This is a guest post by Scott. While Jen is working in Hawaii, I get to do the fun exploring and she asked me to post on Bistro Chic.

Enthusiasm is contagious.

On Wednesday, I went for a Mountain Biking adventure. Regular readers may remember, that I participate in triathlons. So, I ride road bikes. I have never really mountain biked. I figured what a better way to see the beautiful scenery than to ride up and down a valley looking out at the ocean.

Just like the other tours, the van picked me up at tapa tower bus depot. Everyone is usually quiet with the early morning pick-up times. People keep to themselves. For surfing and kayaking, there were many more females than males.

For this mountain bike tour, it was 5 guys and 1 lady. When I got on the van, there was a guy named Greg who was chatty with excitement. Not only that, he brought his own helmet and a bike mount camera. Greg was giddy about the island views. His enthusiasm set the tone for the entire trip. In addition, everyone was super friendly and started introducing themselves right away. One guy from Vancouver, Canada. One guy from Australia. The couple was from California. Greg was from Virginia Beach. This trip was different from the start.

We drove to a working cattle farm, Kualoa Ranch.

If you have watched: Lost, Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Pearl Harbor. Windtalkers, or Hawaii 5-0. Then it’s likely you have seen parts of the ranch as many of the scenes were filmed on the location. The ranch is kind enough to allow mountain biking tours.

We first got on the bikes and visited a World War 2 bunker. It was very interesting.

For most of the first part of the ride, we rode on Jeep and ATV roads.

After every twist and turn in the road, it felt like I was looking at a new painting. All the participants were taking different pictures of the same mountains. It was phenomenal.

We road our bikes into the valley and saw all sorts of different movie set remnants.

We even got to explore some ancient Hawaii temple ruins.

Okay. That isn’t ruins, but it is a set for a new Journey to the Center of the Earth movie. After we rode for a bit, we hopped on some single track which is much more technical.

We rode different kinds of terrain. There were hidden rocks all over the track.

I will admit it. I fell off the bike a few times and the family jewels were often in peril. I got off the bike and walked a bit too due to some of the steep rocky terrain and my inexperience. I’m glad I did. I escaped with only bumps, scrapes, and bruises. The female rider in the group was not so lucky. She fell off her bike in some rocky terrain and had to go to the hospital. The ambulance guys said the early diagnosis was a compound fracture. I hope she and her male companion are doing okay. It really put a damper on the rest of the ride.

Luckily for them and for us, the fall was near the end.

When we finished the ride, we packed up the bikes and had sandwich lunch with the wild chickens. Yaay: No mayo this time!

The bus ride back was equally adventurous. There were van drivers performing singing telegrams, strange women running alongside, and great hiking stories all mixed-in with a real terrible mix-tape.

Oahu is just plain gorgeous. I will miss it.

This concludes the Mr. Bistrochic Oahu adventure series. I’m excited for my next adventure: some quiet rest and relaxation on Maui. Here’s a Maui sunset and a Maui preview photo to help you relax too!

Until next time, Aloha & Mahalo!

This is a guest post by Scott. While Jen is working in Hawaii, I get to do the fun exploring and she asked me to post Monday. Since my adventures were so well received, I decided to return for a Bistro Chic bonus post.

When my adventures left off, I was venturing out for Japanese food.

Since, I spent Monday morning in the ocean. Monday afternoon, I went for a llittle beach photo walking. I walked the coastline from my hotel to the base of diamond head mountain.

People watching was fascinating. Saw all sorts of magical locations.

What a wonderful Monday! I don’t think I will ever get tired of Hawaiian sunsets.

Monday evening, we went for an exquisite dinner at Morimoto’s. Highly recommend the ishi yaki buri bop. Of course, since it was more a business dinner, I refrained from photos. They cooked my yellowtail fish table-side with a 400° stone bowl. The restaurant was located in a modern hotel that had full-sized mattress-like-beds for sun chaise chairs. I could have just slept there for the evening. It was very modern chic.

On Tuesday, I headed out for some sea kayaking. The bus depot at the hotel was a bustling people moving center.

A LOL moment in the van

I was picked up by the kayak shuttle and after a few stops, we headed up & down a mountain on our way to Kailua Bay, Oahu.

Since I had time to kill on my van ride, I slipped into working mode. I started to read my emails on my phone. Tuesday happens to be a day where I have a regular meeting with a client to discuss our projects. I received an email with the meeting notes and action items. So of course, I started thinking what projects needed to be done next and what tasks were on my plate.

I don’t think I will violate any NDA’s if I share the emailed notes I received:

Please review task list and ensure yours are complete for our next meeting.

Tasks
1) Scott……enjoy a Mai Tai on a Hawaiian beach with Jen

2) Scott …..Repeat task 1

It was the perfect email for me at the perfect time!

If you are open to them, Lessons can be learned and reinforced by anyone at anytime.

Thanks to my client for the gentle reminder and reinforcing the lesson to work hard & play hard. Time away helps recharge the brain and provides a great way to generate new ideas.

We should step away sometimes even to daydream about Paris, Hawaii, or some other travel destination. All work and no play makes you a dull boy or girl.

Lesson 1: Work Hard & Play Hard!

Heeding the moment, I immediately shut off my phone and reengaged with the scenery. I was able to catch some wonderful views of the thousands of year old Caldera that formed Oahu.

We arrived at the Kayak home base to sign papers, waivers, and go through a quick safety check.

They unloaded the sea kayaks by the beach, and we went through a paddling instruction. My guide tried his best to be funny. It only worked in that it was so off the wall and almost sarcastic. He tried to use some new-age-y zen comparisons like comparing the Ocean to the book Who Moved My Cheese.

Now, I went sea kayaking one time about ten years ago. I found it rather easy to do. So, when I got on my kayak, I did not expect to flip over immediately which is exactly what I did about a half dozen times.

They gave me a red kayak that was sized for a female As soon as I tried to paddle, my weight would shift and flip into the ocean.

Of course, I was determined to kayak. So, I finally got to a point where I was settled and was able to stroke the paddle while keeping my body still. We kayaked for about 50 to 100 meters, and they asked me to switch kayaks with a girl who had a blue boy-sized kayak.

What a difference!

Here’s how you can experience the same feeling: at your local pool, take your adult-sized body and jump on a child-sized water raft.

Lesson 2: Kayaks come in different sizes for a reason.

So, we’re off headed for the Mokulua Islands about 4 kilometers away.

The wind and the waves were a little choppier than I expected. It was fun being on the ocean in a kayak. The rhythmic pattern of paddling had a calming effect which almost made me understood the guide’s zen talk.

We arrived on the island and hiked to a tide pool called Queen’s Bath. We were able to jump in the tide pool for some fun photos. As I was preparing for my swim, I dropped my phone into a tiny little pool.

Lesson 3: Don’t open water tight bags over water on rocky terrain, you never know what might slip into the water.

Luckily, I pulled it out quick enough that the camera still worked.

As I crawled out of the tide pool, I cut my fingers on the a’a rock. A’a rock is a sharp pointy basaltic igneous rock.

(See Mom & Dad, I did learn something with my Geology degree.)

Lesson 4: Soft water logged hands and sharp objects don’t mix.

If I was at home, I’d probably, be pretty mad. I had a water-logged phone that may not work, and the cuts on my hands enough where there’s blood on my shirt.

Yet, I didn’t really care. I was in vacation mode. All I really wanted was lunch. I opened the bag lunch they provided to find a Ham sandwich with mayonnaise. Good Grief! I hate mayo.

Picture this:
I’m sitting on the rock looking at my water-logged phone with bloodied hands eating a Subway Ham sandwich with mayo that I hate.

Thinking, thinking, thinking. Thinking. Anger starting to rise. Pulse quickening. Then the roar of the ocean tumbling back and forth swept the worries away as I peered off in the ocean with this view:

Lesson 6: Stop and enjoy the view no matter the circumstances.

As we kayaked home, about 5 to 10 meters from me, a sea turtle popped up to ask if I learned my lessons today.

I smiled and rowed on.

Maholo and Aloha.

This is a guest post by Scott. While Jen is working in Hawaii, I get to do the fun exploring and she asked me to post today. Of course, how can I turn her down.

I arrived to our hotel and we have a wonderful view of DiamondHead Crater.

I had a wonderful night listening to Hawaiian music. Then I woke up early to go surfing. It was awesome! We went to a beach in a campsite that used to be a military base.

My surf school was the only people on the beach. It was like we had a private location.

After coming back from surfing, I had a little text conversation with Jen. Here’s a snippet:

Mr BistroChic: I’m going for a walk and for lunch. Is it wrong to go to buffalo wild wings in Hawaii?

Ms. BistroChic: Yes.

What can I say, I had a hankering for beer and wings. However, when I travel, I do like to try new places and experience local food. So, I went exploring. I figured being in Hawaii, I should be able to find some authentic Japanese food. I was not disappointed. I went to a cute place called Ginza Bairin. Now, I have never had authentic Japanese food unless you can call eating at Epcot’s Japanese restaurant authentic. I did not know what to expect.

I looked around to see how other people were eating trying not to look too much the outsider. Of course, I am in a tourist area of Oahu so it’s not really that important. The menu was primarily in Japanese with English subtitles. I asked my server what to eat. She recommended a few things. I picked the pork tenderloin. It was fabulous.

Let me back up a bit. First they bring out some sesame seeds that you grind yourself.

Then, you take this sauce and put in the bowl for a dip for the pork.

My meal was good. Although, I’m not a fan of miso soup. Everything else tasted great. The service was wonderful.

So, I’m off for another adventure. A little kayaking on Tuesday and then mountain biking on Wednesday. Can’t wait.

In the meantime, Aloha!

All photographs and the entire post was composed on my iPhone.