The final stretch of my stay in Hawaii mostly involved being the “other best man” in a wedding, then cutting my time on the eastern side of the island short in order to spend one more night in Waikiki. I won’t bore you with too many photos of the ceremony and reception because…well, it’s hard to take any photos of the ceremony when you’re in the wedding. Also, I spent most of the reception freaking out that my toast was going to go poorly so I didn’t take the time to snap too many pictures.
The bride and her team of friends and family took over the main house the morning of the wedding, so most of the men staying on the property came to hang out in the guest house (my living quarters). We re-labeled all the beer and wine for the reception, played some Mario Kart, ate some snacks, and then the groomsmen got dressed for the event.
Yes, the bride and groom arrived at the LOST filming location in a vintage VW van of the same model used by the Dharma Initiative on LOST. Get ready for even more LOST stuff. It was a very LOST wedding.
Obviously, this is not my picture (otherwise I would be one HELL of a photographer) but I had to include it just as proof I was there for a wedding. These are my fellow groomsmen. This is probably mid-ceremony, even if you can glean ZERO context from the photo. If there are any mid-ceremony photos with me that actually show what’s happening, I haven’t been tagged in them anywhere online.
After the ceremony (see, I told you I couldn’t take many pictures!) we shuttled guests over to Hale Nanea, which is — you guessed it! — another location used during the filming of LOST. If you watched the show, you might recognize this little pier because a submarine was parked (and at some point blown up) here.Â
I’m pretty sure this is a freshwater pond. I will say at one point a little barge floated across the pond holding several port-o-potties, which was a bizarre sight. The mosquitos were out in force on this evening, and no amount of bug spray could protect me.
Yup. This is the result of one full hour of label earlier that day: LOST-themed beer. Are you beginning to grasp the scope of this LOST madness? Just wait. It gets even sillier.Â
And the award for Worst Album Cover Ever goes to… me and these guys!Â
My toast went okay. I didn’t get booed. It was short, but I was the fourth person to speak so I wanted to keep it kind of short and simple. The rest of the reception was fine, the food was pretty good and the LOST beers went down easy. Back at the estate after the wedding, we got drunk and played a few more games of Jenga. Then I started to get tired and passed out. Hard. The following morning I had plans to head back to the developed part of the island, so I drove some friends to the airport with stops for more malasadas and sightseeing along the way.
Breakfast was a heaping portion of Loco Moco from this spot, which I think is famous, and has also appeared in both LOST and Terrace House.Â
Loco Moco. I got the eggs over easy because I didn’t know you’re supposed to get them Sunny Side Up. Also, I panicked at the last second and couldn’t remember if “Sunny Side Up” was something only children say when ordering eggs, or if it’s a term everyone still uses all the time. It was really fucking good, minus the macaroni salad part which was a little bit gross because I don’t like macaroni salad.
With a belly full of super dense food, I decided now would be the best time to hike Diamond Head, which was pretty fucking cool except my phone wasn’t charged and died maybe halfway to the top. On the way down the hill an old man fell behind me and totally ate pavement, but when I raced over to see if he needed help he shooed me away. I considered that my good deed for the day, and decided to spend the rest of my day drinking.
After checking into my hotel room, I went to watch an NBA game at Maui Brewing Co. in Waikik. I was waiting for some friends to arrive, so we could walk across the street to eat some sushi. There are no pictures of sushi, but it was really good, and the spot had some awesome Japanese whiskey options. There was a whole Suntory flight that included the discontinued Hibiki…whatever vintage it is. I made sure to get a glass of that so I could savor it, I’m not sure when I’ll have a chance to imbibe it again.
Here’s the last picture of me that exists on Oahu. We had a nice long night of drinks and silliness before it was time to leave. I was a teensy bit hungover the next morning when I went to drop off my rental car and board my flight back to Los Angeles. Hopefully, I’ll make it back to Oahu — and the other Hawaiian islands — someday soon.
“Fuck you, I don’t need another Mai Tai. Just give me some coffee and let me sober up. I have to work tomorrow.”
Colour Haze – Islands [MP3]
