i went to hawaii
a (hopefully short) summary of my 8 days, 7 nites in hawaii with bbg.... i was gonna lj cut it, but then i thought, fuck you. sorry.
day 1 - saturday
flight to oahu was fine.... in-flight movie: ice age 2, pretty good for free.
land in honolulu 1pm hawaii time. explore the area before check in at 3pm. we see penguins and turtles at the hawaii hilton! get take out from hole-in-the-wall vietnamese place, pretty good. change in hotel room and go to the beach! walk to waikiki downtown area to see the sights, eat dinner around 10pm at a mall/shopping center cafe. the burger i got was, eh, average, but you can never go wrong with fries.
room with a view....
first night in waikiki..... yeah, im pretty awesome
day 2
spent all day at the beach. beautiful! the water is warm and the sun is hot. hot dogs, chips, and shaved ice is enjoyed from a nearby food cart. nightlife included walking to waikiki again for dinner, this time at a mel's diner-ish place with lots of crap on the wall, oldies in the background, and grease playing on the tvs. super thin crust hawaiian pizza and a chocolate milkshake: awesome.
the beach, me, and diamondhead
day 3
bbg goes running in the morning while it's still relatively cool out and i check out the ala moana mall. this mall is supposed to be the biggest in hawaii, and it's pretty massive. the stores are set up like a caste system: the high end ones like gucci are on the top floor, the crappy shops and souvenir places are on the bottom. the mall is outside-ish, with a roof to keep the sun off people, so that's nice. walking around i realized how stupid it was to shop for stuff you could get at home and i left.
the hawaiian prince hotel
went to the beach for the rest of the day. grabbed a couple blue hawaiians at a bar on the beach for sunset - very cool. realized blue hawaiis suck, though... came back to the hotel and realized we were hella burned. well, bbg more than me, obvi. discovered the international market in waikiki. among the giant shopping malls, duty free center galleria, high end shopping and abc stores lies the international market. an area with several bars that always had live music, an asian ghetto-ish food court with a stage for hawaiian performances for tourists, and about a billion souvenir stands and shops. we had dinner in the food court: cheap sushi for me and korean bbq for bbg. the sushi came with a little packet of wasabi!!!!!!!!!! i've never seen that before.
wasabi! yes, this deserves a pic
bbg <3 korean food
day 4
went to the beach, dont look so surprised. late afternoon rolled around and we decided to go climb diamondhead. even though ive heard from everyone and their mother that we should do diamondhead in the early morning or towards the evening bec it's the worst heat ever, we ignored them and went. fortunately, it was kinda overcast/cloudy, so the climb was pretty great. the moments the sun peaked through the clouds, tho, were terrible, but im sensitive like that. climbed forever (with an little extra time since we took the bus there and werent dropped off at the main entrance - so we had to walk a little), but it was worth it. the views were amazing. and then a billion gnats attacked my head and got stuck in my hair. gross.
almost at the top... he demanded we give the hang loose sign. you cant mess with those old asian men.
waikiki from diamondhead.
went back to the beach afterwards, of course, for the sunset. cheeseburger in paradise for a late dinner. we ordered drinks and i ended up making bbg trade with me since i liked his more than mine. BEST CHEESEBURGER EVER. maybe it was bec we were reeeeeeeally hungry... maybe it was bec we were slightly drunk from the drinks.... whatever, it was awesome. i had the guacamole burger and bbg had a bbq one. haha, bbg + bbq
hawt
day 5
snorkeling at hanauma bay. scheduled a trip with the in hotel travel agent guy. they picked us up, gave us gear, dropped us off, and brought us back for a reasonable price. woke up early (in hawaiian time, decent for the mainland), met some kids from oakland in our van. got to the natural reserve and waited in line for an hour. watched the mandatory video about preserving the coral, etc. jumped in the water immediately. greeted by TONS of fish, and lots of different kinds. ive been snorkeling a couple times when i was 16 when my fam went to maui, but that was just at a random beach and not an acutal snorkeling spot. at first i was a little frightened of the fish, which is retarded, i know, but i got over it quickly. we lucked out and saw a green sea turtle just chilling. he decided to swim to deeper waters and we followed him for awhile. hung out at the beach for a breather - beautiful. went back in later in the afternoon, but the tide came in so the water was rougher, deeper, and cloudier.
hanauma bay
bbg's point of view
back in waikiki, at at some mom and pop operation japanese restaurant. killer tempura for cheap, with a view of the beach. bought hella shit at the international market - it was fun to bargain with people and get a better deal. it gives the illusion that you're saving money when you could probably pay much less to these merchants. but a much better deal than the abc stores, which is also loads lamer.
i have pics of inside, but they're still on my camera and i dont want to upload any more, so deal. you can kinda get the idea from this.
day 6
tried to visit manoa falls, but missed the bus by a tiny bit. cut our losses and spent the rest of the day at the beach. at one end of the beach near fort derussy (where we spent most of our time at the beach - away from the crowds staying at the resorts) is a small food court with four or five stands. v. asian ghetto-ish. we'd go there for lunch after we realized the hot dog stand had little variety and was a bit overpriced. one stand had the biggest shaved ices ever! they were awesome. im not a big lover of shaved ice, but hawaiian ones were great. i ate more shaved ice during this trip than i have my whole life, and i was lovin it. pretty much ate it every day. yeah.
mmmm.... shaved ice.
this sums up bbg at the beach
day 7
snorkeling in kane'ohe. took a tour with captain bob's snorkeling. sounds hokey, but turned out to be pretty nice. this was friday. the entire week the news talked about a hurricane (i think its name was daniel) was supposed to hit. most of our time there it was windy and the wind picked up as the week went on. by friday, tho, the hurricane had disapated and we were left with very light and warm showers. the other side of the island was cloudy and cold, but still beautiful. we were picked up and driven to kane'ohe, a small city inside a giant volcano crater. the ridges are awesome. boarded a boat with 30 other people. took us to a giant sand bar (about the size of a football field) in the middle of the bay. other people played water volleyball in the knee deep, warm water, some tested out the snorkeling gear. bbg and i frolicked. ate a bbq lunch and headed off to the coral reef.
the only REAL proof we went snorkeling... tho i guess this could've been taken at the hotel pool, but you'll just have to trust me.
on the boat
we jump in and immediately there are HUNDREDS of fish since the guys running the show are throwing bread into the water. we swim around the reef for.... 45-60 minutes and it's amazing. the coral is shaped like brains and there are so many fish. unfortunately, it's cloudy in the sky so the water is a little dark. we head back and the tour guides point out some scenic points like gilligan's island. then they tell us that kane'ohe is one of the largest breeding grounds for hammerhead sharks and that it's in the middle of mating/breeding season. so there are hundreds of thousands of sharks in the water - ack! seriously glad they told us that afterwards or else i may have not gone in. didnt see any sharks, since they usually hang on the bottom of the ocean, far from us......
dinner at smorgy's! a buffet for $10.95. kind of blah buffet, but you cant beat the price and the setting is surprisingly nice.
hey, i liked it
inside smorgy's
day 8
check out at noon, go to the beach for the last time :( shower at the hotel and go to waikiki for the last time for dinner. get to go at international market and sit by waikiki beach for dinner and sunset. buy my last souvenir and take off for the airport for a redeye back to oaktown.
aloha means goodbye
in flight movie: failure to launch. sucked balls. the supporting cast was funny, but the rest of the movie was predictable and crappy. slept very lightly.... landed around 8:30 am, PST. missed the heat wave though!
day 1 - saturday
flight to oahu was fine.... in-flight movie: ice age 2, pretty good for free.
land in honolulu 1pm hawaii time. explore the area before check in at 3pm. we see penguins and turtles at the hawaii hilton! get take out from hole-in-the-wall vietnamese place, pretty good. change in hotel room and go to the beach! walk to waikiki downtown area to see the sights, eat dinner around 10pm at a mall/shopping center cafe. the burger i got was, eh, average, but you can never go wrong with fries.
room with a view....
first night in waikiki..... yeah, im pretty awesome
day 2
spent all day at the beach. beautiful! the water is warm and the sun is hot. hot dogs, chips, and shaved ice is enjoyed from a nearby food cart. nightlife included walking to waikiki again for dinner, this time at a mel's diner-ish place with lots of crap on the wall, oldies in the background, and grease playing on the tvs. super thin crust hawaiian pizza and a chocolate milkshake: awesome.
the beach, me, and diamondhead
day 3
bbg goes running in the morning while it's still relatively cool out and i check out the ala moana mall. this mall is supposed to be the biggest in hawaii, and it's pretty massive. the stores are set up like a caste system: the high end ones like gucci are on the top floor, the crappy shops and souvenir places are on the bottom. the mall is outside-ish, with a roof to keep the sun off people, so that's nice. walking around i realized how stupid it was to shop for stuff you could get at home and i left.
the hawaiian prince hotel
went to the beach for the rest of the day. grabbed a couple blue hawaiians at a bar on the beach for sunset - very cool. realized blue hawaiis suck, though... came back to the hotel and realized we were hella burned. well, bbg more than me, obvi. discovered the international market in waikiki. among the giant shopping malls, duty free center galleria, high end shopping and abc stores lies the international market. an area with several bars that always had live music, an asian ghetto-ish food court with a stage for hawaiian performances for tourists, and about a billion souvenir stands and shops. we had dinner in the food court: cheap sushi for me and korean bbq for bbg. the sushi came with a little packet of wasabi!!!!!!!!!! i've never seen that before.
wasabi! yes, this deserves a pic
bbg <3 korean food
day 4
went to the beach, dont look so surprised. late afternoon rolled around and we decided to go climb diamondhead. even though ive heard from everyone and their mother that we should do diamondhead in the early morning or towards the evening bec it's the worst heat ever, we ignored them and went. fortunately, it was kinda overcast/cloudy, so the climb was pretty great. the moments the sun peaked through the clouds, tho, were terrible, but im sensitive like that. climbed forever (with an little extra time since we took the bus there and werent dropped off at the main entrance - so we had to walk a little), but it was worth it. the views were amazing. and then a billion gnats attacked my head and got stuck in my hair. gross.
almost at the top... he demanded we give the hang loose sign. you cant mess with those old asian men.
waikiki from diamondhead.
went back to the beach afterwards, of course, for the sunset. cheeseburger in paradise for a late dinner. we ordered drinks and i ended up making bbg trade with me since i liked his more than mine. BEST CHEESEBURGER EVER. maybe it was bec we were reeeeeeeally hungry... maybe it was bec we were slightly drunk from the drinks.... whatever, it was awesome. i had the guacamole burger and bbg had a bbq one. haha, bbg + bbq
hawt
day 5
snorkeling at hanauma bay. scheduled a trip with the in hotel travel agent guy. they picked us up, gave us gear, dropped us off, and brought us back for a reasonable price. woke up early (in hawaiian time, decent for the mainland), met some kids from oakland in our van. got to the natural reserve and waited in line for an hour. watched the mandatory video about preserving the coral, etc. jumped in the water immediately. greeted by TONS of fish, and lots of different kinds. ive been snorkeling a couple times when i was 16 when my fam went to maui, but that was just at a random beach and not an acutal snorkeling spot. at first i was a little frightened of the fish, which is retarded, i know, but i got over it quickly. we lucked out and saw a green sea turtle just chilling. he decided to swim to deeper waters and we followed him for awhile. hung out at the beach for a breather - beautiful. went back in later in the afternoon, but the tide came in so the water was rougher, deeper, and cloudier.
hanauma bay
bbg's point of view
back in waikiki, at at some mom and pop operation japanese restaurant. killer tempura for cheap, with a view of the beach. bought hella shit at the international market - it was fun to bargain with people and get a better deal. it gives the illusion that you're saving money when you could probably pay much less to these merchants. but a much better deal than the abc stores, which is also loads lamer.
i have pics of inside, but they're still on my camera and i dont want to upload any more, so deal. you can kinda get the idea from this.
day 6
tried to visit manoa falls, but missed the bus by a tiny bit. cut our losses and spent the rest of the day at the beach. at one end of the beach near fort derussy (where we spent most of our time at the beach - away from the crowds staying at the resorts) is a small food court with four or five stands. v. asian ghetto-ish. we'd go there for lunch after we realized the hot dog stand had little variety and was a bit overpriced. one stand had the biggest shaved ices ever! they were awesome. im not a big lover of shaved ice, but hawaiian ones were great. i ate more shaved ice during this trip than i have my whole life, and i was lovin it. pretty much ate it every day. yeah.
mmmm.... shaved ice.
this sums up bbg at the beach
day 7
snorkeling in kane'ohe. took a tour with captain bob's snorkeling. sounds hokey, but turned out to be pretty nice. this was friday. the entire week the news talked about a hurricane (i think its name was daniel) was supposed to hit. most of our time there it was windy and the wind picked up as the week went on. by friday, tho, the hurricane had disapated and we were left with very light and warm showers. the other side of the island was cloudy and cold, but still beautiful. we were picked up and driven to kane'ohe, a small city inside a giant volcano crater. the ridges are awesome. boarded a boat with 30 other people. took us to a giant sand bar (about the size of a football field) in the middle of the bay. other people played water volleyball in the knee deep, warm water, some tested out the snorkeling gear. bbg and i frolicked. ate a bbq lunch and headed off to the coral reef.
the only REAL proof we went snorkeling... tho i guess this could've been taken at the hotel pool, but you'll just have to trust me.
on the boat
we jump in and immediately there are HUNDREDS of fish since the guys running the show are throwing bread into the water. we swim around the reef for.... 45-60 minutes and it's amazing. the coral is shaped like brains and there are so many fish. unfortunately, it's cloudy in the sky so the water is a little dark. we head back and the tour guides point out some scenic points like gilligan's island. then they tell us that kane'ohe is one of the largest breeding grounds for hammerhead sharks and that it's in the middle of mating/breeding season. so there are hundreds of thousands of sharks in the water - ack! seriously glad they told us that afterwards or else i may have not gone in. didnt see any sharks, since they usually hang on the bottom of the ocean, far from us......
dinner at smorgy's! a buffet for $10.95. kind of blah buffet, but you cant beat the price and the setting is surprisingly nice.
hey, i liked it
inside smorgy's
day 8
check out at noon, go to the beach for the last time :( shower at the hotel and go to waikiki for the last time for dinner. get to go at international market and sit by waikiki beach for dinner and sunset. buy my last souvenir and take off for the airport for a redeye back to oaktown.
aloha means goodbye
in flight movie: failure to launch. sucked balls. the supporting cast was funny, but the rest of the movie was predictable and crappy. slept very lightly.... landed around 8:30 am, PST. missed the heat wave though!