kolohegirl

Bishop Musuem!

kakels

Hi, I am leaveing for Oahu tomorrow!! Try Queen Emma's Summer Palace. It's a beautiful place alive with history. It's on Pali Hwy. Also, the Iolani Palace is a wonderful place to visit.

teadrinker

Wow, this is great! Thank you so much for all your wonderful insights! I appreciate it. I've never been to Chinatown, so we'll definitely do that...and I must re-read each thread, there is so much information! I'll have to print it all out and bring it with me! Yes! I WILL email back to let you all know how it went "this time around!" In the meantime, keep them coming! I'll keep checking in before we leave on the 19th of March!

DSMLVR

Definitely climb Diamond Head. Looking at my Certificate of Achievement I got from OAHU NATURE TOURS. For $20 they picked us up at the hotel. Here is the website.
http://www.oahunaturetours.com/adv-diamondhead.html
They even provide the Certificate AFTER you do the climb. I DO recomend the climb and the company.
BEAUTIFUL VIEW that you will never forget. DON'T FORGET your camera.

PakePorkChop

Hi!

Just pasting some remarks in response to your questions. These are from earlier postings:

"There are several tours available for Chinatown, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Honolulu's Chinatown was the first, and at one time the largest, ethnic settlement in the United States.

The least expensive guided walking tour is provided by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii every Tuesday, 9:30 am to noon, $5 per person, telephone 533-3181. A culinary tour can be arranged by calling the Chinatown Historical Society, 227=6008, $15 includes a narrated dim sum lunch."

suze

I just got back from Waikiki last night. For a fun restaurant I highly recommend Lewers Street Loft & Lanai, in the 220 block of Lewers for "plate lunch" $7. Traditional 2 scoops white rice, mac salad, plus choice of maybe 8 main items. Also fine breakfasts for $3-5.

A family i befriended at my hotel visited the Zoo last Thursday and were not impressed (and they seemed very open minded easy going travelers who love Hawaii). Their boys were younger (7 & 9 maybe).

Don't know if this would be of interest but I went on a tour of the Doris Duke estate called Shangri La - it was certainly something different to do. You can easily google for the website, but make reservations ahead if you are interested. The tours are small groups so availability is limited $25.

suze

I typed these up for another poster from a free guidebook I picked up last week:

Bishop Museum 947-2458
Iolani Palace 538-1471
Mission Houses Museum 531-0481
Queen Emma Summer Palace 595-3167
Doris Duke Shangri La estate
532-DUKE or 1-866-DUKE TIX

Roberts Hawaii Discover Historic Honolulu guided walking tour 539-9400

sunbum1944

i have a friend who just returned from Hawaii- they went swimming with the dolphins at Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island ( close to Kona)- they rented kayaks and kayaked to the bay -
different island of course but maybe you could make a day trip out of it

teadrinker

Thank you, everyone! As usual, I am printing all your comments out and they will go with me to Hawaii! We leave the day after tomorrow! Tomorrow is reserved for packing and getting ready for the early morning flight. I do appreciate everything, you're all so kind...and it always amazes me how helpful and so thorough everyone is. I appreciate it very much. Take care....

teadrinker

Well, we're back from a wonderful trip! I don't have much time, but I wanted to say that we never got to the Ko'Olina Lagoons which I really wanted to see...basically it's because the guidebooks (which were great...Oahu Revealed and Hidden Oahu)said you had to get there before 10am or else you couldn't get a parking space. I had 3 teenagers with me and they woke up way too late to make that time slot. So, maybe next time. We did take Jerry & Sharon's "drive around Oahu"! It was a TERRIFIC DAY. We had the concierge at the Moana re-write it so that it started from Waikiki Beach, and off we were. We went to the marina, had the same tuna sandwich they recommended, plus the views from there, I thought, were very special. The guy running the shop next to the sandwich place was nice and came out and talked to us for awhile. He recommended that we go out, turn LEft (instead of right), to see the fishpools nextdoor, but we didn't take his recommendation, too bad. We were hardpressed to press on! Then, we looked for the poi place. We passed it at first, as we only saw "Poi" not whatever the name was, so we circled and came back to it. The lady running that shop, also, was very nice...personable. I told her we were here cuz of Jerry and Sharon and even brought in the printed out Fodor's thread and she read the part where she was recommended!!! She loved it, and I turned her on to Fodors! We told her they'd recommended the pig and the chocolate haupia (spelling)? and she said, "Why not get a plate lunch...a little of everything?" so that's what we did...and they had just a bit left of the vanilla haupia too...she gave us samples....The kids loved the soup, the broth...but not the "stuff" in it (a bit fussy eaters, they). I really liked the vanilla & chocolate haupia...the pig was good too...it really was delicious! Then...the little tiny store for the hotdog rolled up in rice with seaweed. We bought the roll and that guy was nice too.... Unfortunately, we all just nibbled it as we were FULL from the last 2 stops and we tossed it out later, but now I'm thinking of it, and what a unique, cool food item. I'm glad that we were introduced to it! Oh, we LOVED the Pali Outlook! Spent quite a bit of time there, photographing. It was a big surprise to be met with that view of that COOL ROCK. Even the houses going up to the place were neat...old...I loved the green one with the rounded upper level. It was neat how the street was so residential only to culminate in such a beautiful place...neat. Loved it. Hey, one of the most wanted stop we could not find. The macadamia nut factory. Either it is no longer there or it was so ubiquitous that we didn't realize what it was and passed it by... Later, I checked my guidebooks and "Macadamia Nut Factory" was not listed. BOO HOO! I love to shop and love local artist's works, which was there, and my kids love to sample...so we missed that one, regretfully. Turtle Beach never saw turtles...or I s/say we drove by several times and stopped once, but I saw nary a one. The lady at Pizza Bob's told us the surf was high and we probably wouldn't see them....too bad we didn't. We spent a long time at the Pipeline and I got the most terrific pictures one beautiful day there. We went to that beach about 3 times during our stay. Just so wonderful. Two sweet young girls who were lucky enough to be staying at a friend's house right on that beach talked to me while me kids enjoyed the 6 to 8 foot waves and I took pictures (oh, those pictures are some of my BEST)...and I bought some earrings one of them made herself...her friend made bikini's and though my 14 year old loved them, she thought they were way too skimpy for her! The one that sold the earrings is from Brazil and the other girl was from Puerto Rico. After Hawaii they were going to Europe? They were like 19 and 23...
As for restaurants, we went to Keos, Michels, Hano Hano Room, Hy's Steak House (twice because we liked it so much), and I can't remember where else. Moana was just terrific for us...and it's funny. The prostitues across the street are AMAZING. We always walked down to see them, they were so BLATANT. And they all wore the same kind of high heeled show. Clear acrylic which caught the light and sparkled. They were gorgeous...almost all with blonde blonde hair and the tightest, most interesting clothes. One wore a nurse uniform, the sexy kind you see in I don't know where. I had a long chat with a police officer about the prostitutes as the kids and I were curious about why they don't do anything about them and what is the story with them anyway??? So, that was interesting, too. Well, thanks, and I wanted to say we had a terrific time, and I hear we MIGHT be going again in January for a convention. Maybe then I'll get to Ko'olina Lagoons and see the turtles...Tantalus Drive, too...never got to go. But we did the trip around Oahu, and Jerry, Sharon, thanks for that. It was FUN!

juanita1989

Hi, teadrinker! I'm the one who posted Jerry & Sharon's Trip Around the Island for ya, and I am so glad you enjoyed it!! Too bad you missed the macadamia nut factory. It was there when we went last July, and I'd be very surprised if it was no longer around. I'm sure it is, you just drove by it. It's surrounded by tall trees and vegetation, so it's not hard to see why one could miss it. And gosh, I can't believe you didn't get to see the turtles!! They're always there when we go. Hope you try it again and get to see them. Did you stop at Giovanni's White Shrimp Truck? I'm drooling just thinking about that place.

We leave for our TS at Ko'Olina in 6 days and I can't stand the anticipation! Jerry & Sharon will be with us, and we'll also be doing this trip again. They are going to be so tickled when I tell them they're "famous" now!

juanita1989

Oh, and I meant to also say what a kick I got out of your post re: the prostitutes. I LOVE a person who can see that and find something amusing about it, rather than complaining. I agree, some of them are quite pretty, and hey, it's my belief that every woman, even us married ones, should have a pair of 6-ich clear-heeled stilettos in her closet! Mine are red!