I woke up on Sunday morning early despite the rain. It was a cold, gray morning even though the rain had slowed to a slight drizzle. I showered and forced Kenon to get up. We were planning to leave Honoka'a to go to Hilo but we had no idea how, really. The Hele-On bus did not run on Sundays, but another bus might pass by town some time around noon. We breakfasted at the inn, with the innkeeper.
"I notice you two are happy people." She commented as she passed me the toast to butter, and pointed out the coffee to me. "I can tell by the way you laugh. Some people do not know how to be happy, just look around you when you get back." She went on to tell us that she had been to Singapore in the 1960s, while she still worked as a nurse in the US Navy. She told us about the war, and about Singapore at that time. We were amused, as she probably knew more about our country than ourselves.
After breakfast, she informed us that she would be attending the town's Methodist Church just opposite her inn, and invited us to come for service. We rushed to a Catholic Church at the edge of town but discovered that Sunday Mass had ended. We went back to the Methodist Church and attended the Sunday Service instead. The pastor was an invited guest that day, a wonderful and cheerful blonde woman who was slightly rounded and looked rather like a friendly grandmother [which she was, as we later found out.]
The Calvary Chapel Hamakua Church located on Mamane Street was a simple and largely undecorated white chapel building located on a rise and raised further on cobblestone stairs, surrounded by a modest garden. There were many large windows on the side of the building that allowed ample sunlight to penetrate through, giving the interior of the church a bright and airy feel. A simple wooden cross was placed on the wall in front of the congregation, below which is a simple raised deep red dais with a stand-alone microphone on one side and a small organ.
The service was not unlike those held in Singapore, with a focus more on methodical contemplation of bible passages. The service was extended to commemorate someone's husband that day, who had passed away the year before. His wife and children had planned to hold a house party and we were asked to come along. Having nothing else to do since the whole town was closed on Sunday, we said yes. Incidentally, the pastor was driving to Hilo in the afternoon. She was catching a plane to Honolulu for a family reunion that afternoon.
The food at the party was delicious, and according to Kenon who had been trying to look for authentic Hawaiian food the whole trip, the best meal that we had in Hawaii as it had been home-cooked. And it was free, to boot. There was a whole banquet laid out on the host's porch, starting with steaming white rice, teriyaki chicken, cuttlefish salad, roast beef, stir-fried vegetables, Poke, grilled fish and a whole selection of local desserts, which included a brown sticky cake, blueberry cheese cake, apple pie, and layered jelly. Under the white tents, we sat on makeshift tables and chairs and ate to our hearts' content, and still there was more food.
Sated and feeling very grateful to the whole town for being so warm and friendly, we left Honoka'a rather unwillingly. The pastor drove us in her car, and chatted with us throughout the drive. She thanked us profusely for accompanying her on the long ride into Hilo, which greatly embarassed us, since we were the ones in gratitude for her favour. She was a teacher who was sent to Guam many years ago, and ended up staying for at least ten years as she found the place so wonderful. There were lots of dolphins there as well, and the diving is one of the best in the world. I couldn't wait to plan one year's trip there.
We arrived in Hilo in the early afternoon and made our way to the Hilo Bay Hostel with a short cab ride. [We initially tried to walk, but gave up in the hot and humid weather, exactly like Singapore, to my great displeasure.] Hilo was located on the windward side of the island and had considerably more rainfall, so that it was lush and tropical. The plants were exactly like those found back home, and I was rather displeased. However, the town of Hilo rather felt like a deserted place. It used to be the only international airport and catered to tourists but that all changed after a Tsunami hit the center of town years ago, destroying much of the old town, and the residents had elected not to rebuild it.
After checking in and leaving our backpack behind, we wandered around the town, looking into the shops at all the gift items and local produce. Things were considerably cheaper here and I bought gifts for my family. Kenon wanted to visit the University of Hawaii and guided by our V.I.P [Visitor Information Program map given to us by cowboy Stacy] we managed to walk all the way there.
The university was rather old and unkempt. The campus was quite small, and it was deserted on Sunday. Finding no one around, we headed back to town. We hailed a cab as the sun was setting, and to our great surprise, a college student was driving the cab and he informed us that the cab was his friend's. Lucky for us, however, he was very kind and allowed us to hitch a ride for free, back to the main part of Hilo town. We chatted and discovered that the brown skinned student, was from Guam and that he had just graduated from the University of Hawaii and was going back to Guam the very next day. He had come to help his sister move her belongings into the campus.
As the sun set, we entered the most popular cafe in Hilo, the Cafe Pesto, which served a fusion of Italian, Hawaiian and Asian fare. We ordered steaks, which we were starved of, for the past 1 week, as most dishes were fish on the Kona coast. It was easily one of the best 2 pieces of slow grilled local-farm steak I'd ever eaten. Sated, we decided to go for an evening walk along Hilo's Kamehameha Avenue with no particular aim in mind. With the VIP map wide open, we proceeded along the side of the avenue.
Just as we were about the crest a bridge that spanned from an Iron factory to the Suisan Fish Market, it started to pour icy cold rain. Chilled, we ran to our nearest shelter which was the fish market. Using the VIP map as cover for myself, it was soaked and halfway through broke into pieces. Running harder, we finally made it into the dry confines of the fish market's roof, much warmer but smelling very fishy. Calling a cab, we gave up our exploration for the day and headed home.
After a miserable cold shower, as the hot water of the hostel had been consumed, Kenon decided that he was not tired enough. We found a cinema, showing movies for 1 dollar, and picked the Shutter Island. It was a very puzzling show and kept our eyes glued to the screen for more than an hour, just to figure out what exactly was going on. In the end, it was not a bad show, but not too great either. Thoroughly exhausted a quarter past midnight, we finally headed back to the hostel and slept.
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