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Waikiki or bust

Mom is here! Yay! We spent three fun days on another rock, where she says it's kinda like Disneyland with palm trees. Actually, I think Disneyland has palm trees, but they're probably fake. Still, Disneyland can be a hoot. We visited the Arizona Memorial, Bishop Museum and Waikiki Aquarium. We also ate lots of really good food, listened to good music and even spent a little time in the water and on the beach. We managed to get lost pretty much daily at our own hotel, which was really, really big. There were penguins and turtles and flamingos and other animals one would not expect to see in Hawaii. They all live at the hotel. We saw hula dancers, a fire dancer and lots of wealthy tourists. We fit right in. Really. We did.
As you can see from this photo, we had a nice ocean view. This was not planned, but it was appreciated.
We had a Vietnamese cab driver named Mike, a self-described "boat person" who came here when he was 16 with his cousin. He basically told us his whole life's story in a total of about an hour and 20 minutes. That would be 40 minutes from the airport to the hotel and 40 minutes from the hotel to the airport three days later. If you ever need a discount on a cab ride in Waikiki, just call Mike. He's your man. That's right. Just ask for a Vietnamese cab driver named Mike. I'm sure there's only one.
All in all, it was a great time.

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