Said Abd El Gawad

Although the LOST 2014 event officially ended on Monday, September 22nd, many of us stayed in Hawaii a few days longer to squeeze in a bit more fun.  For Paul, Chris, MJ and myself, Tuesday morning found us high in the air enjoying a spectacular helicopter ride, a 45-minute tour that took us in a counter-clockwise loop around Oahu. Next we said good-bye to Paul (who was off to ride ATVs at Kualoa Ranch with Jo and Erika, I believe) and dropped into the Enterprise car rental facility at the airport.  We picked up a car and started our adventure (as all adventures should start) with food -- breakfast at the Liliha Bakery .  Afterward we made a few stops at LOST locations along the Pali Highway.  At the Nuuanu Pali Lookout we stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the sweeping vistas. View from Nuuanu Pali Lookout View from Nuuanu Pali Lookout View from Nuuanu Pali Lookout View from Nuuanu Pali Lookout We then looped back towards the North Shore to visit Police Beach.  Again, first things fir...

On the way back to Honolulu from the Byodo-In Temple we spotted the location used for Anthony Cooper's home in the memorable season one episode "Deus Ex Machina". Anthony Cooper's home.  (from "Deus Ex Machina") Oahu residence, 2014 Wider shot of Oahu residence.

The second location near Byodo-In Temple that I was completely oblivious to in 2011 is a small bamboo grove at which Sawyer fashioned a mast for the raft in the season one finale, "Exodus".  In addition to the most excellent sight of shirtless, sweaty Sawyer, we are also treated to an unexpected emotional scene between Jack and James, as Sawyer recounts the night he spoke with Jack's Dad at a bar in Sydney. Sawyer's mast.  (from "Exodus") Bamboo grove near Byodo-In Temple. Jack hands Sawyer a gun.  (from "Exodus") Bamboo grove near Byodo-In Temple Shirt-off Sawyer gives us a peek at this humanity. (from "Exodus") Shirt-on me tries to find a screen match. Bamboo grove, 2014. For some of the outdoor locations it can be difficult to know exactly where the camera was shooting, particularly in shots with vegetation that may have changed in appearance over the intervening years.  But as far as I can tell, the last 2 photos above showcase the ba...

There is a lovely scene in the season one episode "House of the Rising Sun" where Jin and Sun have a clandestine rendezvous in a gazebo behind Mr. Paik's estate.  Although it was dressed up with ribbons, candles, and lamps for the show, the structure does in fact exist and is located a stone's throw from the Byodo-In Temple. Jin and Sun in love, Mr. Paik's estate in the background. Gazebo with Byodo-In Temple in the background. Clearer view of the temple from just in front of the gazebo. Grounds around the gazebo. Peaceful nook near the gazebo. Gazebo ceiling So happy I was finally able to see this!

The second stop on our half-day LOST tour was the Byodo-In Temple, a reduced-scale replica of the Byodo-In temple in Uji, Japan.  I stopped here with my LOST compatriots in 2011 , but missed a couple of key areas on the temple grounds which I (after being alerted by our tour guide Tom) caught up with this time.  I'll cover those in separate posts; for now, here are a few more shots of the beautiful main building located within Oahu's Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. The beautiful Byodo-In Temple, front view. The beautiful Byodo-In Temple, side/back view. Oppose side/back view. Koi enjoying the water surrounding the temple.

For sheer visual splendour the valley within Kualoa Ranch is hard to beat.  The area has attracted many film and television productions including Jurassic Park, Godzilla, and LOST.  In fact, the day of our tour there was a crew shooting in the valley, allegedly for a Shakira music video.  Jurassic Park 4 had also been filming recently.  In terms of LOST there are multiple locations scattered over the property: the Tempest station , Richard Alpert's pre-Island home , the area where Ana-Lucia killed Goodwin , Jughead's tower , the hill down which Hurley drove a Dharma van , the suspension bridge Hurley and Charlie crossed to reach Rousseau , the spot where the Man in Black smashed Jacob's wine bottle , and Hurley's golf course to name a few. In 2011 I toured Kualoa Ranch in a humvee with 3 of my LOSTie pals.  Our driver and guide was a guy named Greg who was actually an extra on the show; one of his appearances was in the Santa Rosa scenes with Hurley.  After arriving ba...