HAWAII X DESTROY

Monday, January 30, 2012

Aloha from New York First and Final Day

After spending the first night in NY wondering the streets in the night I was stoked to actually see it in the daylight. I woke up from my 5 hour nap and drew the curtains back to check out the scenerey. The skyline was amazing that morining after all the rain from the night before had passed. Judging from the cloudless sky and bright sun it looked like I might be able to get away with wearing just a flannel out for the day. Little did I know when I stepped outside it was way colder out than it was the night before. Must've been around 38-40 degrees. Regardless it was sunny and nice. I only had one day to take in as much as I could before I had to turn around and head back to Hawaii on Wednesday morning. Russ and I had breakfast at Sugars outside our hotel and then made our way to the Agenda show. Met with Christine who was responsible for getting me out to New York in the first place and expressed my gratitude for allowing me the opportunity. The show was pretty chill considering it was day 2 and everybody probably raged the night before. I took a quick browse, met with the guys at Vans, talked story and was itching to get out and see more of New York. After about an hour Russ and I made a quick exit and jumped into a cab and headed to the Vans showroom. He took me on a tour of the Vans deal and it was pretty amazing. I've always liked the way that Vans was able to tell their story blending the imagery of the history and tying it into the products you see today. After a tour of Vans we headed out again but this time with Liam accompanying us on our mission to see NY in a record breaking 8 hours. We went through Soho / Noho, Alphabet City, drank beer at Mc Sorley's, ate Pizza at Gruppos, checked out a few shops, took a few cabs, ate at the Meatball Shop, drank beer at the La Quinta Inn below the Empire State Building, and closed the night out at one of the many pubs surrounding our hotel in the LES. The day went by like a blur and enjoyed every single second of it. I'm stoked to have been able to see New York with my friends Russ and Liam and look forwards to going back one day and seeing more of it. A big mahalos to Jim Watson (Vans), Christine Warren (Agenda), The Thompson Hotel LES, Chris Gentile (Pilgrim Surf) and Russ Pope for making this trip possible. The aloha spirit is alive and well in the city of New York!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Aloha from New York Night 1

Sometimes you cross paths with people that help further some of the major milestone experiences you will have in life. In this case my friend Russ who was in Hawaii in Nov/Dec. I got a call at 7am from Russ on Wednesday asking if I wanted to go to New York, next thing I know I got a call from Christine from Agenda confirming my ticket on Friday. My flight was to leave out on Saturday at 11:47pm putting me in NYC on Sunday at 4:45pm. My plans pre NY was to watch the SF 49ers play the NY Giants and bbq at home, but with the chance to go to NY and watch the game there I couldn't go wrong either. So I'm on the way to the airport about 1 1/2 hours before my flight which should've only taken 15 minutes. As we got to the H1/H2 interchange I noticed a sea of red lights and they weren't moving. Come to find out the freeway was closed due to a fatal accident involving an HPD officer thus causing the freeway to close down. After finally getting to the Pearl City exit after about an hour and 2o minutes I managed to make it to the airport at 11:45pm. Got to the ticket counter only to find out that my plane had left without me. I couldn't believe it! The one time I had an opportunity to go to a place I've always wanted to visit and this was how it was going to end? To be continued.....

The House of Vans in Brooklyn

Russ shredding!

Russ Pope and Chris Gentile (Mollusk/Pilgrim Surf)

Empire State Building through the fog and rain.

Corner Deli/Grocery Store at about 3am. Open 24 hours a day!

So as you can see I made it to New York on Monday night. Caught a cab to the Lower East Side, met Russ and got the show on the rode. First stop was to Piano's for a burger and beer. I was loving it first off because I hadn't eaten a bite since I left Hawaii and second because the atmosphere was so New York. Small restaurant crammed next to other establishments below some appartments. This is how it is most everywhere I saw. Food was good, beer was great, and the service was excellent! After we finished up our meal we jumped in a cab and headed over to Brooklyn to the House of Vans. Think indoor skatepark / art gallery / events venue. Watched Russ and friends roll around for a bit and saw a few guys from back home in Hawaii. Crazy! From there we headed over to Chris Gentile's new spot Pilgrim Surf. Chris was in the middle of building out his new creation and I must say this place might be one of the best shops I'd ever been to. He opens some time in Februry I believe so if you're in NY check him out. Chris walked us a couple blocks away for more food and drinks. This was around 12am by now which was 6pm Hawaii time so I was still feeling good to go! We had a few drinks, talked story, had some pupus and called it a night. My first 8 hours in NY and I was stoked!!! Couldn't believe I was actually in the NYC!!! Oh yeah on the way back to our hotel we stopped by the corner grocery/deli store and grabbed the best deli sandwich one could ever have.