Aloha Hawai'i

Day 1 - Arrive in Honolulu (from Hong Kong, via Seoul)

This trip has been one that I've been looking forward to for years, especially as I haven't seen my friend Eriko in a long time. We met up in Honolulu to spend a week together.

The Honolulu International Airport is not particular big or modern looking, but it's so nice to get off the plane and see clear blue skies and feel the warmth of the island (as there were large parts of the airport that is open and not enclosed). Feels a bit like arriving in Thailand but without the humidity and the crowds.

We checked into the Hilton Village and then went out for something to eat and to explore the nearby shopping mall.

Day 2 - Waikiki

Most days we slept in as we're not too rushed about sighting seeing in Hawaii. We spent a whole day just walking along Waikiki and discovering what stores there are.

above & below: wide open spaces, blue skies, large shady trees

We walked from our hotel to Waikiki and that took about 15 minutes. There's a strip - kind of like Las Vegas' strip, where all the luxury brands have stores and also it's right next to the shore and Waikiki beach.

We walked around and then found a restaurant called Heavenly - this became our favourite restaurant during the trip. They serve dishes made from local and organic food - I didn't feel guilty to order whatever I want... my only regret is that I wasn't able to order everything as there were only the 2 of us.

I tried out the local specialty called Loco Moco... and a bowl of acai and berries.... yum! The eggs benedict were so good too!

We loved the food and environment so much we kept thinking about this place and made effort to come back before the end of our trip.

 right: there were a lot of white pigeons (or doves?) sitting in this tree....

Waikiki beach was a bit disappointing as it was just really long, but the depth of the beach was quite short, so there's not much space.... but I guess some people will like that you don't have to walk so far to reach the water.

above: the street above Waikiki beach

below: Waikiki beach

In Hawaii, you'll hear lots of people speaking in Japanese as it's a favourite destination for them. One of the things that people outside of the USA really like to experience is shooting a gun. In Honolulu there are a couple of these indoor gun shooting centres, Eriko spent some time there improving her aim. :D

We then went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner because Eriko has never tried it before and she likes sweet stuff. Their portions are HUGE! We had to bring our cheesecakes back to the hotel as a midnight snack.

Day 3 - Honolulu sight seeing

We slept in again and then went to a nice fancy restaurant called 53 by the Sea. The view was really nice. I thought the food was so-so.... I prefer the food at Heavenly... hahaha... I think this whole trip nothing compared to the food at Heavenly.

What's interesting is that I thought Hawaii would have a lot of seafood, but actually I don't think they have much of a seafood industry here. The seafood that we had were not amazing and the cooking styles were all very similar to what you would find on Mainland USA. I prefer Japanese, Chinese or other Asian cooking styles for seafood.

After our lunch we went for a drive around downtown Honolulu... visited just the outside of the Iolani Palace (Hawaii had a Royal family in the past).

And then afterwards we went to try out a donut place that Eriko had heard about... they make fresh Malasadas to order.... and it tastes a bit like the round donuts (without a hole in the middle) that have a jam filling, but these were hot and a bit more springy than usual. They were good.... even a plain one is good!

The location is not really accessibly by tourists so it's definitely better to have a car. Actually a lot of places in Hawaii you will probably need a car to get to.

We then went shopping to buy some stuff at a 24 hours store called "Don Quijote" it's kind of like a Wal-mart they sell everything.

Day 4 - More food and shopping

First thing we did was go to Eggs'n'things, this is a store that serves all things related to egg, so since it seems like a breakfast-y kind of dish, we had that for breakfast!

left: pineapple juice

right: top right corner are macadamia pancakes - yummy!

Then we went for a drive and tried to get to Diamond Head, this is a crater that's on the edge of Honolulu and you can get nice views of the city and shoreline from there.

It's fun to just drive around and explore.... hehe

We had dinner at a restaurant inside Neiman Marcus, and I had a steak that was really yummy! and Eriko had a mushroom risotto which was also really good!

After that we decided to go to the theatre and watch a movie. Feels like we live in Hawaii and these are things we'd do when we lived in Toronto....

Day 5 - Going further in our car

The next day we woke up late and walked around the grounds of Hilton Village, we found a shrimp truck and order garlic shrimps and coconut shrimps. These are a must try in Hawaii! I like the garlic shrimps better than the coconut shrimps, but I was surprised that the coconut shrimps you can actually taste the coconut flavour!

Then we decided to drive to Whole Foods which was quite a far distance away.... but on the way we discovered a good view of Diamond Head.

above: TANNED Hello Kittys

After spending a better part of the afternoon at Whole Foods, we went up Punchbowl (hahaha funny name....) just before the sun set and we can see the whole of Honolulu below. Very nice!

Day 6 - Visiting Hawaii Island / Big Island

Hawaii is made up of a chain of islands and the biggest and youngest one is called Hawaii Island or Big Island. Even though there are active volcanoes it's still populated and also a really nice place to visit. There are black sand beaches, lagoons, and you can go around the national park to learn about volcanoes.

above: Point F is where new land is forming as that's the spot of a volcano under water

While I was researching about Hawaii, I thought that it would be pretty easy to get from island to island, but actually there are no ferries or bridges, you have to fly to any of the other islands. This was a problem cuz flights are expensive and you have to book another hotel..... but as I didn't want to just stay on Oahu (the island where Honolulu is), we went on a day trip to Big Island to see volcanoes.

It is definitely a rushed trip to see Big Island in a day.... but I don't know when I'll ever go back to Hawaii......

We were taken to their black sand beaches and we saw sea turtles sunbathing..... it's a sign of fortune and happiness to see a sea turtle in Hawaii.

Rainbow Falls

We also made a stop at the Moana Loa factory where we bought macadamia nuts to bring back home.

While walking through the national park, we also stopped by an old lava tunnel and walked through that - quite cool!

right: entering the old lava tunnel

Day 7 - SPA-ing

Our last day in Hawaii was spent relaxing even more. We went back to Heavenly for a brunch and then walked around until it was time for our spa appointment at the Surfrider Hotel by Westin. I think this is the oldest hotel in Honolulu and the royals even stayed there. It's really pretty.

After our spa treatment, we then went back to Heavenly for an afternoon tea break....

above left: Hainan Chicken and Rice; above right: Vietnamese Pho (our brunch before spa)

below left: French Toast with Pineapple, Banana and Mango and Tiramisu (after spa... LOL)

We then walked back to our hotel, and then went for a late dinner.

Next day I left Hawaii and had to stop overnight in Seoul..... if only I was there during the day..... then I could have taken advantage of these tour bus tours in Seoul. Oh well, good for next time I have to stop over in Seoul.

Aloha!

such cute postcards in Hawaii