Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A Little Bird told us..... 9-14-11

This was our last full day in Paradise. We had already decided that we wanted to see Pearl Harbor, the Arizona and the Mighty Mo.  We were well aware that we needed to get up and get moving to make sure we got a spot in line.  We had also gift wrapped the quilt, and had started taking it with us everywhere; knowing our opportunities to drop it off with someone connected with Hawaii Five-0 were getting slimmer by the hour.

A little bird had sent Madaline a Facebook chat message about the opportunity to see Hawaii Five-0 filming locally. Of course we dropped what we were doing, got dressed and headed out. There wasn’t any need to have a discussion. Pearl Harbor would be there the next time we came to Hawaii.  We hopped in our rental car and found the location where they were filming. They were at a restaurant called Shokudo, right down the street from the production offices. We saw extras walking in front of the restaurant being filmed in an outdoor scene several times. 



While we watched, Ellen spoke to a security guard and asked if there was anyone we could speak to about dropping off our quilt.  We were very thrilled and surprised when one of Alex’s “people” came over to speak to her. He remembered her from either the news article or the red carpet and immediately knew what she wanted. He and Ellen came over to the rest of us so he could speak to all of us at the same time. He suggested that we bring the quilt to the production offices. He stated he’d call ahead so that the quilt would be held for him and assured us that HE would make sure that Alex received the gift.  He was incredibly nice and Ellen trusted him completely. After we spoke to him, we were keeping an eye on the doors of the restaurant because we were told there were actors inside waiting to do their outside scene.
The extras milling around, were providing the realistic backdrop behind the restaurant windows, but we couldn’t see anyone inside the restaurant.  Soon enough, we were rewarded. The extras took a break and Alex (looking so hot in his blue t-shirt) walked out of the restaurant with Lauren German.  We watched as their make-up people got them prepped for the scene. They ran the scene several times from different angles. We were glued to the spot watching their every move. Although we were told not to take pictures, we did sneak one or two. How could you not sneak one of Alex in blue?  *SIGH* 


As filming began to wrap at that location, the actors were quickly led to vans awaiting them on the side street. They sped away quickly and it was obvious that the crew was breaking down the equipment for the day. We walked back to our car, and drove to the production office to drop off the quilt. As promised, they were notified ahead of time and were expecting us. They graciously accepted the quilt and told us that they’d give it to Alex’s people personally. Mission accomplished.





To celebrate the quilt quest being over, we decided to do lunch at the Tropics Bar at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It was a combination of our relief in having accomplished our task, and being in a place where so many H50 scenes have been shot that we felt the need to splurge on lunch. Just eating and relishing in the day’s events was so much fun.  After lunch, we decided to walk around the grounds and check out the many shops on the Hilton property and do a little shopping.












All in all, we were very happy to have been able to see our beloved Hawaii Five-0 being filmed, even if it was for a short time.  Being able to see Alex in action before we left was the icing on the cake. Now, when we see episode 2.06 air, we can say…we were there.



Mahalo to the “little bird” that let us know where filming was that day. You know who you are.  

   \m/ ^_^ \m/ 


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