Hawaii 101

Aloha, from Honolulu - Yes, I know that is a bit corny but if you have never had the opportunity to say it then I think it should be said -

THE PLANE TRIP: I arrived by airline on Monday afternoon after a lay-over in LA - I arrived on Hawiian Airlines and the flight and meal were an improvement from the Delta flight from ATL; nicer workers and a decent chicken teriaki lunch -

MY ARRIVAL: Eric, who works with Continental Pacific (CP) was to have met me at baggage claim around 2:15 but thought I was arriving Delta and ended up at the wrong airport - finally, around 3:30 we connected and he very graciously took me on a short tour of Honolulu before dropping me off at the condo that will be home while I am here - Eric could not be a nicer fellow and I think I will enjoy working with him -

THE WEATHER: Eric described the weather that day as "the worst it gets over here" - It was partly cloudy, 73 degrees, wind around 10-15 mph and a very pleasant change from the 30 degree morning I spent in ATL - that night it dipped into the upper 50's and TV reporters were complaining about how cold it was - Since then it has warmed back up nicely and today it is sunny and a very pleasant 80 degrees -

MY CONDO: My condo is on the 29th floor of the Nauru Tower. Jere and his family lived here when they first moved to Oahu but now live in the "mansion" 30 minutes out of town on the southeast coast where they recently filmed the final episodes of "The Shoot" for the cover of the Victoria Secrets Spring swimwear catalog. The condo is 2 bedroom with marble floors throughout and a balcony that offers great views of the ocean and Waikiki Beach slightly to my right and skyscrapers and mountains to my left. The building is one of the nicest in Honolulu and very well-secured. It is right across the street from Ala Moana Beach that offers a blue-green "swimming pool-like" bay with first-class snorkeling. I have been going every afternoon for 30 minutes or so to get a little salt water in my sinuses and start a gradual tanning of my pale face. The condo is also just across the street from Ala Moana mall which houses Nieman Marcus and Tiffany's and many other shops too expensive for my budget. It also offers many great restaurants, some with open-air views of the Pacific. Eric was kind enough to treat me to a dinner at Longhi's on Monday night that was hearty.

WORK: I have the title of Corporate Counsel for Continental Pacific but am doing very little real legal work. I am acting more in the capacity of project manager for the Kahuku Village project and immediately started attending meetings with Jere and Eric regarding their ongoing real estate projects here on Oahu. They have invested many tens of millions of dollars primarily on the North Shore near the village of Kahuku and are working with engineering and design firms daily to try and get the property ready to market. I attended the opening of the Hawaii legislature with Jere on Wednesday and met the representative that I will be working with to introduce land use reform legislation for Oahu during this session. I also scheduled and attended my first "meeting on my own" with a senior land planner yesterday. It was educational.

THE NORTH SHORE: The North Shore, besides being where the Continental Pacific land is located, is one of the top surfing spots of the world. During the winter, when the surf is at its peak, world surfing tournaments are run non-stop on and around Sunset Beach which is just 10 minutes from Kahuku Village. Jack Johnson lives in Sunset Beach and his children attend Sunset Beach Elementary school which is right on the main highway. On Tuesday, I went to the north shore and the surf was so high that all of the tournaments were canceled. The surf was between 25 and 35 feet high and was startling. Today the surf is forecast at 8 to 12 feet and the tournaments will be going full-speed ahead.

BODY SURFING: I want to try some body-surfing this weekend at Sandy Beach where the surf is forecast at 2 to 4 feet. It is supposedly the best body-surfing beach on the island and one of the better anywhere. Guess we'll see.

GROCERIES: I went grocery shopping on Wednesday night and finally have something fresh to eat at the condo. I never had such a good-tasting bologna sandwich as when I got home that night! I shopped the Safeway grocery store that is 6 or so blocks away. I asked for a "buggy" and they laughed and said I must be from back east; they simply call them carts. Anyway, groceries are priced a good bit more expensively than in AL and GA but the selection is pretty good; especially the fresh vegetables.

My fingers are tired - more later - ALOHA! (The same word means hello and goodbye)

Tim