Mall Walking

Dearest Rachel –

It’s something I’d never think of doing at home – at least, barring extreme circumstances, such as losing a tire outside of one and having to walk home in a light snowstorm (yes, I remember that trip, even to the point of one of us observing that Chompers would be getting frantic about us not being home yet, as we were taking so long) – walking to a mall. Sure, walking around inside a mall is perfectly normal; it’s how you get from store to store, after all. But walking to it? When you have perfectly serviceable transportation? You have to be kidding.

Of course, that’s rather the point; without transportation, how else do I expect to get around? And we’re in a city, as opposed to a sprawling suburb; I should be able to get around from place to place on foot.

And with little else to do with myself – compounded by the fact that, while staying on the ship was certainly an option, the fact that, within twenty-four hours, we would be confined to the ship for the next three or four days as it was – I decided to go it on foot to the Ala Moana Shopping Center, as we’d passed it on our way out in the morning.

Supposedly the largest open-air (whatever that means) mall in the world, and the third largest mall in general after, I would assume, Edmonton and Dubai, it had my attention, even as I realized that most of the names being advertised were ones I was perfectly familiar with, and wouldn’t necessarily find interesting (or if I did, I’d be just as well off shopping for those same needs at home). I mean, it may have been the only Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s on the islands, but it isn’t for the locals – although if you’re well-heeled enough to travel to Honolulu, you’re equally so to find one of these places nearer to you.

Still, it was something to do, and so… I did. And I recorded most of the trip, too, as it was something to pass the time. At this point, I’d be more concerned that I’m not boring you with stuff like this.

I will say that I think I’m getting a few handles on this process, such as taking still shots with my phone (to upload to the app that tracks my walking distance), while filming with the old phone, so I don’t run down either battery completely. I caught a lot of pictures of various interesting buildings along the way, both for their architecture and the art on them:

I’ve also learned how to adjust the ambient noise around me – although that didn’t save the footage from earlier in the day; when the wind completely drowns you out, there’s no salvaging it without a script to sync with. On the other hand, a dull section can be made reasonably entertaining by speeding it up and adding a voice-over narration – although you might tell me (not entirely unreasonably) that I could probably stand to do that a lot more often.

But all that was something I did with the footage today, now that we’re out at sea. At this time yesterday, I was getting a little footsore, but still needed to get back to the ship. I was also getting hungry, as I’d succumbed to choice overload in the food court (not to mention the fact that the place was an absolute madhouse when I was there) and hadn’t bothered to grab anything. You could relate, honey.

So, upon seeing a banner indicating a “street food market,” I decided to give in. Besides, with only one truck there, it wasn’t as if choice overload was going to be a problem…

And that was basically my afternoon, honey. Not to spoil it for you, but I didn’t wind up going out on the town in the evening… but that’s getting ahead of things. I’ll have another letter, and a few videos, for you about that later on.

For now, just keep an eye on me, and wish me luck. I assure you, I’m still going to need it.