Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Travel: Hawaii (Oahu)

My brother and I spontaneously booked a trip to Oahu to celebrate his birthday, after he found a deal online.
Itinerary:
  • Day 1: We left LAX >> HNL early in the morning, and thanks to the time difference, we arrived in Oahu at around noon. We opted not to rent a car, so we had a shuttle drive us to the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel. Famished, we went downstairs to the adjacent restaurant, Lulu's, where we had ocean view seats and delicious ahi poke. We then strolled along the beach from our hotel toward the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, seeing places like the Kuhio Beach Park, Duke Kahanamoku Statue, and the Hawaii Army Museum (on the way back).
  • Day 2: The vacation package we booked included a free breakfast the next morning during orientation. We had our pictures taken with "local Hawaiians" who looked remarkably Filipino. They even asked us if we were Filipino. Afterward, we had to buy two umbrellas at an ABC Store, as it had started to rain as we were walking back to our hotel. We waited until after the rain stopped to walk from our hotel to Diamond Head State Monument. My brother didn't quite make it all the way to the summit, but I did, and I was able to take panoramic shots. After returning to the hotel, we met up with my brother's old college roommate and went to Duke's for drinks.
  • Day 3: In the morning, we walked to and from Eggs N' Things. There was quite a long wait at the restaurant. Fortunately, it is across the street from the post office and I was able to drop off postcards before getting seated. Afterward, we decided to check out Sans Souci Beach Park which did not live up to the picture in our Lonely Planet book. lol. That afternoon, we were picked up by a bus to attend a luau. The show was okay -- nothing I hadn't really seen before (hula dancers, fire dancers, etc). The food was better than average. I was sorely disappointed by the pig though. I guess, I was expecting something to be better than the roasted pig in Philippine cuisine (lechon). Oh well. At least, I got a shell necklace and a kiss on the cheek by a cute, Hawaiian guy.
  • Day 4: We had breakfast at Lulu's again, before taking a shuttle back to the airport and returning home.