Blogs from Hawaii, United States, North America - page 160

This entry is more of a supplement to the last one. Since we left out important events like 4th July and visit to the sea life park. 4th July The day started pretty late so we missed the parade in the morning, but everywhere we go, one can taste the strong sense of American patriotism. Of course we did our bit of support as well... all attempted to wear white, red or blue. Even Tim was wearing his stripy blue shirt (although he will deny it and say it's pure coincidence). The highlight of the day was picnic by the kailua beach, which is about 10 min walking distance from our accommodation, to watch the fireworks. Although we were all in high spirits, the weather let us down for the first time with it's ferocious wind. ... read more

Waehrend Michi's Besuch haben wir auch einen kleinen Abstecher nach Kauai ueber's Wochenende gemacht. Wir hatten eine ziemlich geile Zeit und hier sind die Beweise...! Am ersten Tag haben wir uns gleich nach der Ankunft in Kauai auf den Weg zum Canyon gemacht. Danach folgte ein "kleiner" hike...! (Mehr Kauaibilder werden folgen) ================================================================================================================= While Michi was here we also made a little trip to Kauai over the weekend. We really had a blast and here is the evidence...! On the first day, right after our arrival we went to the Canyon. Afterward we went for a "tiny" hike...! (More pictures of Kauai will follow)... read more

Seems like in the past few years, festivals of all types have been dominating the Honolulu Calendar Activities. Basically it was just those of certain ethnic groups who settled in Hawaii during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, along with the indigenous Native Hawaiians who celebrated Kamehameha Day and Aloha Week. The Chinese of course with their Chinese New Years, Japanese with their Cherry Blossom Festival and O-Bon Dances during the Summer. Some celebrated quietly among their own ethnic groups but recently have made their festivals more public and welcoming to outsiders. Even small ethnic groups that may make up less than 5% of the population started celebrating in public venues and opening it to the public. Of course it didn’t hurt to have booths selling their unique cuisine or handicrafts. Among them are the Thais, ... read more

As travelers, we are always walking a fine line between trying to see and do everything and not looking like a kook tourist. But you also dont want to fall into any tourist traps either. So you go look for your own amazing things and leave the crowds behind. But sometimes something is cool enough to warrant a look... If you find yourself on Oahu, The Polynesian Cultural Center on the East side definitely is a must do. Located next to the Brigham Young University Hawaii, it offers youth from all the islands of Polynesia the chance to come to Oahu and get a college education, who work at the PCC and teach people about their culture. While they gloss over some of the human sacrifice and cannibalism, they do a great job of displaying life ... read more

Our flight from Sydney to Honolulu was quite eventful, as flights go. To start with, we had some problems checking in to the flight, because we did not have a booking for a hotel in Hawaii, so telling the lady 'we don´t know... we will find something when we get there...' did not wash! We had to pretend to make a booking on the phone at some place and give her that address. The actual flight was very different to any other, since we were crossing the date line! This meant that we left Sydney on the 4th of July at 7:45pm, and arrived at Honolulu on the same day at 9:30am... travelling back in time! (and this was a 9 hour flight). Honolulu We arrived in Honolulu without any problems, and the views from the ... read more