got off and the rest of the busy quickly got off the bus, to stand on the nature strip by the freeway. This is what we saw:

Yes, the engine is on fire. Yes, it looked worse in real life.

 Traffic was banked up and soon enough we heard the sound of sirens.

The fire truck responded very quickly. Anyone know why fire trucks are yellow in Hawaii??!!

 Two firefighters calmly walked over together and extinguished the blaze. They then spent considerable time hosing the whole back and underside of the bus.

 Soon, the police were on the scene talking to our super chilled out driver.

 It took about 30 minutes for a replacement bus to come (from the time the original bus caught on fire), so that was pretty good. The same bus driver got on the new bus to carry us on to Pearl Harbor, only a 2-3 minute drive away! The funniest bit was that when the bus driver got on the new bus and begun speaking into his headset, there was no 'sorry about that folks', no 'the bus overheated but thanks for your patience', nope, no pleasantries or apologies. Our laid back bus driver just continued on his commentary (he was discussing the upcoming Pro Bowl at the Aloha Stadium) like nothing had happened at all. Haha. All the Aussies on the bus liked his attitude and had a bit of a laugh at that one!

So since I didn't die on a bus blowing upon the way to Pearl Harbor, we made it there with only a couple of minutes to spare before our movie begun. My Mum had to check her bag as they don't allow any baggage (so I left my DSLR in the hotel and just took my trusty little Canon IXUS). The movie was a documentary about the events leading up to and of Pearl Harbor's bombing by the Japanese, and was narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis. It was well done with footage from the event, and informative without being information overload. After, you walked out to a boat captained by a military officer which shuttled you to the USS Arizona Memorial.

The shuttle boat.

The USS Arizona Memorial sits perched on two beams above the USS Arizona shipwreck.

The roof of the memorial is open - no glass. 

You have about 15 minutes inside the memorial. Whilst in there you can look into the water and see the ship below, and sometimes just above the water. 

Looking across Pearl Harbor from the memorial. 

Markers like these dotted the Harbor, showing where different ships lie beneath the water or were sunk but later raised.

The names of all those who died on the ship. Amazing. 

The USS Missouri to the right was to be our next stop.

Upon leaving the memorial, the shuttle boat takes you back to land and you can look in some small museums/. 

 After, we got back on our bus and were driven over to the USS Missouri, where we had a guided tour.

We were driven back to Waikiki and arrived back at our hotel around 3:30 P.M.

Have you been to Pearl Harbor? What was your experience? How did it affect you? Have you been to any other war memorials across the world?

Diamond Head Hike...

During our stay in Honolulu, I was determined to go do the Diamond Head hike. I had heard the reviews and seen photos of the amazing views so knew I needed to get myself up there. Having read the reviews, we set out a little after 7 and were there and hiking before 8 - it gets hot fast, and was already really busy, with several people already coming down from the summit.

Getting to the base of the hike was a walk in itself. We bussed it from Waikiki to the Kapiolani Community College. From there, it was about a 5 minute walk along the road to the driveway entry for the state monument. You walk about 10 minutes up a hill and stop in a small lookout car park and see this:

View of the sunrise by Waialae.

After stopping here for photos and water (the sun is hot, remember), you walk through a tunnel into the crater where you pay your admission ($1 per pedestrian, $5 per car load). You then walk across the car park and up to the base of the hike. The beginning of the hill is up a paved road so is pretty easy, and there are toilets and a vending machine before you get started.

The tunnel you may just be able to see in the hillside leads cars and pedestrians into the car park from the main road. 

 The paved pathway quickly turns into an unpaved, rocky, dirt path, and you walk and walk and walk and you drip with sweat and you walk some more, around twists and turns, ensuring you keep right to let people coming down get past, stopping at one or two lookouts on the way up. Just when you think you're nearly there you have to walk through a really dark tunnel. You then think you're surely there, and then you hit a steep set of steps. After you haul yourself up these, you turn another bend and there is an even steeper set of stairs greeting you. To the left is apparently an easier option but it's apparently longer, so you clap a few times to motivate yourself and, after a giant swig of water, you haul ass up to the top of these steps. Then you turn the corner and you have a spiral staircase and then you duck under a ledge and you finally get to the top when you don't see the view. You wipe the sweat pouring off you, air out your sopping wet t-shirt, and collapse against a railing to finish your water. Then, and only then, you see this view:

 After a few minutes, you decide it's time to head back down. On your way down you are met by several parties of Japanese tourist of all ages walking up the mountain, many in sandals or thongs. Then, around a bend, coming towards you is a group of big burly men, RUNNING up the hill.

When you get to the bottom you see how far you walked. You take a photo which doesn't do it justice.

The summit is the tiny white speck you can see at the top of the first peak there - that is the platform you can stand on.

 The Diamond Head hike isn't easy. It's not super hard, but although I'm fitter than I was a year ago, I'm not the fittest out there. It's worth it for the great views at the top, but you definitely need to get there around 7 so it's not too hot - possibly earlier in the Summer. It's about 35-45 minutes to the top so allow 2-2.5 hours for a round trip from Waikiki. Bring plenty of water - I took a 600ml bottle as I was carting along all my photography equipment but I could have easily had a litre. It's a nice way to start a day and something completely different from everything else on offer in Waikiki/Honolulu. Just a tip - once you've done this in the morning, don't go spend the afternoon trawling the Ala Moana Center for 5 hours. Instead of shopping your heart out, go sit on the beach instead and relax!

Paradise Cove Luau...

The first main thing we did in Hawaii was go to the Paradise Cove Luau. This luau ran like a well-oiled machine. There were hotel transfers by coach, with running commentary and participate games (which I don't really like) the whole bus ride there and back. Paradise Cove Luau is located right near the Disney Aulani resort, by a few resorts about a 45 minute drive out of Waikiki. Tickets were pretty expensive (if I recall correctly, $89 for the lowest tier, which we got), but there was plenty of food and two small alcoholic drinks included.

After arriving, you followed a 'puu' - a shell being blown into - around the site to see different attractions. Here a lady in her coconut bra dances to a man playing guitar. 

The beach was a small cove where you could go for a short canoe ride.

Colourful birds on display.

More birds.

Sarong tying demonstration.

Man climbing a tree wit a bag of flower petals clenched between his teeth for the 'shower of flowers', meant to welcome everyone.

The flowers being showered. This guy was pretty high up!

Man catching the fish for the dinner, apparently!

Casting the net into the ocean.

After the fish were caught, hula dancers and fire holders came out.

The chief of the luau watches over the kalua (pig in sand pit being roasted) while more dancers dance.

After the pig is pulled out of the pit, it is displayed to the crowd on a stretcher before being walked off to the kitchen, apparently to be pulled apart and served at dinner in a mere 20 minutes! While we were watching this performance I ran into a girl I used to work with - fancy the chances of sitting next to someone on the other side of the world in a crowd of maybe 500!

After a buffet style dinner (plenty of food and tasty) the show begun, with lots of dancing.

More dancing.

A fire twirler. Our seats were a bit farther back so my shots of this weren't great. However I don't recommend spending extra on the better seats, as some were just as far away as ours.

Dancing from different cultures.

Overall, the luau was an enjoyable experience. Everything was highly polished and I'm sure not at all traditional, but the entertainment, food, and activities were all well done and enjoyable. I'd recommend it as a one off if you haven't been to one before.

Have you ever been to a luau? Anything similar in any other Polynesian country? Or any other cultural ceremonies elsewhere around the world? Did you enjoy it or feel like it was a bit of a tourist trap?

Aloha Hawaii...

I'm back from my trip to Hawaii. It was interesting. I did a ton of shopping and came back with my suitcase doubly as full as it was when I departed Melbourne, which means success! I did find the people in the shops to be a little too pushy/annoying, compared to the mainland East Coast of the US. Homeless people were everywhere - Waikiki was literally covered with homeless people on the main street by the beach. My Mum said she had heard once on a Stephen Fry show that apparently the counties on the mainland pay these homeless people an airfare over to Hawaii where it is consistently warm (ie. good for sleeping out at night) so that they get them off their own streets. There was ridiculous traffic at random times of the day. Shopping and meals were more expensive than they are on the mainland - meals in particular were closing the gap quite significantly between Australian and US prices, especially once you add in a 20% tip. It was good to go and do Hawaii properly - back in 2008 I made a stopover on the way back from the East Coast, where I had travelled alone, and a combination of jet lag and loneliness meant that trailed around the Ala Moana Centre for a few hours aimlessly without buying anything (also back then I didn't know what any of the shops were, whereas now, with both online shopping and my living in the US means I know exactly what is in what shops and what I do and don't want to go into) before sleeping for half a day, venturing out onto the main street and buying Subway for dinner, then changing my flight to leave the next morning, three days early. I'm going to do a multi-part photo series on my holiday in Hawaii, starting today, to show the different things I did and my thoughts on them. Enjoy.

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach - the famous view.

Waikiki Beach looking in the other direction.

Hotels lining the beach. The swimming barrier/break lines most of the beach, which is a shame as you don't really get to experience waves like a regular beach. I guess they want to make the lifeguards' jobs easy.

Diamond Head.

International Marketplace signage - this last little bit was all that remained with about 10 stalls at the front of the once much larger marketplace by the main street for the month of January. Come February 1st, the whole thing closed for good.

Koi fish in the pond for the Japanese tourists at the Marketplace - a place to buy mainly pearls and other jewelry for souvenirs.