My best friend (BFF) and I had just completed a wonderful 3-day stopover trip on Maui to support our friend who was running in his first triathlon at age 54. We were relaxed, tanned and full of the aloha spirit as we flew over to Oahu on Hawaiian Airlines to being phase 2 of our trip to Hawaii, the working phase.
If you read my Maui Trip Report, you might remember my friend works for a company called Honor Choir USA which invites students to Hawaii, from all over the country who excel in singing. During the week, they will perform at various venues and participate in vocal clinics, sight see, and have some free time for water activities. There were 53 on this trip. The next week%26#39;s trip would bring over 100. I was invited on this particular week to help chaperone and to play in the orchestra, which will accompany the choir.
As I did on Maui, I surprised my BFF with a convertible, another silver Sebring. Top down, luggage in the back seat, Hawaiian tunes playing on the radio and ';WOOHOO, we%26#39;re on Oahu!!!'; I drove to the Hilton Hawaiian Village (HHV) as my BFF served as my very able navigator, as per Maui. All is well! We pulled into the lovely, open air entrance to HHV, handed over the convertible to the valet staff, not knowing we wouldn%26#39;t be driving it again for 5 days. Just an FYI, the Hilton charges $29 per night to valet park. One of the choral directors had arrived earlier in the day, checked everybody in, got our room keys and was waiting in the lobby to hand them out as we arrived. Very efficient!
We went to check out our room, located in the Diamond Head Tower, and were very happy with the accommodations. You can read my newly posted review, HHV, safe and secure, in the review section of Trip Advisor. The rooms are nice sized with comfy beds and a small lanai that faces a side street, with Diamond Head and the ocean are visible in the distance. Diamond Head Tower is a very convenient location for us all to be in because of it%26#39;s proximity to the Business Center, the pools, the transportation area where we would be boarding the bus, and the ocean activities. Everything in our tower was neat, clean, and tropical looking. All is well!
My BFF and I decided to familiarize ourselves with the 22-acre property and locate the meeting rooms we had rented in which to conduct practice and clinical sessions as well as general meetings. We stopped by the ABC store and picked up a few supplies. The ABC store became our daily ';go to'; store for an early morning cup of cheap coffee and a muffin, resupplying our bottled water, and an occasional lunch of sushi to take down to the beach. Later in the week, we even picked up a few souvenirs there. I love this very affordable store! We also located the Lapperts Ice Cream store on property and decided to check out the Kauai Pie. OMG!!! I will not be reporting to you all how much of this delicious treat I consumed during our 7 day stay at the HHV.
My very efficient BFF checked her itineraries and realized it was almost time for the first of the choral students to arrive so we made our way to the transportation area of the HHV located on the southeast corner of the property. The students were to be met at the airport, given a lei greeting, then transported to HHV on a bus we had contracted. We were anxiously awaiting their arrival and nervous at the same time, hoping there had been no plane delays, everyone got their leis, etc. The first group finally arrived! They were tired and hungry, but very excited and happy to finally be there...all wearing their leis and ready to check our their rooms. We handed out the keys, gave them big aloha hugs, directions to the where the welcome and security briefing would take place, pointed out the ABC store so they could grab something to eat, and led them to the Diamond Head Tower. One by one, the rest of the groups arrived like clockwork. All is well!
Finally it came time for the final group, the orchestra, to arrive. I was particularly anxious to see my ';boys';. All the members are high school and college young men from several states who practice and play together every week at a church in Oklahoma. All fine musicians, chosen by their leader, who is also the president of Honor Choir USA, because of their excellence. Then there%26#39;s me, the token female, the den mother : ) The bus arrives, I rush over to give them all a big aloha hug, and what I am met with is a group of grumpy, tired, hungry boys...not one of them wearing their lei...and definitely not interested in getting a hug from the den mother. None wants to get the directions to or even hear about the welcome and security meeting we were going to be having shortly. All they could mutter was, ';Where is the key to my room and show me the closest place to get some food?';
Let the cat herding begin...Day 2 coming up.
Trip Report - Oahu - Herding Cats, Day 1OK - bips, this is going to be one very interesting trip report! LOL - let them laugh about female moods, but hungry boys/men are a force to be reckoned with.
Can%26#39;t wait to read about Day 2 - too bad this TR won%26#39;t have a sound track.
Trip Report - Oahu - Herding Cats, Day 1Bips! Keep the details coming! Very nice (except for the ';grumpys';....kids!)
Bips a Baptist with her top down. :( Don%26#39;t forget to include the part where your BBF and you went off the beaten track and stired up a little trouble. (Post those pictures on webshots, OK?)
Thanks...keep going! :) (Thumbs up)
Hi Bips, Love the cat herding! I too look forward to the rest of your trip. I bet at that moment in time you were thinking, ';Dear Lord, please don%26#39;t let the rest of the trip go like this!';
Bips- you have a way with words. Can%26#39;t wait for the rest.
Can%26#39;t wait to read more!!!
Bips,
Aloha from Oahu! I am at the Turtle Bay Resort now. I’m on Day 4 of my vacation. It’s paradise here! I was so happy when I arrived here I didn’t know if I should cry or laugh!
Love your day 1 report. Gee, you are a great friend. I hope your BFF realizes that!
I wont be writing on-site trip reports, just can’t do that but I’ll have a great report by the time I come back. Well, I’m off to Ted’s Bakery for breakfast then to the Aloha Stadium for the flea market.
Aloha!
Bips, My little bro is a choral director and used to take high school and college kids to different places like Italy and France and was always on the verge of a mental breakdown when he got home. Young adults and almost adults have some of the same requirements and abilities as preschool students but complain more and require way more assistance.
Get out the feeding trough! Bless you for your patience.
Thanks to all for reading my TR. I will post Day 2 shortly...hopefully tomorrow morning. I got home at 1:30 am from the Eagles concert in the new BOK center in Tulsa last night. OMG...it was the best concert I%26#39;ve ever been to, but it%26#39;s 7 am and I%26#39;ve got to go practice before church starts this morning. Yes, with those same grumpy, hungry boys from my TR. (They also don%26#39;t like getting up early in the morning, so wish me luck : )
scorchestra, glad you are having a great time at Turtle Bay. Can%26#39;t wait to read your TR about it!!! My BFF is a great friend. I always say you have to have great friends to be a great friend and I have been blessed.
Bips, you are VERY lucky on so many levels!! Great TR%26#39;s!! Keep %26#39;em coming!!
Bips,
When is day 2 coming?
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