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Published: June 17th 2008
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Hawaii... synonymous with fresh pineapple, meaty fish, and abundance of sun. Amazingly enough, during my brief, 10-day stay in Oahu and Maui, I did not go in the water. Heck, I spent a total of 40 minutes chilling at the beach, though I was fairly active with walking, jogging, and hiking. At the end of the trip, I was certain of a few things. Loved everything about Hawaii, except Waikiki.
I arrived in Oahu on May 22 and rode the Airport Waikiki Shuttle to my hotel. If your hotel is on the east end of Waikiki, figure to be the last one dropped off. You really don't understand why the trip takes so long until the next morning when you realize most of the side streets are one-way and you realize the bus drivers have to zigzag their way across town. My "airport hotel" for the evening was Hotel Renew, which was ranked #1 by many of the Trip Advisor readers. True to its word, hospitality was second to none. Of course, I appeared to be local until I opened my mouth! Kudos to Sheika for her helpful advice and directions and to Leonor for making me feel at home...
albeit for my brief one-night stay. In the short time I was out (and still awake), I met with cousins for dinner in a Japanese restaurant in King's Village and later with siblings and their friends at Zanzabar.
Next morning offered few options at the hotel's continental breakfast, but I enjoyed the steaming hot coffee, fresh juice, and hard-boiled eggs. I ventured out and waited for The Bus for 20 minutes (later, I found out I went to the wrong street) before giving up and walking nearly 2 miles on a steady incline to Diamond Head. Two water bottles and 30 pictures later, I descended Diamond Head and found the correct bus stop for the ride back to town. There, I found Puka Dog... whose only customers seem to be the ones who heard about Puka on the Travel Channel. Basically, it's a hot dog that's dropped into a bun ("puka" means hole), then topped with an option of sauce (ranged from mild to hot-hot), fruit relish, and mustard. I opted for hot-hot (wasn't hot), pineapple relish (I'm in Hawaii!) and Hawaiian mustard (I couldn't figure out what was Hawaiian about it). The dog was tasty and it hit
the spot, but at $6.54, it didn't appear to taste any better than the $1.99 version at ABC next door (what's with all the ABC stores anyway?). Returned to the hotel and got a generous late checkout from the Renew folks (you rock!). Eventually, I returned to the airport to meet up with the rest of the family arrivals.
Next stop: north shore... Turtle Bay Resort. I stayed at Turtle Bay for the next five nights, primarily for my brother's wedding. I loved the north shore. At TBR, every restaurant we dined at was great. Fish at Ola was awesome... don't go there for breakfast though. Stick with the buffet at Palm Terrace. TBR also offers many trails for active folks like myself. Just don't run on the beach. The sand is so plush and soft that you feel like you're running in place or working out on a stairclimber! Offsite, I enjoyed eating lunch at Giovanni's shrimp truck (worth the wait), walking aimlessly around the maze at Dole Plantation (try the soft-serve with crushed pineapple bits as topping), and feasting on the loco moco plate lunch in Hale'iwa. I also had fun at the PCC... which allegedly is
not popular with the locals for one reason or another. It wasn't Six Flags, but I felt it was a fruitful and educational experience... and I enjoyed the luau and entertainment that came with the package.
On the day after my brother's wedding, we visited Pearl Harbor and found plenty of tourists as expected, but the 4.5-hour (waiting around accounted for 75% of the time) tour was well worth the time, especially once we arrived at the Arizona. Afterwards, we drove up the windward side of the island, north on Pali Highway, briefly stopped in Wailua, before returning to TBR.
On Wednesday, I flew to Maui and spent the morning in Kihei and afternoon at Ma'alaea Harbor snacking on fresh fish while the rest of the family snorkeled out by Molokini. Later, we checked into the Outrigger Aina Nalu resort in Lahaina. The Outrigger was off the beaten path, which ended up being favorable, and the accommodations greatly exceeded my expectations.
On Thursday, Justin, Andrew, and I woke up at 130am (!!!) to get picked up at 2am for our sunrise tour of Haleakala. After getting set up with gear, bikes, etc., we were at the summit
of Haleakala at 5am, just in time to witness a beautiful sunrise 10,000+ feet above sea level and above a layer of clouds. After sunrise, we biked down a paved path down Haleakala. I didn't pedal much as I probably spent more time applying the brakes to minimize my risk of wiping out! I certainly wasn't as adventurous (re: speedy) as my youngest brothers, but, then again, I didn't have any bruises at the end of the ride, did I? I think not.
On Friday morning, we returned to Oahu where we spent our last full day putzing around the area. While the family explored Waikiki for the first time, I joined David, Karina, and her mom for more moderate hiking at Makapu'u where we saw some beautiful views of the windward side of Oahu and the ocean.
Homeward bound on Saturday. Enough writing. Enjoy the pictures! The end.
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David
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happy birthday! (and nice pics)
Hey Manny, glad you enjoyed your first trip to Hawaii. Thanks for everything, it was fun hanging out. Have a great birthday! ~ David and Karina