11 November 2009
Early this morning we were picked up and taken for a long drive to Pearl Harbour, the site of the Japanese attack on US soil during WWII. We got there and were shown a short film showing the history, before we were transferred to a small boat and taken out to the USS Arizona memorial.
The memorial is built over the sunken remains of the ship, which in parts are still sticking out of the water. It was a bit eerie and for me it was very moving, with Ben being in the navy and all. It was like coming face to face with my worst nightmare.
After Pearl Harbour we were taken to the Waikele shopping outlets, which everyone else seemed to love and I found a complete waste of time. I don’t really go for all that brand name crap. I did manage to get a new pair of jeans which I was in desperate need of. We took the long drive back to Waikiki and then had our site inspection and dinner at the Miramar.
We all decided to go to Ala Moana shopping centre that night, which was awesome as I finally got to go to Hot Topic! We got the bus there and I just ran to the store and went nuts! I bought shoes and necklaces and make up. It was so awesome.
I got separated from the others and had to get a cab back to the hotel and then attempt to pack up my stuff. I decided to go out for a bit and ended up going for a massage. Waikiki is full of Japanese people, which after the massage, really started to annoy me. When I went to pay them, I was told I had to pay a 20% tip. Boy did they mess with the wrong girl. After living in the Middle East for 6 months they had no hope. I just told them, “A tip is at my discretion, I don’t even have to tip you” and walked out.