Good Times

Today was great. The only downside is that I forgot to bring my camera!

I left this morning on a tour of farms around the island for an article I'm working on. I started out at the Dole Plantation, then saw a boutique farm in the mountains. On the way to a fish farm, we picked up a nice (and pretty) hitchhiker who needed a ride for about a mile.

The pineapple plants in the shadow of the towering mossy mountains were beautiful. Even when it started drizzling, it seemed so picturesque.

Later on, I talked to an herb and salad farmer whose entire crop had been wiped out by recent heavy rains. Even so, his rows of spoiled greenery set in front of these huge swaying trees was awesome. The farmer said the rains left waterfalls cascading off the mountains into the valley below. Looking at the ridges, I could believe it.

At the end of the day, I had dinner at a nice restaurant in Ala Moana Mall. I had the roast chicken, which was made with local-grown vegetables and produce. It was so good. It was the best meal I had eaten since getting steak at Happenings, an Argentine steak house in Santiago, almost a year ago.

Last night, I heard some musicians and a singer at a club called Jazz Minds. It was very cool. The performance and atmosphere kept reminding me of other places I'd been: an underground jazz club in Montgomery where the bartender shot a jackass and the coffee shops of Amsterdam.

No poker today. It feels good to take a break.