Hawaii

[purplecat]

You never really get to see much of a place when you are at a conference. A lot of people took a session or two off to go to the beach - succumbing to some obscure British middle-class gene I opted to try and climb an extinct volcano but gave up when it took me so long to get to the bus stop I realised I wouldn't reach the foot of the volcano until noon.

However I quite liked what I did see of Hawaii. It was hot, but with enough of a breeze that it wasn't too badly uncomfortable. Hawaiian cuisine didn't seem much to write home about ("would you like some more carbohydrate with your carbohydrate?") but there was plenty of asian influence to make it a fun place to eat out.

At the conference "Luah" we were treated to a dancing display by the Polynesian Cultural Centre which managed to be both tacky and charming all at once. In fact "tacky but surprisingly charming" seems to sum up a lot of Hawaii.

On a business level the Hawaiian conference centre measures up well to its equivalent in Edinburgh. I particularly liked the main concourse where we had coffee every break which opened directly to the outside (doing the outside/inside thing so beloved of TV makeover shows but with so much more panache than can be achieved in the UK - or in a family home). When I first arrived I thought they had tacky piped bird-song in fact they had a building open to the outside and tall enough to grow palm trees inside!!

I didn't take a camera but with a bit of effort was able to take some shots with the camera built-in to my laptop


This is the view of Honolulu from my hotel balcony - taken in the evening which is partly why its so dark. From the other direction I could see the sea - but the shot I took is too dark to see anything much.


This is a balcony area at the convention centre overlooking the opening of the main concourse where the palm trees are growing.


This is the main concourse looking towards the area that fronts directy to the outside.