Generation Gap

Tonight I swung by the McCully Shopping Center Taco Bell for dinner at around 8 p.m. and was shocked at all the traffic in the parking lot. What was going on? When I finally got into the lot, I saw that there was absolutely nothing happening. There were just a ton of kids hanging out and double parking their cars.

You know you're getting old when your first thought is: don't you have anything better to do? (I almost added the 'bah humbug' but managed to refrain this time). I mean, what's so good about loitering in front of a 7-Eleven? Obviously, because of all the traffic, these kids have cars, so why not cruise Waikiki or anywhere else? Why clog up a strip mall? I find that really retarded.

However, once I managed to maneuver around the rice rockets (yes, the kids were mostly Asian driving dropped Honda Civics and the like) I realized that I used to be one of these kids. Of course, we didn't just take up space at a shopping center. We usually went to someone's house. But the key problem is the same: all dressed up with no where to go and nothing to do.

Remember those days when it took a majority decision to do anything? When people didn't want to make a suggestion that others might not like so they didn't say anything at all? When you could squeeze at least seven people into a compact car? When hanging out in front of 7-Eleven till 2 a.m. was a night well spent? When it'd take longer to get ready than to actually go out?

God, I'm getting old.

Where Have All The Buskers Gone?

Tonight I ventured into Waikiki for the first time in a long time and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory with my friend and old co-worker JC. We got there around 6:30 and had to wait about 45 minutes. I don't understand how this is possible. The restaurant has been here for years and there's still a wait?

Another reason why having to wait 45 minutes baffled me is because after dinner we walked a couple blocks of Waikiki and wandered around the International Marketplace. The place was empty! In the three block stretch, I swear there were only about eight buskers doing there thing. Where did they all go?

I remember a time when there would be two, three silver men. Tonight, only a gold man was out there. There were two musicians - one was a steel drum player, the other had an entire drum kit set up. There were about three spray paint or portrait artists spread down the road.

But the busker with the largest crowd? It was one guy with a black gym bag of basketballs and a bottle of water. This one guy was commanding an audience of about 75 people! Seriously. What was the draw? It was a one-many Globetrotters exhibition. From what I could tell, he wouldn't make the cut with the trotters, but I guess he beat out the drummers and artists.

Halloween 2009 in Waikiki

I just got back from cruisin' the streets of Waikiki to get a glimpse at cool Halloween costumes. I'm sad to report that there wasn't a lot of originality out there. Most of the stuff I saw was store-bought crap that wasn't very original.

This year there seemed to be some very popular costumes. Must've been on sale somewhere yeah? The costumes seen most frequently for 2009 are:
1. Mickey and/or Minnie Mouse
2. Sexy fairies
3. Prisoners
4. Guys in drag

There were also a lot of bees and pirates too, so I guess they get honorable mention.

The cutest costume goes to this little kid in a cop outfit (Click on the photos to enlarge). His parents were dressed up as his prisoners. Now ain't that the truth? LOL



A really cool costume was of the Egyptian god Anubis. I'm pretty sure it was bought and not made though. Awesome costume either way.



I also saw a vacationing Jack, a vengeful Ronald and a box of fries enjoying a night on the town.







Another theme tonight was matching couples. Not the most original idea in the world but still popular. Here's Mario and Luigi, Mario and the Princess and Superman and Wonder Woman. Yes, Superman is definitely checking out Wonder Woman's rack.







In addition to all the general chaos that is Halloween in Waiks, the street performers and religious freaks were out in force. There was a guy who made a glass ball float with some kind of Criss Angel-ish action, a group of Hare Krishna-like folks singing and banging on drums and the Jesus freaks spouting off about the damnation of the world. Pretty typical for a Halloween night.







One of the funniest costumes I came across was two guys wearing a Saturday Night Live "Dick in a Box" costume. I've seen this done before, but it's still a good laugh. Here's the SNL video and below it is the Halloween picture. What makes this funnier is that there's a guy who cut in front of me while I was trying to take the photo. It looks like he's checking out the packages, if you know what I mean LOL




Overall, this was a very eventful night. Lots of fun was had. Lots of walking was done. Good times people, good times.

Dinner Out Back

Tonight I had dinner at Outback Waikiki with my friend Wonder Woman, who I haven't seen in what seems like years. She's an old co-worker from my previous hell hole who I only worked with for about three months. However, during those three months of hard labor, we somehow formed a bond that can only be achieved through mutual suffering.

Anyway, Outback was pretty empty at 6 p.m. and we didn't have to wait at all. The service was good. We were the only table our server had at the time. They seem to have upgraded their menu. Then again, I haven't been to Outback in months and months. The bad part about the evening is that we had to pay $4.50 for parking, even when Outback validated.

WTF? We're not even in the heart of Waiks yet and the parking is outrageous. Isn't there supposed to be some kind of economic slump? Why don't they drop the fricken prices to lure people out of their homes? I'm completely frightened to think what the cost would've been if we hadn't validated.

All that aside, I had a nice three and a half hours of catching up with Wonder Woman. You're probably wondering why I call her that. Well, besides not wanting to name names, to me she is a perfect Wonder Woman.

She's the only girl I know who's really taken finding her one true love into her own hands and put herself out there trying to meet someone. I mean, she's done volunteering, blind dates, speed dating and even bought herself a man. No, not one of them gigs walking the street but a real, live fire fighter.

Last weekend, she was one of many girls who went out to Oceans808 and participated in the Burning Down the House fundraiser. I would've loved to go to this bachelor auction for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, but alas, I had three fricken events that week/weekend. If I'd gone, I would've probably just been there for the eye candy. However, Wonder Woman was there for a purpose.

At the end of the night, she walked away with a gen-u-wine Honolulu fire fighter. Yuuummy! The bidding lasted about five bids and she walked away with him as her prize plus an awesome date package that included a dinner out at Haleiwa Joe's and a shark diving expedition. Isn't that crazy? I love that it's not a traditional date and is probably something regular peeps wouldn't choose as their first date. I'm biting my nails just waiting to get an update from her.

Anyway, her experience in the dating pool has gotten me thinking about just how far I am willing to go in the pursuit of love? I've gotta say that I'm probably a gutless biatch when compared to her. I wouldn't do half the stuff she's done just to find my true love.

It's probably more apathy than fear (or at least I think so), and that's gotta be one of the saddest things I've ever admitted to myself. I think I'm just way to comfortable in my life to bother making the effort. This is so wrong though, isn't it?