On the one hand...

Continuing with our focus on hands, tonight I ended up on Firestone Blvd. in front of the Exotical Hawaiian Apparel store that has been there for as long as I can remember.

It is a great store jam-packed with anything Hawaiian you could want, but you gotta admit, these mannequin hands are just a little creepy...

Hawaiian Halloween

I missed Halloween in Downey this year. But, I certainly had my fill of seeing people in a variety of creative costumes. People were wandering around Waikiki enjoying the evening and showing off their often scary Halloween disguises.



"From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-legged beasties
And things that go bump in the night
Good Lord, deliver us!"
~ Old Scottish saying

Island perspective

I'm back in Hawaii for a quick 4-day trip, so I thought I would to share a couple of views of Waikiki. Tonight we had dinner at one of the restaurants in the recently re-created International Marketplace, which is now a seriously posh shopping and dining center. The only thing that remains of the original area is the banyan tree in the center of the complex.

Originally founded in 1957, the Marketplace was closed down for reconstruction in 2014 and reopened last August. As beautiful and charming as it is now, I have to admit, I miss the local feel the original Marketplace had.

After dinner I had to take a short walk down to the beach.  I couldn't resist trying to capture the palm tree shadow on the beach.

"Traveling ~ it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. 
~ Ibn Batutta 

Exotical, the man

Aloha! The name of the store is Exotical. It is a combination of exotic and California. I have seen this store on Firestone Blvd. for as long as I can remember, but I've never visited it before today.

One of the things I have loved about doing this blog has been the people we meet and the stories, the history we learn. I love that everyone has such an interesting story to tell. John Paul Orloff has owned Exotical for 46 years. The store has a large selection of Island imports, from resort clothing, to leis, to ukeleles made out of coconut shells — and much more.

Paul welcomed us to his shop. He clearly loves people and chatted with us for some time. He is a born storyteller and we were regaled with stories from his past. After a while, he pointed out to us that he had written everything down in the form of a book — his memoirs. As the son of Russian immigrants, Paul has an interesting story to tell.



By the time I left, I had a copy of Paul's book — his gift to me. It was a sweet moment, meeting him and spending a little time getting to know the man behind "Exotical."