Hawaii
It’s been 9 years since my last visit to Oahu, Hawaii! I can say a lot has changed.
We ran into a few road bumps the first day, but the trip was way relaxed than what I thought it was going to be.
Road block #1 : Rental Car. My husband and I rent cars often because when we had our BMW i3, it was an electric car and we could never take road trips since we can only drive 75 miles until we have to recharge. So insurance for our rental cars would be $11/per day, but in Hawaii we rented a Jeep and the insurance per day cost $40! My husband didn’t budge when he gave them his credit card, but I was standing behind him holding my chest because I thought I was going to have a heart attack just hearing that price!
Road Block #2 : Hotel. Since we arrived around 7pm, they gave our room away and gave us another room which was a category lower than what we paid for, so they comped us free breakfast every morning. When we got to our room with a city view, our view was shit! I tried to get over it, but my husband knew I wasn’t happy. So the next day we talked to the hotel receptionist down stairs.
My husband was being so nice about it, but they kept saying that they told us when we checked in that they had to give our room away because they didn’t think we were going to arrive. I asked my husband politely if I can butt in and say something. He said, sure and let me take over. I told them, “Look, we paid for a city view and they did not have the right to take our money and give our room away. If we didn’t show up, you still had our money. Plus, the carpets in our room are dirty, which we had to ask the housekeeping to send up a whole bunch of towels so our feet doesn’t touch the carpet. And our view looks like we can catch a deadly disease by just looking at it. So please don’t ruin my trip.” Bobby the receptionist and Henry the trainee went to the back to talk to a supervisor. She came out and I told her exactly what I told them. She tried to up sell another room category, which she can move us too, but we would have to pay an extra $50 per night. There was no way I was going to pay an extra $50 a night for 9 days. The resort fee was already $35 a night and parking for our car was another $35 a night. I said no and she asked me what I wanted. I told her that I just want a room that we paid for in the beginning and I would be happy to give back the free breakfast vouchers. I showed her a picture of our room and our view.
She apologized for our room not meeting Sheraton’s standards and will give us a new room that will be available the next day.
Here is our new view. The view that we paid for. City view with Partial ocean view.
Since the room switched, I felt more relaxed. I felt like I’m getting what I paid for. I didn’t grow up as upper class status, but just enough for my family to give us a great and happy life, so I’m always counting my pennies. So it’s ok to stick up for what you feel is right.
I felt my mood change when we walked in. I was happy with our room. This room is what the pictures looked like when I booked it. The room was beautiful. I still had to work remotely and I got to work on my balcony with this view!
Activities.
We went to my favorite beaches Kailua Beach and Waikiki Beach to surf and stand up paddle.
Also, we completed 3 hikes.
We did the Pillbox hike which has amazing views of Lanikai and Kailua.
Next was Koko Head. There were a couple of thoughts of wanting to quit, but I kept going. It took us an hour to go up and an hour to go down. For those of you who has never heard for Koko head, here is a little history.
During World War II, the military built several bunkers at the summit of Koko Head crater. They also constructed Koko Head Railway (now the Koko Head stairs) to move personnel and supplies up and down.
During the whole hike, we are climbing up the railway.
Then the last hike we did was Diamond Head which we had already done 9 years ago. It’s a fun hike and easiest of the 3. It’s super crowded so make sure you go early. Also, bring cash because parking is $5 or a walking entrance fee is $1.
Dole Plantation. I finally crossed this off my bucket list. I wanted my dole whip!
I also wanted to do the maze, which my husband had no desire to do but still did it with me. My plan was for us to go our separate ways to see who can get all the clues and finish the maze first, but I caught him following me and hiding a few times.
Shark Ecounter. Swimming with the sharks was quite terrifying, but it also has been on my husband’s bucket list. Of course, he didn’t want to go by himself, so I felt like a wife’s duty to just suck it up and be a little daring.
Epic Aloha. Even though an employee tried to kill my mood, I still had a great time. I’ll post a couple pictures of Epic Aloha and then I’ll tell you about my experience.
Epic Aloha is the Museum of Ice Cream here in SF. The rooms are decorated to fun and bright back drops so you can take pictures and post them on the gram. However, lately I haven’t enjoyed taking photos because of my weight gain due to these fertility meds and stress. Every year after my birthday, I feel that my stress and anxiety worsens because I’m almost at that age where having kids would come with a lot of complications. Or will I have have that chance being a mom? So stress and emotional eating comes with the package.
As you can see, Chris and I hardly post any pictures of the two of us on vacation. On my camera roll, there are a ton of pictures of the two of us, but I felt ugly on all of them. My clothes didn’t fit right. I didn’t like how my face looks. My stomach roll is what people will look at. So I didn’t want any pictures posted.
So during Epic Aloha, the same employee kept following us. Like she was the only one working there. She asked us a few times if we wanted her to take our picture. At first she did, but after seeing how I looked in them, I declined her offer after that. I even said, I’ll come find her if we needed our picture taken. She met us again in another room and started a conversation with me.
Epic Aloha Employee: Are you guys friends and is visiting Hawaii?
Me: No, he’s my husband.
Epic Aloha Employee: REEEAAAAAALLLLLY? When I watch the both of you, I do NOT get that vibe. (With a jaw dropping surprised look on her face)
Me: We’ve been together for 10 years. We really don’t need reassurance from each other. Whatever we’re doing works for us and we’re happy.
Epic Aloha Employee: OOOooookay! (Walks away laughing.)
Only if this Epic Aloha Employee knew what is going on in my life, she wouldn’t have dared to say anything. I brushed it off and told Chris about it since he was inside a little room with magical mirrors. I laughed it off and said, I think this Epic Aloha employee as a crush on you because she asked me if we were friends. He laughed and we moved on to the next room!
Lets move on to food!
Even after the room switched, they let us keep our breakfast vouchers which we didn’t use everyday. I think I used it 4 times and my husband came with me twice. This is my favorite breakfast! I even eat this when I’m not on vacation. Rice, egg, potatoes, and Portuguese sausage!) Oh my YUM!!!
Marukame Udon. OMG! If it was up to me, I would have gone here every night! The only down fall about this place is that you have to find somewhere to sit while you’re holding your tray of food. So everyone is trying to snatch tables before the people that finished are able to stand up. We had people hovering over table while we were eating as well. We were lucky enough to find tables right away after we paid.
Pick your type of udon. The soup base. Hot or cold. Soup or sauce.
Pick your extras. Tempura or masubi.
Get your utensils and water.
Find a table
Enjoy!
Ono Poke.
We arrived at 5:57pm and they close at 6pm. That was a close one. I enjoyed every bite! My husband took a bite. He’s not into raw sushi so we went to Rainbow drive in for his rice and chicken katsu.
When we arrived back at the hotel, I was hungry so I ordered a pizza! Since the delivery guy wasn’t allowed to deliver it to the hotel room, I had to pick it up downstairs. When I came out from the elevator, this tourist ask if I was a local. What a compliment!
Masubi Cafe.
Hole in the wall type restaurant, but super delicious!
Uncle Bo’s.
Boka Roka. I can eat this all day!
Here in this picture with me are 2 people who I’ve know since jr. high school. We’ve known each other for at least 25 years! Ronald Long and Anthony Apostol. We go way back. I met up with Ronald for dinner and met his wife and baby boy, Avery. Then we headed to Aloha Friday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village to meet up with Anthony for the fireworks. It meant so much that they took time out of their busy lives to catch up!
MoDo Donuts. Eat more donuts. The black sesame and ube were my favorites!
Vintage Island Coffee. We went here twice! My husband loves the açaí bowls and I love their garlic bread. So I was forced to eat salad twice just so I can eat their garlic bread. The second time I asked for two, they charged me and extra $2.50 for bread, but so worth it.
Dukes. I mean Cheesecake Factory.
From what we remembered 9 years ago, we had a lot of really good snack foods at Dukes. Nachos, sliders, chicken wings. However, we waited an hour to get seated and their menu changed! It was like a steak and seafood restaurant. My husband and I were craving appetizer foods, so we ended up leaving to go to Cheesecake Factory. Which we actually went twice. Lol!
Ona-ya Ramen.
We went to a Japanese food court, which wasn’t really good. I ordered a Ramen, shumai, gyoza, rice, and chicken katsu. The broth was a bit salty and lukewarm.
Pig & the Lady.
This place is quite a ways. It’s about a $15 uber ride and it’s in china town. We didn’t know how parking will be so we just Uber to be safe. My husband had the Pho dip sandwich and I had the beef pho. We also had li hing malasaldas with black sesame ice cream!
Even though my husband had to wrestle down a shark, we still had an amazing time.
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TIPS ON TRAVELING TO HAWAII
Pack light. I brought 5 pairs of shoes and wore flip flops all day, every day.
. Always have a credit card. Rental car places do not allow debit cards. We had to witness a family who was turned away because they did not have a credit card to put their authorization hold. I felt so bad.
Make sure you have more money than your budget. Unexpected things may come up. Resort fees, parking fees, parking tickets, holds and authorizations.
If the weather says HOT HOT HOT on your app, still bring a sweater. The plane was a little too cold for my liking.
Purchase a waterproof phone case. I was able to snap underwater photos with my iphone.
Buy a swell bottle or a bottle that keeps your water cold. It’s worth it after our long hikes.
Don’t bring too much stuff. Hawaii has everything. We packed 2 adult floaties, 2 pairs of water shoes, our own snorkling masks, and a floatie pump, which we had to leave behind or else we would have to leave all the gifts we bought for people behind.
To the Epic Aloha employee who thought my interaction with my husband looks more like a friend vibe, here’s a picture I actually like since my husband likes to touch my butt! Enjoy!
