Wouldn’t be a proper birthday without starting with a sunrise walk!
I had to do a little bit of work, but then I took a half day and mid afternoon Jess picked me up for our grand Birthday adventure! We started with a hike to Likeke Falls with the grand plan to loop to Old Pali Rd or go back down and up Old Pali. At one point, the path splits and you have to follow the arrow to the right to find the falls.
The trail was not muddy, but sometimes this can be a disadvantage because there’s nothing to dig into and it ends up being slippery. Between the roots and rocks we made it without falling.
0.4 miles in and we made it! Really quick hike. I specifically chose this because I knew it was relatively easy and I wanted a low risk, high reward hike for my birthday. November is supposed to be the rainy season, but we haven’t received much, so the falls were pretty dry, but SO beautiful.
I chose my attire so that Brian would be there in spirit.
The water was cooler than ocean water, but pleasantly refreshing. The rocks weren’t slippery at all, which seems strange from what I’m used to in New England. Decision time, go down and find Old Pali or cut across? We decided to cut across because the trail was actually stone lined. The path itself isn’t an official trail in all trails, though, so we were going a bit into the unknown. I actually also decided to try my micro spikes on the way back (down is slipperier). Let me tell you, after putting those on I felt like Spiderwoman. Which is great because that was about to come in handy. Soon after stones the path became overgrown with leaves.
I know this picture doesn’t reveal much, but see how the path disappears in front of the tree? It’s a very steep uphill there. Hard to get good footing to get a picture, so just use your imagination. This is where my spikes really came in handy.
Little did we know we had to go down a very steep decline.
I learned that really leaning back on your way down so your feet are more horizontally planted and having cleats makes you feel like you can do anything (don’t worry, parents, had I slipped I would’ve merely landed at the bottom, unlike some Hawaii hikes where I would’ve landed 5K feet off a ridge).
Thankfully after this decent we were right on Old Pali, and now you can see pictures of it!
After this point, there’s a little shortcut to the left you’re supposed to take to get back to the parking… but we ended up walking all the way down to walk back up again. We also came across a father and son harvesting start fruit from a tree (the father is taking this picture). They let us each take two home.
Next we headed to get pizza at Pizza Mamo in Chinatown. I’ve heard a couple people recommend this place, and the real reason we went was because it was near where I wanted to get my cake. We parked at this lot and paid, but the receipt didn’t print… on point with Hawaii. Retrospectively we should’ve found a meter.
Anyway, we pre ordered the pizza leaving the hike and it was ready upon arrival. We originally tried to eat outside, but the sun was scorching us. So we moved inside, but then the guy told us about this place with a courtyard next door that would let us sit there. Turns out it’s a really cool Mexican bar place called Encore Saloon that we decided we’d love to go back to.
The pizza flavor was DELICIOUS. I am personally a thicker crust fan. We also worked up an appetite from the hike, so it was extra delicious. Chinatown was interesting… there was a homeless man outside PizzaMamo that was yelling a lot. But there were all these little hidden gems of restaurants. It was relatively quiet. We’ll definitely go back.
Then we made our way to Slice by HB Baking. I have had my eyes on this place for a while. Go look at their Instagram! They are ice cream cakes of complete decadence. Jess wanted to get two slices, but I encouraged us to start with one, and she ended up agreeing with me. This was pumpkin pecan ice cream, some fall flavored pound cake, and banana pudding with the best whipped cream frosting I’ve ever had. 11/10 would go back here.
Finally, as if all that wasn’t enough, we made it back to Lanikai in time to fit in some snorkeling.
And even got a birthday honu! (It was really cloudy for some reason today, and the sun was behind clouds, so hard to see)
I was in my pajamas by 6pm. I’ve been joking about how this sure beats any rainy November New England Birthday 😉
Not pictured/documented are the communications on a variety of platforms I received and the presents I opened.
I obviously missed having my best friend with me, and communication has been rough/non existent the last week or so. But he managed a couple Happy Birthday emails (in case one didn’t get through).
Here’s a throwback to our probably third date? We went for mimosa flights for my birthday at Friendly Toast in Cambridge and made it a tradition… well sort of… until COVID ruined it.
Let me start by saying that every year I feel loved on my birthday, and I know that that’s what matters. And that this day was GREAT. I had such an awesome time. This is just a reflection on them in general. The past couple were a bit tough, I think because I was hoping someone would’ve planned or done something for my 30th (they didn’t) and there were quarantine shenanigans (I actually had a nice lobster dinner that year, so actually that was great). I don’t know why it feels like I’m missing out on something… I think because I see “all” these people on social get parties planned for them, or surprised, or have something special, and it makes me feel like no one cares to go through the extra effort for me, and I don’t really get why. Ever since I lost my last best friends to weird circumstances, I feel like I haven’t been able to truly find that again (Brian is not much of a celebrator, nor was their family growing up, so it’s something I have decided not to expect from him). So I have no “bestie” to do things like that that seemingly everyone else does. Anyway, I’ve always just owned my birthday celebrations, because when I don’t I’m disappointed. I was sad Brian wasn’t there to experience these things with me, but it was the perfect day otherwise, and God has filled the hole with a new friend who was thankfully down for my crazy plans for the day. I’m not sure what I feel like I’m missing not having someone that would plan a party for me, but I think it comes down to social media and just how high expectations get set, and maybe feeling like I still don’t quite have a bestie. Again, this is simply a reflection and not meant to say I don’t feel like I’m loved or that I didn’t have an awesome day, because that’s certainly not true. My 32nd was a blast and I don’t think anyone could’ve planned it better/done anything to make me enjoy it more, and I felt completely loved. So I’m not sure what this dissonance is really about, but I’m sure it has something to do with social media. Anyway, here’s to hoping year 33 is a little less tumultuous.
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