oahu day 7: breakfast, amazing view, hike, beer garden

//day 7
//sunday
//kailua, nu'uanu pali, diamond head, ala moana, waikiki.

BREAKFAST_boots & kimo's (kailua).
may be overrated, but still pretty dang good.


bear: corned beef hash omelette. has some other hawaiian name, but can't remember.
REALLY GOOD.
portion looks small, but it was hefty.


me: the famous pancakes with mac nut sauce. i opted for the banana pancakes.
neither of us like pancakes that much.
THESE WERE ******DELICIOUS*****!!!!1!!!1!!!
fluffy with chunks of moist banana. mmm.
the sauce is really that good. like melted, sweetened whipped cream.

SCENIC DRIVE_nu'uanu pali lookout (off pali highway, on the way back to honolulu from kailua).

seriously the best views. very windy, though.

you have to pay a few bucks to park in the lot. because we weren't planning on staying long, we just took turns going to look while the other stayed in the car.

yeah, we're *those* cheapass asians.




prehistoric craggy-ness.

HIKE_diamond head state monument (diamond head).

so winnie warned me ahead of time that this hike isn't nearly as easy as people make it out to be.

there is some warning, though.

good thing, as i was all super scurred of the hike,
so it ended up being way less scary than i feared.

note:
i am out of shape.
i have short legs.
thus i am slow.
my balance sucks.
i hate going down steep trails and get all scared.
i am afraid of heights.
Y U NO ATHLETIC, POTATO?!

however, i need not have feared so much. the entire trail is rather rocky rather than dirt-y, so it's not as slippery as the dirt trails i'm used to in california. you just need to watch your step/ankles as the path is nice, hard rock but is pitted.

also, my biggest fear when hiking is falling over the edge of the trail in steep areas.

but they have RAILS all along the path!  yay! made me so much more confident and less afraid.

see?


switchbacks!

ok, so the part of the hike that really IS that bad are the stairs. OMG.
first, there are a set of like 40-something stairs. not *too* bad, despite no landings.

but then you get here:

99 stairs,
and a landing ain't one.


almost.
there.
legs.
burning.
bear at the top laughing and taking pictures of me.
ugh.


after the 3 sets of stairs (the aforementioned two, then a super skinny spiral stair), you end up in concrete bunker thingy.
and you get this gorgeous sliver of a view.
then you have to climb some more stairs and squeeze through that sliver.


at the top!

(plus some chick's sweaty back & bra straps.)

then back down again.

it took us about 20 minutes to get to the top.
despite crowded trail.
we walked at a nice clip,
but remember i am slow w/my short legs.

LUNCH_fort ruger market (diamond head, near kapi'olani community college).
share: poke. again! was pretty good, but she over-salted it. meh. this one had sesame oil. mmm.
beef stew plate. like the beef stew my mom used to make growing up. think dinty moore, but from scratch and with big, super mushy chunks of beef, potatoes, and carrots. served on two scoop rice and with mac salad. overall very satisifying and warm.

bear's side: portuguese sausage & egg musubi. SO. GOOD. instead of white rice, the sausage & egg were on fried rice!!!

my side: mochiko chicken musubi. aiite. the fried rice saved it.


SHOP_ala moana center (ala moana).
because we're mallrats when on vacation, apparently.

HAPPY HOUR/DINNER_beer garden at shirokiya (ala moana center).
while walking around the mall, we saw a sign advertising $1-3 pints of japanese beer for happy hour at shirokiya's "beer garden." yay!


another version of the sign, once it started.


our pitcher of as-ahhhhh-hi. mmm.

i had a delicious bowl of udon with my beer.
i really, really love fat noodles.

the bear had a dimsum bento. he enjoyed everything in the bento very much.
and he usually finds 1 or 2 things he doesn't like in most bentos.
not this one.

got mistaken for locals again.
are we *that* tan? hmph. i guess better than being mistaken for being from the midwest =X.
cutest old couple next to us.
the old lady asked the bear if he caught "the game."
we happened to have caught part of the university of hawaii game the day before.
bear & lady had cute conversation about football.

love the food stalls here.

NIGHTCAP_attempted duke's. ended up at the beach bar at the westin moana surfrider again (waikiki).

um, so duke's was too much of a scene. of mostly over-dressed american tourists in the 30-50something range. too crowded. too loud. so we moved on.

the bear tried a blue hawaii as he needed to try a blue drink. after that, he went back to his standby of vodka tonics. dudes, the drinks here are poured STRONG. like the vodka tonic was vodka with a splash of tonic. prices are high, but very worth it.

plus this bar is chill, quiet, and on the beach. so nice (cue bebel gilberto).

i had a giant glass of wine. like he filled the wine glass to the rim.
i had to lap/sip it w/no hands to get it to a handle-able fill.
i still spilled some.
wah.

got lots of good recs from our homie marnie (one of the bartenders who is like your favorite filipino uncle) for our last breakfast on the island.

well, first he recommended IHOP and original pancake house.
us: "what? we have those on the mainland!"plus i'm not insomniac. i don't love IHOP like she does.

the following recs were better:
"boots & kimo's overrated. cinnamon's in kailua much better."
"side street inn." (we checked, and it doesn't open 'til 2 pm. LOL.)
"zippy's. get a plate lunch PLUS a 'pac.'" (whatever that is. might have to try since it's the mcd's of hawaii.)
"rainbow drive-in." (been there, done that. know it's good.)
"nico's on pier 38. nice but kind of expensive. i take my girlfriend there." (eh, out of our way.)
"buffet at the moana surfrider. expensive but very good." (this rec was from another bartender who was our strong-drink-pouring homie.)

BREAKFAST THE NEXT DAY_zippy's.
bear: some special, limited time only plate lunch to benefit some major league baseball player's foundation. was really good. had like 3 meats, eggs, rice, mac salad.

me: small chili rice. REALLY good chili. sooo good on rice.
saimin. really good and perfect for our mini hangovers.

to go for the plane: teri beef plate lunch. was A LOT of meat. the meat was just OK, though. plus we ate it cold on the plane.

get the chili rice.

until next time, mahalo, hawaii, for showing us a great, delicious time!

omg, props to everyone who read all of these long-winded recaps. yeesh to me.

oahu day 6: FULL day

//day 6
//saturday
//chinatown, downtown honolulu, pearl harbor, waipahu, waikele, waikiki, university of hawaii manoa adjacent.

lots of pictures again! yay! we squeezed a lot into this day.

BREAKFAST_more manapuaaaaa!!! at royal kitchen (chinatown).

handy dandy guide to the red food coloring dots on the buns to identify each.
i also really liked the chopstick wrappers.


we just got a few.
this was a bit much for the two of us.
2 curry chicken manapua (so good!)
2 portuguese sausage manapua (such good sausage!)
2 char siu manapua (really good char siu!)
1 mai tai su (meh. the flaky/dense dough was too much. and too many water chestnuts in the filling. there is also pork, shiitake mushrooms, turnip, tiny dried shrimp, and i'm not sure what else in there.)
2 half moons (translucent ricey skin used for har gow, filled with same stuff as mai tai su)
2 pork hash. better known to us mainlanders as siu mai.

but...we were gearing up for a 2-hour walk, after all.

WALKING TOUR_aia honolulu architectural walking tour (downtown honolulu).
so the bear read about this tour by the honolulu chapter of the aia (american institute of architects) in our  westways magazine. yeah, the free one you get for being a member of AAA southern california. it's only $10 a person, we figured we'd get some history, and i was excited to maybe learn about the vernacular or evolution of architecture in hawaii since it was colonized by so many different groups. yay!

we met at the aia honolulu's offices. while waiting for everyone in the group to arrive, one of the chatty tour group participants took it upon himself to be mr. icebreaker. well, he just asked everyone where they were visiting from. it turns out all three other couples were from orange county. they all had some ties (grew up in, used to live in, etc.) the city we currently we live in (not in orange county). pure coincidence? nope. they all read about the tour in westways.

in fact, one guy works for AAA corporate. they all took pictures in front of the AIA's sign holding their copy of the article.

we kept our mouths shut but were poking each other. LOL.

oh, and all of the other couples were in their late 40s to their 60s. and half of the men had fanny packs on. no, we did not quite fit in.

so the tour. honestly, i got boooooored about halfway through. the bear loved it, though. let's just say the 70-year old architect who led the tour and i have very different approaches to and thoughts on architecture. if he knew which school i just finished, i bet he would have come after me with a pitchfork. boo! it's actually a very good tour for the layperson, and we did get a lot of good info about the history of hawaii.

and it was a good way to walk off 100 pounds of manapua.

the captions are what i heard and what i thought during the tour.

historic, blah blah blah. terra cotta blah blah blah.


ooh! a pretty drain. gorgeous metal.


street art! mr. humuhumunukunukuapuaa. how cute.


king kamehameha blah blah blah.
gold blah blah blah.
original statue lost at sea blah blah blah.
this king's dad's palace that this king didn't like.
so state blah offices housed here.
blah blah blah.


cemetery at the church for haoles = foreigners/outsiders.
you mean the white devils?



since kamehameha didn't like that first palace, he built another across the street.
heavy rustication there.
frilly victorian here.


holes in the stairs. so you can shoot your muskets through them while being protected.
yeah, not enough holes. *sniggle*
kamehameha's forces lost.
the haoles took over.


ooh, look at the drippy banyan tree.
too bad it's not a bridge like the banyans in india.


mmm. concrete.
state blah (legislature? courts?) housed here.
government very open blah blah to the people blah.


mmm. heavy. textured. concrete & stone.


mmm. concrete. love the thinness of the wood slats that made up the formwork.


ooh. retro & fun facade.

yup, by the end, i was pretty much absorbed in my own thoughts and not really listening.
bad walking tour tater. LOLOLOLOL.

MORE TOUR_world war II valor in the pacific memorial (pearl harbor).
now this was worth it. entry to the memorial park and to the USS arizona memorial is free. there are other memorials in the memorial that cost extra (submarine, and i forget what else).

we also paid $7.50 for the audio tour, which was actually quite good. jamie lee curtis' voice is perfect to narrate the somber experience.

tip: so the timed ferries to the uss arizona begin at 8 am. the memorial park opens at 7 am, when you can buy your tickets. first come, first time slots. apparently people line up before 7 am to get in. some of these people stand in line for an hour and get time slots for an hour or more later than that.

instead, be late like us. we got there midday. there was no line to get uss arizona tickets. our time slot was for maybe 30-45 minutes after we arrived--enough time to get through the first three or so stations on the audio tour.

anyway, it's a great memorial, we learned a lot, and it was a good way to remember our servicepeople.


tree of life sculpture (also repeated next to the USS arizona wall o' names.)


the ferry over to the uss arizona.











LUNCH_tanioka's seafoods & catering (waipahu).
got there too late. all the good stuff was gone. what we had was good but mostly cold/lukewarm.
shared: lumpia, fried rice, fried chicken, poke.

ate sitting in the car in the parking lot. that's just how we roll.

SHOP_waikele "premium" outlets (waipahu).
LAME. don't waste your time.

WALK_waikiki.
again.

DINNER_choi's kitchen (international market, waikiki).
overpriced, but hit the spot as i was craving asian food. it's pretty much hawaiianized korean.
bear: kimchee fried rice with spicy pork bulgogi. side of mandoo (gyoza/potstickers/dumplings).
me: fried noodles with shrimp.

DESSERT_bubbie's (near university of hawaii manoa).
needed their mochi ice cream again. needed.




tried:
lychee - good.
guava - really good.
lilikoi (passion fruit) - BEST!
pumpkin - really good, but hard to get in the mood when it's 80 and humid at night.
strawberry dark chocolate chip - good. loved the chocolate mochi skin.

yay for super-full days!

oahu day 5

//day 5
//friday
//hanauma bay, waikiki/kapahulu, ala moana.

SNORKEL_rentals from snorkel bob's (kapahulu). snorkeling at hanauma bay nature preserve (hanauma).
snorkel bob's is good. better gear than you'll get elsewhere, and not too expensive.
daily rentals are $3-$9 depending on what grade of equipment you get.
weekly rental are $9-$30something. again, depends on the grade of equipment.
if we hadn't been in line behind the slowest people in the world, we would have been in and out in no time.

so the bay is THE place to snorkel, supposedly.
pay for snorkel gear.
pay for parking.
pay for admission.
(not much total, but many lines and lots of cash to have on hand.)
crowded.
we got there right before they closed the parking lot to any more cars.
then waited to watch the short film everyone needs to watch beforehand.
respect the reef, yo.
it repeats NOT to touch, step on, or otherwise do anything to the reef besides look at it.
then a line for lockers.
then getting on the beach.
at low tide, it's super shallow in the inner bay.
so hard not to touch/step on the reef at certain points.
but we were good.
others, not so much. ERRYONE and their moms were standing up ON it.
grr.
anyway, an hour or so in the water was enough for us.
we saw plenty of the endemic species (only exist in that area).
saw plenty of humuhumunukunukuāpuaa (the state fish).
snorkeling in the caribbean's still way better.

oh, and when we left around midday, they had opened up the lot again.
morning people were leaving, and there was room again.
maybe instead of getting there first thing and waiting w/everyone else,
you should just go around lunch time.

LUNCH_rainbow drive-in (kapahulu). yep, again. needed to try plate lunches, not breakfast.
me: loco moco plate. i really like their gravy, so this was solid.
bear: mix plate. they are known for this. it's a great deal as you get beef, chicken, ahi katsu, 2 scoop rice, mac salad.

SHOP_waikiki. we got iphone 4Ses! on the release date! just waltzed in! no lines! paid way less sales tax than at home!


our phone family. from left to right:
my iphone 3g
bear's iphone 3g
bear's work droid
bear's new iphone 4s
my new iphone 4s

DINNER_combo ahi bowls from ono seafood (kapahulu). yes, again. our favorite ahi poke.

they close early--around 6. so pick yours up early then eat it later, as we did.

seaweed salad to share.


me: hawaiian on the left, shoyu on the right.
i know they look the same.
they taste the same, too, although the hawaiian is a bit drier.


bear: "the usual" for him. spicy on the left. shoyu on the right.

"GO OUT"_dave & buster's at ward entertainment center. meh. (ala moana)

don't go as early as we did on a friday night.
lots of strollers.
nothing too different from dave&buster's at home.
although we noticed a LOT of people eating dinner there.
blech.

WALK_waikiki.
the usual.

NIGHTCAP_five-o bar & lounge (waikiki).
mistaken for locals again when some guy asked us if this was the place to be on friday nights. no clue. i mean, it's technically in a mall on waikiki. but good live music, a nice outdoor area, and good drinks at decent prices for waikiki.

oahu day 4

//day 4 
//thursday
//chinatown (honolulu), haleiwa/north shore.


finally! photos!


BREAKFAST_royal kitchen for manapua and dim sum (chinatown).
because char hung sut was on vacation. :(
we really wanted to try both, but we ended up at royal kitchen twice. more on this in another post.


SURF/LAY OUT_haleiwa ali'i beach park. different from tuesday's haleiwa (north shore).nice waves that day.
pretty sand.
some palm trees for shade for lazy me.
surfers that are pretty good and fun to watch.

the bear before surfing.



the bear after surfing.
look how wide that wave is!


LUNCH_macky's kahuku sweet shrimp truck (haleiwa, north shore).


truck in a dirt lot.
next door to a 7-11.
off a traffic circle/rotary/whatever those things are called.



wild chickens that live in that brush behind the dirt lot.



bear: spicy shrimp plate
really good. the sauce mixed with the rice is SO good.



me: garlic butter shrimp plate
so delicious. perfectly cooked, fresh, sweet shrimp.
toasted garlic in its sauce on rice.
mmMMM.


i attempted these last week at home.
it was a huge fail.


oh yeah, pineapple slice was good.
could have done without the salad.
but i ate some of mine since we hadn't been eating many veggies that week.
sigh. being a responsible adult is no fun.


DESSERT_matsumoto shave[d] ice (haleiwa, north shore).

long, stinky line.
i guess everyone spills their melty scoops of ice cream on the sidewalk nearby.
smells like poop, unfortunately.



shaving the ice.



we shared a large rainbow (pineapple, lemon, strawberry)
with ice cream at the bottom and a snow cap (condensed milk on top).
the condensed milk is essential.
the ice cream at the bottom is awesome, too.



neither of us are big hawaiian-style shave ice fans.
we prefer chinese- or korean-style shaved ice.
but as you can tell, i enjoyed this a lot.
as did the bear.
perfect in that climate.


WALK/SHOP_waikiki.

visited the duke.


DINNER_teddy's bigger burgers. because the bear's other name is "teddy." (waikiki).
potatobro and sis-in-law raved about this place.


their peanut butter chocolate shake is supposed to be good.
bear vetoed.

we got strawberry instead.
thick. sweet. creamy.
good shake.



me: jalaween burger
substituted tots for fries.



bear: bacaburger
substituted cajun fries.


giant burgers even though we ordered the smallest patty size.
pretty good.
i'm still partial to in 'n' out, myself.


NIGHTCAP_mai tais at the beach bar at the westin moana surfrider (waikiki).

hm. potato face does not tan evenly.
notice the bear's umbrella drink.
he's very embarrassed that he is pictured with one here, and i am not.
mine is just out of the frame, stage right.
and in his defense these mai tai's were freakin' strong.
i decided i don't like mai tai's that night.
well, at least, the taste of 'em. ;)