We had a wonderful visit to the Doris Duke house this morning. She had an enormous collection of islamic art. She started collecting when she was only 26 and apparently continued with it for the rest of her life. Some things she bought from antiquities dealers, some from individual owners (including the William Randolph Hearst estate) and some things she had copies made of either things she had purchased or things that were unavailable for purchase. Unfortunately they don't let you take any pictures inside the house. I'd been there before and one thing that was different this time is that a fretwork was down over a window that was entirely open the last time we were there. It totally changed the look of the room, since the window is about the size of a double garage door, leaving the whole room open to the elements when it's open, or visible to the elements when only the glass is down. Whenever we're packing for a trip, I always give John a bad time about taking everything but the kitchen sink for things that might happen. I always say it's not like we're going to a third world country, they have replaceable stuff where we are. I've had several experiences on this trip which make me rethink this. First, I got a blister on my toe and really needed a bandaid, but I hadn't brought any. I knew that it wouldn't get any better, and since we're trying to do a lot of walking I definitely didn't want to make it worse. I knew the prices at the ABC stores, the ubiquitous one-stop tourist shop on every corner, would be prohibitively expensive so I stopped in a little mom and pop shop. A box of band=aids was $6.85. I'm keeping them in the safe.
Secondly, I lost my rubber pony tail band at the beach today, and since I'm having a really bad hair month, it's not a pretty sight if it's not tied up. Again, I couldn't find any except a 10-pack at the ABC store, which was $6.75. So on a whim, I went back to the $6.85 band-aid store, and miraculously, they had some rubber bands for a mere $3. At least I won't have to keep them in the safe.
In the never-ending saga of the Christmas cards, we ended up going to some really cheesy copy shop because somehow I didn't print enough cards before I left home. The copies were awful, but I took them anyway. Now they're done and I've sent them all. We also made a stop at the Goodwill on the way home from the Doris Duke tour, because I needed to buy a sweater. Seems it's colder here than I expected. This necessitated buying a sharp instrument -- scissors, razor blade, exacto knife -- something to do a slight alteration. Anyway, after a valiant effort at various small stores when I couldn't find anything sharp cheaper than some questionable scissors for $14, we sucked it up and went to Wal-Mart. Every time I have ever been to Wal-Mart, I swear I will never go there again. This time was no exception. First of all, it took us 10 minutes to find the entrance. After I found a pack of razor blades and a form for my Christmas tree (to be made of cocktail umbrellas) and stood in an endless line to do the self checkout, the damn machine rang up my puchase twice, and I had to wait 20 minutes for someone to reverse the charges. I wanted to walk home, but John wanted to take the pink trolley, which took about twice as long. I offered to race -- I'd walk and he could ride, but he wouldn't buy it.Here's the beginning of the tree, by the way. The things in the background are the free fans they gave us at the Doris Duke house.
I met a woman on the trolley from Australia who had just arrived this morning. She showed me her great buy from Needless Markup, a pair of True Religion jeans for a baby that she got a great deal on. Only $80!! And since she wasn't sure about the size, she got two pairs, but the second pair she could only get in a set, so it was $150 for s second pair of jeans in a larger size plus a hoodie and a T shirt. This is for a baby that isn't born yet. And not even this lady's first grandchild.
Last night the weather report said it was going to rain today, so we put Hanauma Bay on hold. This morning, it was sunny and bright, so we went out in the morning, hoping to miss the rain. It was a great day at the bay. The water was a little chilly, but we had a great time, and it was warm and sunny enough outside to get warm after being in the water.
And it never did rain today. 
We were really glad we went, too, because you never know when it's going to be a rainy day here, though you can usually assume it won't rain all day long. I love to swim with the fish. Today was farmers' market day at the international market. Somehow, I expected a big farmers market like at home. This one was two squares of tables (4 six foot tables put into a square) with a few vegetables, a bunch of fruit, including the jackfruit in the picture, which is about the size of a really big pineapple, and a few booths selling prepared food. .
There were some interesting baked goods, I bought something they were calling macaroons which were made like tiny cupcakes. Good. Later I came by again and they had some really good looking cinnamon rolls, so I bought some of those too. No chance of losing weight on this trip
Here are Wednesday and Thursday's drinks. I'm collecting umbrellas like mad. Today I told our waitress that I was making this umbrella Christmas tree, so she gave me a whole bunch of umbrellas. I'll have a picture when it's done. Not sure why we got plastic cups yesterday. Every other day we've had glass. I'm sure there's a conspiracy there somewhere.
I think this was a pretty special sunset. Not as good as other days, because today there's a north wind, which means there's not a lot of VOG (volcano smog) in the air from the big island.
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