Icee's very brief Oahu Trip Report
 

First and foremost, thank you everyone for answering my endless questions before we left for Hawaii. Fodorites are just the best! I know, because, we had the greatest GTG's on both Oahu and Kauai.

I have posted a few photos for you to look at. You will notice there are 4 photos I have not identified, so if you would like to identify them for me, please do so.

We had a wonderful vacation. If you have questions just ask away.

Take the advice of everyone who says to hike Diamond Head early. They know what they are talking about.

Don't miss the malasadas at Leonards. In one of the books is a 15% off coupon.

Take PakePorkChop's guided walking tour of Chinatown. He is absolutely the best, and you get to do some taste testing of smoked meats and also noodles from the Noodle Factory.

When we had our dim sum lunch with some of the fodorites, it was like visiting with old friends instead of making new ones. Thanks for such a welcome.

Here's the photo website (there's also one posted as Oahu Dim Summers)

Enjoy just a few of our photos!

Aloha

http://worldisround.com/articles/173987/

Aloha, darlin!
Thank you for this and the photos!
I look forward to living over on the Left Coast and knowing that when the drearies of the PNW hit, we can go to Hawaii too!! (they need a lei emoticon)

Oh, and I meant to say...be sure to purchase your t-shirts at the swap meet. 10 shirts for $20! Woohoo, I love a bargain!

Nice pics!
#260 looks like it could be taken at La'ie Point. It's the only place I know of on Oahu that has a hole like that. It's near PCC off on a dead end road.

#261 could be same location.

The one that says North Shore "These crazy kids were actually jumping off of here. I saw one actually dive" is probably Waimea Bay.

Absolutely lovely pictures!

Fantastic photos! Thanks for sharing! I think that fish in the water in 261 is actually Kal!

Thanks for the photos. Looks like a heck of a lot of fun. Only 68 days to go.

I love your photos, iceeu2--you managed some amazing shots, thank you for sharing them! Also, the top you are wearing at the fancy restaurant with the pink table cloths is beautiful!!! Glad you enjoyed a wonderful trip. :-)

Where exactly is #260? That spot is beautiful. I lived on Oahu for six months and I have never seen that place?

=P~ =P~ =P~

Great pictures. Wish I were there!

i2,

Great pictures, especially of your dinners (afterall, what's more important?). I love opakapaka too! 54 days until I can hopefully taste some!
Where did you stay in Oahu? Would you recommend it? The view from your lanai certainly was wonderful.

-Bill

Bill, we stayed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott. Priceline deal of $125/night!

Was upgraded from city view to ocean view or deluxe ocean view, but it was a great room.

Fabulous photos! I'm glad y'all had a great time.

Was it just awful to come home to this cold, rainy weather? It must make the trip home from paradise even more difficult!

Aloha iceeu2,

Loved your pics... we also loved Romy's shrimp truck... I'm curious what your overall take on O'ahu was. Mahalo... and aloha.

Heaven's, #260 is La'ie Point.
You can find it if you turn toward the ocean at the stoplight in La'ie right by the old strip mall. Only a few blocks from th highway on a dead end street.

Here is another picture of it:

http://colton.byuh.edu/byutour/slide/m091.htm

Great photos. We sat at the same table at the Hau Tree Lanai, and had a great dinner, made special by the same sunset you saw. Loved the lights in the tree.

Thanks for sharing your photos.
8-)

makai1, we thought Oahu was stunningly beautiful!

FYI..here's some of the things we did while there:

Had the breakfast buffet at Duke's several mornings. We are creatures of habit and when we find things we like we tend to do it over and over and over again. Duke's was a deal for breakfast. Also, on one afternoon walk we ventured into the bar and I had my first Tropical Itch...yummy.

We went to Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona Memorial just like a "real American" should. It surprised me that the mood was so somber. The movie of the attack made tears roll down my cheeks...Just couldn't help myself. When we went out to the memorial, it was equally as moving. The leis strung by the wall and the flowers floating in the water gave me goose bumps.

We didn't get to Pearl Harbor early enough to get the free parking, but the parking right beside it was only $5. So, no biggie.

We did make the mistake of walking from Pearl Harbor to the Swap Meet. It was so hot..mercy! We had a car, but I thought it was closer than it was. We bought the famous 10/$20 t shirts and DH bought a few bulk items of macadamia nuts and other stuff. Had to hoof it back to Pearl Harbor, but what the heck......we were in Hawaii and loving it!

Had dinner one night at Hau Tree Lanai. Got there before the restaurant opened (didn't know how far the walk was from our hotel)and had drinks in the bar. Great MaiTais. When we went to dinner, DH had his first encounter with sashimi! I asked the waiter if I had had enough Mai Tai's for him to eat bait..and he was certain that I had! Dinner was great..atmosphere was wonderful..sunset was splendid!

On the morning that we did the infamous hike to the top of Diamond Head it was very hot and humid. When people tell you to go early, do it. We went about 7:30 a.m. and it was already very warm. The hike was great, the view was marvelous. I am so glad we did this and so is the real icee. Had no idea the view would be like it was. Those zillion million steps are something else!

After leaving Diamond Head and before starting our journey to the North Shore, we stopped by Leonard's for malasadas........Heaven!..I'm in heaven! They were hot and wonderful. Also had found a coupon for 15% off so that bought our cups of coffee!

The journey to the North Shore was so scenic. We did the Circle Island Drive counter clockwise, and also followed the Oahu Revealed guides. Turtle Beach blew me away. Those giants were a sight to behold.

We did try to eat our way thru the North Shore. First in Honolulu, we had malasadas at Leonard's..I think next we had shrimp at Romy's..then I think I need a piece of pie from Ted's (unremarkable..wouldn't do that again).then we had a burger an mahi mahi burger at A'ina. I don't think we had any dinner that night. Burp, too full to even had shave ice! Sinful to skip it, I know!

Well, our such fun day was our walking tour of Chinatown led by fodor's friend PakePorkChop. What a guy..he is the smartest, the coolest, the nicest of nice. So personable and informative. When you make instantaneous friends with the real icee you have complete quite a feat and he was blown away by him.

Chinatown tour was really good. I loved everything about it. Especially the taste tests! Smoked fish, noodles, etc.

After the tour, we headed over to Aloha Tower with PakePorkChop to meet MelissaHI, Chepar, Icuy and Berta for a dim sum good time. Fun people and great food. Great friends.

After lunch, we did a tour of the famous Aloha Tower. Our tour guide was the cutest thing. I think he was a bit nervouse since Melissa is his boss! He gave us a great tour!

That night the 2 of us went back to Aloha Tower Marketplace and had a grand dinner at Chai's Island Bistro. Chai seated us..our choice of tables.
Robert Cazimero and the hula dancer entertained. The food was grand, the atmosphere was splendid, the entertainment top notch. Later on in our vacation, I bought a Cazimero Brothers cd, and the guy I bought it from was rather impressed that we had been entertained by 1/2 of the Brothers Caz. He described them as ones who sing for the King and Queen!

Hi, Iceeu2. I'm glad you had a good time! We're leaving for the Atlanta airport for Kauai in 1 1/2 hours! Yea!

Safe travels, samsaf. Grab a bite at Paschal's on your way out of town. Last chance for southern cooking for a while! :-)

Be sure to stop at the Waimea Brewing Company if you are planning to visit the canyon. Good brews and good food. We loved staying at the plantation.

I hope Kauai is drier than Atlanta has been!

Aloha icee,

Sounds like you experienced some of the best of O'ahu... no shave ice tho?? Lol... your being too full. :D

O'ahu is such a wonderful island, and once you really experience it, you realize that there are 20-100 more things that you want to do there... time to plan another trip to the "gathering place".

I had very similiar emotions at Pearl Harbor... very moving. The morning that we hiked Diamond Head it was misting on and off and we hit the top to experience that view with rainbows from the city splashing into the sea. Just breathtaking. When I looked at your photos, it was just like being there... ((R))

Loved your Chinatown GTG photos too... next time I'm in town I'll be looking everyone up! ;;)

Mahalo for the memories... glad you had such a marvelous time! Re-entry is a little tough, though, eh? Just keep the aloha spirit alive on the mainland... as they say, "LIVE ALOHA"!

It was great to meet the icees, and we're looking forward to your next trip and new adventures!

I just went back to read what I wrote and is it ever full of typos, but I'm sure you get the gist of what I was saying.

We never made our snorkeling expedition. Rented the gear from Snorkel Bob's, bought an underwater camera went to Hanauma Bay, paid the parking, paid the admission, and rented a locker. It rained and rained and rained. Never stopped. Guess you figure I was going to get wet anyway, but didn't want my towels to be wet, and my beach bag to be wet and the sort. Plus, it was kinda cool and I didn't want to be uncomfortable. Anyway, it was beautiful there and I can see why you should go early. It was crowded on a rainy day, so I'm certain it's crowded on a sunny day.

Left there and drove that side (east?) of the island for a while. Never got to see the blowhole erupt..I was soaked so didn't stand out in the rain.

We did see the big testicles...Amazing.

I'm not sure if I have said in this report or not, but just in case and for those who even care...we stayed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott. Beautiful hotel, good location, upgraded to a deluxe ocean view room. Out of 33 floors, we stayed on the 32nd. I just knew we were going to end up in the penthouse, but the cute desk clerk said he couldn't give the farm away! Guess he figured he had done enough since we had stayed on a $125/night priceline steal.

We rented an intermediate size car from Alamo and ended up with a full size Malibu with only 8 miles on it. The cost for 5 days was like $95 and change. Got this rate thru entertainment.com and it was the best rate I had found. One caveat, get to the airport early enough to find the Alamo rental car return. We just kept following signs and no Alamo. It is on Nimitz Hwy...not with all of the others. Packet didn't have return directions.

Of course, we walked and walked and walked the beautiful Waikiki Beach. Lots of construction going on down on the end of the beach where we weren't staying.

The Oahu portion of our trip was great. We saved some things to do for the "next time". We loved meeting and visiting with some of the FFF's!

Aloha

ttt for kopp

Thanks, iceeu2! Great report. I've made lots of notes. LOVE your pics. La'ie Point Arch - awesome. We'll definitely put that on our list. Where is the Hau Tree Lanai? I'll look that up.

4 months and counting...

Sure wish we could edit here.

Found the Hau Tree - New Otani Hotel. Great!