Before you ask for some incriminating photos - we had about 3 rolls shot at Hawaii. All of them were processed at the local Costco. Smera and I took turns browsing thru the rolls. After seeing two of the rolls, Smera said "I dont want to see another one". Thats how bad the snaps were - never mind that it was a top holiday destination.

Hawaii's a nice place ... great in fact. We were in Oahu, the most populous island. But let's say you dont surf, dont sunbathe (you are as brown as you want to be - true for all Indians), dont scuba dive. And if you are my wife - dont eat seafood. What you are left is with snorkelling and swimming in the sea. Oahu doesnt have the volcanoes and lava flows - thats on Hawaii (aka the big island) and other islands.

We might have enjoyed things a little better if Smera hadnt fallen ill. Indeed, we were in the Emergency Room till 6am one night when she had 103F. We ended up doing have the stuff we wanted to - sour grapes, i guess.

Had some fun snorkelling at Hanauma bay - an exotic experience. On the final day, we took a sailboat tour and i had the opportunity to sail and snorkel. We were taken 1/2 a mile out into the Pacific to a place that was about 10-30 feet deep. I attempted (keyword!) to snorkel. But the thought of swimming in an open expanse of water made me panic - never been so freaked out all my life. 3 attempts to get into the water - each time i ended up grasping for the side of the boat. A humbling experience that taught me what fear really was...

An epiphany we had - one should always shop for souvenirs on eBay. After searching high and low and bargaining like a Scotsman, we bought a mask that had Hawaii in silver letters on the top. Some googling on our return determined the mask to be from Papua New Guinea (an island which brings up these thoughts - http://www.pngaa.net/Articles/articles_The_Kukukuku.htm). And what of the eBay dealer that sold Hawaiina and stated "No shipping to Hawaii and Alaska"?

Guess we'll go back some day. Possibly to one of the other islands.